Young and curious about moving to ATL from MSP (Atlanta: apartments, rent)

[COOGIdown]

My boyfriend and I want to move to Atlanta from St. Paul, MN within the next 6 months. His mother lives down there and he wants to be closer, and he asked me to move with him. He is 20, and I am 18. I've lived in Minnesota my whole life - the town I live in right now is population 17,600, but I've lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul in the past few years and I like larger cities. I'm curious if Atlanta would be the right move to make.

My questions are:

Overall, what are the Pro's and Con's of Atlanta?

Realistically, what are our options for living? We are tight on money.

What are the areas of Atlanta we should avoid?

Is Atlanta an easy city to adapt in?

We are an interracial couple - will that be a problem?

Should I bring my car? I've been reading that driving is ridiculous.

We are both High School Graduates, are many job opportunities available without College Degrees?

Feel free to give all input that you think would help me make the decision of moving to Atlanta.
Thank you!

[cordtwo]

First off Atlanta offers many opportunities for everyone. You will definetely need to bring your or his if not both because getting around the city is tough. When I say tough I mean getting from one side of the metro to the other. If you too decide to go out for dinner you end up in another suburb like Duluth or Marietta and you may be living in Forest Park.. You don't even want to know how far of a walk that is lol... Secondly you guys being interracial couples should not matter at all. There are plenty of those here in Atlanta. Now some people may look at you crazy from both ends but forget them, its about you alls happiness not theirs. As far as areas to stay out of, Clayton County is top on that list. The county is undergoing some changes in the school board and it is very shaky.. Now you will find cheaper housing in Clayton County but you need to take into consideration of you two having children one.. The school system got so bad my parents took me out and put me in Private school. Right now im in college and I can tell you that if you decide to go back to college you can here easily. We have the Hope scholarship which will take care of the high tuition but you must keep a 3.0 GPA. Im curently using it because its no way that my parents could afford for me to go to college and plus i did not want a bunch of student loans.. But getting in college will be very important here because some of our major blur collar companies have closed and if not closed have had major layoffs. Now I know fact that many people have sucessful businesses here in Atlanta Metro. Atlanta offers something every weekend. We have major parks here, one which is piedmont park, which hosts something consistently. I know for a fact through my travels that Atlanta offers some of the best restaurants out there.. Atlanta offers many club/ night bars if you two are into that. Most likely if your situation is like mines im am establishing credit so therefore most likely you will be living in a apartment... I don't know of too many people around our age because im 20 to that were able to finance a house. Im not saying in can't be done but it is tough. I have see rent for apartments between 500 and 1500 dollars in Atlanta, im pretty sure there is some that is even more. Now I have a job at my school doing some practices in my field but if I was not working there I probably would have to settle for a best buy job at the moment until I got closer to graduation. If I can think of anymore info I will put out some more. But my dream is if I decide to stay in Atlanta for the rest of my life I would like to move anywhere from Buckhead on up to cities like Alpharetta.. Those are the cities to me that show Atlanta's best!!

[cordtwo]

oh I forgot to tell you about our public transportation which is MARTA. They offer train and bus rides.. I don't know a whole lot about them because I never use them but hopefully someone can tell you the areas that they serve!