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Being 1,000 feet above sea level, Atlanta isn't nearly as humid as Jacksonville - and we get wonderful breaks from fronts occasionally between June & Sept.
But yeah, the beach is always nice when it's hot. And the St. John's is huge in places, and has cool creeks and tributaries. Jacksonville beats Atlanta in the nearby water department, hands down.
But we do have the beautiful Chattahoochee.
Atlanta and jacksonville feel about the same to me in the summer. Doesn't matter if one adv is 95 and one is 90. Once you add in the heat index it all feels the same. But I'm kind of like the op. I like the city and the busy feel and jacksonville doesn't really have that same feel as Atlanta. I can compare jacksonville to like Charlotte nc and Atlanta can get compared to like a Dallas or Houston.
While I love Atlanta, I do think that Jacksonville deserves some consideration here. It's got some great bones, what with the mighty St. Johns flowing through on its way to the Atlantic (a mere 10 miles away). It's blessed with many charming, oak and azalea-laden neighborhoods; Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, San Marco, Atlantic Beach, Ponte Vedra, Orange Park and Mandarin come to mind. The climate is pleasant nine months out of the year, and the people are pleasant as well. IMO it continues to remain a well-kept secret; if I had to choose a city for a FL residence, Jax would probably be it.
Which city do you prefer to live based on the following criteria?
- Cost of living
- Quality of life
- Crime/safety
- Traffic/transportation
- Nightlife
- Activities
- Weather
- Culture
- Economy
JAX is nice and all, but after 4 years I'm ready to move back to Atlanta. I just prefer the busy city atmosphere. I'm not really a big fan of the beach, and I prefer to be able to go hiking in the mountains and back in one day as the drive is only an hour and some change each way. The traffic on I-295 in JAX seems to be just as bad as 285 in Atlanta, and there's less lanes on the freeway, plus public transit is not an option (nothing like the MARTA rail). The cost of living is lower in JAX, but the jobs pay better in ATL and there's more oppurtunities. The crime rate is about the same, but lately it seems like JAX is getting worse while ATL is getting safer. I like how Atlanta has seasons as opposed to Jacksonville's 11 months of summer and only 3 days of winter.
Definitely Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding area! As many of you may already know, I'm a water snob and Jacksonville is were I can get my fix.
Now let's get to the OP's criteria:
- Cost of living -Jax
- Quality of life- Jax
- Crime/safety- toss-up
- Traffic/transportation (traffic-Jax/tranportation-Atlanta)
- Nightlife- Who cares, if being a drunk or buffoon at night constitutes as fun, count me out
- Activities-tie
- Weather-tie
- Culture-Jax
- Economy- toss-up (depends on what a person wants to do for a living)
Overall, Jacksonville is a better choice from my viewpoint, because too many people in Atlanta are very much in a hurry (in perpetual motion) or they just want to show-off (keep up appearances); too much stress and not enough rest. On the other hand, all of the bodies of water that Jacksonville has, soothes the mind, body and soul.
COL: Jacksonville
QOL: Jacksonville
Crime/Safety: Jacksonville
Traffic: jacksonville
Nightlife: Atlanta
Activities: Atlanta (for me)
Weather: Atlanta (I like a mix)
Culture: Atlanta
Economy: Atlanta
- Cost of living: Jacksonville
- Quality of life: Jacksonville maybe
- Crime/safety: Atlanta
- Traffic/transportation: Jacksonville
- Nightlife: Atlanta
- Activities: Jacksonville
- Weather: Jacksonville
- Culture: Atlanta by far!
- Economy: Atlanta
Atlanta is probably better overall but I personally prefer Jacksonville by a small margin.
Jacksonville would certainly be among my top 10-15 choices if I had to leave the Atlanta metro. The warmer winters, more moderate traffic and great water recreation assets are nice features of the area. Jacksonville should also get credit for having a Mayo Clinic branch - both for its contribution to the local economy and an easily accessible resource for those needing specialized care.
Higher education options seem to be a relatively weak attribute of Jacksonville. There are no research universities with their main campus in the area, which is a major asset for Atlanta with Emory, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, etc. Locally based research universities often help generate innovative spinoff businesses in the area and grow high skilled, well compensated jobs. Jacksonville has a pretty decent white collar "back office" type economic presence, but doesn't have as much of a "knowledge" sector per capita as Atlanta, let alone some of their more similar sized peers like Raleigh/Durham or Austin. I'm not sure how this could be accomplished, but Jacksonville would likely benefit from forging stronger links with Gainesville to tap into the educational and research assets around the university there.
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