Anyone here ever lived in Atlanta and Chicago? (airport, development, food)

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by ForeignCrunch

Chicago was like the 47th or 48th fastest growing metro out of the top 50 metro in the country. Yeah, it grew, but so did virtually every other large metro area in the US. The fact that it is growing very, very, very slowly tells the whole story.

The point is that every estimate had the city and metro area losing people, and they were wrong.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by mwj119

The cities have been discussed in detail. Just no way to compare them, and I’ll leave it at that.

As far as the metros are concerned:

Chicago suburbs have the look and feel of Buckhead, Decatur, Brookhaven, etc. Just many, many times over, with a gridded street pattern and tucked away power lines. If you like the inner ring Atlanta suburbs, you’ll be head over heels for the Chicagoland inner ring. Places like Wilmette, East Glenview, Park Ridge, Elmhurst, La Grange, Western Springs, and the more obvious being Evanston and Oak Park.

As you extend out, I don’t see an an obvious advantage of either. I think the residential architecture is a bit more tasteful in Atlanta, but you lose a lot of conveniences as you extend to areas like Peachtree City or Johns Creek relative to Illinois comps like Barrington or Vernon Hills or Naperville. Surely, Chicago is just far more built out to support its population. Connectivity matter la too.

As someone who has spent plenty of time in the Atlanta area(thanks to family relatives there), did you seriously think Peachtree City will offer as many amenities as say like Dunwoody? I mean it's fine for what it is, but you'd be crazy to think there will be as many amenities there vs. in say Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, or heck even Marietta. The south suburbs often seem to get ignored in Atlanta area discussions, sadly to say. On a side note I kinda like Fayetteville's downtown, and same with(to a lesser extent) even the downtowns of Jonesboro and College Park. Johns Creek isn't a bad place either, but to me it may as well be a la Naperville, where it's further out from a core city and more in its own world.

BTW maybe it's just me when it comes to the Chicago area, but I never thought Barrington was as interesting and offered as many things to do, vs. Vernon Hills and Naperville. Don't get me wrong I like the Catlow Theater(and I really pray that theater does get the proper restoration, the new owner says they want to do there), but what else IMO stands out about Barrington except for that? Even Libertyville's downtown feels more interesting and dynamic to me IMO, vs. Barrington. Just my opinion(as someone who's visited both places before), and fine if you disagree.

[bearsmiths]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

I was never really a fan of Atlanta for a few reasons, but I gotta say, it is a happening city and will be one of the cornerstones of our country. To me, it's got everything Dallas or Houston has, but with better weather and location.

True. The beltline is one of the most underrated transit projects in the country.

[NDFan]

Chicago blows away Atlanta in the urbanity category across the board. One of the issues Chicago has is that a lot of the traditional jobs are much more in NYC and the newer jobs, esp. tech related, are mostly moving to TX/FL. So Chicago's economy is in somewhat of a precarious spot and there just aren't that many people moving into the city right now (could change at any time now that it's clear there will be no dystopian hell/new normal post-covid).

Atlanta you have more access to other destinations in the South (Charleston, Asheville, Chattanooga, Nashville, Macon, Jacksonville, Charlotte, NC mountains), although Columbia, SC, and Charlotte are much better located for access to destinations IMO.

[ShenardL]

I've seen a lot of Illinois plates and know people who moved down here from there, it seems Atlanta is one of the more popular destinations for Chicagoans to move to. I love visiting Chicago but I couldn't live there because I don't want to deal with cold winters and 6 inches of snow. It's one of the most affordable places if you want to live in an urban environment but the population growth is pretty stagnant. The growth is mostly all in the sunbelt cities.

[personone]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I've seen a lot of Illinois plates and know people who moved down here from there, it seems Atlanta is one of the more popular destinations for Chicagoans to move to. I love visiting Chicago but I couldn't live there because I don't want to deal with cold winters and 6 inches of snow. It's one of the most affordable places if you want to live in an urban environment but the population growth is pretty stagnant. The growth is mostly all in the sunbelt cities.

Yup, although Phoenix/Arizona is the biggest Chicagoland migration pattern to the Sunbelt. There are so many Chicagoans in the Phoenix area that there a several Chicago area restaurants that have opened up locations there, along with tons of Chicago-dedicated sports bars.

[RisingAurvandil]

I like the winter in Atlanta more, and the cost-of-living is probably still a bit lower there.

But it will never be able to match one of the those sunny weekends, flying down Lakeshore in a droptop. Waves rolling onto the beaches, the rumbling of the El in the distance. The ethnic enclaves, the density, the infamous characters. Chicago evokes such a visceral feeling. Not every city can do that.

[grin123]

Originally Posted by RisingAurvandil

I like the winter in Atlanta more, and the cost-of-living is probably still a bit lower there.

But it will never be able to match one of the those sunny weekends, flying down Lakeshore in a droptop. Waves rolling onto the beaches, the rumbling of the El in the distance. The ethnic enclaves, the density, the infamous characters. Chicago evokes such a visceral feeling. Not every city can do that.

The cost of living isn't even true for Atlanta anymore. Home and rental prices are now higher in Atlanta and the pay is much lower (Federal $7.25 minimum wage vs Chicago's $15). And you need a car in Atlanta so thats an extra hundreds per month there.


Don't know why Atlanta has this enamor of being cheap. Not anymore. And this Chicago winter was pretty mild, only snowed a couple times and didn't snow until january.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by grin123

The cost of living isn't even true for Atlanta anymore. Home and rental prices are now higher in Atlanta and the pay is much lower (Federal $7.25 minimum wage vs Chicago's $15). And you need a car in Atlanta so thats an extra hundreds per month there.


Don't know why Atlanta has this enamor of being cheap. Not anymore. And this Chicago winter was pretty mild, only snowed a couple times and didn't snow until january.

Atlanta burbs still have a lot of value

[grin123]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Atlanta burbs still have a lot of value

Strictly talking about the city. Cant compare the city of Chicago to the mass suburbia of Atlanta. Just comparing city limits.