Washington DC vs Atlanta for African American urban living (cost, state, comparison)
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I think this plays a part in what CleverOne was getting at. No one here disagrees that DC is quite a bit more urban than Atlanta overall and that anyone who puts a high premium on living in an urban environment will in all likelihood choose DC 9.5 times out of 10. But for someone who can move anywhere in the country that wants to live in a traditionally urban city first and foremost and isn't constrained by employment, I'd actually be a little surprised if that person picked DC over NYC, Chicago, SF, Philadelphia, and Boston and it would be because of DC's uniqueness as the purpose-built nation's capital that it is. Of the six, I only really perceive NYC, SF, and Chicago to be urban "lifestyle cities" where a significant number of people express a desire to live there apart from practical considerations (LA is a lifestyle city as well but not so much in an urban context but for just about everything else). Boston, DC, and Philadelphia strike me as cities where their urbanity and practical considerations like employment are either given equal weight or the latter outweighs the former by a tad for most folks.
For the purpose of the subject of this thread, Philadelphia makes for a really good option that's almost like a blend of Atlanta in some respects (highrises, grittier quality, more traditional CBD, culturally creative) and DC in others (density, transit, walkability, Bos-Wash location).
Exactly the point I was making. All this emphasis on what we already know that Atlanta is far less dense than DC.Its easy for some DC posters to continue to suggest that someone moving to Atlanta from DC or s similar dense city ,would not choose to live in the city of Atlanta but a suburb as Atlanta is know for cheap suburban living but cant and wont even acknowledge that DC having such sprawling metro as well is just as attractive to those same types of residents who would move to DC. As i and you repeated said; "only certain cities" would some who crave an urban lifestyle over all would go elsewhere if thats the goal.
Creating this distinction removes this notion that Atlanta is urban even if its not consistent ,but the majority of people are not looking for cities like in the NE or not to the points its a deal breaker.
Based on some of the comments you would think only people that live in every city in america not a legacy grew up there. Even in Savannah's Historic District its filled with transplants from all over despite Savannah not having a large corporate employee or university student base like Atlanta and many larger cities.
That's interesting when you have the fastest growing city proper, and metro area by percentage of all of those being DC.
Thats more to do with the economy than the attractiveness of the city itself. If this is the case then Atlanta growing as fast or faster actually does attract people in core which is what I said in response that started this nonsense.
As much as I personally love DC, Ive not met one person anywhere in the US that actually has thought of DC as place to want to live. Ive had to defend my preference.
Its not that the city isnt nice to them,its just doesnt have any special draw . People cant get past the place of government. If feels cold. because of the people only to network to get ahead,not lasting friendships. thats stereotypical but ist what Ive heard many times over the years
No, my point is you can’t try to include growth for an area half the size of a state and then try to compare it to an area that has continuous development all the way to New York City.
NYC? Don't cheat yourself; it's not called the Bos-Wash corridor for nothing. So from now on, go ahead and include the MSAs of DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, and Boston collectively when comparing any of them to another place. See how that goes over.
Why do you perceive that? Is it simply because these cities are bigger or denser? I'm asking because my definition of urban pertains more to walkability than density. I don't particularly care about tall buildings and packed areas, I just want to be able to walk to restaurants and grocery stores with good transit options.
This is a tangential discussion regarding one of the finer points that surfaced. We've gone well beyond your original question which has already been answered several times over; after all, this thread is now one year old. You've long had all the information you need to make a decision.
That's interesting when you have the fastest growing city proper, and metro area by percentage of all of those being DC.
I'm not surprised, and DC could be poised to join the three I mentioned, at least in theory. What NYC, SF, and Chicago all have in common is they register net negative domestic migration rates even as the numbers of college-educated and affluent residents increases and becoming ever more expensive to live in. Although the numbers of native-born Americans moving out of each of those cities are greater than those moving into them, the new residents are willing to pay a premium to live there which suggests the "pull" factor isn't primarily about practical reasons. Certainly that's happening in DC as well, even if not quite at the same level. But even so, I think DC's uniqueness as the nation's capital works to even out, if not slightly blunt, its appeal as more of an urban lifestyle city.
One thing I feel needs to be said that Atlanta Beltline is like walking the streets of DC. Its packed with people.Dining and shopping are accessible by foot and plentiful with more and more added constantly.
So while the sidewalks along Atlants's streets may not invoke DC.The Beltline cant be discounted. Its unique to Atlanta but so often its overlooked as an afterthought. It does the exact same job as Atlanta' streets ,it just happens to weave through less traditionally urban neighborhoods. With its construction,those neighborhoods have and are becoming something different than what is normally seen in denser more populated cities. A city that grew up around the automobile but is now growing up with peoples need to be connected to their surroundings without a car.
One thing I feel needs to be said that Atlanta Beltline is like walking the streets of DC. Its packed with people.Dining and shopping are accessible by foot and plentiful with more and more added constantly.
So while the sidewalks along Atlants's streets may not invoke DC.The Beltline cant be discounted. Its unique to Atlanta but so often its overlooked as an afterthought. It does the exact same job as Atlanta' streets ,it just happens to weave through less traditionally urban neighborhoods. With its construction,those neighborhoods have and are becoming something different than what is normally seen in denser more populated cities. A city that grew up around the automobile but is now growing up with peoples need to be connected to their surroundings without a car.
This is so true. My favorite thing about the BeltLine is that all of the areas being knitted together are old streetcar neighborhoods, including the industrial ones.
This is a tangential discussion regarding one of the finer points that surfaced. We've gone well beyond your original question which has already been answered several times over; after all, this thread is now one year old. You've long had all the information you need to make a decision.
I addressed why people would choose those cities over DC for urbanism and explained what I look for in an urban city. My comment on this has nothing to do with the original premise and you didn't back up your comment at all but have time to type this?
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CleverOne
Thats more to do with the economy than the attractiveness of the city itself. If this is the case then Atlanta growing as fast or faster actually does attract people in core which is what I said in response that started this nonsense.
As much as I personally love DC, Ive not met one person anywhere in the US that actually has thought of DC as place to want to live. Ive had to defend my preference.
Its not that the city isnt nice to them,its just doesnt have any special draw . People cant get past the place of government. If feels cold. because of the people only to network to get ahead,not lasting friendships. thats stereotypical but ist what Ive heard many times over the years
You guys are dancing around a lot on this topic so I'll just sum it up...This thread is about urban living for African Americans. DC is the more urban city and metro area. Atlanta is the metro that attracts the most Blacks, but both are top tier in the US in doing so. Comparisons are being made to DC, and other legacy cities urbanity level with the assumption that DC would not be a place of choice to live among the others. Yet DC while in a similar tier of urbanity, and traits as the other legacy cities, has more growth going on. It has more growth going on because of good paying jobs, being a geo-political capital with high level urban amenities, tier 1 public transit, and prime location on the East Coast among other attributes. Only people that close themselves off from reality connect DC with being "all government" in 2021 at least.
All you simply have to do is search for a moving to DC or DMV thread in the DC forum to get an understanding. People move to urban cities for urban amenities. People from other countries as well as other states prefer the urban center of DC than it's suburbs. People move to Atlanta to have space, buy a large home and pay little for it. However, most of that goes on outside of the City of Atlanta. Atlanta is nice, but DC is the vastly superior city proper that I think most would agree, outside of ATL having a skyline. The only debate to be had in this thread is whether or not all of these offerings cater more to Black folks in DC by percentage than it does to Black folks in Atlanta.
Thats more to do with the economy than the attractiveness of the city itself. If this is the case then Atlanta growing as fast or faster actually does attract people in core which is what I said in response that started this nonsense.
As much as I personally love DC, Ive not met one person anywhere in the US that actually has thought of DC as place to want to live. Ive had to defend my preference.
Its not that the city isnt nice to them,its just doesnt have any special draw . People cant get past the place of government. If feels cold. because of the people only to network to get ahead,not lasting friendships. thats stereotypical but ist what Ive heard many times over the years
Probably because all the people you know live in cheap suburbs and are moving to Raleigh since ATL is becoming yuge.
You’ve already showed statistics showing DC and the metropolitan area is one if the fastest growing in the nation. Wasn’t it top 5?
Also, are you suggesting New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago are among the fastest growing cities in the US and adding more people than DC?
Why don’t you just talk about world of Coke, chick-fil-a & Dominion voting machines and not talk about things you’re not aware of. I never think “government” when I’m out having a good time.... why would it cross my mind? Why would I be networking in U Street?
If people can’t get past DC having cold government buildings, I can’t get past Marriott Marquis area in Atlanta being in an area with nothing but looming parking decks facing the street for blocks and the sky bridges that lets you avoid walking on those sidewalks.
Anyway, this is an echo chamber. I’ve refrained from commenting much so other opinions could be in the mix & deviates from the topic.
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