Athens vs Atlanta (living, cost, better, crime)

[VirtualErik]

Looking to possibly move back to Georgia, I was raised in a small town in Georgia, but have been living away for the last 4 years. I'm currently in Seattle, Washington, and some may recognize me from my other post. However I want to keep my options open.

I know Atlanta and Athens are very different, and not even that far apart. However, my options of transferring are between ATL airport, or a soon to open regional airport in Athens, Georgia. I'm looking for pros and cons between the two.

About me:

40 year old, single white man. No pets, no kids. Just me and 2 cars and a trailer full of enough to fill a 1 bedroom apartment. Speaking of which, which area would be better to rent, and eventually buy? Housing cost, rent, and such. I'm flexible as far as where to rent from, but I want at least 1 bedroom until I'm ready to start looking into buying.

To add to the situation, I do have family, my parents. They live about an hour away from Athens, in the other direction from Atlanta, Atlanta being about a 2hr, not quite 3hr drive away, so visiting won't be much of an issue in either case.

Now in terms of life outside of work, which are would be better? I don't go out much, but I'd like the option. I like malls, movie theaters, ect. I have transportation so transit isn't much of an issue for something I would need. I'm currently like I said, living just 20 minutes from downtown Seattle, so i'm quite accustomed now to having lots of options, and things to do. Concerts, city life, shopping, ect. Athens being a bit smaller, has a mall though I hear it's not so great these days. However has a smaller town feel and would be easier to get around.
So i'm asking for feedback, as far as Cost of living, some what affordable rent, and housing cost, and areas that I wouldn't be afraid to take a nice walk after dark, so crime would be a factor.
Also my budget will be about 42k/year.

Thank you!

I didn't see an Athens thread in the Georgia threads so I posted here in city vs city.

[jjbradleynyc]

I actually have lived between Athens, GA and East TN for about 2.5 years now. Prior to COVID, I was going to relocate back to NYC after being away since 2017, but now I'm moving back down to Athens to remain for the next year, and see how NYC recovers, and give it about a year to settle in there.

Athens is a very inexpensive city, and offers a pretty incredible quality of life. Lots of great live music, good bars, good restaurants, decent shopping options (all the basics and then some), some good original stores and super close proximity to Atlanta for that "bigger city fix" needed, occasionally.

For your preference of buying soon, I'd go with Athens. The metro Atlanta area is creeping ever so quickly towards Athens, and I'd say in another 10-15 years, Athens and Atlanta's metro will be seamless.

I like the east metro are of Atlanta, and the Lawrenceville area is nice with that small town feel in a large metro vibe too. That may be another option for you. It's a bit pricier overall I think than Athens, but also much smaller than Athens, and not a college town.

The great thing about Athens is that it has so many cool things going on all the time, feels big enough for a good quality of living, but close enough to Atlanta for a quick drive there, for entertainment, or even work if willing to do a commute.

[kyle19125]

As a single 40 yo who likes city life, malls/shopping and things to do in general, Atlanta makes better sense in my opinion. There are a lot of nice safer neighborhoods to choose from but given your desire for shopping/malls I would suggest the Lenox Park neighborhood which has lots of nice apartment communities and is close to Phipps Plaza, Lenox Square and Buckhead among others. Living in Fulton County rather than near the perimeter or outside it eliminates much of the traffic headache as well if you can limit your driving to the immediate area, and staying off the highways. https://www.apartments.com/?bb=mn_l_w6l_Hv7w4X