Better group of cities: Georgia vs Illinois (populations, life, Boston)
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As a former Illinois (Chicago suburbs) resident I went with Georgia. Having traveled throughout both states I think GA will definitely take this. As a side note, north GA is gorgeous geographically.
You have mountains, wonderful lakes, and the Chattahoochee national forest in north Georgia, great places for glamping. You have a mini Grand Canyon in the southern portion of the state in Providence Canyon State Park. A bit of the marshland/swamps (Okefenokee Swamp) also in the southern portion of the state and ocean/beaches in Tybee Island and Golden Isles, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Brunswick, Cumberland Island (on Florida's border). It's a diverse state for nature.
The Columbus CSA population is a better representation of the area. Auburn/Opelika, AL is its own MSA even though the Columbus MSA touches it. Only a matter of time before the MSAs combine. The CSA population is a little over 500,000.
Oops that is just the Spartanburg MSA number from the Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson CSA
It did seem surprisingly small to me which is why I put the (?) next to it.
Actual number is closer to what you said and then higher for the whole CSA or upstate region in general
In the latest poll ranking the best small cities in the U.S., Illinois completely outranks Georgia. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst...-live-in/16581. Naperville, Aurora, Elgin, Elmhurst, Park Ridge, Peoria ( ever been there? ) Bloomington-Normal, Campaign Urbana, St. Charles, Evanston, Oak Park, Schaumburg, Wheaton, Galena and the Quad cities are all great cities. What does Georgia have besides Alpharetta, Savanna, Columbus, Decatur and Athens?
80% of these are in Chicago
It's like saying Georgia has Decatur and Sandy Springs, which I guess you did... We're supposed to be looking at cities besides the main one
In the latest poll ranking the best small cities in the U.S., Illinois completely outranks Georgia. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst...-live-in/16581. Naperville, Aurora, Elgin, Elmhurst, Park Ridge, Peoria ( ever been there? ) Bloomington-Normal, Campaign Urbana, St. Charles, Evanston, Oak Park, Schaumburg, Wheaton, Galena and the Quad cities are all great cities. What does Georgia have besides Alpharetta, Savanna, Columbus, Decatur and Athens?
In terms of QOL, Illinois-outside-Chicagoland probably does outrank Georgia-outside-Atlantaland. The urban cores of Peoria, Springfield, and Rockford are struggling, but their suburbs (where most people in those metros live) are probably better places to live than the suburbs of Macon, Savannah, and Columbus. And my sense is that the part of rural Illinois that's truly poor is mostly limited to the extreme southern part (Cairo, Mound City etc.) whereas Georgia has a lot of poor areas in Appalachia and the Black Belt.
Georgia's smaller cities may be more interesting and notable than Illinois', so I think this thread is really conflating two different questions.
There is a difference between rating the other cities of Illinois/Georgia versus the rest of the state of Georgia/Illinois. It's a fair point that the actual topic is the cities, and Georgia outside of Atlanta really gets the edge when it comes to the nature and small towns. Even with Savannah it might not have an edge on the other cities category
Savannah is Savannah
Augusta has "The Masters"
Sandy Springs can talk the talk with Naperville
Alpharetta can walk the walk with Joilet
Macon can go one on one with Peoria
Athens toe to toe with Champaign Urbana
And Columbus Georgia has that cool White Water Rafting thing downtown
Last edited by BlueRedTide; 10-05-2022 at 05:50 AM..
You have mountains, wonderful lakes, and the Chattahoochee national forest in north Georgia, great places for glamping. You have a mini Grand Canyon in the southern portion of the state in Providence Canyon State Park. A bit of the marshland/swamps (Okefenokee Swamp) also in the southern portion of the state and ocean/beaches in Tybee Island and Golden Isles, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Brunswick, Cumberland Island (on Florida's border). It's a diverse state for nature.
Oh ya, we drive through the north GA area at least once a year when traveling to Florida. We've even considered relocating there but we'd have to find a good church. Funny thing is, south Georgia is such a different story. Flat, swampy... dare I say... sort of ugly lol. North GA totally makes up for it lol. South GA just feels like FL without the beaches haha.
Savannah is Savannah
Augusta has "The Masters"
Sandy Springs can talk the talk with Naperville
Alpharetta can walk the walk with Joilet
Macon can go one on one with Peoria
Athens toe to toe with Champaign Urbana
And Columbus Georgia has that cool White Water Rafting thing downtown
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