Cant decide Atlanta or Tampa? (state, better, people, cons)

[dnc19694339]

We are currently in Upstate NY and will be moving down south for warmer weather in the next year or two (when business and home sell). My wife is interested in the atlanta area because she has a couple friends there. I am thinking tampa area because I have friends there and because I will be able to run my business all year long there (landscaping). Wife is a hairdresser and we are both 40yrs old with a 10 yr old daughter.

We go back and forth about how tampa is hotter, but the economy may be better in atlanta which would be better for both of our business.

What do you think?

[DeaconJ]

Both are nice cities...Atlanta is about twice the size of Tampa, so that is something to consider. Do you want a larger city?

Landscapers in Atlanta work year round as well, and although there is normally less work available in Dec/Jan/Feb than during the rest of the year, there is still winter maintenance to be done.

Tampa isn't much if any hotter than Atlanta through the summer months (June/July/August) but Atlanta is slightly less humid. One advantage I would give Atlanta is the beautiful warm (but not hot) weather beginning around the last week of February and lasting through May, then again beginning in September and lasting through November. But Tampa certainly has the beaches to counter any weather advantage that Atlanta might have.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Although you are fleeing cold weather, if you ski pick Atlanta.

Of course, the trade off is the winters are colder (including a small bit of snow) than Tampa.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Although you are fleeing cold weather, if you ski pick Atlanta.

Of course, the trade off is the winters are colder (including a small bit of snow) than Tampa.

True...Atlanta actually has winter, where in Tampa it simply cools off a little during the winter months. Granted, the winters in Atlanta are usually very mild with very little (if any) frozen precipitation.

[dnc19694339]

No skiing, Im looking to get away from the snow. We average 120 inches per year! Im done with it!

[noland123]

edited out

[noland123]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Although you are fleeing cold weather, if you ski pick Atlanta.

Of course, the trade off is the winters are colder (including a small bit of snow) than Tampa.

You can pick Tampa for skiing also.

[atlantagreg30127]

Note that while we have an actual Winter, that during Springtime Florida gets a LOT more rain/stormy days, and on those days, landscapers don't work. So your number of actual days during the year where you can work is probably evened out by this.

[Iconographer]

My personal opinion is that you're going to see a faster economic recovery in the Atlanta area than you will in Tampa. I've been down there a few times in the last two years, and the real estate picture looked pretty grim to me; the sun shining right through empty condo buildings, partially completed projects that have come to a dead halt for months...nothing scientific, but just an observation. The downturn just feels more obvious down there than it does here.
My nephew owns a landscaping business (in suburban Cobb County, GA) and says that 2010 is looking like a better year for him than 2009 as the RE market is beginning to ramp up a bit.

[noland123]

I definitely would prefer Tampa if I were a landscaper,nice weather most of the year round,it does get humid but so does Atlanta.

I love the Tampa Bay area with its beautiful beaches(Clearwater and St. Pete) as Atlanta is land-locked,however I do love Stone Mountain.



Atlanta is very spread out and is a very fast-paced rat race of a city with its prodigious amount of traffic,it is not uncommon for people to drive 50-60 miles to work.Tampa is not that sprawled out because of its parameters and not as fast=paced as Atlanta.