Dallas or Atlanta
 

Hi everyone,

I have employment opportunities in both Dallas & Atlanta. I have couple months to decide which city should I move to. I want to know about Living Cost (House Price...), Weather & Traffic. I would appreciate your time very much if you could let me know which city is better in general in your opinion.

Thanks so much

No question.... Dallas!

ttdf...Can't speak about Atlanta.But here is a link to a site I found quite helpful:
http://www.hotonhomes.com/
My primary residence is in LA but I have a house in Dallas, actually in Carrollton,a burb north of DT proper.Traffic is a nightmare anywhere on our planet.I have found that it costs me about 12.5% less to "live" in Texas.But I dont have kids and schools are not a concern.Weather:Dallas has the extremes:I was there last week and at the end of September it's still 100D!!I was there a couple of years ago in mid Feb.I left my house at 7am it was 65D.At 4.30pm an ice storm enveloped the city.I think the "natives" have a saying: If you dont like the weather, stick around.Its sure to change.Best of Luck!

Dallas.

Atlanta is just such a tough town to live in.

A city in the deep south but not a southern city.

A city with great big town amenities and the crime stats to go with the big town.

A horrible traffic problem (not sure it is so much better in Dallas).

I like Atlanta but it would be hard to live there.

I drive 100 miles to work on some of the worst roads in Dallas. 190 to 75 to 635 to 121 to 114 and back... a few days a week.
I leave at 630am and arrive at work 50 minutes. As long as I leave the office by 4p I have no real traffic problems on the return.
Great thing about Dallas is there are a million alternate routes.

Interesting comments, especially since Atlanta is full of folks who transferred here as part of the corporate ladder climb and then refused the next transfer because they like living here so much. Happens ALL the time.

I was at a party Wed night and half the folks had just recently moved to (or back to) Atlanta area. Great couple from Manhattan. One couple had followed Spouse A's move all their life and Spouse B finallly got to choose the next location. They chose to come back to Atlanta. Of course, they couldn't afford to buy back in their old neighborhood, because of crazy appreciation in the housing market, but were thrilled to be back.

I moved to Dallas as part of a corporate transfer and missed the hills and trees too much. Came back to Atlanta. I would only be happy in the hill country - but that's me. Love the wide open blue sky in Texas though.

Most people who can afford to live inside the Perimeter in Atlanta LOVE IT and would not want to live anywhere else.

Most people that HATE Atlanta are living in the burbs and have commutes from hell and that's what they don't like about Atlanta.

Very interesting to hear that Atlanta "isn't Southern". It was what folks at the party liked best about Atlanta. I suppose you get in what you put out.

Short version - don't consider Atlanta if you can't afford to live near your place of employment. If you have to commute, go almost anywhere else.

Weather in both are similar.

starrsville, don't get me wrong, I like Atlanta and my stepson lives there. It is a very cosmopolitan, exciting, beautiful city.

I just couldn't live there unless I could afford a house in Buckhead. Not likely in this lifetime.

I live in Dallas, and I have a very good friend in Atlanta whom I visit often. Both cities have their advantages and disadvantages.

Both cities are hot and humid in the summer, although Dallas is hotter and Atlanta is more humid.

Housing prices in Dallas seemed lower for more of a house than in Atlanta, but that was only a casual comparison.

Both cities have fairly good mass transit if your work takes you into downtown. (My friend's husband works at CNN and they live in Loganville, so he rides the MARTA daily!)

Both cities have a big airport, although Dallas actually has 2 airports. Southwest does not fly anywhere close to Atlanta, though.

Both cities are suffering from urban sprawl, although I've heard Atlanta is worse than Dallas. We do have a lot of traffic here, although some cities (such as Austin) are worse, IMHO.

Where in Dallas would you be working? To me, that makes a big difference on where you'd want to live.

CP,
I lived in Northwood Hills 1 block S of Spring Valley and Meadering Way for 25 years.
My commute was to Medical City and offices at Hillcrest/LBJ and Preston and Frankfort.
The commute in rush hour traffic was horrendous and I had a tiny fraction of what most Dallasites face daily.
M

I commute daily from Grapevine to Stemmons/Mockingbird. It takes me 20-30 minutes each way depending on traffic, which usually flows at 70 mph unless there's a wreck...

Hey, ChristieP, I commute from Grapevine, too, to downtown Dallas. 25 miles. It typically takes 40 minutes door to door. 25 minutes if it's midnight. 2 1/2 hours if there's an ice storm.

To the OP: I don't consider my commute to be bad. However, there are commutes that would make me want to slit my wrists. You really need to drive to the area in which you're considering living during rush hour to see the commute for yourself.

I've lived in the Dallas area for 24 years. It is a great place to make a living. However, it has no natural beauty. You can't zip to the mountains or the ocean for a quick weekend trip. In Dallas, we eat out and we shop.

ttdf - Let's just say... where are you now, and do you have the option of staying there...?! :-)

To mimic "natural beauty" the Trammell Crow company built curvy sidewalks around the complex, piled up earth dams for "hills", planted little trees so you would think there was something other than flat land surrounding your building. My office in Atlanta was surrounded by trees that reached the 5th floor windows.

The winter wind blowing down the plains from Canada was so strong at times you had to wait at the big glass door for someone else to arrive at work to pry the door open against the wind.

But, that big 'ole blue sky sure was purty. It stretched from horizon to horizon, cause there was nothing to interrupt the view.

I didn't realize that Atlanta was "The City of Trees" until I got back home. There are back yards in Midtown that can make you think you are in the mountains.

We'd go to Las Colinas sometimes to eat and shop to just get some break from the topography - even if it was faux canals, etc.

Grapevine Lake sure was fun though!

Geez, GoT, I must need reading comprehension classes. Your morning post sure didn't sound like "I like Atlanta". I must be missing something.

I've lived in both. Still prefer Atlanta. I thought if I ever moved back to Dallas for some reason I'd get horses - but then, I have them now outside of Atlanta - so no reason to go to Dallas I guess.

ttdf, visit both and see what you think. The # 1 factor to consider - your commute and/or what you can afford close to your place of employment.

As a transplant to Atlanta, I'd have to vote for living here--but then I'm a bit biased. I visited Dallas years ago when the thought of moving had entered my head. I really enjoyed myself, but it didn't 'feel like home'--whatever that means. I think it was the landscape more than anything else. I absolutely love that Atlanta is a green city w/the trees Starrsville spoke about. I love the hills. I like the people here, both the natives and newcomers ...oh, and I hate the traffic...The traffic jams are my #1 gripe about living here but I put up with it b/c there are many other positives.

I don't know how the housing market in Atlanta compares w/Dallas so will let others with more knowledge chime in. I do know that my husband and I can afford a 3200 sq ft. house 10 mi. north of Atlanta in an area of highly rated schools--I'm a teacher and my husband is in sales. I'm a warm weather lover so I can deal with the humid summers even if my hair rebels. I love having the mountains less than an hour from me and somehow accept that the beaches are 5hrs, not 10 min away--I'll always miss living close to the ocean but I realized long ago, I can't have it all.

Good look!

Hi all,

I've been living in Boston for 8 years, and hate the 6-month winter here. The traffic in Boston is the worst that I've ever seen. It takes me 40 minutes one way to drive only 11 miles to work. The house is very expensive too. A 3-bedroom house of 1300 square feet in Boston right now costs average $398,000. I have employment opportunities in Dallas & Atlanta downtowns. Moving is a big decision for me. I'll follow this thread to get more opinion.

Thanks so much for all the posting.

For 400K you can find lots of options inside the Perimeter - and won't be dealing with the horrible commutes you read about in Atlanta.

I've been staying at a friend's house a lot lately (while they are at the lake house). It's just inside 285 & 85 and you can get almost anywhere in less than 10 minutes without traffic and to downtown in less than 30 minutes during commute times. It is heaven. Several friends have moved in from the 'burbs and are absolutely thrilled with their decision.

Don't know what "not Southern" means, but the #1 comment I always hear is how friendly Atlantans are. I've been here (almost) all my life and have never been the victim of a crime - of any kind (knock on wood).

I've found "Atlanta" a delightful place to live and that includes intown, suburbs and exurbs.

If you choose a place reasonably close to your place of employment you should be fine. Enjoy Dallas if you choose that. I'm not going to slam Dallas - I just like Atlanta better.

Missy, I forgot to mention that I work 7 AM to 4 PM, and I guess that is what allows me to get from Grapevine to work in 20-30 minutes.

TTDF, $400,000 in Dallas will buy a HUGE house! Over 3000 sf in a NICE neighborhood! If you're going to work in downtown Dallas, I'd highly recommend living where there is DART rail service. You can ride the train in for $1 each day, but parking will cost about $8 a day.

Never been to Dallas, but I grew up in the Atlanta 'burbs, lived there until a few years ago--love Atlanta. Interesting that a lot of people consider it "not Southern" (and weird that somebody would think that was "the best thing"--what does that mean?). Maybe the population isn't as heavily Southern as it used to be, since so many non-Southern folks have moved there in the past 10-15 yrs (thanks a lot for bringing the bad traffic--haha, kidding!), but I think the city itself still has a Southern character. I hope it never loses it.

Your post reminded me of a morning conversation, dejavu. A friend called me during the commute down 400 and was complaining about "Atlanta drivers" who didn't know how to drive in the rain. I pointed out that most of the folks sharing the road aren't from Atlanta - or Georgia either!

haha, starrsville, too funny. Just wait until the next time Atlanta gets a little snow. Any drivers on the road trying to deal with the black ice won't be Georgians. A half inch of snow means most of the natives (and that included me when I lived there) stay home!! ;-)

The commute DOES stink, there's no getting around that, no matter who's doing the driving. But a lot of cities have bad traffic, that wouldn't be a reason not to move there.

You are so right. Folks from up north laugh at us because everything shuts down when there's a dusting of snow. But, we don't have the removal equipment that colder climes have - wouldn't be worth the purchase or upkeep expense. The best we can do is drop sand/salt on the roads and hope for the best.

My mom worked for the local REA and never got a snow day. She had to hike to the road and wait for the trucks to come pick her up to go to work!

But, it's the same in Dallas. The year I lived there I almost was iced out of the Atlanta airport trying to get home for Christmas - and then an ice storm hit Dallas and I was iced out of my return "home". Talk about DejaVu!

I could probably sell my 2800 square foot, 4 bedroom/2 1/2 bath/2 car garage/3 living area house in a nice suburb of Dallas with great schools for $200,000.

Three days into a move from San Francisco to Decatur, GA and am totally depressed.

It is lovely with lots of trees, beautiful big houses, affordable. And I am sure I will adjust.

BUT to me right now it feels VERY Southern, I am sure it isn't but Roaches, heat, everyone calling me Mrs. and referring to each other as Miss etc. Lousy produce section. Very Suburban too. Atlanta has some big city amenities but it feels all very very suburban to me so far.

I have kids and they are missing their friends a lot (we have been gone for 1 month travelling before we got here) so that rubs some salt in the wound of trying to adjust.

Airport is crazy...

One nice thing for me is where we are living feels quite liberal...a reason I couldn't envision living in Texas.

Ok trying to buck up and wait out the adjustment (luckily kept my house - however tiny- in San Francisco with renter so at least I feel there is some chance I could return)

Sign me fog-head

SFMaster--Looking for good produce selection?? Have someone give you directions to the Dekalb International Farmers Market which is on E. Ponce de Leon in Decatur. It's a great place to shop and convenient from where you are!

"BUT to me right now it feels VERY Southern, I am sure it isn't..."

Yes, it is. I don't understand why people want it not to be. Are we (Southerners) so awful? Sorry, but I am really sensitive about this, after years and years having people put down this or that, or assume ridiculous things (asking me if there was KKK where I lived...just outside the Perimeter!). People saying things around me like they're worried their children will develop a Southern accent from going to a public school. Puh-leeze.

I'm pretty sure non-Southern states have roaches too. Palmetto bugs though...maybe not. ;-)

State Fair of Texas opens this weekend...Cant wait to get down thar and have me some ah them Fried Apple Tacos I hear theyz gonna hav....whooohoooo!! I love tacos so this should be a treat!!

Yes, politics may be an issue. Dallas County actually went 51% for Bush and 49% for Kerry, but the suburbs are VERY conservative. There are liberal pockets but the whole state feels very conservative to me. In Tarrant County (where I live), almost all of the Republican candidates for things like judge run unopposed. The big fight is in the Republican primary.

I have inlaws in Dallas area and have visited there a lot. I would never want to live there because it is VERY conservative and opinionated( large Church of Christ and Republican population) and it does not have any pretty scenery at all unless you count the very expensive large houses and shopping centers. One of the main interests in Texas is football and other sports.

I also have many relatives in the Atlanta and Marietta areas who love living there and have turned down transfers away from Atlanta because they do not want to leave.

It is Southern and at the same time much more cosmopolitan than Dallas. As other posters have said, there are many trees, hills, old houses and interesting areas in the Atlanta area. For me it would be a no-brainer to choose Atlanta over Dallas.

There are many websites where you can compare cost of living and crime statistics of different cities.

I live in the burbs of Atlanta (terrible commute) and I am an actual native. I love it here. I have visited briefly in Dallas. If I had to choose between two cities I would spend a week at least in each location and then decide. I am sure each has good and bad points - but you have to choose based on your personal interests. Good luck!

I moved to Atlanta about 5 years ago... Funny thing was, I didn't know about palmetto bugs (big roaches) until I had to kill one by myself in my just moved in apartment. I put it into a sandwich bag, walked down to the rental office, put it on her desk and asked what it was and why it was in my gorgeous gated community apartment... She politely said "Awww, it's just a palmetto bug" in a sweet southern tang. That was my first taste of Atlanta. Over the two years of living there, I fell in love. Not only with the weather (raised in Chicago), but with the food, trees, and most of all, the people. I made the most incredible friends ever!

My husband and I have since moved back to chicago due to family... but if I ever have the opportunity, I won't think twice... I would be moving back to Atlanta, Geogia. We lived right on lenox road, on the border of buckhead. Smack dab in the middle of everything! I would choose the same area again if I can afford it.