Atlanta...maybe

[Tradd]

You all will likely remember my back and forth about possibly moving from the expensive cesspool of IL. I've got got friends in the Atlanta area whom I keep in constant contact with, although it's been a few years since I've seen them. Anyway, they've been urging me to consider Atlanta, given how large my industry is there. Atlanta serves as a regional transportation hub for the SE, as Chicago does for the Midwest.

I'm going out for a visit within the next few months to get a better feel for the area. COL is lower than the Chicago area - gas is running about $.50 a gallon cheaper than up here.

My friends live just outside of Decatur, which seems to be a cute little town. It's just east of Atlanta. There is some public transit, and Decatur seems to be very walkable.

If I DID move, my timetable would be in about a year. I'm doing my homework very thoroughly from not only what rents are running, but everything from cost of DL/registering car, to checking with an insurance agent on auto/renters costs.

While I'd much prefer a cold climate, I have to admit I'm not that fond of driving on snow. And getting away from the political idiocy here in IL, would be a welcome change. I'll just deal with the humidity. There's just leaving my friends here. The close ones, with whom I've shared my thoughts on moving, have been very visibly upset at the prospect of me moving. :(

I'll keep you updated.

[iris lilies]

You move to warm climate and you will have bugs, lots of bugs. ugh, the bad kind. I don't mind most bugs but roaches are evil.

[Tradd]

I was wondering about that. I hate bugs. I'm still dealing with the drain fly infestation here. Nothing has helped (I swear they're coming in through the windows). I'm going to have landlords bring in an exterminator to see if there's anything that can be done (I'm reupping for another year).

[Rosemary]

I have not lived in Atlanta, but I will say about the southeast in general: it is hot, humid, and as noted above, has abundant and large insects. When I lived in Raleigh, there were 6-inch flying roaches. Now that I've lived in drier climates for over 15 years, visits to Virginia in the summer make me feel like I am suffocating (>90 degrees + >90% humidity). We adapt to climate changes, of course... but I will say that although I mostly grew up in VA, I never enjoyed the summers there.

On your "drain flies:" -- is it possible that they are fungus gnats, which live in soil of houseplants when they get too wet? They can be really difficult to eliminate, and with the damp, wet spring we had here in MN, we had them in our house for a while.

[AmeliaJane]

As a fairly recent transplant from an all-seasons climate, I have found when it comes to Southern summers, you have to accept that in 80% of the country there are times of the year when it is nice to be outside, and times when it is not. In Minnesota, say, you hunker down in the winter, in the South, it's the summer (but then the winter is much nicer). It's hard to accept at first (when it's so beautiful and sunny, it's hard to believe that it's not going to be fun out) but at this point I just plan the movies, craft projects, readathons for summer and hiking, gardening, bike rides etc for winter. Personally I would rather take high ac bills and the occasional weather events over shoveling snow and dealing with icy roads (been there, done that) but different things will work for each person. Several years in, I have less trouble with the summer weather than I used to.

We do have bugs, but we also have a lot of the cutest little geckos ever. I love watching them...

Plus...since you are pretty flexible and well-qualified in your field and are keeping the costs of this project to a minimum, you could try out Atlanta, and if you don't care for it in a couple of years, go back to Chicago. Students and professors do "a year abroad" or residencies all the time. Even if in the end you didn't want to stay, living somewhere else would be a bit of adventure. I would definitely plan to stay a couple of years though, both to make the costs of a move worth it, and because it takes at least a year to settle into a new city, even with friends helping you with the transition.

(FYI I had an acquaintance who lived in Decatur and liked it a lot, better than anything else in the Atlanta area. So there's a vote.)

[Valley]

We spend our winters in Florida and my sister lives in South Carolina. We both have our homes treated for bugs and then we don't have any problem. There is no perfect place to live, but there is a place that is good for you. I know that you are a pragmatic person, so get out your trusty paper and pen and write down what is most important to you and what you want to be able to do with your free time. This will make it a little easier to compare various areas. The job is obviously important, but I think it is easier to judge a workplace than it is to judge the general liveability of an area. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[catherine]

I have never lived in Atlanta, but travel there frequently for business. My perception is it's not nearly as buggy or as warm as Florida for instance. Atlanta's climate is relatively temperate. Maybe I just haven't been there enough.

I think it's a very cosmopolitan town.. We do a lot of market research there because its filled with transplants from other areas, so we get a nice diversity of attitudes. There are lots of nice suburbs there, too, and a nice mass transport system. (hmm.. a little overuse of the word "nice")

[Tradd]

Rosemary, the drain flies really are drain flies. I've seen them coming out of the drain in the bathtub (covering it doesn't make a difference). I also haven't had house plants in years. When you look at pictures online and how they leave a powdery/charcoal like smudge when killed, they exactly match for drain flies.

Decatur is also a very walkable town. It has a high walk score and was named the most walkable town in GA by the Walk Score website. I miss that from when I lived in a certain Chicago neighborhoods.

Oh, I am most certainly down and comparing positives and negatives. At this point, the largest negative would be leaving my church and close friends there. They are family. In fact, when I told some people, from the pastor to my choir directors, that I was thinking of moving, "very unhappy" is how I would describe their reactions. The positives are being close to these friends (it's a family) who are among my favorite people, no snow, get away from IL political idiocy, more conservative area (in general), better gun laws.

I went to B&N last night and got an Atlanta map and one of GA, too. I love maps, and my way to figure things out in a new area is to spread the maps on the floor and orient myself that way.

[Simpler at Fifty]

I still vote for MN Tradd. I think you would like it there. ;)

[shadowmoss]

Atlanta has snow, just not a lot. I lived there for awhile back in the '70s. I remember because I, the northerner, am the one who had a fender bender driving in to work in the snow.

[Tradd]

I still vote for MN Tradd. I think you would like it there. ;)

Simpler, the problem is that there are very, very few jobs in my industry there. I talked to someone who told me several companies have closed their brokerage operations there over the past few years, moving the operations to Chicago. That's a problem.

[rodeosweetheart]

Tradd, I think you would love Atlanta! WE do have airconditioning in the South, and culturally, it is a wonderful city, with easy access to University of Georgia in Athens, side trips down to Savannah and up to Asheville. I think with your love of beauty and culture, you would be very happy in Atlanta.

[jennipurrr]

Atlanta does have an Ikea, which is important in the furniture purging plans, IIRC. Seriously, it is the only IKEA in the deep south so purchasing cabinets has been an adventure thus far (and I haven't even ordered them yet).

Atlanta is a great city and it is very large and diverse, so I am sure you would be able to easily find a new church home. You definitely want to make sure you live close to work, or the opposite way of traffic. It sounds like you are thinking that way since Decatur is centrally located. My husband worked and lived in Roswell (suburb) briefly some years ago and it was so trafficy and sprawly, I hated it, but it is way out..."Outside the Perimeter" as they say in Atlanta.

The MARTA is very easy to use as far as public transit goes. It is super easy to get to/from the airport on it - my slightly snobby (Alabama turned) Manhattanite friends couldn't believe it. It has fairly limited access in where it goes though, which is a hold over from segregation. So it doesn't really go out past the core of the city.

Southern summers are hot, but I think the rest of the year is pleasant. I don't care much for cold though. You probably will have to have some kind of pest control, but it is MUCH more temperate than FL. For example, you will get a hard freeze or two each winter which make the bug population more bearable.

[rodeosweetheart]

[QUOTE=jennipurrr;147803]Atlanta does have an Ikea, which is important in the furniture purging plans, IIRC. Seriously, it is the only IKEA in the deep south so purchasing cabinets has been an adventure thus far (and I haven't even ordered them yet).

There is an IKEA in Charlotte, NC as well. (5 year Ikea employee here!)

You will love the cabinets--I assembled mine myself watching tv--they are so easy!! We did 2 IKEA kitchens and they were beautiful.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I almost moved to Atlanta in 1989 and spent some time in the area that year. I was impressed with the weather there - winters are not that harsh but you do get four seasons there and the Springs and Falls are so nice! Summer, meh, but I live in Phoenix so I know about challenging summers. I loved how green it was there. What I did not like was how it sprawls and sprawls and sprawls and is auto dependent for most folks. At the time it was quite inexpensive to live there, one could find a decent house for around 60,000, but I gather it has gotten pricier since then. I understand Georgia was hit quite hard in the recession and has not quite clawed it's way back yet, and I don't know how that would affect you personally. Just my two cents. Rob

[Tradd]

Gimme, a sprawling metro area and lack of suburban public transit is nothing new to me. The Chicago area is just like the Atlanta area in those two aspects.

[Float On]

We looked at Atlanta a couple of years ago. DH really didn't want to move back that direction (he grew up about 5 hours from there in SC). I really think I would of liked it. Beach or mountains within a day's drive.