Why are the wealthy people from the north moving down to Atlanta? (Sandy Springs: transplants, real estate)

[mrpanda]

Sandy Springs is ranked as the 9th wealthiest city in the nation. Forsyth County is the 20th wealthiest county in the nation. Altanta is also a destination for the fastest growing millionaires.

I've known several wealthly people from New York and Chicago who have moved down to Altanta in the past 3 years, mostly in Sandy Springs, Buckhead, Milton, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and South Forsyth. These people i know are financially independent and have a net worth between $2 - $5 million.

There is also person from city-data who posted on one of my threads who used to live in Winneka, IL (the most expensive & exclusive zip code in the Chicago land area) who bought a home on a 2 acre lot in Milton.

Here is the question I am curious about. If they enough money to afford a nice home in any location ( Newport Beach, Irvine, or San Diego ), why did they choose Atlanta?

Here are couple of reasons i can think of:
1) Their jobs transferred them to Atlanta so they had no choice.
2) Atlanta has more conservative Christian values that fit their own family values, where Southern California has different values and is more liberal.
3) The low cost of living of Atlanta allows them to grow their wealth even more.
3) Atlanta real estate has more upside potential than Southern California realestate in the next 10 years as Atlanta's real estate is so depressed at the moment?
4) The wealthy see Atlanta as where the future opportunities lies.
5) ????

If you are one of these midwest/east coast wealthy people who moved to Atlanta, what were your main reasons and motivation in doing so? I am extremely curious about this topic.

[tomno00]

there are rich people everywhere. Some people move here for no other reason than the cheap cost of living.

[mrpanda]

Tom,
I understand that.. but why is Altanta becoming the fastest growth destination for millionaires. That is what I am curious about. I have also observed that most Atlanta of transplants are coming from the east coast (NY, NJ, DC, Virginia) and the midwest. Very few transplants from the west coast. I am wondering if Atlanta has more simliar values to the midwest and east coast, compared to the west coast which is more liberal.

[tomno00]

I still think Money is the biggest reason. Cheaper labor and less tax. More liberal areas will always be more expensive. Most rich people want to hang onto as much money as they can.

[tonygeorgia]

- Cheaper cost of living
- Better weather
- lower taxes
- better quality of living

[mrpanda]

One of the successful business owners i knew from Naperville, IL moved to Altanta about 3 years ago. He could easily buy a $3 million home in Newport Coast, California with cash. Recently he bought a foreclosure home in St. Marlo for around $1 million where the previous owner paid $3 Million for the home in '06 or '07. I recently reconnected with him and asked him why he decided to locate his family to Atlanta over a place like Newport Coast, California. His main reason was the difference in core values. He felt the southern, conservative values of Atlanta aligned more with who he is. He disliked the Southern California mentalitiy stating that most people are out there trying to make a name for themselves. He was also turned off by the superficial, materialistic, consumption culture of Socal;. Again, he is just one example who comes to mind.

[Newsboy]

First, beng a millionaire doesn't mean a lot in Winnetka IL. That's like middle class other places. You can be a marginal millionaire but still live like one in Atlanta. Also I think it is the school situation as well. Those places you mentioned in metro Atlanta have some of the finest schools in the country. There's no scocial stigma attached to sending your kids to public schools in metro Atlanta unlike lots of other places. So why not save on private school tuition AND take advantage of the HOPE scholarship? Most wealthy people are smart ... and that's smart.

[DTL3000]

I think everybody has different reasons for moving down here and the wealthy are no different. I think Atlanta has a decent climate for business and most of those people still want to be involved in things. $3-5 million ain't what it used to be and I guess those folks want to make their money last and also keep themselves in a location where they can stay active in the business world. In places like New York or LA, housing prices can easily reach $1million+ for rather modest places. Here you can get the same thing for less than a quarter the price and a million dollars still gets you a very nice house. Now if these people were "buy my own island" rich I'd think they are crazy for moving here.

I can't really speak on the value differences. Atlanta can be just as superficial and materialistic as any place else in my opinion. There are also plenty of negative traits that can be attributed to the southern conservatives in these parts.

If I had that kind of money I'd probably have a place on the Central California Coast or maybe NYC. Of course, like I said $3-5 million doesn't really go as far as it used to.

[cwkimbro]

Well, Atlanta is a major white collar business center. Usually the most wealthy people generate more. wealth from that part of our economy.

Atlanta's big pull for businesses has alot to do with our airport. It isn't just people's first thought... oh its a really busy airport. It is the geographic location. We are almost equally spaced between Miami, NY, Chicago, and Dallas/Houston and direct flights to most places at more times of the day. This becomes the ideal for any company that needs equal access to a majority of the major markets in the eastern and central U.S. Atlanta has more white collar workers and more originating&departing frequent fliers/business travelers for a city our size. Atlanta is an ideal location for access to businesses nationwide, unless the business has a heavier presence on the west coast.

The other side to the equation is... we have a cheap cost of living. It isn't so simple that just, because they have wealth they can live anywhere. People's money goes alot further here. If you have $900,000 to spend on a house...you can get much more yard, house, and/or location to the office/city than you can in most northern cities. The yearly property taxes will also be much lower.

I think culture, like you mentioned, matters for some people. However, I don't know if that alone explains why we have a net gain, since some people would rather live in another type of cultural environment. It might though.

The other issue... I have pondered this, but don't really know (have no direct evidence). It became a widespread thing for many in the U.S. at all incomes to put more of their wealth in a house and not savings with a plan to downsize their house as they got older. It gives people the ability to live in a nicer/richer community, especially while they raise kids, but later in life have more money for their retirement savings. Moving here gives people the opportunity to downsize without losing much. Aslong as they like the community they move into. Having a few million is wealthy, but it isn't super wealthy where someone just keeps accumulating wealthy with no chance of spending it all in their lifetimes. It is still at the point where most people use every dollar to make life better for them and their family and every dollar will count.

The other thing is... for a southern city. We have always had alot of wealth. Atlanta from it's early days was well connected and a progressive leader of the new south at attracting businesses. This isn't a new trend. It has always been this way. As the city grew about the same proportion of wealthy people grew with it.

Now if Atlanta's wealthy population is growing much faster than that other cities... that I don't really know.

Either way, as Atlanta attracts more businesses from the northeast and midwest, it will also bring some wealth with those moves and open up more business opportunity in our market to contract with those firms.

[mrpanda]

Personally for me, I would much rather raise my kids in Atlanta over Orange County, California. I just get the impression that Atlanta has similar cultural and family values as the midwest which is important to me.

I think with the business costs being low, Atlanta would attract a lot of minority entreprenuers. I've read somewhere that Altanta is the second largest foreign immigration gateway in the country. These tier 1 gateways used to be NYC and LA in the 1980s. I think if i was a high paid salary employee Orange County, California would be a great place to live. However if you are a self-funded entrepeneur, the chances of you succeeding would be a lot higher in Atlanta than other high cost areas, which is the reason i see Atlanta attractiing a lot of entrepenuers.