Quality of Life in Atlanta (Kennesaw, Decatur: renting, crime, neighborhoods)

[Dawgman35]

Hi All, my partner and I currently live in Ohio but are looking to relocate to another part of the country to enjoy a higher quality of life. After some research Atlanta seems to offre many of the things we are looking for.

We are a professional couple in our early thirties looking for lots of entertainment options, restaurants, bars, concerts, comedy clubs etc.

Also we enjoy thé outdoors, tennis, parks etc. in Ohio due to thé winters thèse activties are only available about 6 to 7 months out of thé year, Is thé climate in Atlanta much better? How many months out of thé year can one enjoy the outdoors?

Also we enjoy diversity of thought and culture.

In your experience are these things available in Atlanta. Thanks!

[kongster]

Dawgman,

All things mentioned in your post are available here. Atlanta is made up of so many little neighborhoods that each have their own little feature. Great restaurants from upscale to hole in the walls are found everywhere! It's a very diverse city with lots of different ethnicities which usually means great food.

I play tennis myself and I am able to play year round. The winters won't allow you to play in shorts or anything, but you won't have snow to contend with. Bundling up in sweats and sweater do just fine.

As far as outdoors go, you might have to travel into the outskirts of Atlanta to experience that (Kennesaw Mtn, Stone Mtn, Lake Lanier, North GA mountains are a few that come to mind). There is also the Silver Comet Trail which is a paved bike/running trail taking you from Cobb Co to Alabama.

We have two large theaters (Fox Theatre and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre) if you are into Broadway musicals on tour, ballet and opera. There are a number of arts museums with the High being the largest and they usually have pretty good special exhibits. We just had Dali and DaVinci recently and currently are exhibiting Picasso to Warhol. There are several comedy clubs here including the Punchline and Whole World Improv.

You might want to do some reading on AccessAtlanta.com or clatl.com to gain insight on all things quality of life in Atlanta. Let us know what else you're looking for. Glad to help.

[MathmanMathman]

I think we need a sticky FAQ. The same questions keep on appearing over and over. Cover restaurants, culture, climate, outdoor activities...

[lastminutemom]

What about jobs?

[George Chong]

I am dressed and ready to play tennis this morning! We had a very wet January, but other than that - like kongster stated, you can play tennis all year long. Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association (ALTA), has over 80,000 active members. ALTA Tennis - Welcome (Although I have never played on a grass court or know of one in Atlanta). If you are not a member of an ALTA League, you can almost forget finding a tennis court on Saturday mornings when the league is playing (men's doubles). There are also USTA leagues http://www.atlanta.usta.com/, K-Swiss https://www.ultimatetennis.com/ and a gay tennis league Welcome to Atlanta Team Tennis Association

Atlanta is composed of many unique neighborhoods that offer their own unique charm. Here is a nice guide to the city. Creative Loafing Atlanta | Neighborhood Guide Find your jobs and then decide on a neighborhood as traffic can be tough.

Good luck!

[Dawgman35]

Thank you all, this is very encouraging to hear. Particularly the weather portion and all of the outdoor activities. Ohio offers none of this so it seems that heading down south would be a very good move!

[ATLTJL]

That Creative Loafing link is pretty awesome.

It totally glosses over tons of stuff, but I'm amazed it didn't just give higher ratings to areas that are intown and cool like most of the posters here would. It actually took a pretty broad view of metrics and assigned decently fair ratings.

I'm pleasantly surprised.

Especially since some people here would have you believe the Old Fourth Ward is the new Buckhead, but CL says

Average total crimes per 1,000 residents: 184.5

If you live there, you have an 18.45% chance of having a crime committed against you this year. That is completely insane.

So I would agree that the CL link is by no means comprehensive, but it give a pretty fair look at neighborhoods and you can judge for yourself whether crime, transit, etc. measures are most important to you and go from there.

[Dawgman35]

Yes the creative loading link is already giving me ideas on where it might be good to start out renting. I expect we would move around a little to find a long term residence but this will help will acclimation initially.

Everything I"m researching so far is really pushing the ATL to the top of the list. However, I have a concern that I hate to ask about because it pertains to regional stereotypes, the sort that I really hate. But I must ask because its been so reinforced to me, is being quite liberal in Atlanta a problem?

For the locals, I am very liberal in my ideas and lifestyle and am curious is this is of any issue in the south? I know its a stereotype that the south is conservative, however it is the same kind of stereotype of the midwest and I can say from my experience in the midwest, it is true, The people I have encountered here as a whole are very conservative and very closed minded.

Conservative I understand but the close mindedness is what I cannot live with, in your experience is this an issue as a whole in Atlanta?

[testa50]

It won't completely sink you regardless of where you live, although in many suburbs it won't earn you lots of friends. However, if you live in some parts of inner Atlanta it's quite the opposite: being vocally conservative in Decatur would certainly stunt you socially.

The state as a whole is quite conservative (although demographics are doing their best to change this--fully 50% of metro Atlanta and 40% of the state of Georgia is a racial minority), but in inner Atlanta that won't be an issue (assuming that's where you choose to live). In fact, you'll have lots of fun mocking the state politicians and their attempts to outdo each other with crazy proposals like putting "In God We Trust" on the license plates. It's practically a liberal pastime in Atlanta.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Dawgman35

...However, I have a concern that I hate to ask about because it pertains to regional stereotypes, the sort that I really hate. But I must ask because its been so reinforced to me, is being quite liberal in Atlanta a problem?

For the locals, I am very liberal in my ideas and lifestyle and am curious is this is of any issue in the south? I know its a stereotype that the south is conservative, however it is the same kind of stereotype of the midwest and I can say from my experience in the midwest, it is true, The people I have encountered here as a whole are very conservative and very closed minded.

Conservative I understand but the close mindedness is what I cannot live with, in your experience is this an issue as a whole in Atlanta?

well, it depends on what you mean by closed-minded— i'm a libertarian, and i encounter some pretty closed-minded people on the far right and the far left here, it just depends on what you mean.

i think it's funny, honestly, a lot of the time there are people on the left that use the term "closed-minded" to basically meaning "not liberal". about a year ago i encountered an old friend who was pretty loose about their sexuality, "free love" kind of mentality. i said that it was fine with me if they wanted to do that, but it wasn't for me, i was waiting for someone to spend my life with. they accused me of being "closed-minded".

of course if you mean people who are willing to accept different types of lifestyles despite personal differences, people are pretty easy-going in town and even in many of the suburbs. people aren't clannish and judgmental around here, really. if you get into far north georgia it seems like there's more people like that, but around here everybody gets along pretty well; for example the "westboro baptist church" in kansas wouldn't fly here, even the conservatives down here hate them.