Atlanta just barely OTP (the suburbs, right outside our ring freeway. Pros: Much easier to make it here than Los Angeles, where I grew up. Government processes

Atlanta just barely OTP (the suburbs, right outside our ring freeway. Pros: Much easier to make it here than Los Angeles, where I grew up. Government processes are simpler, taxes are lower for my income bracket and easier to reason about. There. Are. So. Many. Trees. Walkability depends on where you live but is good where I am and even better in Midtown. Where I live it’s a lot like walking in the woods except you have a sidewalk and a Kroger/Wholefoods and local downtown stretch just 20 minutes walking down the road. If you’re into sports, we have one of everything. We have a subway that actually takes you places you want to go, including the airport. Larger stations have a park and ride so the last mile isn’t all that difficult to handle. It’s a shockingly progressive transit system for the part of the world we are in. While LAX is getting better, ATL is such a better airport. I used to hate having to deal with LAX for my work travel. ATL is so much easier to get in and out of and the facilities are top tier. Delta is the dominant carrier and they’re very good at what they do. As a nice bonus, I save a few hours flying to Europe vs LA. Cons: If you live outside the perimeter, this can be socially the equivalent of living in another state. I have friends that won’t drive 15 minutes to where I am “because it is too far.” The population is growing very quickly so we have rush hours approximating Los Angeles. Whenever I am with another ex-Californian or an ex-New Yorker, we joke that the locals have no idea what is happening to them and that this is a Baby LA/NY in the making. If this is managed correctly I think it’ll work out ok. We lack any guarantee that we won’t see the problems those cities have today in our future. While the tax and fee structures are good for me, it’s effectively a regressive tax system for the poor. Some parts of the city seem to consider paving roads optional. “Put a plate on it” is a common joke referring to steel plates being placed everywhere road work has not been completed. This has gotten better but the “Steel Plate” is an active meme on ATL Reddit. While Delta is a good airline, the ATL airport should really just be named “Delta Airport”. For work, I travel to some countries in Europe where Star Alliance airlines are the primary carriers. I’m not particularly concerned about the seat I’m flying in, but nothing has caused me as much travel pain as flying in a KLM long haul flight in Economy. Lastly, you can definitely move to parts of the ATL metro that are unwalkable (as in, no sidewalks and only Strodes between your housing community and other places) and distant from all the city’s points of interest. I wouldn’t rely on a third party to find you a place to live unless you aim for something right in the middle of the city. It’s possible to have a drive that is 20 minutes by flight of the crow take 45 minutes due to the way roads are linked and how the topography affects travel time. One quadrant of the city does not have a link to the subway.