Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Why Does Relocation to Atlanta Appeal to Many New Yorkers?

By Samuel Awosolu

The movies romanticize life in New York City. Taxis are a way of life because so few New Yorkers can afford to own their own space and pay for parking their car as well. To own a home or condo in New York you can expect to pay anywhere from $400,000 to over a million. Owning real estate in the greater New York City area requires wealth.

A typical New Yorker's life revolves around subway schedules and long commutes. Hours of life are spent squeezed into crowded trains, hours of stress that gnaw away at health and happiness. Winters are bitterly cold. Summers are unbearable without air conditioning.

California is the land of sun and fun, unless you actually live there. Then it becomes the land of bumper to bumper traffic. Whether you live in the greater Los Angeles area or the San Francisco Bay area, hours trapped in a car are realities of every work week. In Los Angeles the fog and pollution concoct irritating smog to up the stress level even more. In San Francisco fog may envelop you any day of the year. LA may have mild winters, but the summers can be blistering. San Francisco tends to be damp and dismal most of the year.

A typical Californian may be able to control their schedule, but the cost of gas is higher than almost anywhere else in the country. So is the cost of the typical home. Residents of Los Angeles and Orange County can expect to pay from $340,000 to $430,000 for a single family dwelling. Move north to the Bay area and prices range from $300,000 to over a million dollars.

When you add up the cost of housing, food, and transportation, the cost of living in New York City and the surrounding region is 47% higher than Atlanta, GA. The cost of living in San Francisco is 67% higher than Atlanta, and the cost of living in Los Angeles is 39% higher. You may wonder if relocating to Atlanta might be a good choice.

Anything you can get in New York, LA or San Francisco, you can get in Atlanta. Atlanta offers big city amenities without the big city feel. If you enjoy using rapid transit, Atlanta has this service. The transit system even offers a trip planner on its website. Do you enjoy the cultural life? Atlanta has an excellent opera, ballet, and two symphonies as well as a boys' choir. It also has four world famous galleries. Do you love sports? Atlanta hosts national basketball, football, baseball, and hockey teams. Have you wished you could get closer to nature? Atlanta's climate allows you get creative with your landscaping. You can garden year round if you choose your crops appropriately. Weather is mild in winter and moderately hot in the summer. The city is blessed with frequent rains, making it a green and hospitable place to live.

The cost of purchasing a home is considerably lower than New York or California. You can expect to spend anywhere from $90,000 to $300,000. When you realize that Atlanta is one of seven cities in America that plays a major role in world economics, you can expect that investment to be a wise one. Only New York and Houston host more Fortune 500 companies. Over 75% of the Fortune 1000 companies have established headquarters in Atlanta. This city has grown to be the 10th largest technology center in the U.S. All of the above make relocating to Atlanta very appealing to northerners and people living as far west as California.

Atlanta is a great place to relocate to and live comfortably. It offers everything you need-quality job opportunities, great neighborhoods, and a pleasant climate most of the year. Most of your stress will melt away in this ambient Georgia city.

About the Author:

No comments: