Pros and Cons of Living in Atlanta, Georgia in 2023
Just to be clear, we’re talking about actual Atlanta today and not the suburbs, though people often use “Atlanta” to refer to the entire metro area. If you are interested in learning more about the suburbs, head to my video list and check out the videos there!
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I’ve got 5 pros and cons for you today, but here’s a bonus con: traffic. It goes without saying that any major city is going to have a lot of traffic. Atlanta is no exception to that rule. So, I won’t bore you by going into the details of our traffic situation. Plan for it, listen to the daily traffic report before you leave home or work to plan the best route for that day, and hope for the best!
Con 1: Poor public transportation. Part of the reason traffic is as bad as it is here in Atlanta is limited public transportation. Most people who don’t live within walking distance of their job, which is the vast majority of Atlantans, have to drive to work.
Other cities like New York City and Washington DC have robust public transportation networks and still have a ton of road traffic, but not nearly as much as there would be if you took all of the public transportation commuters and put them in their own vehicles to drive to work.
Here in Atlanta on the other hand, unless you happen to live within walking distance of your job or a bus stop, you are driving to work. You are also driving across town for date night, to visit friends, or go shopping. There are of course options like Lyft and Uber, but you pretty much have to get in a vehicle to go almost anywhere.
Atlanta didn’t even make the top 10 list of cities with the best public transportation by US News & World Report, placing after cities like Newark, New Jersey, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia.
Pro 1: Sports Scene. If you are a sports fan, Atlanta has got your back. We have a professional baseball team, football team, men’s basketball team, women’s basketball team, and men’s soccer team.
We used to also have a professional women’s soccer team and a professional hockey team, but the hockey team was moved to Canada and the soccer team ended when its league folded.
We also have a minor league hockey team and baseball team out in the suburbs.
The running joke here used to be that Georgia sports teams love to build expectations of a great season only to dash them in dramatic fashion. But, I’m proud to say the Atlanta Braves won the World Series in 2021 and even though it isn’t in Atlanta, the University of Georgia’s football team won the 2022 National Championship. The Atlanta Hawks even gave a good run two years ago in the NBA playoffs. Things are looking up for us here in Georgia!
As the only city in the Southeast (not counting Florida) with a Major League Baseball team, we definitely have a lot to offer when it comes to sports.
Con 2: Airport Hassle. Atlanta is home to not only the nation’s busiest airport, but also the world’s busiest airport: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. That is awesome if you are booking a flight as there are so many flights from Atlanta to other locations.
The downside to this is that the Atlanta airport is huge. Parking at the airport can be a hassle, and it can easily take an hour or longer to go through security. But, I have to laugh because of course I pulled up the wait time and it was under 15 minutes! Then, you are at the mercy of the airport’s internal transit system, or a potentially really long walk, to get to your gate on time.
A few days before your flight, and again the day of, check the airport’s website for the current security wait times and follow the recommendation for how early you should plan to arrive for your flight.
To round out the top 5 and give you a point for comparison if you’ve ever flown in or out of any of these airports, here’s the other airports on the list for 5 busiest airports in the US: Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, O’Hare, and LAX in Los Angeles.
On a regional note, Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, NC and Orlando International Airport down in Florida are the 6th and 7th busiest in the country.
Pro 2: Ponce City Market. Without a doubt one of the coolest things in Atlanta, the Ponce City Market is well worth a visit. Designed as a live-work-play space, the Ponce City Market is popular with those who live there, but also those who don’t call it home.
There are a variety of high-end retailers and in the food hall there is a wonderful selection of restaurants. No visit is complete without taking a trip up to the rooftop, one of the most popular places for 20 and 30-somethings, and everyone else, in Atlanta to hang out.
Offering food, drinks, games, and more, you’ll want to consider buying an annual pass if you leave nearby. During the winter, private heated igloos are even offered for small groups to rent so they can still enjoy the rooftop amenities while staying warm.
Apartments are also located above the market, offering a luxurious place to call home in the heart of Atlanta and several companies also call the office space at Ponce City Market home.
Ponce City Market also offers a Suzuki preschool, a yoga studio, athletic club, barbershop, doctor’s office, and dentist.
Con 3: Lackluster Museum and other attractions. Okay, I feel bad saying this, but Atlanta’s museums are not bad, but are not as awesome others I have been too. Washington DC really sets the bar when it comes to museums in America. There are not only a lot of museums (over 70 in DC, compared to Atlanta’s 40 or so), the museums in Washington DC are very well done, well maintained, and just a joy to visit. The best part is that many of them, like the Smithsonian museums are free!
The National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum are both free to visit, unlike the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, which currently costs $16.50 per ticket for visitors over age 6.
I will say that the children’s museums in both cities charge admission and are comparable in price. Both cities also have impressive aquariums, but the Georgia Aquarium charges a flat ticket fee for visitors over age 2 while the National Aquarium offers discounted tickets to children up to age 11 and to seniors.
Tickets to Zoo Atlanta will cost you around $20 for a child and up to $30 for an adult. Now, that’s downright cheap compared to a child’s ticket to the San Diego Zoo starting at $55, but there are several amazing free zoos in the United States. Those include the Smithsonian National Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and the St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis.
It is not that Atlanta has bad museums or anything like that, but in comparison to other museums and offerings out there, it is not an area where Atlanta shines.
Pro 3: Job Market. A strong job market and economy are one of Atlanta’s strengths. Unemployment in October 2022 was 3.7% in the US as a whole, and only 2.9% in Georgia. Within 10 miles of the 30303 zipcode, 200 jobs were posted on EmployGeorgia.com, and despite such a low unemployment rate, job creation has continued to outpace the number of job seekers.
Per the Georgia Department of Labor, Georgia has added jobs in a variety of industries, and the bulk of the jobs added have been in the Atlanta area. These include jobs in education, healthcare, finance and insurance, and professional, scientific, and technical services among other industries.
In fact, Atlanta has had one of the most robust job markets for tech related jobs in the country. Per Dice.com, a website that tracks all things tech jobs, Atlanta has had the most tech jobs in the country over the past 18 months, beating out cities like Austin, Charlotte, Seattle, and San Francisco.
Con 4. Crime. Like most major cities, Atlanta struggles with crime. For most of 2022, crime rates as a whole were well over the rates for 2021. In November 2022, Atlanta police announced that crime rates were decreasing and only up 3% compared to the previous year and stated they hoped to end the year with a reduction compared to 2021.
However, while Atlanta police said violent crime had been decreasing, burglaries were up 11% and shoplifting was up 15% compared to the same point the previous year.
In its report, police also said close to 40% of homicides in Atlanta are related to arguments that turn violent.
Local news station 11 Alive did a comparison of crime in Atlanta to crime in Chicago, looking at crime per 100,000 people since Chicago is a much larger city than Atlanta. They also looked exclusively at crime in the cities and not any suburban areas. In the first 5 months of 2022, which is the crime data that was available at the time of the station’s report, Atlanta had a higher murder rate and triple the rate of aggravated assault when compared to Chicago. Burglary, theft, and auto theft rates were also higher per 100,000 people in Atlanta than in Chicago.
Thankfully, as I mentioned earlier, Atlanta police did report that crime rates dropped throughout the second half of 2022.
As you should in any city, stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings and don’t keep valuables in your car.
Pro 4. Travel Hub. I know earlier I said that the hassle of going through the Atlanta airport is one of the cons of living in Atlanta. But, on the flip side, if you travel often, having a major international airport only a short drive away is a huge pro.
You can take a direct flight to many locations from Atlanta and don’t have to fly into Atlanta to make your connecting flight. Right now, there are flights to 151 domestic destinations and over 50 countries, with an average of 2700 flights coming or going from the airport daily per the Clayton County government’s website.
Atlanta isn’t only convenient for air travel, it is also only about a 2-hour drive from the mountains and a 4-6 hour drive from the beach, depending which beach you are visiting. Plus, Lake Lanier is only about an hour north of downtown Atlanta if you want to spend a sunny weekend day on the water.
Con 5. Diversity. The Metro Atlanta region as a whole is very diverse, with Gwinnett County being one of the most diverse in the entire Southeast. But the city of Atlanta is does not really reflect the diversity of the surrounding area and is less diverse than other similarly sized cities in the country.
Atlanta is 38% white and 49.8% black, and only 4.9% Hispanic and 4.8% Asian per the 2020 census.
In contrast, Charlotte, North Carolina is another major city in the region and is 40.7% white, 35.5% black, 14.6% Hispanic and 6.6% Asian.
Orlando, Florida is more diverse as well, at 36% white, 24.2% black, 32.7% Hispanic, and 4.7% Asian.
Pro 5. The Beltline. I almost left this off the pro list, just because it is on every list of great things about Atlanta, but is really is too great to leave off my list. The beltline’s moto is “Where Atlanta Comes Together” and that is really true.
It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the nation and has made a tremendous positive impact on the city.
Much of the beltline is open, and the last phases are still to come. When it is completed, it will connect 45 Atlanta neighborhoods via a system of parks, trails, and street car and form a 22-mile loop.
A private urban farm along the beltline sells farm fresh produce to Atlantans on Sunday afternoons during the growing season. A variety of free fitness classes are offered in the parks along the beltline and the beltline sponsors about 3 races of varying lengths a year. The Atlanta beltline also partners with the Atlanta Track Club to sponsor a free weekly running club. You can find all the details on the beltline’s website. The groups runs are even stroller and dog friendly and meet at a different brewery located along the beltline each week.
The beltline also functions as an art gallery, with art in a variety of mediums displayed along the trail.
There are 10 parks located on or near the beltline, ranging from small pocket parts to the 280 acre Westside Park. Amenities vary by park but include playgrounds, a splash pad, pavilions, picnic area, dog park, disc golf course, and more. There are currently 8 open multi-use trails, and additional unpaved trails are open as the beltline project awaits funding to complete those sections.
The beltline provides Atlanta with parks and trails and opportunities to get outside that otherwise would be much harder to find in the city.
So there you have it! My 5 pros and cons on living in Atlanta in 2023. If this video has you excited to call Atlanta home, or even just curious about exploring the possibility, give me a call, send me a text, or send me an email; whatever is most convenient for you. Let’s find the perfect Atlanta home for you!
