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Jetting off to Atlanta?

0098386

0098386

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Original poster
Jan 18, 2005
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I've just graduated university here, still awaiting my actual results but the lowest I've been told to expect is a 2-1. Anyroad. I've been working remotely for a games company based over in Atlanta, and I'm considering flying out there and working in-house with them since I'm free now. Just seems like such a big step to make.
Atlanta nice?

Coming from England is there anything important I'd need? I haven't researched into this yet. I probably should.
 
also considering atlanta and know some people from there. do you know exactly where in the area is the gaming company located? you'll have to, as atlanta traffic rivals la, and it can get bad. but cost of living is pretty low comparable to most major us cities. so overall, it's nice as long as you stay in the right areas.
 
Atlanta is great, refer to furcalchick's thread about the city to give you some detailed advice on it.
What area are you planning on living (if you name some streets or town names I can help you a ton more)?
 
am i teh only one that misread the thread's tittle as something else? :D
 
I'm not sure yet. All I know is "one studio is in Atlanta, and offices are in Atlanta and Texas". I doubt I'll be there long too. Since I plan on either opening my own studio or running another one of their studios somewhere on the west coast in a couple of years.
 
How long is "not too long?"


Anyway, I've only flown through Atlanta (as a layover), so my only first hand advice would be...

Bring a map for that airport! :p
 
EricNau said:
How long is "not too long?"


Anyway, I've only flown through Atlanta (as a layover), so my only first hand advice would be...

Bring a map for that airport! :p
Click to expand...

On the contrary- the airport is one long line and nothing more :p
Just make sure you get on the right tram.

It sounds like you'll be looking at apartments. In that case you'll probably wanna look outside the city limits themselves. The key is the farther from the city limits you get (with exceptions) the cheaper it is, and more than likely the better area you'll find yourself in.

The nicest area within the city is atlantic station, but those condo's are a bit pricey. I don't know what sort of public transportation you're use to, but MARTA is what we have here. Basically there are subway lines that go north and south, and another set that go east and west. These are pretty good for getting site to site throughout certain area's of the city, but it's not really a viable option for going to a ton of places like New York's subway grid.
 
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/307520/

that's the thread. stay away from buckhead and areas south of the 20 and north of the 285. that whole area is trouble.

and also, there's confusion between the decaturs you may get. the town of decatur is nice, but unincoprated decatur, along with the rest of dekalb county is a no-no. gwinnett county is the nice place though.
 
EricNau said:
How long is "not too long?"
Click to expand...

I've no idea. This whole thing has little set in stone. All I know is they came to me last year after I release a quite popular indie game and asked if they could publish my next production. And that we've had chats about me flying over after I release my next game.
 
Thats great, I live there (well 45 minutes away).


I know this is weird but i think i once had a dream about meeting you on a family vacation to England:p

Gwinnett county and Duluth are the best places to live. Or somewhere around Dacula.

And @ Ericnau, the Airport is HUGE!, biggest in America I think. But they are currently remodeling the terminals.

Also, stay safe. I think Atlanta is like number 8 on the top 10 murderous cities. If you listen to any rap music (if you come to Atlanta that what you are gonna be hearing A LOT) you will always hear them referring to the A, which is Atlanta. So watch your back;)
 
twistedlegato said:
Also, stay safe. I think Atlanta is like number 8 on the top 10 murderous cities. If you listen to any rap music (if you come to Atlanta that what you are gonna be hearing A LOT) you will always hear them referring to the A, which is Atlanta. So watch your back;)
Click to expand...

from what i hear, it's mostly isolated in a few areas, notably most of atlanta south of 1-20, buckhead, dekalb county, parts of marietta and a few other areas. so it's not all over the place like detroit or some other metros.

gwinett county is good, and decatur (the town) are the good parts.

but again, do you have any idea where this company is located in the area? do you have the company's name, perhaps you can get their zip code and google earth it, as location is a major factor to where you want to live in atlanta. it's like la in that sense.
 
furcalchick said:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/307520/

that's the thread. stay away from buckhead and areas south of the 20 and north of the 285. that whole area is trouble.

and also, there's confusion between the decaturs you may get. the town of decatur is nice, but unincoprated decatur, along with the rest of dekalb county is a no-no. gwinnett county is the nice place though.
Click to expand...

Wow, are you misinformed. Do the original poster a favour and don't give any more 'advice' about Atlanta.

raggedjimmi said:
I've just graduated university here, still awaiting my actual results but the lowest I've been told to expect is a 2-1. Anyroad. I've been working remotely for a games company based over in Atlanta, and I'm considering flying out there and working in-house with them since I'm free now. Just seems like such a big step to make.
Atlanta nice?

Coming from England is there anything important I'd need? I haven't researched into this yet. I probably should.
Click to expand...

PM me with any questions you have. Been living there over 20 years. It's a great place, and there's a lot of misinformation in this thread.
 
It's hot, very hot in the summertime, because a warm, humid air mass descends on Atlanta in May and usually just squats there till the end of August, sometimes later. Winters are agreeably short -- and when things get icy, Atlanta just shuts down and waits a day or two, and it passes. The rainiest months are October and September. If you are sensitive to the sun, prepare to get used to the idea of wearing light hats and clothing outdoors.

If you like the outdoors, you'll be pleased to know that you're not far from good hiking in some very old mountains. Georgia also has a number of fresh water lakes where one can swim or go pleasure boating.

Housing will be your biggest expense. Apartments are easy to find, but quite costly for what you get. With a range of sizes available, apartments can often provide housing nearest your workplace.

You should be able to rent a home for around $1200-1500 per month. You will need [not wish you had, but NEED] an automobile, and you'll need to adapt to using it often -- get used to the idea of driving everywhere you go.

If you prefer a quiet life, try to rent a home. We get loud over here. Apartments can be loud places to live. Sorry, I should point out that "a home" in this context means a free-standing house, almost always a single-family dwelling.
 
Gwinnett county is nice. Away from the city but growing fast. My sister in-law lives in Snellville, about 8 minutes from I-20 and the same from HWY-78. There are back ways to everything. Her mom lives in Tucker and my sister lives in Alpharetta.

- James
 
Thanks all :)

I don't know if this is some kind of omen, but I've been inching myself through Futurama on my iPod (got the DVDs and never watched then, missed it on TV) and just before bed I got onto that episode where they go to the underwater Atlanta :D

Anyroad. From discussions with the company I don't think I'll be moving until my game is complete. I should probably be working on it now... come to think of it!
 
BoyBach said:
I'll say it: Don't forget your toothbrush!

:p


In all seriousness, good luck on your new - and hopefully succesful - career James.
Click to expand...

All for the love of all things two and four wheeled, learn to merge. Please.
on top of that, it gives you the ability to yell at other people that slow down the flow of traffic cause they didn't learn how
Sometimes, the traffic will slow down so that people can oogle at the traffic accident. However, more frequently, traffic will slow down for you guessed it, NO REASON AT ALL! No on ramps, no off ramps, so construction, no accident. You slow to a crawl because..............yeah.

One big problem with the traffic there is the fact that merging slows things to a crawl.

If you drive, drive a motorcycle.:D
 
^^^ Not really.
Traffic slows during the predictable times (6-9 am and 3:30-7 pm) due to higher levels of traffic from people leaving work. Sure you'll have a random traffic issue occasionally, but for the most part you'll have traffic (within the city) due to the merging of local interstates, as well as the perimeter, which is an "interstate" that goes around the city. You'll also get traffic jams around the city near the sports arena's if a team is playing (Except the hawks...) but that's to be expected.


Really- traffic sucks, but it's because the city is pretty congested and the traffic times make sense.
 
jamesarm97 said:
Gwinnett county is nice. Away from the city but growing fast. My sister in-law lives in Snellville, about 8 minutes from I-20 and the same from HWY-78. There are back ways to everything. Her mom lives in Tucker and my sister lives in Alpharetta.

- James
Click to expand...

Another vote for Gwinnett county, here. I'm actually a resident of Gwinnett, so jimmi, if you need some help, let me know. Depending on where the job actually is, Gwinnett could be a pretty good spot for you.

I'll second the fact that inside I285, I wouldn't go for anything south of I20, and midtown (around the Ga Tech campus) is developing quite nicely (Atlantic station is like a city within a city, but its expensive). To the northwest of Atlanta is Cobb county, and to the north, you have Buckhead & Alpharetta. Both parts are nice, but again expensive.
 
furcalchick said:
in what ways? tell me.
Click to expand...
I'd like to hear it too. I only lived there for a year (during graduate school) but, for the most part, the advice I'm seeing jibes with what I remember about Atlanta (e.g. when furcalchick says to avoid "south of I-20," I'm specifically thinking of EAV).
 
Lyle said:
I'd like to hear it too. I only lived there for a year (during graduate school) but, for the most part, the advice I'm seeing jibes with what I remember about Atlanta (e.g. when furcalchick says to avoid "south of I-20," I'm specifically thinking of EAV).
Click to expand...

i think the poster clarified what i said earlier. what i meant was that the parts of atlanta south of 1-20 inside the perimeter are a bit dicey.

i've been browsing around atlanta forums for a while, and have a few cousins down there also, one specially in real estate.
 
I live about 30 minutes north of atlanta in canton (read "redneckville"). I would suggest something around atlantic station. It is a safer area, and pretty close to everything.
 
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