Dirty, terrible traffic, was decimated by the recession and not quite back. There are very nice areas like Buckhead, and really rough areas like Lithia Springs.

You'll need a car to get anywhere and you're going to spend a lot of time in it. Especially if you live in one of the popular suburbs like Marietta or even Douglasville.

Source: lived in the area a few times.

> rough areas like Lithia Springs.

To be clear, Lithia Springs is as part of Atlanta as Vallejo is part of San Francisco - as Edison is to Manhatten.

You'd need a car to get anywhere if you lived in Vallejo too... And you'd spend a ton of time in it (and about $10 in tolls) to get to Downtown San Francisco.

But surely places like Alpharetta, Roswell, and Cumming are not decimated. I found them nice places to live although housing was getting into the mid 300K for a 4br/2ba. I found access to downtown easy and the airport was one of the best (in terms of global connectivity).

Crime has gone up ever since I left. Before 2010, it seemed to be on a long term decline. That's no longer the case.

Sure do you have something specific you'd like me to touch on or just in general?

I've lived in Atlanta and don't much care for it, but I'd think the other cities you mentioned would have similar drawbacks. What makes Pittsburgh/Columbus much better?

edit: pros-> good Cost of Living to salary ratio, 4 seasons. cons-> humidity, traffic, public education system, lack of attractions (you can only go to the aquarium so many times).