I was born and raised in SoCal. I spent my 30's in suburban Philly (Glenside, PA) and spent a lot of time hanging out in center city for arts/culture/etc. I moved to Atlanta briefly - and HATED it. Words are not strong enough for how bad it was (for me, not impuning others who have had more positive experiences.) Some of that negative experience was certainly due to a very bad job fit and what I describe was my impressions and experiences... yours might well be different. But Atlanta was bad enough that I cut my losses, quit my job, and moved back to Philly in less than 4 months.
Pluses and minuses for Philly:
- Lots of culture, art, etc. Decent public transit to and around the city (Septa trains)... even a train to the airport which means you can leave your car snug in your garage when you leave to warmer climes for winter vacations.
- I like snow - so that was cool. And I like older architecture - lots of old, interesting buildings in and around Philly.
- Decent availability of outdoor stuff to do - hiking/skiing/rafting in the Poconos. Jersey shore for beach. Boating on the Delaware river. Hiking/trail biking in Wissahicken park.
- Summers are VERY humid. No bueno for this California girl. You pretty much need to limit outside time to early mornings and evenings and spend the rest of time in air conditioning or a pool.
- People are more direct. It's a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)... if a clerk or service person is having a bad day they don't hide it... This took some getting used to but I came to appreciate.
- And... I hesitate to mention it... but it was a shock how open some people about racist attitudes. Especially in the burbs. More overt. Not everyone... but it was there. Statements like "I don't go into the city because there are too many of those people there"...(said by a former coworker who lived/worked in the burbs.) In California, at least in my experience... if people feel that way, they hide it. It is what it is.
Atlanta:
- More temperate weather... but a snow storm that dropped 3 inches of snow shut the place down for a week. (Same storm shut Philly down for 3 days with 3 feet of snow.) I did not stay for the summer but I would imagine it's hot and humid... as bad or worse than Philly.
- Lots to see and do. Lots of hiking/mountain biking (but be ready for orange mud if you go mountain biking.) Stuff to do in town with large parks like Piedmont Park.
- At the time ('96) it was high crime... I hadn't realized this when I moved there. I had my car broken into twice in the <4 months I lived there. I had packages stolen off my porch.
- People are nice... smiles, friendly. But they are not necessarily warm/excepting. I learned that "Bless her heart" was not as nice as it sounds. Compared to Philly with WYSIWYG interactions I had to learn to be skeptical about people's intent behind their smiles.
- I was a single professional and I found it hard to meet people outside of work... Everyone seemed to pair off and move to pool/tennis communities.
- Decent public transit in the city. MARTA (the light rail) goes to the airport... but does not go into every county. For example it stops at the Gwinnet county line. (I worked in Gwinnet, lived in the city in Fulton... coworkers had to drive to park at the edge of their county.)
- While I was there I looked at some up and coming neighborhoods that I found charming but others might not... they've since boomed. I was looking at Grants Park, 5 points, (and loved Virginia Highlands but couldn't afford it.)
It will be a cultural shock with either city... and whichever way you go be ready for that. Whichever way you go I strongly urge you to rent (vs purchase) a place to live till you see if you like it.
