I'll be going to Georgia Tech this summer, taking two courses. While both these classes will take up most of my time during the week, I'll probably have some spare time over the weekend. My housing, tuition, and food expenses are already taken care of, but I need to gauge how much spending cash will be available.

What's a good amount of money that will sustain me for the duration of the summer in Atlanta? I mean, I'll be in a big city and I'll want to do more than just sit around on campus studying and sweating. I figure $1500-$2000 would be enough to enjoy myself for three months down there.

2/24/2006 2:17:53 PM

It's cheaper to live in Atlanta than Raleigh and most of NC. Even groceries are less. $2000 ought to be more than enough. Hell, I'm moving to Japan and probably won't even be working with that much $$.

2/24/2006 3:01:07 PM

yeah, for a bigger city atlanta is pretty affordable for most stuff. you've got the buckhead area where you can blow some cash going out, but other than that i've never found prices to be much different than here. fun town, but one summer will be plenty of time to live there.

[Edited on February 24, 2006 at 3:16 PM. Reason : .]

2/24/2006 3:15:33 PM

I've been in Atlanta (and a Georgia Tech) for the past 2 years... One of the only things I would say is really more expensive than Raleigh is the living expenses. A typical 'nice' 2BR/2BA apartment costs approximately $1100, give or take depending on the location, but since you've got housing taken care of, it's no big deal.

The restaurants, movies, groceries are all similarly priced to Raleigh. The gas is actually cheaper down here. But for how much spending money you should have, I would agree between $1500 - $2500, depending on your lifestyle, how often you plan on going out to eat/bars, and what kind/type of restaurants you want to go to.

2/24/2006 3:42:00 PM

Alright, then. Maybey I won't need to borrow as much money as I thought. Just found out NC State (or any other school, but not likely) doesn't offer Stafford Loans during the summer. Bullshit.

2/24/2006 3:43:31 PM

good luck down there....a lot of hoods and bums.....don't walk around the wrong places....or you will owe more than money.......

2/25/2006 1:50:13 PM

i think it's funny that people think 1100 is a lot for a 2br/2ba

i spend about $1500 a month living here...rent and everything included. and I'm in grad school, so i know how tight money is...be prepared to spend money to go out on the weekends - it's my biggest expense next to rent

[Edited on February 25, 2006 at 3:04 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2006 3:03:04 PM

actually you can still pull out stafford loans during the summer

but if you've already reached your annual limit then you can't... i think it's 5400 or something that you are alotted per year, including summer

2/25/2006 4:24:57 PM

Quote :

"It's cheaper to live in Atlanta than Raleigh and most of NC"

can some PLEASE confirm this

like either with a link or personal testamony

2/25/2006 4:47:31 PM

Quote :

"i think it's funny that people think 1100 is a lot for a 2br/2ba"

$1100 is a lot of money, especially to a student. And it's a lot more than what it costs in Raleigh, by at least a couple hundred dollars. But $1100 is just the median price that I noticed when I started looking for apartments a couple of years ago. Anything in a nicer part of town will cost significantly more. Where I am in Buckhead, I'm paying close to what goalielax is, just for the base rent ($1400). With utilities and stuff, I also am looking at around $1600. It's a shitload to be paying, especially as a student, but I feel good about where I live. If I knew I was going to be in Atlanta for a long time, I'd probably look into purchasing something, but I can't say that I'm not excited about moving somewhere else.

To answer ^ your question, I'm sure there are places in Atlanta that are cheaper than in Raleigh... but in the city, I wouldn't really count on that, unless you want to live in a complete shithole. I've gotten lost downtown before, and have ended up in places I don't care to ever visit again. I'm sure you can find a place down there for next to nothing.

2/25/2006 5:12:44 PM

WHATEVER YOU DO DONT GO OUT IN BUCKHEAD IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE.


although it is really easy to pick up hoes there, so if you're hard up it might be worth it.

2/25/2006 9:22:11 PM

^ you mean bankhead - buckhead is more upscale

bankhead is out on the west side, buckhead is right north of downtown

gtech is right between the two of them, but closer to downtown than to bankhead




only gripe i have with atlanta is that it's pretty much compulsory to have a car to enjoy the city, marta's rail system doesn't cover NEARLY enough of the city

2/25/2006 9:27:25 PM

http://swz.salary.com/costoflivingwizard/layoutscripts/coll_result.asp?presentsalary=100000&presenthomemetrocode=141&presentworkmetrocode=141&newhomemetrocode=8&newworkmetrocode=8&x=54&y=4

2/25/2006 9:44:24 PM

$Georgia

2/25/2006 9:46:16 PM

Be prepared to sit in traffic. If you thought Raleigh was bad, wait till you get to ATL.

2/25/2006 11:09:02 PM

aha who thinks raleigh has bad traffic

ahahahahaha

2/25/2006 11:22:07 PM

I think Buckhead blows - only places we really go now are Midtown or the Highlands (with the occasional venture into Little Five Points). It might be a decent place to live, but I can count the number of times I've gone to Buckhead in the past 18 months on one hand.

And you're right about having a car. MARTA sucks a big fat dick and traffic blows from 7-9am and 4-7pm...even worse if it's Monday or Friday.

2/25/2006 11:45:54 PM

Yeah, L5P has a lot of nice places to eat - The Vortex immed. comes to mind, there's also some brick-oven pizza joints there too. Decent shopping down there as well, beats the hell out of trying to find parking/walking room in Lenox


Shit the more I think about it, the more I wish I'd went around all sides of Atlanta - the southside (Henry County), way out east past Decatur into Rockdale County, and a lot more downtown...



MY BIG ATL SECRET: Chinese Buddha - 24hr Chinese restaurant. It's off 75/85, I believe you take the 10th/14th exit to get there. Their sesame chicken is the best I've ever had, even at 4am after barhoppin/clubbin...

2/26/2006 6:36:10 PM

Quote :

"aha who thinks raleigh has bad traffic ahahahahaha"

I'm pretty sure the people sitting in the jam from Gorman to Davis in the mornings, 55 to Wade and Glenwood to 40 in the evenings think it isn't so good.

2/26/2006 6:39:07 PM

That amount will be *plenty* to enjoy yourself based on my experience...but again, it's a lifestyle thing.

There's a lot of really cool free stuff to do in Atlanta in the summer. Tuesday (?) nights in Piedmont Park Turner Classic Movies shows old movies on the big screen right after sunset. When Piedmont Park celebrates its birthday in June, the Botanical Garden is free at sunrise (amazing).

2/27/2006 12:07:04 AM

Raleigh traffic is pretty tame, we just have shitty highway systems here.

2/27/2006 12:26:53 AM

Quote :

"you mean bankhead - buckhead is more upscale"

Im pretty sure i mean buckhead.


If by "upscale" you mean a good chance to get knifed, assaulted, or arrested then yes its very "upscale".


People dont understand that buckhead clubs look like a fucking rap video. That street behind the clubs is 100% thug.

2/27/2006 10:51:47 AM

The houses in buckhead are upscale, the clubs aren't.

2/27/2006 11:16:04 AM

Atl is the weirdest place ive ever been to and ive been to alot of places.

2/27/2006 11:27:45 AM

I'm pretty frugal, so it will probably be enough based on your responses. I probably won't be going out and getting krunked in the club every weekend, but I would like to go out to eat and maybe see some ATL attractions. I might be inclined to even lower my budget down to $1000 so I won't be tempted to blow unnecessary cash (which I would have to pay back).

2/27/2006 11:28:38 AM

Quote :

"can some PLEASE confirm this like either with a link or personal testamony"

I think that's probably about right, I've found that eating/going out is marginally more like .1 more or something.

2/27/2006 11:42:45 AM

Dude, it's a summer in Atlanta, $1000 isn't going to cut it. You're going to find yourself bored to death and broke if you limit yourself to ~300 per month.

Prices are comparable to Raleigh, but why even come down here at all if you're not going to go out and enjoy a new city?

As for the Buckhead area, that place is pretty upscale. The bars and stuff in the main part of Buckhead are shit, but they're quickly cleaning that place up from what I saw the last time I went up there. It's also very expensive... I remember my parents looking into buying a condo in Buckhead around Lenox mall, but decided against it because it was too expensive.

They settled for a bigger, but cheaper condo in midtown (14th and peachtree), which I actually like somewhat now that I've lived here for a while. They got a great unit on the 22nd floor with an awesome view of the city, something you can't really get in Buckhead, plus its close to the Marta for when you travel to/from the airport, etc

I was at the little 5 points one time and got freaked out by type of people there. maybe there was some kind of event going on there, but i swore everyone was goth- and punk -like, and looked at me like they wanted to steal my soul

2/27/2006 11:43:20 AM

If you're black and/or gay then you'll fit in great in Atlanta.


Otherwise stay far, far away from that place.


Although there are a lot of hot girls there.


But to me its just not worth it. There's plenty of hot girls in cities that don't have such a disproportionate number of blacks & gays.

2/27/2006 11:58:11 AM

hahahaha, you're a dumbass

2/27/2006 12:17:01 PM

^ arguing with the accuracy of those statements?


The gays down there dont even play either. They are fucking aggressive and will just blatantly hit on you.

It's to the point where that whole city just makes me uncomfortable.

2/27/2006 12:48:16 PM

I live like within a mile from the mostly-gay area/neighborhood of town, and not once have I been harassed by anyone. In fact, some of the people I've met over there while running have been extremely friendly (maybe they wanted to poke me ) I've never felt uncomfortable running through there, or even going and chilling at the park.


And who cares if the city has a black majority? Do you only prefer being in areas where there are more white people? I'm sorry you're too homophobic and racist to be around gays and blacks, but to say to someone to stay the fuck away for those reasons alone is complete bullshit.

2/27/2006 1:24:37 PM

nah im really not homophobic. I love New york city... there the gays dont harrass you though...


I like black people fine. I just dont like the knives/guns that come along with the black people in atlanta.

That place is fucking dangerous. Youve got a better chance of survival in Iraq.

2/27/2006 1:30:45 PM

haha, ok.

2/27/2006 5:56:57 PM

If you're worried about safety, Virginia Highlands is your place. It's an extremely safe place...hell, I think black people are scared to go there because of the pure whiteness of it.

Then again, I went to a Common concert last week at the Tabernacle, was clearly in the minority, and had a great time with no problems at all.

2/27/2006 6:03:50 PM

Quote :

"be prepared to spend money to go out on the weekends"

2/27/2006 6:04:58 PM

Quote :

"I was at the little 5 points one time and got freaked out by type of people there. maybe there was some kind of event going on there, but i swore everyone was goth- and punk -like, and looked at me like they wanted to steal my soul"

no, no, that pretty much sums up the L5P crowd. they're cool though, certainly nothing to be frightened by.

i was solicted for sex 2 times walking back from a buckhead bar to the car saturday night. i personally would rather hang out in the highlands.

[Edited on February 27, 2006 at 9:05 PM. Reason : .]

2/27/2006 9:05:13 PM

i just got back from a weekend in Altanta

first time there
we went to a few restaurants and bars, mainly around buckhead and midtown (i think)d, and drinks were a bit more expensive then Raleigh.
paying $4 for a bottle beer, $7 for mixed drinks.
moondog, hole in the wall, and that big ass walmart sized irish pub were a few places ( i can remember going too)


Gas was cheaper!

i had a blast.

ok thats all i know

[Edited on February 27, 2006 at 9:23 PM. Reason : hotlanta]

2/27/2006 9:22:00 PM