Where would you rather live: NYC, Atlanta or Columbus?

I've lived in Columbus my whole life, have been to Atlanta, never been to NYC. The thing Columbus will offer is extremely low cost of living compared to the other cities. OSU is a great school and will set you up with a great network after you graduate. It's a real thing of alumni of OSU hiring other Buckeyes.

As far as running goes, Columbus has a decent bikepath system that is very accessible. If you want other softer surfaces you'll have to drive 10-20 minutes mostly. The Short North (area between downtown and campus) is where all the fun stuff is in terms of nightlife and specialty shops.

The worst traffic in Columbus would be considered light traffic in ATL or NYC so that's a huge plus. I'm bias but compared to the other two cities you should get to CBUS as soon as possible before it really booms and more people start flocking.

HAHAHAHAHAH. Like that's even a choice. Where's Columbus? Is that in Ohio? New York has it's drawbacks, but those other two "cities" don't even compare.

The North has too much respect for terrible ideals.

Atlanta. The summers are miserable but there is diversity and culture and plenty of opportunity.

As a runner who lives in NYC, I love it for everything that isn't running. Running isn't bad (I never run in CP but I'll run along the Hudson usually, or the small patch of trails in RIverside Park. I honestly wouldn't move to any of the cities you listed, but because I can only do my job in New York (fashion house corporate office) I have to live here.

My list would be NY, ATL, wouldn't even consider anywhere in Ohio.

Really Bro wrote:

You go to grad school for the SCHOOL, bro.

Ohio State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, NYU, Columbia, St. John.

Atlanta is a shoot hole. It's like one big suburb. Emory is better than Ohio State for most (all?) things though.

Atlanta is indeed horrible, but it's not like one big suburb lol. The "main" part of the city is like most other big cities in the US, infected with crime and trash that is never, ever blamed on the people who create these conditions, allowing them to blame instead on racism, poverty, and other "situations" that haven't actually been much of a source of misery in decades. We now have millions of people who cavort and engage in crime and racism and then accuse everyone else of what they themselves engage in. The truth hurts, especially when it comes to the ears of the snowflakes.

bqe wrote:

Living in New York is a character-builder; you must know who you are, what you’re doing, where you’re going, and how to get there. No bullshit tolerated! New York people are tough and resilient. All the rest of you are varying degrees of soft.

The third-world, streetwise New York culture will always triumph over the soft, suburban, wholesome, white-Christian, tacky mall culture of Atlanta. Atlanta is overgrown small town. The South has too much respect for authority, they’re soldier-sniffers and cop lovers.

You're funny. Atlanta has less Whites than NYC. All NYC has become, again, is a dirty cesspool of arrogant third world gang members, and self absorbed privileged media controlling hypocrites who engage in groupthink and extreme in-group behavior among the atomized White population in order to take advantage of said palefaces, and this group does this while playing victim all the way. The "gruff" character of NY is an extension of these self-absorbed, hypocritical, victim playing, scatological, pathological liars. Bernie Madoff fit right in for example.

You must be bitter because you can't afford to live in NYC. You need to work harder. Stop complaining and pull yourself up by your bootstraps!

I can't speak for any of the cities, but, as a grad student, I agree with the poster who suggested not to move to NYC if you are going to have to take on substantially more teaching duties. (Unless you are planning to go for a faculty position at a primarily undergrad institution). Your productivity and success will depend on how much time you can put into productive research. Increasing stress/wasting time by having to teach a lot or commute far will not be worth it.

Also, if you know what kind of weather you hate, don't move to that climate. None of those places is a paradise, but you probably know what you prefer.

Good luck!

I went to undergrad and prof. school at OSU and then moved to Boston and Pittsburgh(more school).

One advantage of spending significant time in the Midwest is that you will not be hamstrung the rest of your life by the provincialism of having lived in only mega-metro areas, whereby those residents simply do not what they don't know about the rest of the country and consider any place other than NYC, Chicago, SF.....as someplace out of the movie Deliverance.

Already knowing how much smaller cities have to offer in terms of lifestyle, affordability and culture will be a big asset when it comes to time to make job and life choices.

I moved to Ohio from southern California for graduate school and moved to Columbus after graduation. The cost of living is a huge plus right out of the gate. I have a solid amount of student loans and living here is really affordable. The low cost of living also means people are more willing to think a bit more outside of the box because they aren't limited by the high start up costs of other cities. This is quickly becoming a transplant city as the pub run clubs I'm a part of seem to bring in new members from all over pretty often. There's some big companies based in the city as well and connections aren't too hard to find here. In general from my experience traveling to ATL and NY, Columbus seems to be much more friendly. I don't see myself moving to back to California anytime soon. The craft beer scene here is pretty solid as well. You're also not too far from other cities. I've made weekend drives to Chicago, Louisville, and St. Louis since I've been here. Ohio is growing and it's a great time to be in Columbus while it's still cheap.

McLanta wrote:

NYC smells like a toilet and is insanely expensive.

Columbus is dead.

Atlanta is the clear choice.

I’m pretty sure that smell is from your your upper lip.

lrc for life decisions wrote:

I may be moving to one of these three places for grad school this fall. Anyone have any knowledge or opinions about living in any of these cities?

Stay away from Ohio, Flagpole lives there!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All three have a high-ish cost of living and bad crime. Stay on campus in the evening, jogging.

As a native Buckeye, just WHAT accent are you talking about? That sounds more like a Bostonian accent you're attempting to portray in "my beckpeck is in my kair". Native mid-westerners are notorious for having the LEAST accent possible of all English-speaking peoples. They are widely sought by schools looking for English teachers world-wide because of that fact.

I spent a few years living about 90 minutes north of Atlanta near the foothills of the North Georgia mountains. It is probably the best part of Georgia in terms of year-round weather. Average of 15-20 degrees warmer than southern Ohio in the winter, which is a big deal, and a LOT warmer than northern Ohio during the winter. However, summers in Atlanta can be BRUTAL, especially in the city and to the east of the city due to it being a concrete/asphalt jungle. I remember some sweltering days back in '99...110 degrees in the shade!

With regard to NYC, can't say as I've never visited, but then I don't like big American cities. That's just me.

If the person is going to live somewhere for SCHOOL, then that is all that matters. If they're looking for certain "cultural" events, then each one has its plusses and minuses.

lrc for life decisions wrote:

dkny64 wrote:

If your goal is an academic career, then having a good advisor is super important, and if you think Georgia Tech is your best choice from that point of view, then go there 'cause you can probably make an ok life for yourself in any of those cities. I presume the Columbus school is OSU, but which NYC school are you considering?

NYU, and yes the Columbus school is OSU. Yeah, you're right in that having a range of advisors that I am interested in working with is the number one priority.

Idle curiosity again: you've said all three programs have pros/cons and you've indicated a pro for the Georgia Tech program. What's your take on the pros/cons for each?

[I have my own poorly informed hunch and I'm curious to see if I'm close.]

lrc for life decisions wrote:

I may be moving to one of these three places for grad school this fall. Anyone have any knowledge or opinions about living in any of these cities?

Is this some sort of joke? Dude, go to NYC. Don't be a degenerate.

Like Really Bro wrote:

lrc for life decisions wrote:

I may be moving to one of these three places for grad school this fall. Anyone have any knowledge or opinions about living in any of these cities?

Is this some sort of joke? Dude, go to NYC. Don't be a degenerate.

There isn't enough money in the world to live in any shiithole large city. I'll take my small town rural living. The only time I visit Columbus is to watch the state track meet every year and go to the state fair!

the academy is wrote:

If the NYU program is only viable with a lot of TA duty, DO NOT DO IT. Teaching, while enjoyable sometimes, is a major time suck that directly takes time away from your research. For a PhD program you want to find the program that will give you the best research pipeline with a small amount of teaching (assuming you're trying to stay in academia post-PhD). If you're not trying to stay in academia, then you want to avoid teaching completely as it would be irrelevant.

If GT has the best advisor and lower teaching duty, it sounds like the best option.

TA is OPTIONAL for most PhD programs at NYU, and students get paid for doing it as part of union rules. It comes out to roughly $200 per hour, not bad!

NYU PhD programs have the best financial package in the country as the graduate students managed to form a labor union. Despite Manhattan being more expensive than Ohio, it actually comes out to more net income overall.

Not only that but NYU is quite a prestigious institution and well-known for anything mathematical or quantitative which it seems you are looking to do