Friday Five: Reasons why transplants love living and doing business in Atlanta

By: Brad Horner

I was recently interviewed by a reporter from Urban Land magazine about the future of Atlanta’s real estate market.  I told him that national and international companies continue to look to the city when considering relocation, therefore Atlanta and its surrounding areas still have a promising long-term growth outlook. NRT Development Advisors foresees that this ongoing trend will continue to bring single professionals and families to the city, which will fill the intown multi-family developments as well as the suburban single-family communities.

So today’s Friday Five is a two for one – we listed a few of Atlanta’s, as well as Georgia’s, top accolades that tout reasons transplants love living and doing business in Atlanta.

Atlanta:

1. No. 1 City for Recent College Graduates (based on housing, job prospects, culture and lifestyle) Sources: CareerRookie.com and Apartments.com, May 2010
2. No. 2 Least Expensive City to Live In (of U.S. Cities with population of more than 2 million) Source: KPMG’s Competitive Alternative Study, March 2010
3. No. 2 America’s Most Wired City Source: Forbes Magazine, 2010
4. No. 4 City with Most Fortune 500 Companies (tie with 14 companies) Source: Forbes Magazine, 2010
5. No. 7 Best Start-Up City Source: Entrepreneur Magazine, 2009

Georgia:

1. No. 1 State for Entrepreneurial Activity Source: Kauffman Foundation, 2009
2. No. 1 Best Managed State in the Southeast (overall Grade B+) Source: Pew Center in the States and Governing Magazine
3. No. 3 State with the Best Business Climate Source: Development Counselors International
4. No. 7 State for Job and Business Growth Source: Chief Executive Magazine, 2010
5. No. 9 State with the Best Economic Outlook in the U.S. Source: American Legislative Exhcnage Council, June 2010