Madness, interesting, I live in Mass too but have been seriously considering moving to ATL. I have been to the city many times, and know my way around for the most part. It is a somewhat "walkable" city BUT it def is better to have a vehicle and/or take metro. It does have a somewhat small City vibe and I've never had any issues with crime. I have hung out on the westside, Vine city, bankhead as well as East Atlanta, bouldercrest Rd. There is always something going on on the weekends which is really cool. No matter what type of music your into, rap/country/rock/hippie/reggae it's all there and often pretty cheap compared to a show in Beantown. Also prices for housing are much better, if you pay $1500 for an apt in the NE with that money you can find a much nicer place in ATL or the area surrounding it. Even rent a small house depending on where you want to live. I'm originally from Philly, and go back n forth from Springfield MA and there but I'm super sick of the Northeast and have been seriously considering a more permanent move down south. For me it was between ATL, Houston, and NO.