Entrepreneurs and Engineers Moving from Silicon Valley to Atlanta

Yesterday I was talking to an entrepreneur that’s in the process of moving from Silicon Valley to Atlanta. After seven years in the Valley, and multiple startups, he’s ready to launch his next one in Atlanta due to one of our strong clusters. At the Atlanta Tech Village there are several software engineers that worked in Silicon Valley for years before moving to Atlanta. It’s not a critical mass yet, but I’ve talked to enough entrepreneurs and engineers to understand the main drivers.

Here are a few reasons entrepreneurs and engineers move from Silicon Valley to Atlanta:

• Family – Having a family member in the area or growing up in the area is the most common reason people move from Silicon Valley to Atlanta.
• Lifestyle – After renting for many years, there’s a desire to own a house with more space in a nice neighborhood, and Atlanta real estate is considerably more affordable (even less expensive than the national average)
• More Varied Interests – In Atlanta, the general focus is not on tech startups and people have a wider variety of interests and backgrounds (see Startups for Grownups).

There’s a small flow of entrepreneurs and engineers moving from Silicon Valley to Atlanta, and as the Atlanta brand and reputation grows, look for the numbers to grow.

What else? What are some other reasons entrepreneurs and engineers move from Silicon Valley to Atlanta?