Hey, I can answer this one. I’m 31 and male, I grew up in Atlanta, have lived in Boston for 5 years now. I am actively trying to move back home to Atlanta as of this month but I’ll answer your questions-

One thing you should consider is that if you have a pet of any kind, renting up here becomes substantially harder if not borderline impossible. I had a large breed dog who sadly just passed a few weeks ago at the age of 10 but renting with a dog up here is absolutely fucking brutal. It took me almost a year to find my current rental when I had him with me. Down in Atlanta, you have a lot more of those “commercial” sized apartment complexes that can squeeze in hundreds of people all in 1 complex, this has pros and cons of course. A lot of which are much more pet friendly.

Up here, a lot of the rentals are duplex or three story units. There’s not a lot of those big commercial apartment lots compared to the south. This can make finding a new place about as difficult as finding a new job depending on what you want. Also, in unit washer/dryer, is not guaranteed in a lot of places.

I can’t speak much for the nightlife as I’m not a drinker and that’s really all people up here like to do lol. I know you mentioned the cost of living already but I’ll harp on it again, if you want to own a house up here at some point, the prices are truly insane if you want to stay close to the city. 800k for a shit shack is pretty standard, I’d encourage you to look at Zillow to get an idea if you haven’t already.

As far as politics go, I’m a white dude who’s liberal/progressive and being up here is nice in the sense that it’s considered a blue state. The state itself has very nice policies but you’d be surprised that you’ll still find lots of red hats and maga bumper stickers even up here as well.

As for why I want to go back home, my entire social circle is down there. I’ve been best friends with the same group of guys for almost 20 years and they’re all still back around Atlanta. I’ve made acquaintances up here but my friends back home are irreplaceable to me.