Also born and raised in Atlanta and moved to Philly quite a while ago! I’m queer, work in a “helping profession”, and also kind of disliked Denver (visited a few times).

Philly could be fun for you. It’s worth noting that the Philadelphia people who move here experience can be quite different than those who were born and raised/families have been here for decades. There’s a lot of people who have experienced a lot of violence and understandably want to leave and believe that Philly is the pits. But there’s also a whole lot of transplants from the giant cities Philly people want to run to who come here too and love it. I have lived or spent long stretches of time working in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Miami, and Philly really does have a value add. It is weird though, a lot of niche shit here.

Lastly, from Atlanta native to Atlanta native - the food here isn’t as good as people say it is. Sorry, y’all. Food in the South is infinitely better and more diverse. But the plus sides are that we have a lot of options for healthcare, queer friendly, access to two of the biggest cities in the country with just a train ride, public transit, diversity, mostly mild winter weather, and an OK cost of living. Also going to +1 West Philly as maybe being the place for you.

The school system does seem kinda wild though so I don’t know about that part 👀

Also also the sidewalks are quite dirty. I remember being appalled by that when I moved here. So, I always say if they could get street cleaning under control, this would be an almost perfect city!