- Wendy Daniels owns a real estate development consulting business and is a mom of three.
- She was drawn to Atlanta for entrepreneurial opportunities but later moved.
- She says living in Baton Rouge means less commuting time and better career opportunities.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Wendy Daniels, owner of Beechwood Residential, a Baton Rouge-based property development firm. It has been edited for length and clarity.
As a kid, I moved around a bit, living in New Orleans and Oakland, California, before my parents settled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when I was in seventh grade. When I left home for college to study urban planning, I thought I’d never in a million years move back to Baton Rouge.
After graduate school, I was recruited for a position in Atlanta. It felt like the city chose me. I loved that I never had to search for something to do because so much was happening. Growing up, I didn’t know a lot of Black entrepreneurs, but in Atlanta, I worked with the best and brightest people. When I became a mom, I liked my children being around that as well.
But over my 15 years in Atlanta, the city lost some of its appeal. One of the biggest drawbacks was the traffic. It was unbearable. I lived 10 minutes from downtown, but picking my kids up from day care and getting home could easily take over an hour on a Friday afternoon. That impacted my career because I needed to leave the office or client meetings by 2:30 to get to day care on time.
I felt a sigh of relief every time I left the city
When I visited my mom in Baton Rouge, I felt so relaxed. I realized I missed the social culture of Louisiana. In Atlanta, nine out of every 10 people I met were also transplants. My home became the house where everyone gathered on holidays and after work, but I was trying to create that neighborhood feel in a city that didn’t have it.
By the time I had three young children, I knew we needed to leave the city. At that stage, it just didn’t feel like the right fit for our family. I owned my own business and knew I could keep my clients. My husband found a job in Baton Rouge, about a 10-hour drive from Atlanta, and we packed up.
We settled on a short-term rental while we decided where we wanted to buy. Although I was from the city, so much had changed. Soon after we arrived, the rental owner invited us over for a glass of wine and said she wanted to get to know us. That’s the exact community culture I was craving. It felt like I could breathe again.
We spent more on housing but much less on tuition
We sold our house in Atlanta and bought one in a hot neighborhood in Baton Rouge. Our housing costs actually went up, but it wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. We were living in a much nicer area.
We saved money on preschool and private school tuition, however. In Atlanta, private Catholic schools cost about $20,000 per child annually. In Baton Rouge, I put all three kids in private school for that amount.
The biggest change in my life was the traffic situation. I could drop off all three kids and get to my office within 25 minutes, whereas in Atlanta, that could take an hour. I didn’t realize how much stress it was causing me until that was gone.
At first, I had to commute to Atlanta every month for work. I could leave my house and be at my airport gate within 20 minutes. I’ve never flown private, but I can’t imagine it’s much better than that. While I could fly direct to Atlanta or Washington D.C., most other flights had connections, which was a change from Atlanta, where I could fly direct anywhere.
Moving boosted my career, too
I’m very good at what I do, but there was much more competition in Atlanta. Although I had a good network, it wasn’t as deep as the networks of people who had family ties in Atlanta or went to college there.
When I moved, I was able to tap into a wonderful network. It’s not just because I grew up here — it’s because, in a smaller city, you can have a bigger impact. I have the mayor’s number, and I’m confident I could get the governor on the phone if needed. Because of networking and less competition, my business has flourished.
Living in Baton Rouge isn’t big city life, but it has everything I need. Sure, I might need to search more, but I can still go to the symphony, meet friends for drinks, and make professional connections, all without the stress I had in Atlanta.
