Vault: Are Women Moving To ATL To Find Love?

Summary

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Podcast Episode Summary

The Bert Show

Episode: Vault: Are Women Moving To ATL To Find Love?
Date: February 9, 2026
Main Cast: Bert (Host), Jeff, Jan, Melissa (Co-hosts)

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Episode Theme & Purpose

This lively morning show episode debates and explores whether women are intentionally moving to Atlanta (ATL) specifically to find love, and if these bold moves actually lead to romantic success. Drawing on personal anecdotes, pop culture references, and listener call-ins, the team investigates motivations behind “geographic dating strategies” and the reality of romantic migrations to (and from) Atlanta.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pop Culture Inspiration for the Topic (00:00–01:30)

• The conversation starts with Bert referencing a “Sex and the City” plot: Jennifer Hudson's character moves from St. Louis to New York City to find love after failing to do so in her hometown.
• Bert connects this to a real-life friend who left Dallas for Seattle purely to meet “her man”—and who, in fact, succeeded.
  • Quote: “She picked up, left her life behind in Dallas and moved to Seattle. ...And found a man and got married and has two kids right now.” – Bert (01:26)

2. Is Moving for Love a Good Strategy? (01:30–03:35)

• Co-hosts banter about the logic and risks behind moving cities just to find a partner, highlighting the focused drive such a move brings.
  • Quote: “You burn all bridges behind you when you’re looking to make a change... There’s nothing to fall back on. ...You have one goal, and that is to find a man, and that is priority number one.” – Bert (02:16)
• Discussion on whether people admit to moving solely to find love or if it’s framed as a broader “search for the future.”

3. Manifesting vs. Active Pursuit (03:13–03:57)

• The team references “The Secret” and Landmark Forum; manifesting marriage seems to work for people who set determined intentions.
  • Quote: “She had done the Landmark Forum, though, so it’s very secret-ish... she found the guy, got married, and had children with him.” – Melissa (03:35)

4. Listener Call-Ins: Real Stories of Romantic Relocation (04:14–10:17)

a) Tony (04:14–04:55)

• Tony moved to Atlanta after a breakup, partly knowing “her husband was here.” She’s getting married in November.
  • Quote: “I didn’t come saying specifically, ‘I’m coming for a guy,’ but I knew in my heart my husband was here.” – Tony, caller (04:20)

b) Rachel (05:08–06:04)

• Rachel left Utah after high school, drawn to Atlanta by “a feeling inside.” No connections, just a gut pull—now happily married.
  • Quote: “I just looked at the map, and Atlanta, here I come, and I came.” – Rachel, caller (05:33)
  • Memorable moment: Family thought she was “out of her mind” for moving on a whim.

c) Janice (06:26–07:28)

• Janice’s spouse literally spun a globe to decide between Atlanta and New York, chose Atlanta, and met Janice at a Waffle House.
  • Quote: “She spun the globe... says, for some reason, ‘I wanted to move to Atlanta.’ ...We met at a Waffle House, and we’ve been together for 10 years.” – Janice, caller (06:34)
  • Fun detail: A psychic predicted she’d meet “someone who finishes your sentences” in Atlanta.

d) Crystal (07:34–08:47)

• Crystal relocated from Macon to Atlanta after a breakup, openly “to find somebody.” She’s marrying the man she met after nearly being run over by him at Target.
  • Quote: “I moved from Macon after a bad relationship to find somebody, and I did. I’m getting married July 19th.” – Crystal, caller (07:37)
  • Memorable moment: She agrees to a date with the man who nearly hit her with his sports car.

e) Christina (08:49–10:26)

• Christina left San Francisco because “the men I was dating... weren’t ready for something serious.” She wanted a Greek partner and sought out Atlanta for affordability, community, and culture. She quickly found a Greek boyfriend there.
  • Quote: “I ended up... looking for somebody specifically who was Greek as well... I actually met somebody who was from Greece here.” – Christina, caller (09:12)
  • Details her research: looking up Greek churches and choosing ATL over NY for a “warm, affordable” city.

5. Generational Perspective: The "Mrs. Degree" (10:37–11:00)

• Hosts note this strategy isn’t new: Older generations went to college intending to find a spouse (“Mrs. Degree”).
  • Quote: “Our grandmother’s generation would have said that’s the reason they went to college, to get their Mrs. Degree.” – Jeff (10:37)

6. Reflections and Ongoing Skepticism

• Bert observes that, although the stories are positive, few openly admit to only moving for a man—it’s usually framed as seeking a better future.
  • Quote: “I still don’t think we found one person here that specifically moved with just a guy in mind.” – Bert (06:05)
• The cast jokes that all the “good men” are being taken by women moving in from other cities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She was either destined to die that day or to fall in love.”
  – Bert, joking about Crystal’s near-miss, meet-cute story (08:39)
• “There’s a theory... you burn all bridges behind you... it forces you into coming out of your box all the time.”
  – Bert (02:16)
• “There’s no good men in Atlanta. People are moving over to the cause. All the girls from Houston are taking them.”
  – Jan (11:00)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:00–01:30 – Pop culture starting point and personal anecdotes
• 02:16 – “Burn the bridges” theory
• 03:35 – Manifesting marriage stories
• 04:14–10:26 – Listener call-ins: five firsthand stories
• 10:37–11:00 – Generational context (“Mrs. Degree”)
• 11:00–end – Show wraps with joking about city-to-city “man migration”

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Overall Takeaways

• Many women have, sometimes on a hunch or after heartbreak, moved to Atlanta (or other cities) seeking love—and quite a few found it.
• Most callers frame their moves as general life quests, not explicitly as manhunts, perhaps due to social stigma.
• The conversation blends humor, curiosity, and a touch of cynicism from the hosts, who note the pattern’s persistence and the swings between romantic idealism and practical strategy.

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This episode captures the adventurous—and at times serendipitous—leaps people will take for love, all with The Bert Show’s signature wit and warmth. Whether you see it as destiny, determination, or coincidence, Atlanta’s dating pool is undeniably a destination for romantics on the move.

Transcript

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

The Bird Show. So we were all at the Sex and the City premiere, a couple. And I'm being very, very careful about giving out important details of this movie, but there was one storyline there that I focused on because I had a friend that sort of went through the exact same thing. And I'm wondering if this is a good technique to find a man or not. Jennifer Hudson's character, I'm not giving anything away here, specifically moves to New York City to find love. She comes from St. Louis. That's where she grew up. And didn't have any luck dating in St. Louis. So she decides, you know what? If I'm gonna find a good man, it's gonna be outside my own city. And she gives up everything and she moves to New York City just in hopes to find a man. All right. I had the same thing happen to a friend of ours in Dallas. She's about, I guess, at that time, 26, 27 years old, and had lived in Dallas for a while. And priority number one for her was to fall in love and get married and have kids. That's just the way that's what she wanted. It wasn't happening for her in Dallas, so she gave up everything. And she had always thought, you know, Seattle would be a really great city to live in. Maybe she saw something on tv, but she had never been to Seattle before, really. Maybe she saw something on TV and just, for whatever reason, thought, I bet my man's in Seattle.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Pointed at the map and said, that's all I wanted.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Pointed at the map, and she moved. She picked up within weeks.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Really.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

She picked up, left her life behind in Dallas and moved to Seattle.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

That's funny.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

And found a man and got married and has two kids right now. Wow. So I am curious if there is.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Any someone called that destiny. Burt.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

I know. I wasn't gonna go there, but we can. But I'm wondering if anybody has done that or do it.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

I mean, if there's anybody in Atlanta right now who moved here because they were in another city and decided Atlanta is where my future exists.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

That's where the men are. And if you did that, did it work for you? Still looking.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

The ratio of women to man is 47 to 1 here.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Well, it could be a situation where somebody was outside of this region and decided they want a Southern man, you know, or something about Southern men. Or maybe even saw a character in a movie and thought, you know what? He is the type of guy I want. And so this being a major city here in the south, that's why they moved to Atlanta because they want a good Southern man.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Or I'm wondering if we'll get more calls from women that know other women that left Atlanta and went to another city looking for a good man and found them there and couldn't find them here. Maybe because there is a theory. There is a theory, it's a business theory that you burn all bridges behind you when you're looking to make a change everything you, like, burn the village so there's no safety net at all. And it forces you into coming out of your box all the time. Like, there's nothing to fall back on. Like, when you move to Seattle from Atlanta and you know nobody, you have no family, you have no job, you have one goal, and that is to find a man, and that is priority number one. And you leave everything else behind that you're so uber focused on, that one thing that in my friend Jean's case, it was completely successful.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Yeah, I. I can't imagine her saying anything saying that, though, when she meets people. Like, if you went on a date and you're like, oh, so what brought you to Atlanta? Love. I wanna find love. I wanna get married.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Whoa, hey. Okay, well, maybe it's at the next table, but it's not right here.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

But, I mean, I think it's sort of like applying the secret too. It's like just telling the universe what you want. But, Melissa, didn't you tell us about a friend of yours that said, I will be married within the year? And she didn't even have a boyfriend or anything at that point, but she sure enough met somebody and was married before the end of that year.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Yeah, there was a friend of ours who. That exact scenario. She had done the Landmark Forum, though, so it's very secret. Ish. And she felt that that was the case. Now, whether that. I mean, as far as I know, she's still married. As far as I know, she has at least one child with him, if not more. But by the end of that year, she found the guy and she got married to him and she had children with him.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Really?

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

So if you know a woman that has moved to Atlanta or you're that woman specifically looking for a guy, and you just left everything behind, has it worked out for you? Or do you know, do you have a friend that specifically moved to another city just looking for a guy, did it work out or not? Good morning, Tony, you're on Q100.

[Caller]

Hi.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Hi.

[Caller]

I love your show.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Thank you.

[Caller]

I came to Atlanta right after a bad breakup, and I didn't come saying specifically, you know, I'm coming for a guy, But I knew in my heart my husband was here.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Mm.

[Caller]

And. And we're getting November.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Congratulations.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Getting married in November. So you met a guy.

[Caller]

Yep.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

And it's all worked out just the way you thought it would?

[Caller]

Pretty much. It was hard getting there, but when I found him, I was like, yeah, that's one. And it totally was.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Really? And it worked out?

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Okay.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Congratulations.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

I think you guys are gonna find a pattern here, and I thought we might.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Well, I mean, it's. No, she did not specifically move to Atlanta for a man. She just came here after a bad breakup, so.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

And said that she thought in her heart her man would be in Atlanta. And it worked. Hey, Rachel. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller]

Good morning.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Hi.

[Caller]

I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and right when I graduated from high school, I thought, you know what? My future is in Atlanta. I just had that feeling inside. And so I moved here and met a guy, and five years later, we got married, and we've been married for a year and a half.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

So when you knew your future was in Atlanta, what about Atlanta? Did you know? Had you ever been here before?

[Caller]

I've never been here before. I just. I mean, just like you guys were saying, I just looked at the map, and Atlanta, here I come, and I came.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

So no friends, no family, no job, and Atlanta just stood out, and you moved and everything's worked out?

[Caller]

Yeah, I moved and figured things out along the way.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Great. Congratulations. That's amazing.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

People must have been telling you and your family must have been telling you in Utah. You out of your mind. You just don't move across the country on a whim.

[Caller]

Oh, yeah, they were. They thought I was out of my mind completely.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

It's worked out.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

All right.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Congratulations.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

I still don't think we found one person here that specifically moved with just a guy in mind. Like, did she move here with just looking for a man in mind?

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

It might be tough to get people to admit that they're gonna say that I moved here because. Whatever. But I think you're gonna have a hard time getting people to say, I came here to find a man.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Yeah. Cause, I mean, her future would, I'm sure, incorporated her family.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Hey, Janice, you're on Q100.

[Caller]

Hi, Bert. Hi, Melissa and Jan and Jeff.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Hey, what's up?

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Hey.

[Caller]

I have been married to a girl for 10 years, and she literally spun the globe and said, okay, am I gonna move to New York or Atlanta? And she Says, for some reason, I wanted to move to Atlanta. So she moved to Atlanta. We met at a Waffle House, and we've been together for 10 years.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

See what the Waffle House does for you? So she had physically spun a globe and narrowed down where she was going to move?

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Yep.

[Caller]

She was in a bad relationship, and she said she was tired of the women in Seattle. And she said for some reason she wanted to move to Atlanta. And actually, when she was packing up, she went to a psychic, and the psychic told her, she said, you're going to find somebody in Atlanta that finishes your sentences, and you guys are going to be together forever. And so she said that was like the icing on the cake. So she moved here. We met at the Waffle House, and we've been together ever since.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Very nice.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Congratulations on the story. Thank you for calling.

[Caller]

Thanks.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Bye. And there's plenty more like that. Hey, Crystal, you're on Q100.

[Caller]

Hey.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Hi.

[Caller]

I moved from Macon after a bad relationship to find somebody, and I did. I'm getting married July 19th.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Congratulations.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

It's not as romantic as it's still in Georgia, but still. You moved from Macon to Atlanta specifically to find a guy?

[Caller]

Yes. And you would not believe the way I met him.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Okay. At Waffle House.

[Caller]

I was leaving on no, but I did hear that. That is funny. I was leaving a Target one day, and this guy pulls out in his little sports card and runs me over. And I'm, like, sitting there screaming at him, and he rolls down the window and he apologizes. And then he asked me out for coffee, and we've been together ever since.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

He almost ran over you?

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

What made you decide to say yes to the coffee?

[Caller]

I had just been so stressed out. I live with my best friend and her boyfriend, and I was so tired of, like, sitting there with them all the time, being all cutesy with each other. So I was like, okay, well, I'm just gonna go, you know, just do something. And when I met him, I don't know, something just told me to go out with him, and here I am.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

She was either destined to die that day or to fall in love.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Right? Well, he didn't kill me, so I will at least go to Starbucks with him.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Christina, good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller]

Good morning, guys.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Hey.

[Caller]

Hi. I actually moved from San Francisco to Atlanta last May because the men I were. I was dating in California just weren't ready for something serious. And I was so packed up my stuff, came here and figured this would be a good place. It was Affordable, cost wise, job wise. There was plenty of jobs. And I ended up. Actually, I'm Greek, and I was looking for somebody specifically who was Greek as well. Greek American or, you know, just some. Something Greek. And I actually met somebody who was from Greece here.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

Oh, wow, that's cool.

[Caller]

Yeah, so we. We've been dating for six months, and so far, so good. But that was the purpose of me moving. And when I told my friends and family that, you know, yeah, I have a good job in California. Yeah, I have a good life. But there's something missing, and I'm not finding what I'm looking for here. So I need to go after what I want. And there's more Greeks on the east coast than they're on the West Coast. And I just didn't want to live in New York. I wanted someplace warm, someplace affordable. So here I am.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

I'm just imagining her going through the research for it, like in some report or magazine that lists the most affordable cities, and she narrowed it down to those cities, and then she just kind of put a star by Atlanta and did more research. So here you are.

[Caller]

Well, there's a lot of Greek churches here, for one. So that guy told me. Okay, if there's three Greek churches in the metro area, that means there's probably Greeks here. And there's an abundance of South African Greeks and a lot of Greeks who are going to school here.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

At least you're not specific about what you were looking for.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

I'm trying to pigeonhole yourself here.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

And their name needs to rhyme with baklava.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

You know, we could have done this for another 20 minutes. Calls from. Moved here because I was unhappy with the men in Houston. Moved to Atlanta, married now Minneapolis to Atlanta, found my man.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Our grandmother's generation would have said that's the reason they went to college, to get their Mrs.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

Degree.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Yeah, that's what Dee Dee always says, is they went to get their Mrs.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Degree.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

So I don't know what the message here is, but again, we could do this for another 20 minutes from people saying they specifically moved to Atlanta looking for a man, and now they're married Southern boys.

[Co-host 1 (possibly Jeff)]

Yeah.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

And the women here talk about there's no good men in Atlanta. People are moving over to the cause.

[Co-host 2 (possibly Jan)]

All the girls from Houston are taking them. All the girls from Seattle are taking them.

[Co-host 3 (possibly Melissa)]

Minneapolis.

[Host 1 (possibly Bert)]

The Birch Show.