The NY Times: Stars Flock to Atlanta--Reshaping a Center of Black Culture (Washington: loan, unemployed)

[tonygeorgia]

Let's talk about PG County outside of DC with 12 murders in the first 13 days of this year.

Prince George (http://ezstreetshow.com/2011/01/13/prince-george%e2%80%99s-county-crime-rate-on-the-rise-12-homicides-to-start-the-new-year-off/ - broken link)

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

I moved to Atlanta for a short period in the early 90’s from Michigan……and I am sorry……I was not impressed. The only thing that impressed me was that I could quit a job and have a job the next day. Summer was hot as hell. Yes, winters are better but the summers are worse.

Dude, that was 20 years ago. I'm not arguing that Atlanta is perfect now, but it's a completely different city than during that period.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by muxBuppie

I don't get this. Are you saying someone getting an executive job at Home Depot Corp is not success?

It depends.

Originally Posted by muxBuppie

What is success to you? Isn't that subjective?

Yes and no. I think have a bit of a unique perspective, though. I had a funky childhood with a Jewish grandmother, a multi-racial mother from the West Indies and a father from South Carolina. So to see the differences in expectations among those different cultures is astounding. Generally speaking, my mom's side of the family is much more "successful" than my father's. On my mom's side, I have cousins engaged in all different types of pursuits. I have a younger cousin who's been building model planes and rockets his whole life and has been accepted to M.I.T. On my dad's side, my aunt was jumping for joy and screaming "Thank Ya, Jesus!" when my cousin finished in the middle of his class at a middling P.G. County High School. So my view of "success" is somewhat skewed.

Overall, I've found that DC has much more intellectually curious, upwardly mobile black people who are serious about leaving their mark on the world. People are much more Type-A there. And based on the current state of Black America, I think that many more of that type of people are needed. If we're going to close the achievement gap, it's not enough to finish Grambling (no knock on Grambling), get a job at Georgia Power, and then pay a Land Rover car note. We need to be much more aggressive about academic achievement and strive to get more of our kids into finance, the hard sciences, and the upper echelons of the legal profession.

I'll be goddamned if my kids sit around playing Call of Duty all day. They'll get chemistry sets and extra math and piano lessons, though. Trips to the mall will be substituted with trips to the Corcoran and the Neue Gallerie. I'm gonna be a "Tiger Dad."

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Hymn-Ti...2848071&sr=1-1

[Indentured Servant]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Dude, that was 20 years ago. I'm not arguing that Atlanta is perfect now, but it's a completely different city than during that period.

Why is it a completely different city? Was it bombed and rebuilt since I left? Oh......they have about 15 new skyscrapers since then and tons of new strip malls and extra lanes on 75.......boy that ought to change my opinion of the place.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Indentured Servant;

So what criterion would you base whom's quality of life is better?? That is just an avenue to come to a very subjective conclusion as your standard of living is based on a personal equation as is mine, and also everyone elses. This is not to refute the fact that you DO have an outstanding QOL, but I would like to know what you would use to base your supposedly factual proof that Minneapolis unequivocally provide a better qaulity of life for the both of us. I do not think you can because both of our personal variables are not the same; i.e. different lifestyles, careers, family life..ect. Now this is coming from someone who is from New Orleans, but lives in both ATL and NY (I split time).

I personally don't see why people "hate" ATL. It can't be denied that it is some sort of very attractive destination if one does not want to label it a Mecca due to the fact that peeps from EVERYWHERE not only the natives, make up the ATL population. So someone used the label Mecca...OK. I do not argue for that or against it. But to truly say that it is not comprised of a large number or so called movers, shakers, professionals,intellectuals or what have you is completely absurd. ATL is what it is just as New York is. For better and worse. Comprised of masses of individuals whom left their homes in order to climb the ladder of success. The upper hand that ATL has is that there are arguably larger numbers of Blacks that do well between the two OVERALL...I repeat OVERALL. If that were not the case then the large population of ex "UP Toppers" would not be as such. I say rep whatever city you like but we also must give props where they are due.

[Indentured Servant]

Originally Posted by muxBuppie

Who is still running here ? You lived here in the early 90s, that's a long time ago. Who is hyping it? Where is Atlanta hyping itself?

I am simply speaking of my experience and how the local media and people hyped it when I was there. Personally I know about 5 people, in the last 6 months, who have moved or are planning to move to Atlanta.

[tonygeorgia]

Dc would be better if I didn't have to pay $1800 for a one bedroom apartment, if I didn't have to pay close $10 a day to park at the metro station, if dc didn't have the highest hiv/std rate in America, etc. You think Atlanta has bad traffic try driving on Saturday or Sunday on 95 in va. Traffic cameras on every corner mailing out tickets daily,etc.

[Indentured Servant]

Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY

So what criterion would you base whom's quality of life is better?? That is just an avenue to come to a very subjective conclusion as your standard of living is based on a personal equation as is mine, and also everyone elses. This is not to refute the fact that you DO have an outstanding QOL, but I would like to know what you would use to base your supposedly factual proof that Minneapolis unequivocally provide a better qaulity of life for the both of us. I do not think you can because both of our personal variables are not the same; i.e. different lifestyles, careers, family life..ect. Now this is coming from someone who is from New Orleans, but lives in both ATL and NY (I split time).

I personally don't see why people "hate" ATL. It can't be denied that it is some sort of very attractive destination if one does not want to label it a Mecca due to the fact that peeps from EVERYWHERE not only the natives, make up the ATL population. So someone used the label Mecca...OK. I do not argue for that or against it. But to truly say that it is not comprised of a large number or so called movers, shakers, professionals,intellectuals or what have you is completely absurd. ATL is what it is just as New York is. For better and worse. Comprised of masses of individuals whom left their homes in order to climb the ladder of success. The upper hand that ATL has is that there are arguably larger numbers of Blacks that do well between the two OVERALL...I repeat OVERALL. If that were not the case then the large population of ex "UP Toppers" would not be as such. I say rep whatever city you like but we also must give props where they are due.

My point is that one can find a good quality of life......without moving to the "black mecca". Atlanta has been the number one relocation destination for migrating blacks the last decade. Obviously people are voting with their feet assuming that one moves to improve their quality of life. I know a few people, with low job skills and on public assistance who somehow believe that their life is going to be a lot better once they move to Atlanta. Why? Its because someone put it in their head that Atlanta was the land of opportunity for black folks.

[readyset]

Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY

So what criterion would you base whom's quality of life is better?? That is just an avenue to come to a very subjective conclusion as your standard of living is based on a personal equation as is mine, and also everyone elses. This is not to refute the fact that you DO have an outstanding QOL, but I would like to know what you would use to base your supposedly factual proof that Minneapolis unequivocally provide a better qaulity of life for the both of us. I do not think you can because both of our personal variables are not the same; i.e. different lifestyles, careers, family life..ect. Now this is coming from someone who is from New Orleans, but lives in both ATL and NY (I split time).

I personally don't see why people "hate" ATL. It can't be denied that it is some sort of very attractive destination if one does not want to label it a Mecca due to the fact that peeps from EVERYWHERE not only the natives, make up the ATL population. So someone used the label Mecca...OK. I do not argue for that or against it. But to truly say that it is not comprised of a large number or so called movers, shakers, professionals,intellectuals or what have you is completely absurd. ATL is what it is just as New York is. For better and worse. Comprised of masses of individuals whom left their homes in order to climb the ladder of success. The upper hand that ATL has is that there are arguably larger numbers of Blacks that do well between the two OVERALL...I repeat OVERALL. If that were not the case then the large population of ex "UP Toppers" would not be as such. I say rep whatever city you like but we also must give props where they are due.

And what I don't get as well is why people treat Atlanta like it's not a real city. The Black culture is important yes, but not only that, this young city can hang with the best of them. From Atlanta's nice modern architecture building boom to number of Fortune 500 companies, its low crime rate compared to Detroit, Baltimore and even D.C. If Baltimore just got one of Atlanta's skyscrapers and fortune 500 companies, some government officials head would explode.

People really take things for granted, when you live in places like Baltimore or Detroit or in a city that always seems to be losing and nothing big and positive ever happens, your eyes will open up.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

If we're going to close the achievement gap, it's not enough to finish Grambling (no knock on Grambling), get a job at Georgia Power, and then pay a Land Rover car note. We need to be much more aggressive about academic achievement and strive to get more of our kids into finance, the hard sciences, and the upper echelons of the legal profession.

I think we have enough, or close to enough, Black lawyers and judges, but I agree with you concerning finance and the hard sciences. In that respect, I'm not sure how it can be said that somehow Atlanta is lagging. In the 2011 BE 100s edition of Black Enterprise magazine, metro Atlanta had four companies to make the list of financial services companies (two banks, two asset managers). In comparison, metro DC also had four companies to make a showing (one bank, one asset manager, two private equity firms). Atlanta still continues to churn out a good number of Black college graduates, not just at the HBCU's, but at the other institutions in the area as well. Yes DC attracts more college-educated Blacks, but it should be kept in mind that a significant percentage of non-degreed Blacks who move to Atlanta are retirees from DC and points further north who acquired public sector jobs right out of high school and have comfortable pensions that allow their dollars to stretch much further in an area with a lower cost of living like Atlanta.