is Atlanta safe at night? (hotel, dangerous, bus)

[redboyjockoboliotombstone]

Mid march, I'll be getting off the megabus in downtown Atlanta at 7pm. I need to walk a block from there to my hotel. I'm not a big guy. Is it safe and are there any precautions I can take? My dad said it's dangerous but he's never BEEN to Atlanta, he's just stereotyping...

[atltechdude]

Walk in a confident manner and don't look like a helpless tourist and you'll be fine.

There are sometimes bums that walk around but they are for the most part rarely violent.

I've walked alone in undesirable sections quite a few times over the years and I've never had a problem.

[Dollydo]

I was with 2 men, we were robbed by three hoods, last time I walked to a hotel in downtown Atlanta.

Good advice ahead of me, be careful.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by Dollydo

I was with 2 men, we were robbed by three hoods, last time I walked to a hotel in downtown Atlanta.

Good advice ahead of me, be careful.

Be careful with all those child molesters in Florida

[testa50]

99%+ chance you'll be fine

[cwlawrence]

Atlanta is frightening after dark. Haven't you ever seen the Walking Dead documentary? Thugs are one thing, but zombies are what you really need to look out for. Especially because you are going a whole city block at the insane hour of 7PM. I don't know what kind of Chutzpah-enhancing drug you folks take out there, but I never leave my safe-room after 5PM...

[lorilove]

Daylight Savings Time starts March 12th so it will likely be light outside at 7pm

Use the same precaution you would in any metro area and you should be fine.

[cqholt]

You'll be fine. Just be aware of your surroundings, don't look like a tourist. I agree with

Walk in a confident manner and don't look like a helpless tourist and you'll be fine

, if you look like you know where your going and have a confident stance then people are less likely to mess with you. Most important, don't have your cell phone of other electronic devices out while walking around downtown. It amazes how people who walk around with their phones out still wonder why they get robbed as if advertising what you got is smart.

[rackensack]

On the positive side, the Megabus stop is at the Civic Center MARTA station, not in the middle of downtown near Five Points (or across the street from the jail like the Greyhound station is -- ). I wouldn't personally have any qualms about walking a block or so from that location back toward downtown, especially that early in the evening, given of course that all of the advice so far about being aware of your surroundings and not having the demeanor of a victim is on target.

On the negative side, there are homeless shelters around Pine Street, quite close to the bus stop, so you will have a number of mostly harmless but potentially unpleasant and possibly scary folk wandering around, along with a good chance of aggressive and persistent panhandlers. Just ignore them -- don't engage with them in any way -- don't answer questions, don't try to justify ignoring them or not giving them money, don't take anything they try to hand you. Any response from you just gives them an opening that they'll try to exploit to their benefit. They're generally not that motivated to work too hard, so if you give them nothing to work with they'll usually move on to someone easier.

[cwlawrence]

Seriously, the OP is walking one single block in Atlanta at 7PM. That surely does not deserve all this 'advice' on safety. It's not like he is walking down Vineville at midnight. Some of you people need to get out of that bubble once in a while...