interesting for singles.... (Atlanta, Decatur, Auburn: best cities, real estate, how much)

[LLD]

Watching HGTV last night they had a special on "best places to live" for all kinds of aspects -- pet lovers is Denver, extreme sports was Honolulu, most support for pregnant women and babies was Portland and there were several other dimensions.

Best place for singles was Atlanta! They quoted that 60% of people in Atlanta are single. I had heard it was a lot but not that much. I had also read more than once that Atlanta was a good place for singles, especially older singles say 35 and up. I don't know if the stat was just the city of Atlanta or the metro area. They also quoted Decatur as having 3000 singles so that was a popular pick for an intown neighborhood.

I had to chuckle because they interviewed this one guy while on his dates and he had three dates with three different women in one week! They talked about all the things in Atlanta to do and how the social scene is huge with all kinds of opportunities.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by LLD

Watching HGTV last night they had a special on "best places to live" for all kinds of aspects

Best place for singles was Atlanta! They quoted that 60% of people in Atlanta are single.

They also quoted Decatur as having 3000 singles so that was a popular pick for an intown neighborhood.

I had to chuckle because they interviewed this one guy while on his dates and he had three dates with three different women in one week!

Yeah I was having a group over for a cookout and many were still here when that came on and we watched it. Seemed like a decent show but it got stupid the further it went. I mean halfway through they get to a category called, "city with the most beautiful people" (San Diego won). I mean holy crap... "beautiful people" is a category to aim for when looking to relocate??? GEEZ.

They got to Atlanta and yeah, it was funny. The single black male being interviewed was literally with a different woman every time they showed him. What they fail to mention is that with something like the 3rd largest gay population in the U.S., that THIS could be the reason for so many "single people" here. LOL. When interviewed, he was also very slanted saying about the music scene that there are lots of different types such as Rap, R&B, Soul.. R&B... Soul.. Rap.. Rap... (gee, no Country or pop?) Sigh.

Also like how they listed Decatur as "the Decatur neighborhood, with 3000 singles". Decatur is a CITY, not a neigborhood in Atlanta and there are tons more people there than that. Double Sigh. I usually like HGTV real estate shows, but whoever did this one didn't do much in the way of real research. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to become beautiful so I can move to San Diego.

[LLD]

LOL... yeah I saw the "beautiful people" thing and laughed at that too. But I think many of the categories were decent and they gave some facts to back them up too. But then California is known for "beutiful people" -- it's part of the lifestyle in many places -- the importance of physicality etc.

And the HGTV show is not the only report on Atlanta being a big singles city -- I've read that several places.

And having a big gay population is not big in the grand scheme of things either. If approximately 10% of the overall population is gay, even a town that has a fairly large gay community means that the numbers aren't that big compared to the non-gay population.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by LLD

LOL... yeah I saw the "beautiful people" thing and laughed at that too.

Wasn't the couple that they interviewed in San Diego hilarious as well? That's what made the whole category just funny. Younger man and woman. The woman was thin, the ban buffed with all body hair plucked from him. Both had those perfect glowing white teeth you see on the gum commercials. They kept showing them jogging and running on the beach, both of them with huge toothy, "I'm beautiful" grins the whole time. LOL - we were rolling with those two.

Then she gets on there - "Oh I love living here.. everyone here is fit and healthy and beautiful and successful". One woman in living room kept going up to the TV and saying "SLAP!!" trying to smack that chick across her beautiful cheeks. haha.

I did like how Denver is so dog-friendly. Wasn't aware of that. The drooling Mastiff was the scene stealer in that one. Another shocker was that Portland, Oregon is the best place "to be pregnant". ARGH! And I wanted to move there so bad! Now it's just one big Chuck-E-Cheese!!

[Figment 07]

A good place to "be single" is not necessarily the best place for those hoping to find a mate. Atlanta is a good place to be single; however, according to a recent Men’s Health magazine article, Atlanta wasn't even in the top twenty-five cities where women over age 35 were most likely to find eligible bachelors with a goal of lifetime partnership. Gender preferences were factored in the study:

We calculated a special Men's Health "MetroGrades" list for Oprah...

The topic: Where can women 35 and older find a man?

We crunched numbers on seven categories that have a bearing on how great a city might be for finding guys.

They are: ratios of single men to single women and of gay to straight; divorce rates; fitness; philanthropy; education; and our favorite, the thrill factor -- places where guys and girls do the kind of fun stuff that makes hearts race and bonds form.

A City-Data thread where you will find that city list and a discussion: Best cities for women to find a mate and get married?

[Figment 07]

Atlanta ranked as the 30th best city for "over 35s" to find a mate.

[LLD]

Dammit Figment..... don't burst my bubble! LOL

AtlantaGreg -- yeah that woman was a bit off the mark in saying "everyone" in San Diego is fit and super model material. ;-) Although I tell ya, when I go to Santa Barbara on business -- it surely seems like that place is very much like that.

I did like the positive way Atlanta was portrayed though. They listed lots of activities which is good.

I would never have thought of Auburn, Alabama as being the golf mecca though. LOL

[spacelord75]

I will say, having spent most of my life in Atlanta, that it is VERY easy to meet new people here and date. Even friends of mine who have moved here from other cities (Chicago, LA, NY) have stated the same. One thing I notice when I travel to other big cities is that, in Atlanta, you can make eye contact with someone and smile and usually get the same thing back. I think in other towns the people are so skeptical or jaded that they figure you're some sort of freak. It's also usually pretty easy to strike up small talk with complete strangers here, which I find not as accessible elsewhere. Additionally, I do not think people are as hung up on how much cash you throw around here, as opposed to the other cities I mentioned.

[LLD]

Interesting comments and good to hear about Atlanta. I looked at Figment's link and even there Atlanta being ranked 30th is good I think. Being in the top 30 cities of the US, for single women over 35 sounds good to me. :-)

Other cities that ranked higher were NYC, the DC area, and Houston.
San Jose, CA was number one -- all the techy guys in Silicon Valley.

What you described about Atlanta is very much the same in Houston -- it is friendly and unprententious with a big and varied social and singles scene.

[atlantagreg30127]

I think it's really a matter of where you are from as opposed to where you are moving to.

My Aunt for instance lives in a very small town in West Virginia. She has seen literally 3 black people in her entire life. So she watches the HGTV special about Atlanta where the guy being interviewed is black, and most of the clubs he is in are what I guess you would call "black clubs", playing some hiphoppy music, with one quick shot of a guy with 3 foot long dreds slinging them in the air. She calls me going, OH MY GOD - IS THAT WHERE YOU LIVE???", with a mortified tone to her voice.

Ok, on the flipside, I grew up in Charleston, West Virginia with a number of black residents, and attented the High School downtown which was about 30% black. From there I moved to Atlanta which is over 65% black. So those HGTV scenes didn't phase me at all but to people who are used to listening to Country Music and playing bingo on Saturday night, a place like Atlanta is like a scene from "Escape from New York" or something. It's all a matter of perspective, where you live, who you grew up around. Some of my coworkers grew up in rural Georgia and we work here in West Cobb and many of them never EVER go into Atlanta, so they said the HGTV episode just showed that Atlanta is a good place for "black singles". Well, who knows. I still say it's just that people here like to have sex too much and can't settle down, myself.

Still.. beautiful people as a category - geez. I'd be more interested in the city with the best cheese, or lowest STD cases. LOL