Returned to my native Atlanta after a 12 year odyssey - very impressed! (Macon: where to stay)

[ansleyparkclassof96]

Here is my story:

born and raised in Ansley Park, Atlanta, Georgia. Left for college the week after the 1996 Olympics Closing Ceremony. Would come back periodically to visit my family before they moved to Dallas in the fall of 1997. moved to Portland after graduation.

Before last week, last visit to Atlanta was August of 1997.

two of my friends had some business that they had to do in Atlanta and would be going for a week. They asked me where to stay, what to do, and so on. I decided - hey, I havent been back to Atlanta in over a decade. Might be neat to see whats changed. im unemployed so I had nothing else to do.

Well, CHANGE (in bold and CAPS) would be the only way to describe my hometown. And I was very impressed.

You see, I have always thought of Atlanta as too small/not urban enough for its name, especially around the time I left. When we won the olympics, everyone was kind of like - wow, really?! Did they make a mistake?

I guess Atlanta still doesnt live up to its name, since my friends were expecting something like D.C. or Seattle, and Atlanta was not what they had pictured it to be in thier minds, and it certianly did not match up to the gradiose standards they had because of the Olympics.

But for me, Atlanta has come a very long way, especially in terms of Density/Urban development. A few highlights:

1. the East Side - Totally transformed. East Atlanta Village, Cabbagetown, Kirkwood, Old Fourth Ward have joined the ranks of other established East Side places like L5P, Inman Park, VA Highlands. The gentrification that has taken place is truly astonishing. This side of town is almost "there" - the point where the entire East Side will be hip, cool, gentrified - and all that needs to go is that awful stretch of Boulevard with the projects.

2. Midtown - Again, it was crazy to see. My friends liked it the best. Seems to have the most urban feel. People walking around, urban life, etc. It truly felt like you were in a major city!

3. Buckhead - Seems a tad overbuilt now but I really like the streetscape they did on Peachtree. Sad to see the bars I sued to frequent on Peachtree (Lulu's Baitshack, Have a Nice Day Cafe) on visits home are gone.

4. Centennial Park - From what I can tell, this seems like it is the "new" Downtown! They have really done a nice job with this area. Felt safe and clean and new. I hope the transformation continues.


And of course the things you can't see but can read on Wikipedia: a booming population (we broke the 500k mark!), a density of 4,018.4/sq mi (we broke the 4,000 mark!), more diversity, more museums, more landmarks!


Atlanta is getting there. Before, when I lived Atlanta it didnt feel like I lived in a major city. Its not there yet, but it really is beginning to look and feel like a true cosmopolitan, major city that can live up to such a grandoise name. Remember, cities change gradually. If you dont believe me, leave Atlanta and dont come back for 10 years!

[tonygeorgia]

Wait until the economy comes back around and these projects are built

Streets of Buckhead (Old Buckhead Village)
The Buckhead Village
Town Brookhaven
Aerotropolis
12th and Midtown
Allen Plaza
Human and Civil Rights Museum
National Health Museum
College HOF Museum
Ga Music HOF (Possible move from Macon)
Ga Aquarium Expansion
Westside Park
180 Peachtree
Trump Towers
Mandarin Oriental
Atlanta Streetcar
180 Peachtree

[kayrob]

And the expansion of mass transit. Oh wait.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by kayrob

And the expansion of mass transit. Oh wait.

Hold your horses!!

[FlyiMetro]

interestin post. seeing as how its the first post ever done. Id be interested in some of your post in the Portland forum.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Wait until the economy comes back around and these projects are built

Streets of Buckhead (Old Buckhead Village)
The Buckhead Village
Town Brookhaven
Aerotropolis
12th and Midtown
Allen Plaza
Human and Civil Rights Museum
National Health Museum
College HOF Museum
Ga Music HOF (Possible move from Macon)
Ga Aquarium Expansion
Westside Park
180 Peachtree
Trump Towers
Mandarin Oriental
Atlanta Streetcar
180 Peachtree

They are building a NEW Buckhead Village? Don't forget the Beltline and Midtown Mile (which probably includes 12th and Midtown).

Originally Posted by MisterNY

Hold your horses!!

The way Sonny has been running the state and taking it back in time, you might have to literally.

[noah]

The Beltline will be a game changer for intown Atlanta. And for those that say it won't happen, at the very least the parks and trails will happen and are already well underway.

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by ansleyparkclassof96

Atlanta is getting there. Before, when I lived Atlanta it didnt feel like I lived in a major city. Its not there yet, but it really is beginning to look and feel like a true cosmopolitan, major city that can live up to such a grandoise name. Remember, cities change gradually. If you dont believe me, leave Atlanta and dont come back for 10 years!

Great post. Thanks for the thread.

By the way, by "major" city I assume you mean "world-class" city. Atlanta has of course indisputably been a major city since probably the mid-1970s, but as you say it has only very recently started, in certain small but significant ways, to live up to its boast of being truly "world class". But of course, as any cursory glance through the posts on this forum will suffice to show, that is hotly disputed. But notice one thing that's crucial: the changing expectations people have of Atlanta. As your post illustrated, people now have fairly high expectations of Atlanta, probably much higher than they ever did in the past, and thus ironically Atlanta probably is subjected to much harsher criticism than it used to be. So as I've pointed out before in previous threads, it's often overlooked how this very rise in expectations people have of Atlanta is in a curious way a sure indicator of Atlanta's rise in the ranks of the nation's and world's cities. If people judge Atlanta as harshly as they sometimes do, it's only because we take it for granted that Atlanta is not Little Rock, or even Charlotte or Nashville. Nowadays, for better or worse, Atlanta's peers are -- as you said -- cities like Seattle, as well as places like Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, B.C.; Toronto; Frankfurt, Germany, and others.

And just as before, just when you're about to write off Atlanta as being ultimately unable to fulfill its potential - it surprises you. A somewhat trivial example: I just saw in the paper this week that Atlanta is ranked 5 in the world for most users of Twitter. And yet -- always "and yet!" with Atlanta, some things never seem to change -- this is a city that still doesn't have a decent NPR station, it's in a state that has just cut off arts funding, and the already underdeveloped subway system is barely clinging to life, faced with an indifferent state government. So you see, one big thing still hasn't changed about Atlanta, and it is perhaps its major challenge: it's still located in an anti-urban, and in many ways politically backward state. And as before, there may be no satisfactory solution to that problem. The best Atlanta can do is try to look to other examples of progressive cities -- like Austin -- in not-necessarily progressive states for guidance on how you make the best of being an island in mostly hostile territory.

[noah]

In looking at the top 10 metros in the country (Atlanta is #9) several of them don't even have a subway system. Even with the current tracks its a huge asset to have.

Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia