Is Atlanta a transient city? Would YOU put roots down here? (Decatur: lease, home)

[koko339]

Many times I've heard Atlanta has a large transient population. This prevents it from having a true identity, a local culture. People move here then move on. Or do they? Do we have any real proof of this? Specifically, I'm talking the city's intown neighborhoods.

This comment from Yes Home to close in Midtown | what now, atlanta? got me thinking about it. An independent home furnishings retailer in Midtown is closing and the commenter below thinks people in Atlanta don't support local because they don't care about local.

[SIZE=3]Johnny[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]says:[/SIZE]
March 11, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Yeah because SF is a real city. People move in and out of Atlanta like water in and out of a toilet. The percentage of people staying in midtown for over 20 years, 10 years for that matter is very very low. No one owns, they rent because they know Atlanta is not where they want to stay forever. That’s why businesses come and go so often. There’s no identity, no culture, no commitment. You all can comment about leave Atlanta if you don’t like then, guess what, most people have (Delta is ready when you are), that is why you’re stuck with a dead city. The people with these bright ideas for Atlanta aren’t doing anything to move Atlanta towards that bright idea either. I’m sure everyone including myself wants Atlanta to be more than it is for the last 15 yrs but no one is doing anything about it (ie: govt). People come through so often and never stay because there’s nothing worth staying for. We live in a sad city with limited growth opportunities.
You can’t sell furnishings if no one lives in the building above.

[tonygeorgia]

Everybody moves here but natives dont have anywhere to move to

[Lagwagon113]

Good job starting a fight. I predict 6 pages. To answer the question how can we know if people don't stay here for 20 years?. People just started flocking here over the past decade.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by koko339

This comment from Yes Home to close in Midtown | what now, atlanta? got me thinking about it. An independent home furnishings retailer in Midtown is closing and the commenter below thinks people in Atlanta don't support local because they don't care about local.

I know you didn't make this comment but the conclusion drawn by the person who did is pretty ridiculous.

No. 1, the store was in business for 7 years. That's not too shabby.

No. 2, we're in the midst of the worst recession in 80 years and retailers everywhere have been dropping like flies. That includes huge national companies with corporate financing. It's even tougher for the little guy. Who knows what factors may have been involved with this store? Lease coming up? Change in suppliers or financing sources? Customers unwilling to pay higher prices? Personnel changes?

No. 3, one shop in midtown is hardly indicative of what Atlanta is like. It's nonsense to try to extrapolate an event like that into broad generalizations about the character of the entire city. Nobody ever claimed midtown was the epicenter of retail ion the first place. We just went out for breakfast and tooled around for a while thereafter. Trust me, the city of Atlanta is buzzing from Buckhead to Downtown, in Decatur, the O4W, in Grant Park, on the West side and dozens of other neighborhoods. Drive down streets like Cheshire Bridge or Piedmont or RDA or Northside Drive and tell me Atlanta doesn't support local businesses. That's nonsense.

And we haven't even begun to touch our vast, thriving suburbs.

Sure, plenty of people move in and out of big cities like Atlanta all the time. We're a mobile society and that's the way the world works. But I'd venture that just as many people put down roots here as they do elsewhere.

[koko339]

Yeah I think that commenter was being ridiculous. I for one am committed to my neighborhood and feel like I'd be just fine sticking around for the long run. The great thing about Atlanta is that we are in the process of forming an identity, there's buzz. Even though the economy tanked, we're going to dust our boots off and keep on doing our thing .

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I know you didn't make this comment but the conclusion drawn by the person who did is pretty ridiculous.

No. 1, the store was in business for 7 years. That's not too shabby.

No. 2, we're in the midst of the worst recession in 80 years and retailers everywhere have been dropping like flies. That includes huge national companies with corporate financing. It's even tougher for the little guy. Who knows what factors may have been involved with this store? Lease coming up? Change in suppliers or financing sources? Customers unwilling to pay higher prices? Personnel changes?

No. 3, one shop in midtown is hardly indicative of what Atlanta is like. It's nonsense to try to extrapolate an event like that into broad generalizations about the character of the entire city. Nobody ever claimed midtown was the epicenter of retail ion the first place. We just went out for breakfast and tooled around for a while thereafter. Trust me, the city of Atlanta is buzzing from Buckhead to Downtown, in Decatur, the O4W, in Grant Park, on the West side and dozens of other neighborhoods. Drive down streets like Cheshire Bridge or Piedmont or RDA or Northside Drive and tell me Atlanta doesn't support local businesses. That's nonsense.

And we haven't even begun to touch our vast, thriving suburbs.

Sure, plenty of people move in and out of big cities like Atlanta all the time. We're a mobile society and that's the way the world works. But I'd venture that just as many people put down roots here as they do elsewhere.

You rock dude!

And while we're on it, I am soooooo sick of people saying Atlanta doesn't have an homegrown culture when they really mean "Atlanta doesn't have a home grown culture I like."

[DTL3000]

I can sort of understand this guy's frustration even though I think he is exaggerating it a bit. Atlanta just doesn't sound like the right city for him. This city is getting better but some people don't want to sit around and wait for it to reach a level on par with a city like SF(vibrancy mainly). Honestly, this city does seem to take one step forward and two steps backwards when it attempts to improve itself a lot of times.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I can sort of understand this guy's frustration even though I think he is exaggerating it a bit. Atlanta just doesn't sound like the right city for him. This city is getting better but some people don't want to sit around and wait for it to reach a level on par with a city like SF(vibrancy mainly). Honestly, this city does seem to take one step forward and two steps backwards when it attempts to improve itself a lot of times.

But who wants to live in SF? It's not diverse unless you are white or asian, too expensive, cold summers, earthquakes, etc. Great place to visit though

[MathmanMathman]

But I think a place needs a sense of permanence of what it is and Atlanta lacks that along with a sense that it has to be here and no where else. I was amazed when a long lost film of the 1944 liberation of Paris was discovered. I swear, the place has hardly changed.

[TSQQST]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

But who wants to live in SF? It's not diverse unless you are white or asian, too expensive, cold summers, earthquakes, etc. Great place to visit though

But who wants to live in Atlanta? It's not diverse unless you're black, too cheap/low quality, hot summers, tornadoes, etc. Good place if you like Coca Cola though.