Positive Perceptions Of Atlanta (transplants, living, restaurants)

[atlantamoi]

Obviously, everything I would list here can be topped by some other city, but I do like living here very much:

Nice people
Good weather
Plenty of activities for people of all ages
Culture is interesting over here on the east side
Very good restaurants
Kickin' airport to anywhere
Wanna see a good band perform? Pick a night
College football easily accessible (but stay away from stinky UGA!
Not as landlocked as the Midwest
Good hiking only an hour away

The older I get the more I wouldn't have a problem living somewhere else. When I moved here at the age of 24 I had a blast hitting some of the local dives to see bands perform. Now that I have a family it doesn't matter as much and other cities wouldn't be a turnoff. But after 18 years in Atlanta I don't regret one bit moving here and could spend the rest of my days right where I am.

[JBnC]

I prefer the city so much more than the suburbs. The suburbs are just plain and stale, and IMHO I think the suburbs have the worst traffic. The city only has traffic during rushour and large conventions. In the suburbs it's 24/7. You can still find affordable places to live intown.

Pro's:
Weather, 8-9 months out of the year the best.
Diversity and culture.
Lot's of cool neighborhoods: Castleberry Hill, Va-Hi, Little Five Points, East Atlanta, Decatur, Grant Park, East Point, Peachtree Hills...all are unique in thier own way and have lot's of character.
Downtown is finally starting to grow and improve.
The Thrashers.
Great restaraunts and culinary scene.
Major Universities and Colleges that cater to working adults.
The Georgia Aquarium.
Atlanta is less than a days drive to the Ocean and a couple hours to the Mountains.

[Merin]

Its very affordable. The craftsman style houses are great.

[fil]

Atlanta is a great city.

You need to keep your eyes open and EVERY place can be looked at glass half full or glass half empty...so for the haters (GET OUT).

Atlanta is one of the best cities that I've had the pleasure to live in.

Things I liked:
- Proximity to everything--a city, mountains, rivers, lakes, hiking/running/biking trails, parks, malls/shopping, mega-movie theaters, professional sporting venues
- Everything comes to Atlanta--traveling shows like Cirque du Soleil, Sesame Street Live, traveling Broadway productions, shows like American Idol have auditions there, etc.--god I miss this in Austin, TX (I need to drive 4 hours to Dallas on a 2 line highway...blahhhkk)
- Tons of great libraries (Texas SUCKS for this)
- Tons of parks (Gwinnett County alone has more parks than all of Austin)
- 2 great lakes on opposite sides of town
- The IMAX theater in the Mall of GA that plays regular/made-for-IMAX movies (OMG love that)
- Great airport with cheap direct flights to anywhere via multiple carriers cannot be understated (from Austin, it takes an entire day to fly to upstate NY...arghh)
- Huge 7-10 lane superhighways
- Cops let you drive on ave about 80 miles per hour anywhere (look out at the beginning and end of the month and on a few select highways...316...for cops)
- Until Katrina, the cheapest gas in the country
- Low taxes (oopps, bad schools...ranked 48th in the country)
- Back in the day, the crazy great dating scene...there are a ton of singles there (ups for Austin as it's the #1 spot now, but ATL was the bomb for dating in the 90's)
- Proximity to great beaches in Florida (e.g. Destin is a 3.5 hour drive)
- Jobs...there are a ton of companies headquartered there and there are a ton of startups
- Lots of colleges to choose from
- Overall low cost of living
- Tons of cheap and plentiful ethnic food
- Tons of great buffets (sad to say)
- Six Flags
- All the waterparks
- Tallulah Gorge (I really loved this place BEFORE they closed access to the gorge for dogs...Mine loved it and would literally use the natural rock slide into the water and they were ridiculous)
- All of the hiking trails and river access (did I say that already, I needed to repeat it)
- Adult sports (there is a great indoor soccer arena in Suwanne atlantasilverbacks.com, baseball leagues embl.net, and mixed martial arts studios like KnuckleUpFitness)
- Mixed Martial Arts is huge there
- SEC basketball finals at the GA Dome
- 1996 Olympics, 2 world series in the 90's, god know how many pro baseball playoff games, all star games, and NON-FANATIC sports fans, allowing one to see "their" team in safe, inexpensive, and new stadiums (the scalpers rock in Atlanta and access is very easy to any sporting venuing...it's much easier to see the Yankees, RedSox, and any other team in ATL)
- Falcons, Braves, Thrashers, Hawks, Silverbacks, Force, Gladiators, and (gone now) the Beat
- Entertainment does not go lacking--ballet, operas, plays, orchestras, and Atlanta is currently in the mecca for Hip-Hop/R&B
- Car racing (Road Atlanta and the Atlanta Motorspeedway)
- Headquarters of Panoz and Porsche North America exotic cars
- Southern friendliness (a little phony, but it's better than a bitchy attitude)
- Lots of family oriented stuff to do

I could go on, but I'm missing home that much more as I write this...and I did not grow up there.

[LoveMiami]

hey fil i want to tell you that I LOVE YOU BRO!

[fil]

Hey, now...I'm not part of THAT Atlanta community...just kidding...I'm not yo

[deathcabber]

Originally Posted by fil

You need to keep your eyes open and EVERY place can be looked at glass half full or glass half empty...so for the haters (GET OUT).

Working on it!!! But really, can you say you have lived here over 20 years and you still like it? If so, I have mad respect for you. I do have to agree with something others pointed out and I forgot....it is cool to be close to the mountains and the beach all at once. Oh, and the camping in the mountain areas is really nice in fall.

[fil]

Originally Posted by deathcabber

Working on it!!! But really, can you say you have lived here over 20 years and you still like it? If so, I have mad respect for you. I do have to agree with something others pointed out and I forgot....it is cool to be close to the mountains and the beach all at once. Oh, and the camping in the mountain areas is really nice in fall.

We lived in Atlanta for 12 years until our recent move to Austin. I'm higher up in the food chain and have been around many of the executive circles in town, so we made a choice to leave for my career.

Now gone, I miss Atlanta and this is after years growing up and moving around NY, living in NJ, Philly, and VA, and my travel which has taken me many times over around the world.

ATL has a lot to offer both good and bad. That's my point.
My long post was to highlight what continues to draw me to the ATL.

We all choose to see what works for us and should all decide to stay or leave (and stop complaining). 8|
Is crime bad in Atlanta, yes, so be on guard. You get this in NYC, D.C., Detriot, etc. It just so happens that Atlanta is a huge media hub (thank you Ted Turner and CNN), so an itty bitty crime happens and boom it's on Headline News.
Is there a race issue? Yes, but it's very much out in the open and the passive aggressive biggots in town are SO obvious you know, at the least, where it's coming from. In Texas, you get the big "sh%7 eating grin" attitude, you don't know if Jim-Bob is your shooter. In GA, you have an idea who to stay away from (err...or who to point YOUR gun at).

After almost a year away, we hope to come back and build on vacant property that we own near the Mall of GA someday, but that's for fate and the family to decide once we're done here in Texas for my career.

I love the proximity to the beach (Destin, Savannah, Tampa, etc.), either by drive or by plane, and the GA mountains have a lot to offer. Head North on 985 and you'll bump into a few great areas. Tallulah is still a fun spot for hikers and climbers.

The fact that my family has to fly 3-4 hours to ATL on Delta, we meet up with them and can fly DIRECT to Hawaii or to Asia from Atlanta cannot be discounted. Atlanta is one of the few big cities that offers assessibility to the world, if you have the time and the means to fly.

Also, the access to MANY college and pro sports in Atlanta cannot be discounted or diminished. I love the fact that ON THE DAY of the SEC basketball or football finals or playoffs, you can scalp tickets in front of the stadium (many times for less than face value) and watch the game is unbelieveable to me.

I grew up a Yankee fan and never once saw them play in the Bronx, too scary, hard to comeby tickets, etc. I've seen them play in a World Series at the Ted and it was fantastic.

I know a lot of Cubs fans that also love ATL for this type of access.

Don't get me started on the Olympics. That was a great 17 days (especially for an ex-GE employee that got tickets to just about everything and got to skip work).

<RANT>
There's a ton of this in Atlanta. Most people rather moan instead of looking for the opportunity to enjoy themselves and participate.
</RANT>

[fil]

I forgot to add:

1. Great Comedy Clubs--The Punchline, Funny Farm, and Showcase Comedy Lounge
2. The Aurora Theatre in Duluth had some funny off-Broadway plays
3. Lots of free tickets for sporting events
4. Bell South Classic
5. The Masters Tournament in August
6. Lots of singles
7. Lots of food variety everywhere in town (it's not isolated)--India, Thai, Japanese (sushi and tapanyaki/hibachi)
8. Year-around sports and top-down convertible driving since the weather is great 9 months of the year (t-shirt weather)
9. Cheap and negotiable laborers for lawncare, landscaping, painting, pressure washing, roofing, electrical, plumbing, and general contracting around town. God, there're not a lot here in Austin and it's like I have to beg to get someone to quote me an outrageous price to modernize things..sheesh. Atlanta has a ton of contractors and you can haggle for a good deal.
10. Piedmont park, Lake Lanier, Stone Mountain, etc.

I'm keeping this thread going because it's psyching me to move back.

[aries4118]

Trees.

The City of Trees

The City in a Forest


Folks, there is no major/international city in the WORLD with the urban treescape that Atlanta has.

The trees are Atlanta's calling card, trademark. But Atlanta doesn't sell this. No one knows about our valuable asset until they come here.

And we're just throwing (cutting!) it all away...