So Confused??? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell: transplants, hotel, home)

[NYtoGA]

Just came back from a trip to GA. We were there to finalize our decision as to location and get the ball rolling with our move. Although we have been there many times during the past ten years, our last trip was alittle over a year ago. Things seemed to have changed alot since then. Seemed so crowded and what is with store fronts with Chinese and Spanish signs? I welcome diversity but do expect English. Honestly, I didnt experience any southern hospitality other than the staff at restaurants. They were always wonderful. The other people I encountered in stores, etc were borderline rude. They didnt hold doors going into restaurants or say thank you if you held it for them. Was it a just a bad weekend or is Georgia changing?????

[NE2SE]

Things are changing here...The burbs used to be the place to live. There seems to be a movment back towards the city. The bad areas once downtown are now forming a donut around ATL. I used to live in South Gwinnett. It used to be nice...no more...Jimmy Carter is mostly all non-english signs. Banks are now pawn shops, grocery stores are either shut down or international shopping centers. Which is great to visit if you need to go to the Hemileia grocery store for some curry spice. Seriously, I love the diversity, to bad it's a bit danerous there now. So you have two choices. Pay more for intown living (Virginia Highlands, Inman Park, Buckhead) or close in (like Vinings, Roswell, East Cobb, or where I live City of Marietta*) which is wonderful. Or move far far FAR into the suburbs where you will hate traffic if you have to cummute into Atlanta. Places like Alpharetta, Kennesaw, or Suwanee. The spread is even as far North as Cherokee Forsyth and Hall Counties.

*City of Marietta still has issues, but is having a come back and I believe in this area. Some are leaving East Cobb for parts of the City of Marietta to get an intown feel but still not downtown ATL. Alton Brown lives here...in an old restored house...cool place.

Here is a web site that may help you in terms of Marietta.
Move to Marietta!
www.mariettaga.gov

As far as people go...it's like anywhere metro-like these days. People are from everywhere...Atlanta is an metropolitan island that happens to be in GA. The rest of Georgia is a way different place than ATL.

The five counties that make up the metro-ATL area expect to have an influx of 2 million more people in the next eight years. So closer in will be safer in terms of your neigborhood going good vs. bad.

[Chondra Webster]

Marietta/Powder Springs. Great area, southern charm, good school. Still Elementary School is a great school with great test scores. Check out the area. There are several great subdivisions in the area. let me know if you need any more specifics.

[atlantagreg30127]

A couple of miles north of the actual city limits of Powder Springs is nice, and if you have kids, in a newer High School district that a lot of people desire. I live in the actual city of Powder Springs. It's gone downhill a bit in recent years, but still isn't "bad". The East Paulding area is still more blue collar and rual(ish) but rapidly growing. Mostly white but there is a quickly growing number of people from places like Kenya, Jamaica, and Haiti who have decided that the West metro is the place to be - that's good OR bad, depending on who you are and the mix of folks you wanna be around. It can be considered "cultural", or "conflict of cultures", again, depending on who you are and how you see it.

NYtoGA... you say "Georgia" but you don't say WHERE in Georgia. It's a large state. Your reference to the business sings in other languages make me wonder if you were in the Chamblee/Doraville area of NE Atlanta as that's where a lot of immigrants are, as well as their businesses. Some are rude, and with others it's a cultural difference where they come from much more shall we say "abrupt" places than the South, and those here who are more used to the "please/thank you/you're welcome" stuff aren't used to their more abrupt behavior. Again though, sometimes it just plain IS rude - other times it's not. I fully agree with the signs ... now and again they'll try to enact laws here that force them to be "English first", but then the lawsuits start and they back off.

One thing about Atlanta you have to keep in mind, is that literally since the late 70s and early 80s, that there have been between 55,000 all the way up to 95,000 people per year moving into the metro area, nonstop. From all over the country, and since the Olympics, the world. When I moved here in 1984 the metro area was just reaching 2 million people. Today it's estimated at around 5.1 million. So yes, there are changes and sometimes very fast changes in one area or the next even if you've only been gone a few months and then come back to compare.

If you want slightly more laid back and friendly areas, you want to go further out from the city and look for the satellite cities like Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Peachtee City, or if you want more diversity, certain areas of Smyrna, etc.

[NYtoGA]

Thanks...we are going to look into these other areas. We were originally interested in the Dacula area...thought I was set on it. The people there were very nice and the realtor was a lovely woman but you cannot live within your subdivision no matter how large it might be. We stayed at a hotel in the mall of Georgia area and honestly, the majority of the people really werent friendly. It may sound petty but truly no one held a door or even acknowledged you if you held it for them. Two women at the mall shopping actually made comments to eachother regarding shoes I was purchasing while standing right next to me??? Even women staying at the hotel that we would see in the morning getting coffee barely made eye contact. Believe me, I grew up in NY and I am not sensitive....manners were lacking.

As for the signs, not sure of the town but I think we were around Duluth going towards the the area of the Gwinnett Mall. A huge area where the signs were all written in Chinese and then Spanish. I didnt encounter that in the Dacula/Buford area but those areas had many non english speaking people. Again diversity is not an issue here...but English speaking neighbors kind of is.

We have alot of family in GA and we would have loved to be closer to them. I will check out the older more established communities where the building has slowed down. That would alleviate my stress regarding the overcrowded schools and hopefully, I will feel more at home there. If not, maybe its just not the place for us anymore.

[lastminutemom]

I think Metro ATlanta may not be the place for you -- it grows more diverse everyday. I can't think of an area where you won't find some diversity or anticipate diversity heading that way in the near future.

Even in Buckhead, the oldest established area, there are many, many Hispanics and Asians. Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, as well are growing more diverse each year.

Perhaps an enclave in East Cobb?

[Lisa G.]

Atlanta is a great place to live. Personally, you may want to try another side of town if one area is too diverse for you. As for the southern hospitality, this place is a melting pot and it still does exist, so if you give a smile, I am positive you will get one back

[clsmith15]

I moved to GA in 1996 and honestly have never found Georgians to be any more polite or hospitable than other people. I live out in a fairly rural county and have enountered many rude and sullen people. However, when there is a business transaction involved where they stand to make some money a lot of people can be quite charming. Since I moved here I have felt that southern hospitality is just a myth. It's like anywhere else, there are some nice, polite people and there are a lot of self-centered jerks.

P.S. I've given many smiles which have been returned with frozen stares. That seems to really aggravate unhappy people.

[dlh891]

I moved to the very southern tip of Gwinnett County last year and have encountered nothing but friendly people. In fact, I have a weekend home close to here also and my mail box was run over and my neighbor put it back up for me even though he hadn't seen me in a month or so (I usually only go over to mow the lawn once a week). This is what I moved here from Florida for. You may just have to check out more areas to find something you will be comfortable with, there is a place for everyone here.

[atlantagreg30127]

Gwinnett County is the most diverse county in all of Georgia. I think on one of the news stations last year they were talking about the overcrowding issues in schools there (and it IS a big problem in Gwinnett). I have no idea which Elementary School it was, but they said at one school, there were 42 languages spoken by all of the new immigrant kids coming in from everywhere across the globe, and they had a huge shortage of teachers that could teach all of the immigrant kids English via their native languages. FORTY-TWO. Diversity is one thing but that does evoke a "yikes". Some will see that as a plus, others a disadvantage, again- depends on who you are and what you seek. I'd say if you were a school teacher that can speak multiple languages though, it's a job heaven!

Probably the least diverse areas are going to be in the West Cobb, Paulding, and further Western burbs. Along the main arteries (Hwy 278/Thornton Road) there is a growing Kenyan, Haitain and Jamaican population though, along with a Hispanic population that is also growing, but not nearly as fast as some other areas in the metro. Along the more rural areas in these zones you still have a few typical "suburban-meets-country" type of places - north of the city limits of Powder Springs, north of Hiram, Dallas, etc. Then of course as I mentioned earlier, the Alpharetta, John's Creek, and Peachtree City areas are more of what you might call "traditional, surburban, somewhat conservative, white, golf club type of areas" - that too is good OR bad, depending on who you are.

The mall of Georgia area is weird regarding the "polite" factor. Just a few years ago that was a pretty rural area in terms of residents, but there's been a good number of transplants from CA to NY to New England and everywhere else moving in up there. So you're going to get a huge range and mix of attitudes, too. And let's face it, regarding malls here - have you ever really been to a mall and had a teen wait on you that had half a clue what they were doing and were really friendly as well? NOT common.

Atlanta (metro OR city) isn't for everyone. But explore around the varied areas before deciding a "no" as well. There may be a lot of areas around here that aren't a fit for you, but others you'll like a lot. Just remember as I said earlier though, that with so many people moving here every year that it's a region of constant change, so if you want to avoid it, you'll have to move pretty far out away from the city.