What kind of city is Atlanta? (Roswell, Marietta: crime, shop, rich)

[Atlguy39]

1. Gay
2. Pollution
3. Prejudce
4. Good Southern Food
5. Traffic
6. Pretentious
7. No jobs


#4 isn't enough to get me to stay.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

1) Beautiful tree canopy
2) Wonderful airport
3) Reasonable home prices and decent weather
4) Lack of a city area where one can go for dinner and walk around afterward (and safely) window shop, people watch and simply enjoy the ambience a la South Beach or Las Olas Blvd in Ft. Lauderdale or Riverwalk in San Antonio.
5) Cliquish and often unfriendly

Really good observations.

I never thought of #4 but it's true. You generally drive to a destination and go in to eat, watch a movie, etc. The only people-watching you can do is in malls.

About #5, the cliquish and unfriendly, when did this start? In retrospect, I can sort of see it, but it's nowhere like it is in the Pacific Northwest (SEA and PDX...). I was involved in my church and you could definitely see the "segmentation." Most of the cool people were educated transplants who had a decent job but were NOT yuppified.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

Right, multi-nodal can be good and bad. If Cobb and Gwinnett wouldn't still be so "uptight," MARTA rail could easily go up to Vinings/Cumberland and up to Gwinnett Place, making congestion a lot less of a problem.

We don't really know how either is now, 40 years later, at least until the upcoming TSPLOST vote, but many of us in Cobb are not completely convinced that such a line would benefit us all that much if it were still on the table. Nice for the center to get to our resources, sure, but we already have decent access to you.

Congestion in the burbs is not between them and the inner city, as has been talked about ad nauseum in these forums. Most of us work in nodes on the perimeter or OTP, not ITP.

Back on topic, I would say:

(1) Balkanized. Heavily so.
(2) Contradictory. You see both enlightened behavior and overt racism/classism here to a level I've not encountered before. You see a lot of wealth and a lot of poor areas here. Some things are shiny and new, but then you find whole stretches of interstate with no lighting. Etc.
(3) I like the term multi-nodal, so I'll borrow it. :-)
(4) Resilient. General Sherman was careless with fire, and the city returned. It survived the Olympics. It's down now, but it will survive. The question isn't if, I think, but rather when and how.

[atlantagreg30127]

Folks - it's straying off topic more and more. Read the first post in the thread for the topic to answer, please.

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

Funny...a good take on this!

Very hood...Thugs here are pretty, but still thugs. I think Atlanta has the most prettiest thugs, even over Miami, then you have the conservative chicken heads...it took a while to get use to. Im used to women who are not afraid to chase a man they like. The pride level of the hood girls in Atlanta is high. Hype? Well I listen to urban radio, not much of a TV guy, but DJs are ALWAYS overhyping something lol. They make the lamest event seem like it is new years eve, then you have boosters here who overhype. Dont pick up any magazine based on well to dos, even more ATL hype, Hills which is cool to me, I drive a 5 gear so its cool to go neutral down hills and let my car coast, those uphill climbs can really show what your sparkplugs are worth though lol. When you look down a street you can see more. Women in Atlanta actually come out, back in Florida they dont come out that much too humid. In Florida you really only see them leisurely at night. In Atlanta, you see them all day & night. People always tell me "Yall got them girls back in Florida!!!" I always laugh and tell em..."we say the same thing about you alls Georgia girls" Airplanes. I go to school Smyrna/Cobb near Dobbins and live off Camp Creek near Hartsfield...so yea I see a lot of planes.

[boo radley]

1. diverse (population)
2. corporate (coca cola, home depot, southern co., suntrust, cnn, russel athletic, etc...)
3. transportation (hub)
4. southern (and all that goes with it. although the true "southerness" of the city is eroding.)
5. expanding (even though urban sprawl has had its side effects, Atlanta is still growing and
re-defining itself as a major international city.)


*I thought about using "historic" as one of the five but most "transplants" do not understand the historical significance Atlanta has played in forming the region as well as the country.

[arjay57]

The term I've always used to describe Atlanta is "tucked away." No, you don't see big entertainment districts or bustling city streets with throngs of people walking down the sidewalk. However, once you get to know Atlanta you start discovering that it has many very cool pockets of activity scattered all around. Our heavy tree cover adds to the sense of mystery. (Sorry, I know that's too dramatic a word but I couldn't think of another one).

I think Atlanta has always prided itself on being a little reserved. You're more than welcome here but we typically don't like to show off.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

Really good observations.

I never thought of #4 but it's true. You generally drive to a destination and go in to eat, watch a movie, etc. The only people-watching you can do is in malls.

OTP i would say totally (mostly). You said it has been a while since you lived here and can say certain areas OTP have improved greatly recently such as Downtown Marietta, Roswell, Norcross.

ITP, not true at all.

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

OTP i would say totally (mostly). You said it has been a while since you lived here and can say certain areas OTP have improved greatly recently such as Downtown Marietta, Roswell, Norcross.

ITP, not true at all.

Sure you can walk downtown Marietta and Norcross after dinner. It'll take about 15 minutes, at most. Not very large. Roswell is sort of OK, but parking is a problem.

ITP--please tell me WHERE these places are that I can dine and then walk around safely and window shop and people watch. I'd like to try them out!

I've been to DT Decatur--not too exciting or interesting.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

ITP--please tell me WHERE these places are that I can dine and then walk around safely and window shop and people watch. I'd like to try them out!

Virginia-Highland and Midtown come to mind. The newer developments in Inman Park, too. Buckhead.