Washington Post: The NEW Atlanta is making cultural waves (Decatur: hotel, home)

[kirkwoodhipster]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

when everywhere looked like bankhead, nobody lived in the city and everyone was a conservative christian.

The Old Atlanta (1966-1996): non-diverse, crime-ridden, culturally staid, provincial.

The New Atlanta (born in 1996; came of age around 2010 or so): diverse, safe, green, international, cultured, dense, urban.

[cqholt]

What a great article. Like the fact this author demonstrated that tourist can get around the city without a car.

[mjtinmemphis]

I guess Im a fan of the old Atlanta. Its seemed cooler and for some reason more prosperous. Atlanta was definatly at the top of my relocation list by the mid 90's. 2012 it doesnt make any list imo. Too many other cities are cooler, more hip and alot more urban.

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by cqholt

What a great article. Like the fact this author demonstrated that tourist can get around the city without a car.

But he didn't really. Yes, he did use MARTA for part of his trip. But it was only due to the random person he met that he was able to hitch a ride over to EAV and later over to West Midtown.

The transit in the city doesn't link up well to some of our best neighborhoods, like EAV, West Midtown, Va-Hi, and Little 5 Points. We need an east-west streetcar or train with a MARTA connection or two.

[cqholt]

L5P is accessible to MARTA. I was talking about the fact that he rode MARTA from the airport to downtown and to L5P.

[waronxmas]

Read the article and thought, while it was nice, it should be titled:

"I went to Atlanta and learned about stuff I don't see on TV"

Seriously, none of those things are "new" except the aquarium. I do think though that there are a ton of people who base their entire opinion on Atlanta on what you can find in Downtown and around Lenox Mall and are blissfully unaware of what else goes on in the city. This is a good read for those types.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

But he didn't really. Yes, he did use MARTA for part of his trip. But it was only due to the random person he met that he was able to hitch a ride over to EAV and later over to West Midtown.

The transit in the city doesn't link up well to some of our best neighborhoods, like EAV, West Midtown, Va-Hi, and Little 5 Points.

We need an east-west streetcar or train with a MARTA connection or two.

I agree for the most part, but MARTA has good access to L5P. Maybe it's not like Dupont Circle or Adam's Morgan in DC, where you exit the subway station and you're right in the middle of the respective neighborhood, but it's close enough. I walked it this morning, and it only took me five minutes to get from Inman Park MARTA station to Variety Playhouse in L5P.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Read the article and thought, while it was nice, it should be titled:

"I went to Atlanta and learned about stuff I don't see on TV"

Seriously, none of those things are "new" except the aquarium. I do think though that there are a ton of people who base their entire opinion on Atlanta on what you can find in Downtown and around Lenox Mall and are blissfully unaware of what else goes on in the city. This is a good read for those types.

I enjoyed the article too. I think the thread should have been titled:

"Hooray, the elite northeastern media types like us, they really likes us!"

...said with a Sally Field accent.

[ATLTJL]

I would trade West Midtown, EAV, and the Old Fourth Ward for Buckhead Village, the Omni, and Underground Atlanta ANY day of the week!!

Me too!

Especially Buckhead Village. Key to any city's success is having an area where groups of young, attractive women feel like they can go out and have a few drinks and not get raped walking back to their cars at the end of the night.

Buckhead Village provided that perception (note, I did not say reality....I said PERCEPTION). I don't really see that perception in most of the city nowadays. I'm not even 100% comfortable walking around EAV at night when there aren't many other people about.

BTW, cities like Charlotte have figured out how to provide this. They have areas that are crowded, brightly lit, and with active foot patrol police presences. I think Buckhead had it due to sheer density, there were simply always lots of people around, at least on weekends. Since there were retail stores that opened up their parking lots at night, you didn't have to walk down dimly lit quiet streets to get to your car. You just walked back to a lot that you paid a few bucks to park in, and the guy with the flashlight and red flag was probably still there watching everything making it feel safe. Of course, cheap people like me always knew where to find street parking, but I wouldn't have recommended it for a group of women.

[cqholt]

Too bad all those stuffed shirts in Buckhead had to tear down the Buckhead Village entertainment area.