Atlanta was a big disappointment for me as a tourist. (Savannah: living in, price)

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

A smaller city almost always trumps a major hub in walkability and charm. Savannah, Charleston, Asheville... all much more interesting from a touristy standpoint.

We lived in England for two years, late 80s. Took our car over on the ferry for three weeks before we returned stateside to see as much of the continent as possible. In every instance, I found the smaller historic cities much more appealing than the major cities. Salzburg and Innsbruck were infinitely more interesting than Vienna. Bruges was much more interesting and navigable than Brussels. Lausanne nicer than Zurich, Venice much moreso than Milan. Huge cities full of commerce were hard to navigate, couldn't get my mind around them. These smaller cities had the charm without the throngs.

Mind you, I was on a budget and navigating on my own, but without a big tour package and a guide, I found these smaller cities much more interesting and manageable on my own. Same would go for Asheville (or Charleston or Savannah) than Atlanta.

I'm kind of glad you mentioned this...

If Atlanta didn't grow so big and truly had our old historic downtown, and not the 60s-80s era urban renewal, it would be much more interesting, but than again growth demand wouldn't have created midtown, Buckhead, or Perimeter into what they are either. Our city would probably still be downtown centric like it was pre-90s.

[rorqual]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I'm kind of glad you mentioned this...

If Atlanta didn't grow so big and truly had our old historic downtown, and not the 60s-80s era urban renewal, it would be much more interesting, but than again growth demand wouldn't have created midtown, Buckhead, or Perimeter into what they are either. Our city would probably still be downtown centric like it was pre-90s.

So essentially what you are saying is if Atlanta were Birmingham things would be better?

[ATLTJL]

What Atlanta needs more than anything else is about 200 additional APD officers that would walk street beats around town.

Most cities I have been to that have a strong feeling of safety have a visible police presence. On foot, not in cruisers driving by.

Atlanta's police presence is not visible enough, and that makes the streets feel unsafe.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by testa50

people will probably never flock to Atlanta just to see Atlanta.

I think this is the heart and soul of the problem. We have conventions and events quite often, and those tend to draw large crowds. And for good reason--flying nonstop to Hartsfield is easy, and it's convenient to get to downtown via MARTA (few major airports have a transit station right there in the terminal). However, if it's just coming here to come here, yeah, we're really not all that much better than any given big city. Sure we've got our attractions--World of Coke, Centennial Park, CNN Center, shopping galore, etc.--but just about any major metro area over 1 million can top that.

If Atlanta is telling tourists that the Five Points area is a good place to visit, then that strategy is backfiring. It's not nearly as inviting a place as, say, Buckhead or Atlantic Station, particularly after dark.

Fixing the aura of downtown is one of the great unresolved challenges this city has, and it will not be easy to do.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by rorqual

So essentially what you are saying is if Atlanta were Birmingham things would be better?

Nope, but downtown wouldn't have built over many of the older brick buildings it use to have that made it look and feel more like an older, large city (but 5-10 stories).

The smaller cities metros haven't faced that extreme demand where there was as much pressure to build over parts of their city and downtown would have felt more charming at street level. Hince the point of the person I was replying to.

[ATLTJL]

I just don't agree that the problem is that older buildings were built over.

It's not like a decision was made by the city, residents, and tourists where they said, "We'd love to give downtown Atlanta some vitality....but ewwww, we just can't do it with these big new buildings!"

The vitality went to midtown. It's pretty much all new buildings.

The problems with downtown Atlanta far exceed any single problem, but I think blaming the architecture of the buildings is a pretty big stretch. Even though the problems are many, the biggest place to start is the problem of perceived safety. I don't care if we have ultra futuristic 100 story skyscrapers or 1800s style French Quarter bulidings, nobody is ever going to come when people come out of the shadows demanding money and following people around annoying them. Progress has to start with controlling our parasitic population.

Of course there is much to be done. A logical place to start, though, is by addressing what has been the number 1 complaint of tourists and residents of the area for years.

[SEAandATL]

OP, you should have stayed in Midtown instead. There is so much more going on there, such as Piedmont Park, Botanical Gardens, High Museum of Art, and so many good restaurants.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Orlando slaughters us on tourist-friendliness.

Maybe not downtown, but they have an entire tourist district all along International Drive where there is tons to do in a walkable, safe area. Nevermind Universal City Walk and Downtown Disney. Orlando is a tourism Mecca.

I specifically said "within the city propers" for a reason, if you read closely. I'm pretty sure the area of Orlando you're talking about is outside of it; either way it's definitely not an urban area. Obviously Orlando metro destroys Atlanta with regard to tourism...it's like top 5-10 in the entire world for tourism.

My whole point was that we're hardly alone on a list of southern/western cities that have failed to transform their urban areas into night-vibrant, tourist-friendly districts. Downtown Orlando isn't a bad place, but it's hardly a major tourist draw. Also, I'm being a little unfair towards Atlanta since Midtown isn't a bad place for tourists at all. But Midtown's hotel capacity is paltry compared with Downtown's, so we have to focus on improving Downtown as well as advancing Midtown. Downtown is going to be our main tourism area for the foreseeable future.

[tonygeorgia]

USA>>>>Canada

Close thread

[JPD]

Here's an incomplete list of Restaurants, mostly within only a block or two of the Hyatt, that are NOT closed at night:

Ray's in the City
Benihana
Durango Steakhouse
Hard Rock Cafe
Hooters
Sweet Georgia's Juke Joint
Sundial at the Westin
Fire of Brazil
Trader Vic's
Mama Ninfa's
Meehan's Public House
Alma Cocina
Hsu's Chinese
Pittypats Porch
Azio
Jalapeno Charlie's
Sway at the Hyatt
Terace at the Ellis