Does Atlanta Have the worst big city downtown in the South? (Savannah: theater, maintenance)

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Atlanta has a higher percentage of blacks in the city and metro lmao. That's not the reason why. Try again.

Exactly. As of 2010, Atlanta is 54% Black and Philly is 43% Black so that can't be the reason.

[will724]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

I just recently visited Atlanta and thought it was going to be great considering all the good press about Hotlanta and such but i thought the downtown was awful. Pretty dead during the day with not much retail, restaurants or other things going on. Maybe Im just spoiled coming from Philly but man it was a disappointment.

I later talked to people from Atlanta and they said Midtown and Buckhead was really good but i was disappointed in those two areas too. Midtown sorta felt it was built in the 80's/90's and sorta was a cross between a downtown and office park. It didn't really work and there were so few people on the streets. It felt like a ghost town during a weekday. Buckhead felt light a series of strip malls but with rail access. Like King of Prussia back home.

Is there some other urban area that people work/shop/go to because these areas totally didnt cut it for me. I have been to Dallas, Charlotte, Houston, NOLA, and others. I honestly thought that Atlanta had the worst downtown and that Midtown/Buckhead were poor substitutes compared to other places.

Please dont shoot the messenger. I hope its getting better downtown but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that Downtown Atlanta is not pulling its weight for such a large and prosperous region.

Philly is a 2nd rate town and so are the people.

[aries4118]

Reading these posts got me singing.

I had to post this:


Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6duxsP-BPPk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeIOtaydCyo


Great song. Great movie.

[stillinthesouth]

Originally Posted by will724

Philly is a 2nd rate town and so are the people.

I'm not sure if Philly is second rate. It's obviously one of the more historic cities in the U.S., but when I lived there several years ago, the city had sort of an ominous atmosphere and I had never seen so many large slums and abandoned houses. I hear it's improved a lot since then and is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts. As far as historic cities go, though, I much prefer Boston.

As for Atlanta, the original poster seems to be exaggerating the city's faults. Yes, it doesn't have the history of Philly and everyone knows downtown Atlanta is underwhelming and needs to improve. There are some good things happening in downtown Atlanta, though, and in many areas of the city.

[masonbauknight]

Virtually all of the top cities in the "fattest list" are either (1) Southern or (2) have a high percentage of Hispanic residents or (3) a black majority or strong minority. And afonega, if you don't know by now that Las Vegas has a large Hispanic minority, which will soon become a majority, you really need to wake up.

Philadelphia's African American minority is huge for a large northern city (43%, one of the highest). The AA community in Philly has a strong southern culture: southern food, southern cultural and social attitudes, and some of the excesses of southern living: heavy food, big portions/overeating, higher smoking rates, etc. I lived there and I know it. The "fattest list" is totally logical -- and rates of overweight by racial and ethnic group in U.S. cities are totally relevant. Location of a city in the South is, too.

[stuckinsj]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

Philly is garbage and you know it.

Oh GOD>>>>

You have to be the most immature and silliest person i ever read on city data.


Many here is trying to bash Philly to make Atlanta better. Its not working because i didnt say Philly was better than Atlanta. I DID SAY that Philly has a much BETTER DOWNTOWN THAN ATLANTA. Downtown Atlanta seems like its part tourist trap, government warehouse, part ghetto. I glad you say its improving and is only getting better. My point is that i think its one of the worse downtowns in the South.


Again Philly's downtown is so much better than Atlanta.

Center City Philly has great transit (electric regional rail, subways, lots of amtrak service, trolleys)/walking, beautiful architecture, parks, universities, museums, theaters, train stations (30th street is amazing), shopping (department stores, boutiques, and national chains), hotels, restaurants (stephen starr to start with), more expensive housing (more in demand), fewer poor people (sorta a plus), low crime, and no trash (CCD cleans the streets daily).

Philly does not have a good as downtown/center as SF, NYC, Chicago, and possibly Boston (if you count back bay as being downtown). Atlanta is worse than Savanah, NOLA, Dallas, and probably Nashville, Charlotte, and Miami.

Again, Atlanta can not compete with Philly when it comes to downtown. STOP TRYING and work on making downtown ATL walkable, with great things to do and see. Compete with cities in your league and STOP THE NEEDLESS BOOSTING OF DOWNTOWN. It only hurts when people see downtown ATL>

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

Philadelphia's African American minority is huge for a large northern city (43%, one of the highest). The AA community in Philly has a strong southern culture: southern food, southern cultural and social attitudes, and some of the excesses of southern living: heavy food, big portions/overeating, higher smoking rates, etc. I lived there and I know it. The "fattest list" is totally logical -- and rates of overweight by racial and ethnic group in U.S. cities are totally relevant. Location of a city in the South is, too.

If you lived in Philly, then you'd also know that it has a pretty high Black immigrant population, particularly West Indians, so the whole Southern culture argument you're making isn't wholly applicable. Even then, Northeastern native Blacks seem to not hold on as tight to their Southern roots as, say, Midwestern Blacks; this can be seen by something as simple as accents which do not bear a strong resemblance to Black Southern accents. At any rate, Atlanta has a larger percentage of Blacks and is actually IN the South, so trying to pin Philly's obesity ranking solely on Black folks is obviously flawed.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

Oh GOD>>>>

You have to be the most immature and silliest person i ever read on city data.


Many here is trying to bash Philly to make Atlanta better. Its not working because i didnt say Philly was better than Atlanta. I DID SAY that Philly has a much BETTER DOWNTOWN THAN ATLANTA. Downtown Atlanta seems like its part tourist trap, government warehouse, part ghetto. I glad you say its improving and is only getting better. My point is that i think its one of the worse downtowns in the South.


Again Philly's downtown is so much better than Atlanta.

Center City Philly has great transit (electric regional rail, subways, lots of amtrak service, trolleys)/walking, beautiful architecture, parks, universities, museums, theaters, train stations (30th street is amazing), shopping (department stores, boutiques, and national chains), hotels, restaurants (stephen starr to start with), more expensive housing (more in demand), fewer poor people (sorta a plus), low crime, and no trash (CCD cleans the streets daily).

Philly does not have a good as downtown/center as SF, NYC, Chicago, and possibly Boston (if you count back bay as being downtown). Atlanta is worse than Savanah, NOLA, Dallas, and probably Nashville, Charlotte, and Miami.

Again, Atlanta can not compete with Philly when it comes to downtown. STOP TRYING and work on making downtown ATL walkable, with great things to do and see. Compete with cities in your league and STOP THE NEEDLESS BOOSTING OF DOWNTOWN. It only hurts when people see downtown ATL>

The key to having a good downtown seems to be based on how old it is. Savannah and New Orleans gain an advantage in that respect. Older city downtowns are appealing in that they have more human scale environments. Places like Dallas and Charlotte are newer and more similar to Atlanta.

But Atlanta is on an upward trajectory while Philly hasn't been significant since colonial times. I mean, who ever talks about Philly except in sports? Atlanta is already more important than Philly and will probably pass Philly in MSA size by the next census.

[stuckinsj]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

The key to having a good downtown seems to be based on how old it is. Savannah and New Orleans gain an advantage in that respect. Older city downtowns are appealing in that they have more human scale environments. Places like Dallas and Charlotte are newer and more similar to Atlanta.

But Atlanta is on an upward trajectory while Philly hasn't been significant since colonial times. I mean, who ever talks about Philly except in sports? Atlanta is already more important than Philly and will probably pass Philly in MSA size by the next census.

San Fran, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and LA, have better downtowns than Atlanta but Atlanta is older. So much for that theory. Atlanta probably seems new because the city destroyed so much of downtown after WWII.

Actually Philly was the second largest city until 1890 (Chicago), the third til 1940 (LA) , and the fourth until 1980/70? (Houston). Its the fifth largest city in the country, hardly irrelevant. It did better than Atlanta during the recession. It gets overshadowed by NYC and DC but who doesnt. Is there even a major city within 250 miles of Atlanta?

Still Atlanta downtown sucks and Philly's is better. I really dont see that changing ever. Many cities in the South are improving their downtowns and I hope Atlanta does not get left behind.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

San Fran, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and LA, have better downtowns than Atlanta but Atlanta is older. So much for that theory. Atlanta probably seems new because the city destroyed so much of downtown after WWII.

Actually Philly was the second largest city until 1890 (Chicago), the third til 1940 (LA) , and the fourth until 1980/70? (Houston). Its the fifth largest city in the country, hardly irrelevant. It did better than Atlanta during the recession. It gets overshadowed by NYC and DC but who doesnt. Is there even a major city within 250 miles of Atlanta?

Still Atlanta downtown sucks and Philly's is better. I really dont see that changing ever. Many cities in the South are improving their downtowns and I hope Atlanta does not get left behind.

Philly is okay, but Philly doesn't hold a match to New York or D.C. or even Chicago.