Where Young College Graduates are Choosing to Live (Atlanta, Boston: best cities, apartment)

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

We used to get a lot of young people here because they would travel with their companies on conventions, go out at night, hook up, love it, and then want to move here. So what are you going to tell those people now? "Why don't you go to Church on Edgewood and watch people play ping pong, wait 45 minutes for a drink, and try not to get raped on the way back to your car?"

I went a conference in February with some classmates, all 21+. Conference was at the World Congress Center. Hotel was between Centennial Olympic Park and the Westin. We were constantly getting asked for money from panhandlers. The few bars we found downtown were basically just other students but the prices for drinks were double what we could get in our college town. We were amazed when Broad Street was basically closed at 10 pm on the weekend, 2 sketchy food places open, no street lamps. One group was told to go down Edgewood a mile or two to go to some great bar. Got halfway there and decided they didn't want to keep walking there. The top notch restaurants we ate at? Hooters and Hard Rock. Nothing else nearby seemed like a great place (obviously there are but when you're there for a weekend, you want to be able to just find something by walking down the street). We went out Super Bowl night and the streets downtown were largely dead except for the homeless. Many I was with have been to many conferences in places like San Fran, Boston, LA, San Diego. They've also been out at Dallas, Houston and Austin and no where had such a notable homeless population in a downtown area like Atlanta. They had great times at all those other places but an unremarkable time in downtown Atlanta. One person even said they never want to return to Atlanta much less live/work there. Quite frankly, downtown sucks. It's improving, yes but with the Congress Center there, the tourist attractions like the Aquarium, Phillips Arena and the GA dome bringing in visitors, downtown doesn't have as much to offer as other cities. We know midtown is great, but a lot of visitors don't.

[ATLTJL]

That's exactly right, and even if you did send a visitor to midtown, you'd have to know what they were into and send them to a specific spot.

In the 90s, it didn't matter what you were into, you could just tell someone to get in a cab and get off at Peachtree and Pharr. Whether they liked college bars, beach bars, dance clubs, 70s music, singer/songwriters...whatever, you name it, they were going to find something that they could get into. Maybe it wouldn't be the absolute best bar for whatever they liked, but the point is there was something for everybody, it was all walkable, and there was a ton of energy. It was fun to be there, even if you just walked around and didn't go in anywhere.

That's the type of center we are lacking now, and I really don't see why this is so difficult to understand. It doesn't have to be any kind of place that true Atlantans go out in (how many Las Vegas residents gamble on the Strip?) but this type of center is vital to attracting young people and keeping the city relevant.

People on this board can blame suburbanites all they want for this city lacking a true city vibe, but the true enemy of Atlanta has long been its own city council.

That's not gonna change until something meaningful happens. A streetcar isn't going to do it and a trail with a bunch of overpriced apartments isn't going to do it. These may be steps in the right direction, but the city needs a soul and something that young people can get into and relate to. I'd love to see a long strip of bars and nightlife lined up all along the Beltline....let it have a party strip, where people can wander from bar to bar, maybe even give a certain section an exception from open container laws so people can go to walk-up bar windows like in New Orleans. But this city will never do that because it isn't forward looking enough and would rather say "but we have nice weather" than do anything meaningful to make sure young college grads want to move here, while continuing for the billionth consecutive year to completely ignore the two things that visitors repeatedly tell us are the biggest problems: panhandlers and traffic.

[10 feet tall]

Maybe this is a chicken and egg problem, but I think that young people create this kind of social scene when they get here for their jobs, rather than trying to get jobs here for the social scene. There is a correlation between these things, but I think it is the other way around from what is being discussed in this thread.

[Tryska]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

That's exactly right, and even if you did send a visitor to midtown, you'd have to know what they were into and send them to a specific spot.

In the 90s, it didn't matter what you were into, you could just tell someone to get in a cab and get off at Peachtree and Pharr. Whether they liked college bars, beach bars, dance clubs, 70s music, singer/songwriters...whatever, you name it, they were going to find something that they could get into. Maybe it wouldn't be the absolute best bar for whatever they liked, but the point is there was something for everybody, it was all walkable, and there was a ton of energy. It was fun to be there, even if you just walked around and didn't go in anywhere.

That's the type of center we are lacking now, and I really don't see why this is so difficult to understand. It doesn't have to be any kind of place that true Atlantans go out in (how many Las Vegas residents gamble on the Strip?) but this type of center is vital to attracting young people and keeping the city relevant.

People on this board can blame suburbanites all they want for this city lacking a true city vibe, but the true enemy of Atlanta has long been its own city council.

That's not gonna change until something meaningful happens. A streetcar isn't going to do it and a trail with a bunch of overpriced apartments isn't going to do it. These may be steps in the right direction, but the city needs a soul and something that young people can get into and relate to. I'd love to see a long strip of bars and nightlife lined up all along the Beltline....let it have a party strip, where people can wander from bar to bar, maybe even give a certain section an exception from open container laws so people can go to walk-up bar windows like in New Orleans. But this city will never do that because it isn't forward looking enough and would rather say "but we have nice weather" than do anything meaningful to make sure young college grads want to move here, while continuing for the billionth consecutive year to completely ignore the two things that visitors repeatedly tell us are the biggest problems: panhandlers and traffic.

Like with Buckhead, or the Underground, this scene only works until someone gets shot.

[sedimenjerry]

I remember looking up where to go and I couldn't find a clear cut answer. Austin has 6th street. NOLA has Bourbon Street. Atlanta? No idea. I had to ask a friend who went to Tech. If you have to ask someone that's not a good thing.

[Ant131531]

Not surprised. I want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible...I'm completing the intership now, then I will begin looking for software developing jobs out west and up north. SF, Seattle, LA, D.C., and NYC are my top choices. Unless I get a very attractive offer here, I don't play on staying here for much longer.

It's just far too sprawled and unwalkable for my liking and it's simply taking far too long to urbanize this city. On top of that, the economy just sucks.

Look at the comments on Atlanta tour guides and articles mentioning it's sprawl....the young people certainly don't seem to take to kindly to Atlanta anymore....many cities are passing it up(Seattle, Denver, Austin, Minneapolis) and just because you have 5.5 million in your metro doesn't make you an attractive city.

Atlanta is in a world of pain 10 years from now. This is just the beginning. The demographic changes do not favor this city at all.

[hautemomma]

Isn't Metro Atlanta on tap to gain several million more residents by 2025?

College students / graduates are broke and going where the (entry-level) jobs are. More established professionals continue to move here in droves, due to job opportunities and corporate relocations.

[glovenyc]

1) mass-transit short comings
2) downtown sucks (although very slowly trying to come back)
3) negative PR from the reality shows

[Pemgin]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Atlanta is in a world of pain 10 years from now. This is just the beginning. The demographic changes do not favor this city at all.

How do you figure?

[DaBurgh]

LoL. Sky is falling!
We don't need large numbers of "young college grads" to continue to be a great city