What Do You Love/Hate About Atlanta? (Decatur, Washington: unemployment, income)

[TakeAhike]

I don't mean to sound like a 'curmudgeon' but those of us who do call Atlanta 'Home' are frequently harshly criticized. After a while that gets old--none of us can change the past and can only attempt to do better.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

I don't mean to sound like a 'curmudgeon' but those of us who do call Atlanta 'Home' are frequently harshly criticized. After a while that gets old--none of us can change the past and can only attempt to do better.

When people here ask where I'm from and I tell them "Atlanta", they usually look at me like I have a third eye.

[Trianrida]

I don't like the hills. And the people here drive different from what I'm used to. Not saying it is bad....its just different.

[kathyjsmith]

Originally Posted by peanut33

I'm considering a move to Atlanta and was just wondering what you love and what you hate about the city???

I moved here from a relatively small town and live in the mid-town area. I LOVE the weather. . . LOVE being able to walk to fantastic restaurants and Piedmont Park, but hate the drivers. So much for southern hospitality. Downtown has a lot to offer for those of us that live in the city, but not a lot for the visitors. I can't imagine living in the burbs and commuting in. If you move here, live in the city.

[l12]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Really? And here I was thinking it was because they're willing to work for next to nothing...............

I know personally many employers and they pay the same wages to Mexicans as they would to Americans, they simply prefer the Mexicans because they will work 10x harder for those wages.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Hmmm....do we give preference to the American worker only if he's willing to do the work for the substandard wage that the illegals are willing to do it for, or do the employers have to offer a proper wage first???? Because if the wages are going to continue to be crap, the Americans won't take the work anyway, so your "system" is useless.

I've got a better "system"- let's raise the wages to what legal citizens should be paid, and let the illegals work for those wages. Of course, they'll have to pay taxes, which they won't like very much, so hopefully some of them will leave. Then again, if the wages were raised, the American citizens would be willing to do the work, so we wouldn't "need" them here in the first place.

The wages are going to be substandard whether the illegals are there or not, because we have a system of free-market capitalism with no unions anymore, so the employers can do whatever they want. If you want to talk about raising the minimum wage, fine, I agree, but that is a separate issue. Employers don't pay crappy wages because Mexicans are willing to work for them, they pay crappy wages because they can get away with it! If the Mexicans weren't here, Americans would be doing the work for those same crappy wages, just that they would probably be more bitter about it and do a worse job.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

It's not our problem that other countries can't get their acts together and provide decent work for their citizens. We've got enough problems of our own without inheriting the rest of the world's issues. According to your thinking, the poor American citizens who can't afford healthcare should all just hop the border into Canada and use their system- after all, we haven't provided a proper system for all of our citizens, so we should just go and take advantage of someone else's, right???

Obviously we'd like it to not be our problem, but saying so doesn't make it so! They live right next to us, and they are coming over here whether we like it or not, so it is our problem.

In fact, some Americans do take advantage of the Canadian system. It has not been a big enough issue for Canada to really worry about it, and Canada is nice enough to simply absorb the costs, however if it was a more widespread issue, they would have to deal with it, it would become 'their problem', and I am sure their solution would not be to put up a giant fence and kick out the Americans.

Yes Mexico should fix it's own problems. But it hasn't done that, and there is no sign it will. We have to deal with reality, not the ideal situation.

[KIEAN914]

I am considering moving there too and I have heard good and bad things about it, but I think that I need to try it out for myself.

[KIEAN914]

LOL @ attractive females. I live in Baltimore now and is interested in moving. As far as crime how worse can it get. Baltimore... There is no such thing as a perfect place to live but I am pretty sure it is not as bad as Baltimore.

I know six people that have moved from Baltimore to Atlanta and they LOVE it. They advised me that is was the best decision that they have ever made in their life!!!!!! The only con they had was that they missed their family but I can visit them anytime.

[blueskies49]

Originally Posted by Vampgrrl

Anything that made Atlanta southern, even progressive southern city is gone really. I'd equate Atlanta with the southern IT version as Houston is to oil and gas.

Atlanta needs some sort of local culture or scene, and it's not something that can be just created, but people need to start thinking of themselves as Atlantans or Georgians...not just people buying tract homes in subdivisions from up north and working their generic corporate jobs.

Funny thing about the accent, no one ever noticed that I had one til I left...now I'm constantly reminded of it.

You mention Atlanta and Houston; add Dallas and you have what has been called the 3 great Southern cities. But alas, it's hard to tell anymore that they are Southern. There is still some evidence and I can only speak for Dallas but as some examples: next to Dallas city hall are Confederate general memorial statues; a large boulevard is named after Jefferson Davis, the 3rd largest city in the DFW area - Arlington, was named after Gen. Robert E. Lee's hometown of Arlington, VA., etc., etc. I could go on but I'm reading almost the exact same things on this board as on the Texas board, that there are so many transplants moving to the cities, that our culture is slowly eroding or seems to be so anyway. I know change is inevitable but I hate to see it replaced by what some here have described of Atlanta - generic and generalized.

When I go out in public I sometimes think I'm in another state with all the transplants I hear. And the manners - what manners?!? They don't like our "yes maams" and "yes sirs". What darkone below said is true. There may be enough natives in the cities to where the newcomers' children develop slight twangs but they won't feel connected to the history of the state.

Originally Posted by darkone

Atlanta is too young and its original southern base is now too small (percentage-wise more importantly) to have a unique cultural base. Transplants from everywhere in the country and from certain regions of the world all add to the mix here. The newcomers aren't going to become true southerners. Their children and subsequent generations might develop a slight twang but that doesn't count really. The children of the transplants will adopt generic american culture, continuing to leave metro Atlanta without its own unique identity.

I was listening to an NPR show a couple weeks ago driving home from work and it was a story about the drought in Atlanta. They spoke with four people there and not one of them had a southern accent. What a shame.

[pgirl07]

Likes: Lots of Malls
Very, very diverse (places to get my hair done, places to get my
eyebrows threaded, lots of different ethnic food)
Always something to do
Almost every restaurant except Potbelly
24 Hour Stores
My neighborhood is nice to walk in
A lot of outdoors stuff to do
Beautiful scenery
Good job market
Major airport
Educated young people

Dislikes: It's soooooooooo hot in the summer! I'm not used to that.
It's hard to find a good Wal-Mart....ugh
Bad drivers who just can't have anyone else in front of them
Nature can be bad for your allergies
Bugs
Not good if you're conservative and not used to seeing certain things

[chip1980]

Pros

- Always something to do
- Cheap cost of living
- Great food
- Best sports city in America
- 3th/4th best skyline in America
- Great Shopping
- The hills
- Great Entertainment
- Large Airport
- people speak to you


Cons
- Dont really have none (Traffic isnt has bad as LA, DC, NYC, Houston, etc)

- Crime isnt bad unless you hang around in bad neighborhoods