What Do You Love/Hate About Atlanta? (Roswell, Woodstock: find a job, schools)

[little nell]

Great thread!

Love:
shopping
food
excellent health care

Dislike:
you cannot see the stars at night
if you live in town it's never quiet
pollution
not much wind
raking leaves
attitudes
no fireflies
not much wild life except for the bar scene
the massive amounts of pollen in the spring
grey, boring winters with no snow
monica kaufman (what's her name now?)
road rage
terrible drivers
marta
hartsfield international
landlocked

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by little nell

monica kaufman (what's her name now?)

Monica Pearson...since Mr Kaufman was husband #1, and she was now on husband #3, I guess she thought it was time to make the change.

[little nell]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Monica Pearson...since Mr Kaufman was husband #1, and she was now on husband #3, I guess she thought it was time to make the change.

no way...husband #3 now?? how bout the hairdoo?? last time i saw her it was very short and blondish.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by little nell

no way...husband #3 now?? how bout the hairdoo?? last time i saw her it was very short and blondish.

Yep...and her hair changes about every week; it's her trademark.
Gotta love Monica...she's an Atlanta institution. Her daughter was in school with mine (Canterbury School), and I always thought Monica was a classy lady. Also, far more attractive in person IMO.

[rxlynn]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

One thing you'll discover when living here, is that if you pay close attention, you'll notice that a lot of people never really call Atlanta "home".

Example (and I'll use myself): I'm 42 years old. I moved to Atlanta when I was 18, so therefore, I've spent more than half my life in Atlanta. Yet, I will still refer to West Virginia (my home state) as "home". Not "back home" as in the past, but I catch myself referring to it as though it's still my current home state, even though I've long since moved to Atlanta. A good friend of mine is from Kentucky and has been here longer than me, yet for him Kentucky is still "home".

The same could be said for people I know who have moved here from Vermont, Colorado, Washington State... they all refer to their home states as "home" while Atlanta is simply "where they currently live". I think that a lot of people here even if it's a subconscious thought, only consider Atlanta to be a place where they currently live (even if it winds up being a while), as opposed to "home", which adds to the feeling in the city and area that it's a patchwork of tons of different people without having a true identity - you can only have an identity when a lot of people consider a place home, and then create a home feel/atmosphere to it.

Couldn't agree more - you've done a great job of summing up one of the things I hate most about Atlanta. I am almost exactly your same situation in terms of age and when I moved to Atlanta, but it's never really felt like home to me. Far too many transient neighbors - I am in the process of changing careers so I can move my family.

And, also agree with one of the other posters on this particular page - manners here are nothing compared to smaller towns in the South. I was recently in a grocery store on vacation (not in a really small town, but decent sized city), and the difference in manners was really striking to me.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by rxlynn

Couldn't agree more - you've done a great job of summing up one of the things I hate most about Atlanta. I am almost exactly your same situation in terms of age and when I moved to Atlanta, but it's never really felt like home to me. Far too many transient neighbors - I am in the process of changing careers so I can move my family.

And, also agree with one of the other posters on this particular page - manners here are nothing compared to smaller towns in the South. I was recently in a grocery store on vacation (not in a really small town, but decent sized city), and the difference in manners was really striking to me.

OK, I grew up here, as did my father and many generations before him. I moved away many times and always ended up missing it and moving back.
No, it's not perfect...please let me know what place is. But I love it here and I am SICK SICK SICK SICK of the outsiders that ***** ***** ***** ***** about it. Just go home if you feel that way...if you thought it was so great there, you never would have left in the first place. Delta is ready when you are...buh bye.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

OK, I grew up here, as did my father and many generations before him. I moved away many times and always ended up missing it and moving back.
No, it's not perfect...please let me know what place is. But I love it here and I am SICK SICK SICK SICK of the outsiders that ***** ***** ***** ***** about it. Just go home if you feel that way...if you thought it was so great there, you never would have left in the first place. Delta is ready when you are...buh bye.

Hey Lovin', I hear your pain. Apparently there is one thing you'd like to change about Atlanta: all of us beastly, whining transplants.

I wonder how many of the whiners were, like me, faced with a choice between moving to Atlanta or unemployment. That can leave a person feeling like they didn't choose this place, so much. Nonethless, we'd all do well to remember, as pless once advised, to always marry a criticism with a compliment.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

I wonder how many of the whiners were, like me, faced with a choice between moving to Atlanta or unemployment.

<Raising hand>

Although I would like to think that I don't complain about Atlanta so much. It's actually rather nice down here.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Delta is ready when you are...buh bye.

Delta is directly responsible for many of the transplants from up north. My dad worked for Northeast Airlines in Boston until Delta took them over. He and many of his coworkers were told they could move to Atlanta or take a hike.

[VJP]

I came from NYC to go to college and got stuck...I didn't try very hard to leave plus the job market when I graduated in 04 wasn't the best for engineers.

I like the in town neighborhoods, I live in east lake. I like the restaurants I do go to. I like my house and my cost of living, even though I can always whine about the highway robbery called taxes (and this is one of the lower taxed metros to live in). I like the abundance of nightlife and young people (I'm a part time DJ). The people I know who live here are first rate.

I dislike certain behaviors inherent to living in a lower income zip code, some levels of crime in certain areas. I'm not a fan of traffic here but I seldom drive and have lived here long enough to know how to take roads that keep me 'moving' even if it takes longer than the traffic.

A lot of people may complain about lack of inherent culture or defining city qualities. The transient nature of the people affects this development, though I've found for my specific interests this town is great. I love the slower pace compared to the northeast and love the weather except for a month in the summer and that one month in the winter where temps are below 40.

What I tell others about this city is that you have to come here, stay for a while and discover on your own what you enjoy doing and what there is that is fun. Unlike many places there are no major attractions or serious districts to get your groove on and have a blast, expectations must be put in check initially with this town. Other likes include proximity to mountains and hiking, absence of natural disasters (save that tornado), and relative proximity to the beach. Add to this the growing metro that is ATL and the job opportunities and I'm here to stay for some time barring some unbelievable career op that I can't pass up.

-VJ