The Vibrancy Problem (Atlanta, Smyrna, Mableton: house, neighborhood, to live)

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Sualpine

Having come back from Manhattan just yesterday, yes it is. They have corner stores for exactly this reason.

Corner stores/bodegas only seem cool from afar. Having lived in NYC, they're actually pure crap. They are mostly overpriced, filled with dusty products, and produce that you're never really sure came from a supplier or a dumpster. The worst thing about NYC IMHO is the fact that if you wanted to cook for yourself with really fresh good product it is basically impossible.

It's not impossible, but it will most likely involve travelling a long distance just to get to it. It would also involve hauling groceries on to the subway aka the worst thing on Earth. In other words this is not something that you would do on a normal basis.

This is why most New Yorkers eat out for most of their meals.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Everywhere has this problem.

Except maybe Times Square. Or the Las Vegas strip. Even these places are fairly quiet at 4am on a Wednesday.

And in both of those instances those aren't residents of New York or Las Vegas generating that foot traffic. I don't see it as a bad thing that we don't have tourists clogging the sidewalks all times of the day.

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Corner stores/bodegas only seem cool from afar. Having lived in NYC, they're actually pure crap. They are mostly overpriced, filled with dusty products, and produce that you're never really sure came from a supplier or a dumpster. The worst thing about NYC IMHO is the fact that if you wanted to cook for yourself with really fresh good product it is basically impossible.

It's not impossible, but it will most likely involve travelling a long distance just to get to it. It would also involve hauling groceries on to the subway aka the worst thing on Earth. In other words this is not something that you would do on a normal basis.

This is why most New Yorkers eat out for most of their meals.

And the rats. I had one crawl across my feet in the check-out line at Duane Reade's. I ate that bodega deli food but think about the rats in those nasty deli basements where they make the food. Glad I got out.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by Sualpine

So it's the end of the year soon, and I've been lucky enough to travel all across the country and visit many different cities. I've come to the following conclusion:

Atlanta has a vibrancy problem.

Where do you go downtown in Atlanta and see people walking around? Where do you see people going home from work and stopping by to get groceries on MARTA?

Every single place I went to this year, (Austin, New Orleans, New York, Nashville) ALL had far more activity and pedestrians than Atlanta.

They had busy, pedestrians, walking around and actually living their lives downtown.

Is this something we even care about?
Should we just give up on Atlanta ever having that?

I agree that Atlanta isn't as vibrant as it should be, but not fair to compare it to a NYC or Chicago.


I wish the CoA had more pedestrian activity, but the sunbelt's culture is totally different than the NE corridor. One thing I never did as a NYer was take my groceries home on the subway...BIG YUCK!


Also most bodegas in NYC are disgusting, people shop there because they have no choice.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

And the rats. I had one crawl across my feet in the check-out line at Duane Reade's. I ate that bodega deli food but think about the rats in those nasty deli basements where they make the food. Glad I got out.

OOOOOH, yes, the rats (and other critters that don't come out until the lights are off) is another factor in this. If you live in NYC, you have to be ok with the fact that a rat or roach at some point touched your food. Sadly, no amount of money can save you from the inevitability of eating something that has crossed paths with a rodent.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by 2Easy

Midtown Manhattan is also a “downtown” even though it’s not called that. Even if you disagree surely you understand that’s what was meant by context.

Then you have to include our Midtown in the definition of "Downtown". You can't equivocate. And that annoying little detail totally blows Sewerpine's argument apart.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

It's not impossible, but it will most likely involve travelling a long distance just to get to it. It would also involve hauling groceries on to the subway aka the worst thing on Earth. In other words this is not something that you would do on a normal basis.

...then carrying it up five flights of stairs so you can cook on a single-burner portable stove that you have set up on top of your toilet seat in your bathchen.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Then you have to include our Midtown in the definition of "Downtown". You can't equivocate. And that annoying little detail totally blows Sewerpine's argument apart.

Bingo!

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

...then carrying it up five flights of stairs so you can cook on a single-burner portable stove that you have set up on top of your toilet seat in your bathchen.

That you are fortunate to have for only $3,200.00 a month.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by JMatl

That you are fortunate to have for only $3,200.00 a month.

That is only 300 square feet. But, as a broker once told me, "Think of it this way, the neighborhood is kind a part of what your paying rent for too!?"