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I grew up in NYC and know what city living is, and to be honest, I have not the slightest understanding of what that sentence means.
Atlanta gets a bad rap because it's a small city and large metro area that primarily grew up out of business and commercial successes. Most of the infrastructure is new (built in the last 30 years...not "Atlanta new"), as are many of the buildings and houses. Atlanta doesn't have the history of the older northeastern cities, along with the ethnic traditions and political associations intrinsic to those areas. There are also some folks who, whether due to political leanings or other persuations, just don't like Atlanta because the suburbs are a large portion of the metro area and population and they tend to "sprawl", and many of the suburban areas are higher income, more conservative, and the means of transport is primarily the automobile.
People keep refering to Atlanta as if it were Honolulu.Atlanta is not a new city.Atlanta from its conception really has been one of the very few industrial center of the south.It was never a much of a agrarian city.Its history os much more than 30 years ago.Atlanta in the 1950-60s was bigger and more denser than it is today.It was a major city.Not as big as the ones up North but definately major.I suggest you look up some of the threads where some of the vintage pictures of Atlanta are posted.
If you're interested, you should read Jane Jacobs and Richard Sennett, for starters, who have written quite a bit about the city as a theatrical stage (you know, the Shakespearean "all the world's a stage ...") where identities morph and become fluid, thus yielding a kind of collective artistic sense of creation.
Well, I salute your sense of looking for the artistic in everyday life, and I must say as a younger person I looked at the city in a different way as well. Places like NY and Boston do have things to offer that places like Atlanta can't match, but you pay the price for those things, and at some point they become less important and not worth the price.
Today, I take a much less cerebral view and a much more pragmatic approach. I enjoyed growing up in the city 30 years ago, but wouldn't want to do it today. As a single person, urban living can be great, but your perspective can change as your life changes and your needs change.
You know the wanna-be European thing got me thinking. I noticed over the years that Europeans with astonishing frequency claimed SF to be their favorite of all US cities, apparently even over NY (hard as it is to imagine). Wonder what that's all about. Do they find there their narcissistic mirror image of how they like to see themselves? Or is it they like the flattery of seeing the best Europe imitation American can provide in an effort to impress and out-Europe the Europeans?
Oh well, it's past midnight and I'm starting to get a little too Hegelian here. (Look him up, Alexus. Or better yet, just run down to one of your wonderful little high "substance" used book shops, of which I'm sure you must have plenty within walking distance).
Yes i deal with a lot of Europeans that come here for study on a constant basis.They always want to visit San Fran.They usually love it.As they should, but its true San Fran has a very European feel to it.They love Atlanta for the opposite reasons.They love the modern apperance of it.Midtown and Buckhead.They love the neighborhoods with the trees and hills.They hate the minimal public transportation though.
Places like NY and Boston do have things to offer that places like Atlanta can't match, but you pay the price for those things, and at some point they become less important and not worth the price.
Today, I take a much less cerebral view and a much more pragmatic approach. I enjoyed growing up in the city 30 years ago, but wouldn't want to do it today. As a single person, urban living can be great, but your perspective can change as your life changes and your needs change.
I can definitely appreciate that. Intellectualizing is well and good, but it don't put food on the table. Still, I find it irresistably fascinating to look into the reasons underlying popular perceptions and in my opinion one of the reasons people seek after places like Boston and NY as you say has everything to do with the dying embers of a certain ideal of urban living that has roots much further back in history. That's attractive to people and some people are more willing (and able) to pay for it than others.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
Reputation: 3995
Quote:
Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte
I could understand you wanting to live in the Twin Cities area. I personally would like to see those lakes and Minnehaha Falls (and the sculpture of the spoon and cherry).
The bike paths around the lakes are nice to bike/walk on as well.
Quote:
What have you liked about Atlanta so far?
I love the fact that the "winter" down here is much like a long Minnesota fall, and while the summer down here is long, it isn't too hot for us. I love the hills and trees in the NW Atlanta metro (the Twin Cities metro also has a lot of trees and Minnetonka had hills, but Atlanta feels a lot more like northern Minnesota to me with all the pines), and I like the whole experience of being in a new city (not Atlanta-specific, I know, but still a positive for me).
It's been fun checking out the new restaurants and chains, getting used to strange stores like Publix and Kroger (the Twin Cities is the home of Cub Foods and has a number of smaller/higher-end stores like Lunds and Byerly's, but the Kroger chain was driven off by Red Owl and Rainbow, etc., before I was born).
All in all, it's been positive. Atlanta's metro area is more of a patchwork in many ways, and I think is organized in a far more chaotic way, but it does seem to work for the most part.
The bike paths around the lakes are nice to bike/walk on as well.
I love the fact that the "winter" down here is much like a long Minnesota fall, and while the summer down here is long, it isn't too hot for us. I love the hills and trees in the NW Atlanta metro (the Twin Cities metro also has a lot of trees and Minnetonka had hills, but Atlanta feels a lot more like northern Minnesota to me with all the pines), and I like the whole experience of being in a new city (not Atlanta-specific, I know, but still a positive for me).
It's been fun checking out the new restaurants and chains, getting used to strange stores like Publix and Kroger (the Twin Cities is the home of Cub Foods and has a number of smaller/higher-end stores like Lunds and Byerly's, but the Kroger chain was driven off by Red Owl and Rainbow, etc., before I was born).
All in all, it's been positive. Atlanta's metro area is more of a patchwork in many ways, and I think is organized in a far more chaotic way, but it does seem to work for the most part.
The forests do have a beautiful quality, particularly in the fall and winter. They do look like the boreal forests(sometimes I think of Finland), more pine trees and far fewer birch trees. One think I like about Atlanta are the hiils.
Atlanta gets a bad rap for the following reasons. I am speaking as an educated, african american woman, unmarried with no children and a great heart.
I moved to atlanta because I heard it was a black mecca. My first job offer was $10 plus commission. I couldn't believe I left a sales coordinator job with a bachelors degree to get this type of offer. Since I have been here I have watched natives/southern regioners hold positions without qualifications or degrees for higher pay. I have never seen african americans at the bottom of the pay scale, working 4 jobs and calling that ambitious...........I call it stupid and a formula to die early from a heart attack.
I am used to being an open person exposed to different cultures and I think so much is black and white.
I've never experienced such rude people who hold jobs in this city. The women are so competitive for men and are so insecure they can't even speak to you when they do something as simple as ring up your purchase at walmart.
I just don't get it.
I believe in being secure in oneself so I don't run around trying to prove that my home town is bigger and better than NY. I love my city but NY is New York and my city is my city.
I guess I expected people to be more progressive than I thought.
Unfortunately I have had enough staring in my mouth at restaurants to monitor my conversations and general hating on me because I speak proper english to feel forced to only connect with people from major cities like NY, LA, DC area because I feel like we're on the same progressive page. I find those people to be confident, forward thinking, and secure in who they are. I'm familiar with their games but the southern thing is just not my arena.
But on the other hand, I'm here so I will try to make sunshine where ever I am planted.
I moved to atlanta because I heard it was a black mecca.
And that was entirely the wrong reason to move here.
So many people move here because "they heard it is a black mecca". Then they come into any number of online forums and go, "This is it??", and list their complaints, hence, the bad rap begins.
Relocation to a new city/region is not something one should do because they "hear" something or because Ebony magazine does a story about meccas and tells all young black people where they should live if they wish to succeed. You should make a list of what you want out of a city. What a city needs to do for you. Then make a list of places you think you'd like to live. Not a magazine article, not internet rumors, and not a corporate headhunter or activist. Then, visit those cities. Walk their streets, talk to their people. THEN move. Otherwise, commit the same mistake many do, and move somewhere based on hearsay and rumors, and be disappointed.
Atlanta certainly has it's share of issues. High "post Katrina" crime on top of decent amounts of it to begin with. Smog. Traffic from Hell. No real urban shopping/entertainment core. There IS a list. But the biggest bad rap simply comes from people who moved here based on others telling them they should, instead of their moving where they should have moved instead.
Atlanta gets a bad rap for the following reasons. I am speaking as an educated, african american woman, unmarried with no children and a great heart.
I moved to atlanta because I heard it was a black mecca. My first job offer was $10 plus commission. I couldn't believe I left a sales coordinator job with a bachelors degree to get this type of offer. Since I have been here I have watched natives/southern regioners hold positions without qualifications or degrees for higher pay. I have never seen african americans at the bottom of the pay scale, working 4 jobs and calling that ambitious...........I call it stupid and a formula to die early from a heart attack.
I am used to being an open person exposed to different cultures and I think so much is black and white.
I've never experienced such rude people who hold jobs in this city. The women are so competitive for men and are so insecure they can't even speak to you when they do something as simple as ring up your purchase at walmart.
I just don't get it.
I believe in being secure in oneself so I don't run around trying to prove that my home town is bigger and better than NY. I love my city but NY is New York and my city is my city.
I guess I expected people to be more progressive than I thought.
Unfortunately I have had enough staring in my mouth at restaurants to monitor my conversations and general hating on me because I speak proper english to feel forced to only connect with people from major cities like NY, LA, DC area because I feel like we're on the same progressive page. I find those people to be confident, forward thinking, and secure in who they are. I'm familiar with their games but the southern thing is just not my arena.
But on the other hand, I'm here so I will try to make sunshine where ever I am planted.
You cant speak for all african americans in atlanta just because you settled for a 10 dollar job knowing you had a degree. I have a degree in political science i currently work at a law firm making really good money. My best friend is a computer engineer her also has his master and is making 80,000 a year. there are alot of successful black people here and i am one of them so i suggest you find another job thats going to pay you for what you are worth. ANd for future reference dont ever move somewhere without a job and make sure you do your research on city before you move there . I am from miami where there is culture trust i miss that, but i found out that moving to atlanta was really great for me. I dont have to work four jobs,i am a forward thinking person also . You generalizing Atlanta because of your bad choices and mistakes its wrong my friend.
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