Why is Atlanta on such a decline? (Boston, Buckhead: health insurance, taxes)

[Tristan840]

Yall are all a bunch of spankwads!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

Hmm. I see what he's saying now.

So, maybe the people with the real hang-up is not the Southern churchy people who can't see past their next prayer meeting but those who are so uptight about it that they don't dare broach the subject for fear of violating some social faux pas. Or worse, are militantly judgmental about anyone who's benighted enough to go to church in the first place.

Hehehe.

In my case I think it's because I run around at work with people who are not originally from here (either from elsewhere in the US or from outside the US) where such questions are unusual, and I run around at home and in other contexts with people who are somewhat less apt to ask that sort of question than the "average Atlantan" might be.

Spankwad? Heh. Perhaps, depending on the definition.

[Sandy Springs Rep.]

Originally Posted by back2dc

Actually i was transferred to Atlanta with my company. I actively looked for another job the whole time I was here.

I didn't like the endless driving around from one strip mall to another. I felt the Republican stranglehold on Georgia prevents Atlanta from developing its infrastructure and transportation options. I didn't like being asked "what church I belonged to" everytime I went somewhere. The water crisis isn't going to go away -- again because of underfunded infrastructure and sprawled out subdivisions.

Honestly, all due respect, but I don't know where {Moderator removed} Um - LANGUAGE?? you've been in Atlanta. I've NEVER been asked what church I belonged to. Never. I'm not that religious, but even my religious friends didn't get to ask me what church I went to before they found out I was agnostic.

Originally Posted by cityrover

I have never in 10 years been asked which church i belong to, ever. I have only been asked by friends because they wanted to invite me to theirs so it was a courtesy matter to inquire if im commited elsewhere before they blurted it out.

Exactly. I've never even experienced that much. There is no special importance placed on churches in Atlanta. Church attendance is common in all parts of the country. A lot of people belong to churches to be a part of a community, just like everywhere else in the country.

Edit:

Originally Posted by WilliamM

Don't forget New Orleans. And Charleston. And Savannah. Of course, the last two never developed into great modern cities; they're almost historical cities.
But it's basically right: there is no great modern Southern city, exc. for arguably NO. Or at least, not YET. (I don't think the city is done evolving yet as a historical phenomenon, and I certainly don't think NY/Chicago has the last word on it anyway.)

Correct me if I'm wrong (I might be completely wrong and sound stupid), but isn't Dallas pretty walkable? I know they have a pretty expansive street grid there, similar to a lot of northern cities, but that doesn't necessarily translate into walkability.

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by Sandy Springs Rep.

Correct me if I'm wrong (I might be completely wrong and sound stupid), but isn't Dallas pretty walkable? I know they have a pretty expansive street grid there, similar to a lot of northern cities, but that doesn't necessarily translate into walkability.

Don't know. I'll leave that one to someone who knows Dallas.

[Trae713]

Is Dallas walkable? In the core it is, but outside, it's just like any other Sunbelt city (Houston, Atlanta, etc.). Dallas actually doesn't have that great of a street grid (mostly due to topography). Houston has a better street grid.

[HumidCity]

Poor city-planning with no long-term visions. A confusing grid of streets imposed on hilly terrain. A rail system that doesn't serve enough population centers. A slightly interesting city surrounded by most uninteresting suburbs. A populace that is scared of its city center, as there is a dearth of policemen walking-a-beat. A Bible-belt rural mentality in its corrupt state government/legislature. And government enforcement of race quotas on city projects, regardless of who can get the job done best. It's been "doing it all with mirrors" for the past 30 years that I've lived near downtown (Grant Park). I'm surprised that the decline took this long, to be honest. It's all over.

[gtcorndog]

This crap thread was certainly worth bumping. Good thinking champ.

[ja1myn]

^^^ Hahahaha.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by HumidCity

Poor city-planning with no long-term visions. A confusing grid of streets imposed on hilly terrain. A rail system that doesn't serve enough population centers. A slightly interesting city surrounded by most uninteresting suburbs. A populace that is scared of its city center, as there is a dearth of policemen walking-a-beat. A Bible-belt rural mentality in its corrupt state government/legislature. And government enforcement of race quotas on city projects, regardless of who can get the job done best. It's been "doing it all with mirrors" for the past 30 years that I've lived near downtown (Grant Park). I'm surprised that the decline took this long, to be honest. It's all over.

Have to agree with you here. It's like Atlanta does not care to be urban at all. Just wants to build strip mall after strip mall after strip mall. It's insanity to have strip malls 1 mile outside of the urban core.

[ATLTJL]

I think the biggest thing that led to the decline of Atlanta is that it was a city mostly made of transplants and when the jobs dried up, people had no real reason to stay here because they only moved here for work and left their families and friends behind. So instead of looking for new jobs in Atlanta, they just went back to wherever they were from.

I also think that the killing of Buckhead Village and the loss of much of the midtown nightlife scene to condo development made Atlanta a much less sexy place for young college grads to want to relocate to.

It is also true that the place is too darn spread out. I don't really care if the suburbs expand out, but it is kind of a big issue that there are many job centers around town. That makes it really hard for a lot of people where husbands and wives both have jobs. If one works downtown and one works in Alpharetta, or one works in Vinings and the other in Duluth, it's hard to live somewhere that is convenient for both people.

But the biggest thing is the job market dried up and a lot of people didn't put roots down here deep enough to stay and weather the storm.