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Interesting video. I live in the Charlotte area and have been to Atlanta an innumerable number of times in my life. We and Atlanta have a great relationship. I have tons of friends there. A lot of fun, good natured jeering, but at the end of the day, a lot of fun on both respect on both sides. The comparison is fair. Both metros are over a million, which gives both a lot to offer AND some negatives that comes with being a medium/large metro. The size thing isn't nearly as significant some thinks it is. I would MUCH rather live in Kansas City than in New York City, for example. Larger can sometimes be better, sometimes it can definitely be worse. I've never been bored in either Charlotte or Atlanta. I love both and would recommend both. Outside of it being home and my family is here, I prefer Charlotte due to its lower cost of living/buying power and that it has a little more of a 4-season climate. But Atlanta has more to do overall and more extensive transit. Both have great economies, large airports, climates I prefer, and nice people. So both are 2 of the better metros in the nation, IMO. Great video. Thanks for posting.
When I lived in Atlanta whenever Charlotte was brought up, people spoke of the city like it was Atlanta's little brother. Never been but I'll be there for a short while in a couple of months. I always hear it's a nice city though.
I haven't seen enough of Charlotte to generalize, but I've spent a decent amount of time in Atlanta, including Saturday-Thursday this week.
Atlanta is just urban enough to live in from my perspective, if you're near MARTA. I stayed in Midtown (915 W. Peachtree Apts, which is temporarily renting some units as hotel rooms). That's probably the ideal spot if your goal is a nearby MARTA station, being generally central, plus a critical mass of activity and retail.
Midtown has a fair amount of current construction, which will help the critical mass. I like the mix of housing, students, institutions, and offices. Businesses and residents seem to have decided to grow there instead of Downtown. My main criticism is the parking garages above-grade...even 915 required me to walk through the garage to get from the main lobby to my unit (after I got the key, I could use a more direct entrance). It feels like people tend to drive to Midtown, but the people who live there often walk to things. (Food: I liked Atwood's Pizza, Dancing Goats Coffee, South City Kitchen, RA Sushi Bar, Cafe Intermezzo for cheesecake, Fado to watch the Superbowl, Taco Mac, Pho King, and the expensive Savi Provisions for corner groceries. Got a shave at American Haircuts.)
Downtown has a lot of positives, like Fairlie Poplar and a large student population, but it's clearly lacking investment and the newish stuff has often been unsuccessful or damaging in some ways. There's some downtown-like density, but blank-walled hotels, fortress-like "mart" buildings, above-grade garages, general lack of upkeep, and some failures (Underground Atlanta seems to be mostly closed) get in the way. The football stadium looks great, and the aquarium and Olympic Park are well done. The convention/arena/stadium/museum area is dead without a convention or game. Skybridges help certain spots succeed financially but hurt the sidewalks.
I think I hit the top retail points, not to buy anything of course. Ponce City Market has a great food court (local places) and other high-end retail in an old Sears along the Beltline. Sweet Auburn Market is a little Pike Place Market equivalent in an old warehouse...worth more time than I gave it. Atlantic Station seems to be where the major retail is in the urban core, though it's hard to get to by transit. I also visited Lenox Square in Buckhead. Sections of the Peachtrees in Midtown might have the best density of after-5:00 walkable storefronts in town (that I saw).
MARTA was as good as ever, except the 20-minute frequency at the airport on Saturday afternoon, and the unlatched electrical panel door that nearly drew blood on the way back yesterday (car 198...watch for it). On four rides including a trip to Buckhead it seemed to have a much poorer demographic than the city...maybe that's why retail doesn't concentrate near it.
Buckhead is pretty spread out and dominated by huge avenues and superblocks with smaller streets and walkways within them. The above-grade garages make it feel denser than it is. It's like Downtown Bellevue but curvy and with 50% more land; Buckhead already has rail but I suspect it has lower transit ridership. Kudos for the extra skybridge by the transit station. I wish Lenox Square would build out to the street.
I like the Beltline (walked from Piedmont Park to where it peters out SE of Downtown) but it would be hard to commute to anywhere else other than on foot or bike. On Sunday morning (upper 40s, sunny) it was packed with pedestrians, which is a good sign. Please add shade trees. It's attracted a good amount of development.
Lived in both. Atlanta is way overrated and Charlotte is a gem...
I would say Atlantans have a positive view of Charlotte, outside of NFL I never really saw a rivalry. Charlotteans did kind of look up to Atlanta, that was always true, but Charlotte is the better city...
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