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The above reasons are why Boston came to mind for me. Similarly-structured cities, similarly-structured economies, cultural cities, large emphasis on education in the core, cleanliness, tree cover throughout the metro.
When I applied to school in Georgia for the personal essay I wrote about how Boston and Atlanta were foils of each other. Same sized cities with fundamentally different philosophies and trajectories. Having lived here a few years I learned there are some more similarities than I realized at the time of writing that essay, but still think they are totally different in most ways
Um, New York? 50 years ago Atlanta was nicknamed the "New York of the South".
That "New York of the South" nickname is relatively rarely used anymore and may be a "thing" from long ago but I am much more familiar with a semi-official Georgia nickname from the past that went as "Empire State of the South".
That logo was still heavily used at least up to the 1960's when the logo appeared on Georgia license plates for a few years. That alone would seem to indicate that it at least had some measure of state sanction.
Other than on old plates, I've also seen it in vintage-era souvenir use.
I've lived in Atlanta for 43 years and only hear outsiders (such as on blogs) refer to it as "The New York of the South".
i.e. In so doing they probably don't know any better or have any idea of what they are talking about. LOL!
So for the DC votes, are you just picking a 6+ million metro that is largely suburban and vaguely northern? Because saying DC is the Atlanta of the North just seems very hard for me to get.
=atler8;63500521 "Empire State of the South".
That logo was still heavily used at least up to the 1960's when the logo appeared on Georgia license plates for a few years. That alone would seem to indicate that it at least had some measure of state sanction.
Other than on old plates, I've also seen it in vintage-era souvenir use.
coulda sworn I saw this on plates or around ATL back in 2005/6..
When I applied to school in Georgia for the personal essay I wrote about how Boston and Atlanta were foils of each other. Same sized cities with fundamentally different philosophies and trajectories. Having lived here a few years I learned there are some more similarities than I realized at the time of writing that essay, but still think they are totally different in most ways
How can DC be Atlanta of the North when it's not even in the North. Might as well pick Dallas
If you go by strict Census classification, then DC is Southern and wouldn’t count, but for purposes of this thread and to avoid another “is DC northern or southern†debate that always happens when it’s compared to another southern city, it’s being considered northern by the op.
It was kinda just one point of the essay, which was more focused on the particular school and why I was interested. Talking about the impact that they have on the community and development of the city.
The differences I talked about was the pretty obvious one. Boston is well established to the point that development of any kind is significantly burdened (putting it tactfully..) whereas Atlanta has hit its stride more recently, fully embraces growth and has ample space to work with.
Culturally they are dead opposites. Atlanta is a nighttime city, Boston is a daytime city. The settings of the city plays a part in this. Atlanta is located on the extreme western edge of the Eastern Time Zone whereas Boston is several hundred miles east in the same time zone. The sun rises and sets here later than in Boston for the vast majority of the year. Usually around an hour later on each end, but it varies because of differences in latitude. Being an inland city, the day takes longer to warm up(and of course tends to warm up more than up north) but the warmest parts of the day in Atlanta are several hours later in the day than Boston, it's often coldest at 8am and as warm at midnight as it is in the early afternoon. Unlike Boston which typically warms up faster during the day and cools off earlier in the night. Atlanta is a car-city and no one even pretends to care about transit. Luxury cars are absolutely status symbols here unlike anything I've seen anywhere in New England.
The pace here is work smart play hard. Grind if you have to but make it look like light work. Embrace and elevate lesiure, and do it right here in the city of Atlanta. Boston is work hard play somewhere else (Cape, Islands, Mountains, NYC, literally anywhere except where you live). Working hard is a point of pride in Boston in a way that doesn't exist here. Atlantans are more impressed by working smart, making the right moves to float to the top relatively less impressed with how many hours you put in to get there.
Boston embraces its early history as a huge aspect of its identity. Atlanta is understandably squeamish about it's history prior to civil rights. The way it is branded, you might think that the city was founded in 1944 when Primus King was denied his right to vote (100 miles away from Atlanta, but close enough for the origin story) setting off the chain of events that led to the end of the white primary in Georgia by 1946. From there it's an epic chain of victories for the good guys, by the 60s became the city TOO BUSY TO HATE and soon after that the bad guys had been defeated except for everywhere in the state outside of Atlanta MSA where it's mostly bad guys but you don't ever really need to go there anyway.
Maybe one positive effect of that image/narrative-shifting is that the dynamics on the ground seem more integrated somewhat than Boston. I'm not sure if this is a result of the PR campaign so much as the realities of everyday life. In most of the city and much of the suburbs there is really no way to avoid black/white people interacting with each other on a constant basis, unlike in Boston where that's almost the default mode.
Atlanta is more focused on image, Boston on credentials. Atlanta's media and culture is pervasive and outward projecting. NY of the South doesn't make sense to me but LA in the woods would fit it well. Like LA, the culture projects outwards so it just becomes American mainstream culture. Boston's culture is inward focused, what makes Boston Boston and why everyplace else isn't Boston. That makes Boston extremel distinctive whereas Atlanta somewhat more generic. But on the other hand, that means Atlanta actuall has a massive voice in mainstream culture across the country whereas Boston can't
That's not even getting into the housing look and feel, layouts (Boston - hyper centralized, Atlanta - Multi nodal) there is just so many differences
It was kinda just one point of the essay, which was more focused on the particular school and why I was interested. Talking about the impact that they have on the community and development of the city.
The differences I talked about was the pretty obvious one. Boston is well established to the point that development of any kind is significantly burdened (putting it tactfully..) whereas Atlanta has hit its stride more recently, fully embraces growth and has ample space to work with.
Culturally they are dead opposites. Atlanta is a nighttime city, Boston is a daytime city. The settings of the city plays a part in this. Atlanta is located on the extreme western edge of the Eastern Time Zone whereas Boston is several hundred miles east in the same time zone. The sun rises and sets here later than in Boston for the vast majority of the year. Usually around an hour later on each end, but it varies because of differences in latitude. Being an inland city, the day takes longer to warm up(and of course tends to warm up more than up north) but the warmest parts of the day in Atlanta are several hours later in the day than Boston, it's often coldest at 8am and as warm at midnight as it is in the early afternoon. Unlike Boston which typically warms up faster during the day and cools off earlier in the night. Atlanta is a car-city and no one even pretends to care about transit. Luxury cars are absolutely status symbols here unlike anything I've seen anywhere in New England.
The pace here is work smart play hard. Grind if you have to but make it look like light work. Embrace and elevate lesiure, and do it right here in the city of Atlanta. Boston is work hard play somewhere else (Cape, Islands, Mountains, NYC, literally anywhere except where you live). Working hard is a point of pride in Boston in a way that doesn't exist here. Atlantans are more impressed by working smart, making the right moves to float to the top relatively less impressed with how many hours you put in to get there.
Boston embraces its early history as a huge aspect of its identity. Atlanta is understandably squeamish about it's history prior to civil rights. The way it is branded, you might think that the city was founded in 1944 when Primus King was denied his right to vote (100 miles away from Atlanta, but close enough for the origin story) setting off the chain of events that led to the end of the white primary in Georgia by 1946. From there it's an epic chain of victories for the good guys, by the 60s became the city TOO BUSY TO HATE and soon after that the bad guys had been defeated except for everywhere in the state outside of Atlanta MSA where it's mostly bad guys but you don't ever really need to go there anyway.
Maybe one positive effect of that image/narrative-shifting is that the dynamics on the ground seem more integrated somewhat than Boston. I'm not sure if this is a result of the PR campaign so much as the realities of everyday life. In most of the city and much of the suburbs there is really no way to avoid black/white people interacting with each other on a constant basis, unlike in Boston where that's almost the default mode.
Atlanta is more focused on image, Boston on credentials. Atlanta's media and culture is pervasive and outward projecting. NY of the South doesn't make sense to me but LA in the woods would fit it well. Like LA, the culture projects outwards so it just becomes American mainstream culture. Boston's culture is inward focused, what makes Boston Boston and why everyplace else isn't Boston. That makes Boston extremel distinctive whereas Atlanta somewhat more generic. But on the other hand, that means Atlanta actuall has a massive voice in mainstream culture across the country whereas Boston can't
That's not even getting into the housing look and feel, layouts (Boston - hyper centralized, Atlanta - Multi nodal) there is just so many differences
Excellent grade A+ analyst. Really accurate and thoughtful.
Excellent grade A+ analyst. Really accurate and thoughtful.
Thanks man. Another contrast that's a bit more subtle these days is differences in faith. I think it probably still has an impact on the culture and traditions of the city, even if less people are practicing.
The Archdiocese of Boston estimates 46.5% of residents are at least nominally Catholic(Includes Boston and a few counties surrounding it). Compared to 16% in Atlanta that's a pretty big difference. If you think about the big current/historical immigrant groups for MA: Irish, Italians, Portuguese, Verdeans, Dominicans are all Catholic. Haitians and Puerto Ricans are predominantly Catholic as well. Whereas Atlanta in the Bible Belt is going to have more Baptist, Methodist etc with overall lower levels of international immigration
Considering all of the choices to be a "northern metro", which is most similar?
Chicago the "capital" of the Midwest. No cities compete anywhere close to it. Like Atlanta.
Chicago and Atlanta= Major hub of logistics, and airport hubs.
Both major interstate highway convergence in the city connecting various parts of the country.
Neither considered to be an overpriced city or region to live.
Both Chicago and Atlanta have less of the "rat race" feel to their work forces. Not that it doesn't exist, but not like the NEC cities and an SF.
Both Chicago and Atlanta's popular culture scenes are well known, and pretty welcoming to outsiders. Atlanta has been a gold mine for people moving their to find a place to "fit in". You don't find that as easily in the NEC cities.
^^^
This.
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Which city is the Atlanta of the North?
