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... It is however a little suspect that some forum users continually try to 'sell' a city that is clearly in need of a law enforcement-economic-social-enema....
As President of the Macon Haters Club I endorse this statement.
Seriously, a truer statement has not been made in regards to Macon. Here is a test for ya... as you drive around Macon notice the prominent business'. This is what I see in a lot of the town (not all of the town, but most of the town)--- liquor store, pawn shop, liquor store, title pawn, pawn shop, closed strip mall, pawn shop, boarded up convenience store, liquor store, title pawn, liquor store, closed fast food joint, pawn shop. Oh, and a liquor store right next to, get this, a pawn shop.
Law enforcement-economic-social-enema indeed.
I agree Houston County is a ghost town - there is only 50,000 people in Houston County...... LOL
It is not as large as Atlanta, but it's plenty big enough for me
What are you talking about?Houston county population is over 131,000 people.There are over 60,000 people that live in Warner Robins.2007 census update.48,000 buy the 2000 census,Only 37,000 people less than Macon.That is not a major distinction.The only big difference is that Macon has a a much larger metro area.
I moved to Warner Robins when I was 3 and lived there until I was 24. When I lived there, WR was pretty much "just right" as far as a mix of small town/small city living went. It has grown up tremendously over the past 20 years, and has experienced its share of rising crime rates along with the rise in population and amenities, but overall, it's still (in my opinion) the better of the two cities in which to live.
Due to Robins AFB, WR is more of a cultural melting pot than Macon is, with Air Force personnel and their families moving in and out from all over the country. I did go to college and work in Macon for several years, and had quite a bit of "culture shock" in just moving 20 miles up the road from WR. Macon (at the time--late 80s) still had a very "segregated" structure, even if they weren't openly racist--"classist" would be a better way to describe it. The south side was predominantly black/poor/rundown, the north side was white/wealthier, and the two sides did not mix much, save at Macon Mall, although the truly rich and snobbish wouldn't be caught dead shopping in Macon when Atlanta was only an hour up I-75. There are some very old families in Macon, and older money. Naturally, they controlled most of the political and business end of the city. That probably has changed some, but not a whole lot.
The earlier poster was right about the gnats, though. WR is below the Fall Line, so it does have them in the summer, but they are just a nuisance we grew up with. North Macon escapes a good bit of them due to the higher elevation, but I really wouldn't list gnats as a dealbreaker for Warner Robins.
For me, I would have no problems working in Macon if I could live in Warner Robins. The commute is nothing compared to the horrors of Atlanta traffic!
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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That is true, the population difference between Macon and Warner Robins is not such a HUGE difference, and yes, Macon's metro is larger but I wouldnt consider that as the only big difference or even one of the top differences.
The main differences are that ,well, Macon is designed like a true city, with a downtown, a historic distric, SEVERAL museums/etc, a large civic center (coliseum/centreplex), the fast flowing interstates, etc.
Warner Robins has no downtown, the civic center isnt big at all and just cant compete with Macon history/arts/etc.
Macon = city in feel
Warner Robins = suburb in feel
Another main difference is crime in Macon is alot worse than it is Warner Robins.
As far as shopping/dining, well although we are the bigger city here in Macon, I wouldn't say warner robins is lacking behind is in that area. It looks like enough shopping/dining choices to me riding around there.
I agree .I have said in many other post that Macon "is" more of a city.Warner Robins is suburban in nature.As a single young male,if I lived in middle Georgia,I would choose Macon.If I were married with kids it would be Warner Robins.Macon is the cultural center in the middle Georgia area.
Warner Robins can and may become the economic center if Macon does not step up more and get its crime and racial hangups over.I can honestly say that I never dealt much with racism in W.R.It was there but it was not polarizing as it seems to be in Macon.Their is a much stronger black middle class in W.R. as well.
Sevenar hit the nail on the head.I worked at Applebee's in Warner Robins when I was in college.I later transfered to Macon.The servers I worked with were some of the rudest people I had ever met.They gave the worse service!I was getting so many compliments from patrons that they marveled at how polite and attentive I was.Also how positive my attitude was.When I would tell the other servers about my tips,they could not believe it!That amazement turned to jealousy.I had money stolen from me off my table several times by other servers.
In W.R.,my good friends were black ,white,Puerto Rican , and Japanese.I'm not trying to bash Macon because I do like it alot.However there is a STRONG snob component in Macon.Especially N.Macon.Many of those people hate anything downtown Macon.they act as if they want nothing more than to see it fail.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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Dude, you hit the nail on the head also. People who do not stay in the city limits of Macon, but rather Bibb County, act like they get a kick out of the hearing BAD NEWS about the county seat. They also give the impression that everything except "north macon" is bad.
On my side of town, the eastside, once you past appling middle school headed towards the jones county line, it's a safe, middle class area. You also have safe areas behind kroger and around northeast high.
as a matter of fact most of east macon is safe, except for ft. hill. East Macon is probably 90 somethin % black, and I think people assume just because they see a large majority of dark skin around, all of them must be the same, therefore the entire area must be ghetto. But the blacks who stay in, say, Lake Arrowhead, are a totally different social/educated class of people than the blacks in Ft. Hill. So I hate when people talk about this side as if we're the same as Mercer Univ. Dr. on the westside, because it's just not the case.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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Yeah, my friend worked at a drug store off riverside in North Macon, he said he caught attitudes and peculiar/offensive convo pretty much openly in the store all the time
So I hate when people talk about this side as if we're the same as Mercer Univ. Dr. on the westside, because it's just not the case.
Herein lies the problem. It is the same city. You cannot exclude an area just because you want to. This is the exact reason you Maconites are frowned upon on this site. You seem to remember the nicer areas and just blur out the rest... which, unfortunately, is a rather large area of your city. You do a better job of really 'seeing' than most, King_9.5... but you are still seeing selectively.
Macon reminds me of Tampa in one regard. When you pass through either city what you see from the interstate is not very pretty. The interstate view does neither city any justice. The difference between the two cities is that in Tampa you do not have to wander far from the interstate to see some really nice areas of the city. In Macon, it seems to me anyways, you have to actually seek out nice areas (they exist). The nicer parts of Macon are tucked away in small little areas... that are surrounded by blight (whether you see it or not).
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