Outsider's Perspective of Atlanta? (residential, area, cities)

[B87]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

FYI -

London - 1,460.2 - 51°

That figure for London is taken from Greenwich which is somewhat an anomaly. Most of London averages above 1600 hours.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by lls1662

I travel frequently (65+ countries and counting) and I always find something good about the areas I visit. But, I look for the good. Apparantly, a lot of the posters are more interested on focusing on the negative and making decisions based on speculation. Shame on you.

Unfortunately we have alot of negative attitudes on this site

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

FYI -

There may be fewer days in London with measurable precipitation but that doesn't mean those days aren't gray and dreary. It used to live in Charleston and it could pour buckets for 30 minutes - and 30 minutes later the sun would be out like it never rained.

Hours of sunshine - annually
and lest anyone suggest that hours of sunshine are determined by latitude, i've included latitude.

London - 1,460.2 - 51°
Calgary- 2,405.3 - 51°
Seattle - 2,174.0 - 47°
Atlanta - 2,783.1 - 33°
Los Angeles- 3,254.2 - 34°

Ok, if you count days that have short lasting thunderstorms as a "rainy day" then that makes more sense. I thought of rainy days as all day/not-stop rain with no sun, in which case Atlanta does not have that many of. I know percipitation wise, Atlanta's rainfall might be higher than London or Seattle, as it rains heavier over a shorter period of time while the latter has light rain or drizzle for long periods of time.

[B87]

Does the US have records for the number of hours over the year that it rains? I have found some but only for the west coast. Seattle has 800 hours of rain per year, London has 427 hours. Wonder how many Atlanta has? 200-300 maybe?

London has about 45-50 fully overcast days per year.

[vanitycase]

I know I'm necro-ing a long dead thread, but I wanted to add my 2 cents because the topic of Atlanta's status as a city seems to push a lot of buttons, mainly with Atlantans and perhaps understandably so if they feel attacked. Also, I started reading this thread in the first place because I'm saving up to visit a friend of mine (a student at GA Tech) in Atlanta next year, so this thread is relevant to my interests.

I've passed through Atlanta like once and that was when I was a child, so consider this an outsider's perspective. I do have the view that Atlanta is very much a regional, "beta" city, although a productive and growing one. I'm not sure I agree with the Houston/Dallas comparisons so much, because to me Atlanta seems to most closely resemble Austin. It's a socially progressive, sprawling suburb-city (I say that because both Austin and Atlanta look and feel like ginormous suburbs) that is a Southern capital.

Note that I think it's just one of the Southern capitals, not the foremost leader of the South. Most outsiders, at least those who I know, tend to be more familiar with Austin (and just Texas in general) than the rest of the South, so Atlanta isn't necessarily on people's radar as much.

For me, I think it's possible for Atlanta to be a successful city without being an "it" city like Miami is. Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a "good lifestyle", right? Two equally successful bankers could have radically different ideas about how they want to live, hence one banker may choose to settle in Atlanta and the other may choose to live in New York.

For me, the sprawl would probably be an issue, as I can't imagine an urban environment being a "car only" type of environment. I also perceive Atlanta to be a regional city. From TV, magazines, etc it seems attractive, comfortable, affordable, with great weather and lots of job opportunities - but bland and lacking character.

However, remember that this is an OUTSIDER'S perspective. Maybe when I visit, I'll feel differently.

[Amercity]

All i know is that its a center of black culture, coca cola, the airport, aquarium, stone mountain and It has some hipster areas and apparently emerging as a hip area for the south.

[BigSwede]

Originally Posted by vanitycase

However, remember that this is an OUTSIDER'S perspective. Maybe when I visit, I'll feel differently.

That´s the whole point of the thread.

[tvdxer]

My direct experience of Atlanta is limited to a layover on a flight to Costa Rica.

Here's what I can say:

- HUGE airport - the busiest in the world when I flew through it. Home base for Delta airlines (which took over Minnesota-based NWA some years ago)
- A capital of middle-class black culture / "buppies"
- Home of the "crunk" rap / R & B movement
- Known as "Hotlanta", even though for a Southern city it isn't really that hot and actually sometimes snows in the winter
- CNN and Coca-Cola
- A suburb known as "Duluth" that annoyingly comes up in search results for Duluth, Minnesota, and apparently has a huge Korean population
- Suburbs based more on a county-level than a municipality-level organization
- Outer suburbs have their fair share of rednecks
- Very leafy, even in city core
- MARTA

[MetalLord]

I've heard it's the place to be if you're a young black professional. It's encouraging to know there's at least one major metro where the black middle class is on such a steep and upward trajectory.

Also, I read some article somewhere that had to do with how Atlanta was historically distinct from the rest of the Old Confederacy. Race relations didn't get as acrimonious, and civil rights matters were settled with handshakes and backroom deals rather than with people getting clubbed and firehosed in the streets. It was also, and perhaps still is, the easiest place to be gay in the South (outside of New Orleans, I presume).

With all this in mind, it strikes me as a relatively cosmopolitan city (I say "relatively" because it isn't in the same league as New York) where in comparison to the rest of the South, plain old business has always mattered a whole lot more than racial B.S. In short, they were "New South" before there was a New South.

The place also strikes me as "nouveau riche", even back in the day. They didn't really have that wannabe-aristocrat planter class in Antebellum times (the ones who stood the most to lose when Lincoln was elected), it was more a northern-style business bourgeoisie. Today I think of gaudy nightclubs with overpriced champagne in the VIP booths, women with big expensive hair shamelessly mentioning the Porsche their husband just bought, gigantic McMansions, etc.

Beyond that, I just think of endless sprawl and awful traffic, like Houston or Phoenix.

[demonta4]

So what does everyone think about Atlanta in 2014.