Georgia (Atlanta, specifically) On My Mind

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Here now, pldennison, there are bad drivers in Atlanta, but I’ve also lived in Honolulu and we’ve got nothing on that place.

Eve, I’m in Atlanta, and there’s a concept that has not been brought up yet, but which you need to understand. We have a highway, I-285, which encloses the city limits and is known as The Perimeter. The world ITP (Inside The Perimeter) is very different from the world OTP (Outside The Perimeter).

ITP, almost everyone’s a liberal Democrat or at least a live-and-let-live libertarian. There are black neighborhoods, gay neighborhoods, and even (gasp!) neighborhoods with all sorts of people mixed in. Cool non-chain restaurants like Java Jive and Burrito Art are here, as are cool small-chain restaurants like La Fonda Latina and the Bridgetown Grill.

People care about the environment and about historic preservation. A car is necessary, but one rarely drives more than ten miles from home because everything’s so close by. Most of the professional theaters are here and all the art-house cinemas. The Fox Theatre is here. The art galleries are here. The 404 area code is here.

All the old factories and warehouses are being repurposed into trendy lofts and condos. It does NOT, as a general rule, cost more to live ITP, you just get less square footage for your money. Compared to New York it’s all cheap.

The city government is corrupt and ineffective. (I’m a booster, but I have eyes.)

OTP everyone’s a fat white xenophobic Republican with a big yard who eats at Bennigan O’Bumbershoots every Friday.

If you move to Atlanta ITP, you will be happy and prosperous and go drinking with spoke- and me.

If you move to Atlanta OTP you’ll stick your head in your oven within four months.

22

I’ve lived here for the better part of 13 years (originally from Maine). I spend most of my time north of the city (Alpharetta/Roswell), but will share what I can:

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• Is the city as hideous as I remember it, or are there actually attractive parts? I know Sherman burned it in 1865—but it looks like it was entirely rebuilt in 1978! **

Downtown downtown isn’t bad, like any other city. The south side of the city, near Turner Stadium, and north in Sandy Springs, you will find some dirty, crummy areas (not necessarily poor, just dirty).

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• Public transport (from the suburbs to the city, and within the city)—does this exist? Or does one need a car? I’m used to the NY area, where you’d have to be insane to own a car.
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As was mentioned before, MARTA is not that great (they are changing the name to ‘help the image’). If you are going to the courthouse, or to a ballgame, or someplace right off of a stop, it is convenient, but it covers very little of the city, and stays only in Fulton County. If you are going to live in Marietta, they have their own bus system which you can take to a MARTA train, but you are better off driving (MARTA buses suck too).

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• Is it possible to live in a nice part of the city, or must one live in the 'burbs?
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Property values have gone crazy since about the time of the Olympics. Don’t count on suburbs being cheap either. My brother owns a small house in Buckhead, and he has estimated that its value is increased by about the same amount that his mortgage payments are each month. Likewise, here in Alpharetta, property values are starting to get crazy high. You can find cheap in the 'burbs, but plan on a hell-drive to make up for it.

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• How cosmopolitan a city is it? I know there are “arts,” but how are the libraries, shops, etc.?
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Somewhat cosmopolitan. As mentioned before, the city libraries are bad, but a short (or not so short) drive can lead you to much nicer ones. I highly recommend Roswell’s library as it is a newer building.

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• How long will it take and how much will it cost for me to fly to Phila. (to see family) and NY (to see friends)?
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There are enough daily shuttles that it shouldn’t be too expensive, but I couldn’t give you any quotes.

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• My sister says they really resent us damn Yankees—s’trewth?
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There’s not many natives left. Grab a map of Georgia. Place a thumbtack smack dab in the middle of the city. Draw a circle of radius 40 miles or so. Within that circle, you will find few natives and tends to be an oasis of ‘civilized’ folks. Wander too far out of that circle, however, and it is best not to speak, lest they discern your accent as being ‘not from around here y’all’ (sorry for the blanket assumption, but personal experiences lead me to believe this isn’t far from the truth).

One last thing is traffic here SUCKS! I am fortunate that I currently have an 8-mile drive to work that runs me about 20-25 minutes. At our old office, I traveled 400S to the ‘perimeter’ (285, which circles the city). It was a 22-mile drive that would take 40 minutes on a good day, and 80 on a bad one. Driving THROUGH the city can be even worse, even at late hours. Unfortunately, MARTA is not a very good substitute because of its limited destinations.
Also, Southern hospitality does not apply to driving here. Rubbernecking is atrocious compared to other cities, and generally folks go out of their way to ensure you cannot change lanes (speeding up to block you).
If you live in the 'burbs, and particularly own a house, look forward to water restrictions again this summer. Fulton county had a ban on watering outdoors, where you could water only on odd/even days and then only between the hours of 10pm-5am. Other counties had harsher rules, including one that had a total ban on watering.

A couple of references for you to help adjust to moving here:
http://www.accessatlanta.com <- This has headlines, events, weather, etc. for all things Atlanta

http://www.tardsite.com <- dedicated to the crummy drivers of Atlanta

In any case, welcome, and if you need a guide to get you through your first few weeks, let me know =)

23

I take strong exception to that. I have a small yard.

24

Can’t resist the opportunity to put in my 2 cents worth.

If you’re looking for “corporate” architecture, you’re pretty much out of luck. What Sherman didn’t get Tom Cousins did. There are a few older buildings left with character but we’re talking a day’s worth of sightseeing. If you’re talking about homes you’re in luck. The drive down Ponce de Leon Ave. on the east side of town is gorgeous. Old money lives here. You, too, can live there for about $1 million (maybe less for a small “fixer upper”). Virginia Highlands and, to some extent, Grant Park and Midtown have some nice old houses. Bring lots 'o cash.

See above for houses. If you’re into apartment living several areas in town qualify. Ponce de Leon for more refined company, Midtown for diversity, Little Five Points for funky. New lofts abound downtown, including in and around the Georgian Terrace - a gorgeous old hotel converted partially to lofts/apartments - right across the street from the Fox (another architectural keeper just barely saved from developers).

Another thing to remember is that the Atlanta 'burbs stretch 40-50 miles in any direction. A large Metropolis, indeed. In MARTA’s defense, it’d be all but impossible to cover that kind of ground with public transpotation.

In short, if you’re looking for a huge, bustling city that never sleeps, then stay in NY. Shoot, we like sleep here.

25

Thanks, all . . . Decided not to jump today after all; it’s starting to drizzle and I didn’t want my hair to look a sight in that Life photo.

Hmmmm . . . If I did move, I would certainly have to try and find a nice one-bedroom “Inside The Perimeter.” Even if work were along a train line, I guess I’d still need a car for shopping, library, vet, socializing . . .

Oh, well—as I said, I am still fishing for that job, it’s not like I have to start car-shopping.

26

Llama- what part of Maine? I went to Colby in Waterville, and now live in Atlanta.

Eve-I’ve been here since November of 1999, having made this move from the Jackson, Mississippi area. I do like it here. No, it’s no New York, or even Boston, but we are what we are.

Traffic is horrendous. I live just outside the Perimeter, and just off GA400, one of the 3 major north highways, within walking distance of a MARTA train station. I do own a car, but I drive maybe 10 miles in a normal week. Post Properties has a lot of complexes around the area, for one example of some rent prices. They can run a bit high in some areas, but they do have a couple located next to or near train stations.

I fly regularly to the DC area(about once every 2 months) and I have yet to pay more than $150(and usually less-cheapest was $98) for a ticket.

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BWAHAHAHAHA!! I was born and raised in the South(about 100 miles from Atlanta, actually) and I assume that my 4 years in Maine, along with the other moves(Nashville and Mississippi), have given me such an odd accent that I get asked where I’m from all the time. I had one guy swear that I sounded British…and I know I don’t.

Actually, the water restrictions are still in place, from the information I can find. We are still in a serious drought situation. Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have been fighting about water rights for years, and it’s getting more heated.

Eve, let me know if you have any specific questions, and I’ll be more than happy to answer them. :slight_smile:

27

Eve, do you have any idea what part of town your potential job is in? That would give us some idea how difficult/pleasant your life would be, and what you’d have to do to make it work.

Doctor Jackson, There are lofts around, but not in the Georgian Terrace. It was converted back to a hotel a few years ago.

For those listening in, the Georgian Terrace Hotel is a magnificent structure across Peachtree from the Fox Theatre built in 1911. In 1939 it was where the cast of “Gone With The Wind” (except Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen and Everett Brown) were put up for the film’s premiere. It was closed at one point, then repurposed into apartments in 1997, then turned back a couple of years later.

28

I visited Atlanta once, a couple of years ago. With that great amount of experience, I offer my observations:

1.) Atlanta looks like LA East. There aren’t just a few strip malls – there are a LOT of strip malls. On some stretches of the main drags it seems as if the city is made of nothing else.

2.) According to the folks I talked to down there (and my own experience) traffic really is incredibly bad there. There’s been a lot of urban growth, unmoderated by urban planning. If you drive through at 2 AM, though, it’s smooth sailing.

3.) Downtown has pedestrian plazas that can be interesting. See Coca Cola World (look it up on http://www.roadsideamerica.com )

4.) I asked people WHY Atlanta was even there. Every big city exists for a reason – usually because it’s a good site for traffic. It’s a natural harbor (NYC, Boston, SF) or it’s at the confluence of rivers (Pittsburgh, Binghamton – not “big”, but same idea), or its at an oasis in the desert (Salt Lake City). Atlanta is none of these. So why was it there? Railroads, I was told. It was a major railroad junction. Why exactly this was, I don’t know, but it seems to be a case of a man-made confluence.

29

I grew up in a small town outside of New Orleans. New Orleans has an airport, but (at least when I was growing up) If you wanted to fly anywhere (except Atlanta) you had to change planes in Atlanta. We used to have a saying “If you are going to get to Heaven, you will have to change planes in Atlanta.”

And about being from NY, don’t tell anyone in the South that you are from NY. Everybody hates New York. They may (or may not) say anything to your face, but they will talk about you behind your back.

30

Dang it.

Just when I think this thread will devolve into an Atlanta-bashing festival, a bunch of posters jump in with nice things to say about the place.

No, no, no! Atlanta is an awful hell-hole. No one should move here ever again.

(Note to Five: Shhhhh!)

(Note to Eve: OK, you should move here, but no one else after that. Anyone who understands the art of fainting prettily would be a natural in the South.)

(Note to mouthbreather: I welcome Eve to Atlanta, because she would be a lovely and charming addition to our city. Too bad not all Northerners are cut from the same carpetbag. Ahem.)