Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > May
May 2008
Newcomer Q&A, v. 5: connectors and blizzards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s that time again! Send me your questions at jgumbrecht@ajc.com or leave them in the comments, and we’ll try to get them answered next Friday. They can be anything from help finding a good dry cleaner to a historical question.
This week’s answers come from two indirect questions left in the comments sections. Maybe readers didn’t really want answers, but I did!
So here you are, a brief history of the downtown connector, that nasty combo of interstates 75 and 85, and a look back on the Blizzard of ‘93.
Question from Former Metro Atlantan: You’ll also ask yourself other questions like who decided to form a junction of two major interstate highways (75 and 85) in downtown Atlanta?
I have wondered this. Really, how did this ever seem like a good idea? (That’s the widened connector pictured above, in 1989.)
I turned to the Georgia Department of Transportation for an answer. They sent along a 33-page document produced in March 2007 titled “Historic Context of the Interstate Highway System in Georgia.”
It’s sickly fascinating, but to answer the question, Atlanta’s Interstate plan was developed in the mid-1940s by H. W. Lochner & Company, a transportation planning firm from Chicago.
From the DOT document: “The Lochner plan was hailed in the late 1940s as the solution to the worst of Atlanta’s traffic congestion and safety problems…”
Construction on what we now know as the downtown connector began in 1948, and wasn’t completed until 1964, after $33 million and the razing of some “marginal neighborhoods” had gone into it. By the time it opened, it had already reached capacity. “Amazingly,” the DOT report says, “the daily traffic counts in 1958 were greater than the Lochner plan projection for traffic volumes in 1970 with enough traffic between Fourteenth Street and the Brookwood interchance at the evening peak to justify a 16-lane-wide roadway.”
The connector was expanded years later, and that construction finished in 1989. When it opened, the AJC ran a story that said: “Atlanta’s drivers - believe it or not - are wheeling into a golden age of commuting.”
The story went on to detail how the golden age wouldn’t last long; congestion was already filling the expanded, construction-free lanes. Hard to say what the alternatives would be — the connector is now our history and our present and assuming that promise of flying cars is a lie, our future . Fascinating.
Read on for the goods on Atlanta’s very snowy 1993…
Question from Jeff: As far as bizarre weather, ever heard of the Blizzard of ‘93? Twas a March storm, but it aint too often we get snow down here, and this storm deposited several inches as far south as South GA. (I’ve been told it even snowed in ALBANY with that one!)
Blizzard? Um. Nope.
Good thing I work for a newspaper, huh?
It happened March 13, 1993, when Georgians woke up to blankets of white.
From a March 19, 1993 AJC story: “Statewide there were 15 deaths, hundreds of thousands of people without power for days, thousands stranded on ice-choked roads, lost crops and devastated commercial centers of northwest Georgia.
Overall, there were at least 238 deaths, and preliminary damage estimates run into the billions.
What made winter’s frozen-earth policy so lethal in Georgia was the nearly universal belief that things simply couldn’t get as bad as they ultimately did. Despite weather forecasters’ warnings in the afternoon of Friday, March 12, that the “Storm of the Century” was on its way, most people just pressed on with their plans for the weekend - and many others treated the coming storm as a last chance to get out and play in the snow.”
The story goes on to say that storms that were passable at 7:30 a.m. were “ice traps” by 8 a.m. “Throughout most of the northern third of Georgia, it took only minutes for what had been a chilly rain to turn into an angry blizzard. The rain was quick-frozen into heavy, wet snow, which in turn was whipped from a vertical fall into horizontally propelled bullets by gale-force winds. Standing up was a serious challenge.”
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Tied up in traffic…terms.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mmm! Spaghetti!
So far, the list of places I can find in Atlanta: my apartment and the businesses immediately surrounding it, the AJC office, a grocery story and pharmacy, the nearest on-ramps to interstates 75 and 20 and a handful of friends houses.
When somebody starts giving directions like, “You know the road…” No. That’s where I cut them off. No, I don’t know the road.
It’s doubly confusing to newbies because the traffic reports here are so loaded with slang, there’s no way you can know what they mean if you’re new to town. As my coworker put it: “Where and what was the Brookwood Split or the Cobb Cloverleaf? What was ITP and OTP?”
There are soooo many of these Atlanta traffic-isms that, it turns out, the AJC made a glossary of local road terms. (I wish I could say I’m highly aware of what’s hiding in AJC.com, but this is the product of a Google search. Awesome, right?)
I hope it helps you find your final destination, or at least the road that will take you there. Me? I’m happy to let MARTA drive for now.
Permalink | Comments (30) | Post your comment | Categories: Getting Around
Welcome to Georgia; now where to go?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stopped at a Tennessee Welcome Center off Interstate 75 this weekend, travelers scooped up tourism pamphlets, maps and coupons like scattered gold. I tend to rely on my pal the Internet to guide my travels, but the scene there convinced me the Welcome Center is not dead.
It even inspired me to stop at Georgia’s Visitor Information Center in Ringgold on my return trip from Kentucky. It was hopping with drink-buyers, bathroom-waiters, dog-walkers, leg-stretchers and map-readers.
The disappointment of the stop was to see the office area sealed off on one of the busiest travel days of the year. It seemed like quite a grand place with some serious foot traffic. The AJC archive tells me they were all updated in time for the Olympics in 1996, but still keep limited hours.
Sure, a few maps and guides left out for travelers seem like solid resources to tuck away for later, but it doesn’t compare to advice from a live human being with enough knowledge to welcome tourists.
So let’s pretend.
You’re the person behind the counter at the Georgia Visitor Information Center (like the ladies pictures above!)
I’m lost, as usual, with a full tank of gas and no idea where to go for a fun three-day weekend in Georgia.
Where would you send me?
And more power to you if it’s NOT one of the places in the pamphlet rack.
(Check out the Travel blog by Keith Still and join the conversation on gas prices driving people to travel more by train.)
Don’t forget: we love questions, and adore answers even more.
Leave your questions about how to live, thrive and survive in Atlanta in the comments section, or e-mail me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. I try to get your questions answered for Friday posts, whether it’s about where to go crafting to how a neighborhood got its name.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Uniquely Georgia
Newcomer Q&A, v. 4
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday Q&A, where The Newcomer blog researches answers and asks all the questions that emerged during the week
If you’ve got a question, send it to me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com or leave it in the comments section by the end of the day Wednesday to be answered in that Friday’s section.
We had a lot of good questions this week, but I didn’t have time to get to all of them. Keep an eye out next Friday.
Today’s answers: crafts and trolleys.
QUESTIONS UPDATED
From Jamie G.: I asked last week about where the crafters hang out, and heard a number of great responses about knitting shops like Knitch and art supply stores like Sam Flax.
Off the blog, I heard about the Atlanta Craft Mafia, a group of crafty types. They’ve got a Craft Happy Hour planned for May 28 at Park Grounds in Reynoldstown. It’s open to members and non-members.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
From Reader ABC: “I have always heard that the marta rail system was built on top of the Old Trolly system lines. Is this true?”
A bit. Maps that show the old streetcar system show plenty of overlap between the trolleys and the current buslines, or train lines. You can still spot trolley tracks in the road in some parts of the city. Moreso, it seems MARTA an evolution of what was started with the trolley system. It’s particularly interesting now, while talk about a new streetcar up Peachtree lingers.
This is a 1940s photo showing Atlanta’s trolley system. That’s the Olympia Building in the left corner; Underground Atlanta begins at the top of the photo.
Read on below…
From the AJC archives: “As early as 1894, Atlanta was served by 44 miles of electric trolley rail, just two fewer miles than MARTA rail runs today. At the system’s peak, there were 220 miles of trolley car track in or near the city, according to ‘The Trolley Titans,’ a 1981 book by O.E. Carson.
In addition, the region was served by two inter-urban trolley car lines —- one linking the city to Marietta, the other to Stone Mountain.
Atlanta’s last real trolley car ran on April 11, 1949. Buses powered by electric lines —- trackless trolleys —- ran until 1963. After several years of legislative and electoral activity, MARTA was created in February 1972. The new entity bought the old Atlanta Transit System for $12.9 million and took control of the area’s primary bus transportation system, according to a MARTA history posted on its Web site.”
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Welcome to Atlanta: 105 degrees, chance of tornadoes.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A 2006 storm moved south of Atlanta.
I moved to Atlanta the same weekend a tornado swept through downtown. Welcome to town, right?
When the sirens started blaring on Tuesday, I was on the couch with one of these brain-eating-its-way-out-through-the-eyes headaches I’ve started getting when the barometric pressure dives.
As I tried to pretend my head wasn’t exploding, I wondered: how many times can this possibly happen here?
About 22, actually. That’s the average number of times a tornado touches ground in Georgia every year, according to the National Weather Service.
And if we see the remnants of a tropical storm or hurricane heading this way in the coming months, there will be more. As many as 18 tornadoes hit Georgia after Hurricane Katrina, months after our usual March to May tornado season.
Mike Griesinger, a National Weather Service meteorologist who patiently answered my questions about how likely I am to die from a storm or a headache, said the Atlanta area typically gets broken lines of thunderstorms, and within those lines, we find tornadoes. The tornado in Cherokee County this week was on the ground for five miles, which is about the norm. The March 1, 2007 tornado that tore through Alabama and battered Americus in South Georgia was 1 mile wide and 6 miles long, and on the ground for 30 miles.
So, newcomers, it might be worth assessing your tornado plan, whether basement or bathtub. Here’s some tornado safety info from the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
Weather junkies can call the National Weather Service forecast line at 770-632-1837; to report severe weather, call the Weather Service at 770-486-1333.
Tornado season is dying down, but what else can newcomers expect in the coming months? Click below to find out. And tell me in the comments what bizarre weather you’ve lived through here, and how to handle it. The couch clearly isn’t the best place to weather a twister.
Lightning, and lots of it. “Our thunderstorms in the summer time, they’re prolific lightning producers. There’s a lot of damage due to lightning fires on houses, trees,” Griesinger said. (Need lightning safety tips? Got you covered.)
Thunderstorms to match. The National Weather Service for North and Central Georgia tracks 96 counties, and there’s a thunderstorm somewhere in there every day in the summer. Griesinger joked that he can already state the weather forecast for mid-July: 88 degrees with a 20 percent change of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Hot. Very, very hot. The record high is 105 in July 1980, but we almost broke it last year when it hit 104 in August. Temperatures usually top out in the low 90s, Griesinger said, but once it’s that warm, it’s hard to tell a difference between the low 90s and the low 100s.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Questions & Answers, Uniquely Georgia, Weather
So is it Uptown or Buckhead?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While admiring Atlanta’s skyline with some pals the other night, someone pointed out the rough, far-away border between Downtown and Midtown.
Downtown, Midtown. So do you have an uptown? one visitor asked.
Well, yeah. But we call it Buckhead.
Really? Why?
Silence, the kind of silence that only happens when everybody is reaching for a bit of trivia and coming up with…nothing.
The common tale seems to be that Buckhead is really named in honor of the head of a deer.
Here’s the story from Buckhead.net:
“As a community, Buckhead traces its origin to Henry Irby’s general store and tavern, which was founded in 1837, according to an Irby descendant. It was located at what is now the northwest corner of West Paces Ferry Road and Roswell Road. Irby’s tavern became the stopping place for travelers rich and poor in the thinly populated wilderness and the community that grew up around it was known as Irbyville. He maintained it until well after the Civil War. Irby, who died in 1879, is buried in the Sardis Methodist Church cemetery on Power’s Ferry Road near its intersection with Roswell Road.
It was Irby, according to his descendant, who killed a large deer and mounted the ‘buck head’ where travelers could see it.
Why this display made such an impression on people who came across it is hard to say. Some sources describe it as a sort of joke, a way of poking fun at European noblemen who displayed hunting trophies on their walls. At any rate, the name Buckhead proved durable, and a campaign in the late 19th century to rename the area Northside Park was unsuccessful.”
If you’re dying to know more, there’s a book called “Buckhead: A Place for All Time” by Susan Kessler Barnard.
And of course, the Atlanta History Center is located in Buckhead.
It’s seems everything here is named for a reason. Curious about other places? Say so in the comments. We’ll figure it out.
Permalink | Comments (47) | Post your comment | Categories: Make This Place Make Sense, Neighborhoods
And Atlanta’s best bar is…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
…maybe one in your neighborhood?
Esquire magazine noticed one near mine.
It’s Manuel’s Tavern.
Manuel’s, from the outside.
You might’ve spotted Manuel’s, the Poncey-Highland landmark, in Esquire’s bar-celebrating issue. (Or you might’ve seen it on dining critic Meredith Ford’s blog, Table Talk.)
More Georgia bars appear in the magazine’s online bar rankings, too, especially The Globe, in Athens, which hovers near the top of the list.
Good recommendations. Important recommendations.
I was a few months shy of legal bar-hopping age when I lived here last, so finding a comfortable local bar could’ve been tough. Lucky me, journalists like to celebrate as much as we like to complain. We use bars for both. Not to mention first dates, sports games, group outings and ends to long days at the office. (Wave to me at Manuel’s sometime!)
So how do newcomers find your bar? And long-timers, what’s your favorite?
Come on, you can share. We want only the best for this blog’s readers, right?
I promise it won’t be overrun with newcomers. We’ll get lost on the drive in, anyway.
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How do you know when you fit in?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One author’s description of a newcomer’s life in Atlanta: “A life sentence of having to sit in traffic and have to drive everywhere, even to grab a cup of coffee or a quick manicure. Of sterile strip malls and no late-night delivery options. Of mindlessly accumulating shiny, unnecessary possessions to fill the empty spaces in our sprawling home…Of still, sweltering summers…no chance of a white Christmas. Of saccharine-sweet, blond, blue-eyed Lilly Pulitzer-wearing, Bunco-playing neighbors with whom I have virtually nothing in common.”
Whew! Someone’s not adjusting so well to her new surroundings!
Maybe you read that line in a story in Sunday’s Arts & Books section about author Emily Giffin, who lives in Brookhaven. She recently published “Love the One You’re With,” which is set partially in Atlanta.
That’s her novel’s fictional narrator talking, not Giffin. But when the lawyer-turned-writer moved here in 2003, “I did have the sense that I don’t belong here…I just didn’t feel like sipping mint juleps or white wine spritzers. But I have different feelings now. That sells Atlanta short and Buckhead short.”
All right, newcomers, and long-time transplants, I’m looking at you: do you fit in here? How do you know?
And if you want to make a city work for you — our city — how do you adjust?
I dearly miss the people and places I’ve left behind, but it’s a lucky accident or a pretty sweet take on destiny that I found a comfortable neighborhood, awesome friends and exciting opportunities here.
Good thing, because I remember that feeling of not fitting in. Dallas, 2004, right out of college. Amazing co-workers, fun assignments, new experiences, absolutely the wrong city. I wanted to love Texas, and instead, just ached for Detroit. I’ve never felt more pride in the the nasal “annnnhhhs” of my Midwestern accent or more loathing for pick-up trucks. I didn’t adjust. I didn’t want to adjust. I just wanted to get out.
Giffin made the point that if her novel’s main character had moved to a different part of Atlanta, “she might have been happier.” Maybe, as Giffin suggests, I just hadn’t found the right place to live. Here, I happened to fall right into it. (And it has yet to involve a white wine spritzer.)
My perspective sold Dallas short, and a very large state, besides. Don’t care. I had six months to fit in, and never did.
Maybe we can adjust to make things work. Maybe sometimes person and place don’t mix. Maybe the optimistic flip-side of that is that we also can find our perfect place, even if it’s flawed and hard to deal with at times.
Let’s have a squishy, feelings-oriented, hand-holding talk, newcomers.
Fitting in. What do you think? How do you make it work?
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Newcomer Q&A, v. 3.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday. It’s Q&A time, when The Newcomer blog researches answers to your questions and puts them out there for the curious masses.
If you’ve got a question — and I know I’m not the only one who does — send it to me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com or leave it in the comments section by the end of the day Wednesday to be answered in that Friday’s section.
Today’s questions, tell you how to handle scorpions, where to find the Poncey-Highland neighborhood and wonder where the knitters, sewers and other crafty-types go in this town to keep busy…
YOUR HELP NEEDED
From Jamie: I kind of like making stuff, doing stuff, sewing stuff, crafting stuff. I’m working on a few projects, but I don’t have a knitting group here, a favorite craft store or a cool fabric/quilting shop to drool in. HELP ME. Where do you go? Where do you find your fellow crafters?
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
From Reader Dee: Have you run into our scorpions yet?
That’d be a big, fat, gleeful no. And hopefully I can avoid that.
But since I like to know what I’m up against, here’s some info on the Southeastern scorpions, snagged from a 2006 AJC story by Jim Howell, a University of Georgia entomologist and author of Hey, Bug Doctor!
- The southern devil scorpion occurs in several Southeastern states, and is a continual resident of the Atlanta area. But it’s rarely a health hazard.
- They’re not insects, but arachnids related to spiders and ticks. “They use their large pincherlike front legs for defense, prey capture, climbing and courtship. Their stinger rests at the tip of a long, narrow ‘tail’ and is used for defense and killing prey. Adults reach a length exceeding 2 1/2 inches, and they may live up to three years.”
- They feed on insects, spiders, centipedes and small reptiles. Females are protective of their young. In the Soutwest, they like it dry, but here, they prefer moist habitats. (Go where the food is!)
- Scorpions aren’t usually aggressive, although they’ll use their pinchers and tail to scare others off. Touch ‘em, though, and you’ll be stung. “The venom from their sting produces a sharp sensation like a bee sting that may last for 10-20 minutes. Persons stung in the spring, when scorpions first emerge, have a more severe reaction because of the larger amount of venom present,” Howell wrote.
- Sticky boards on wall edges can catch a large scorpion in the house, but “sanitation and exclusion are the most effective long-term controls. Prevent entry by sealing any spaces that may afford access to your home. Remove piles of stone, wood and other debris near homes. Stack firewood off the ground to keep it dry, and when carrying wood into the home, inspect the pieces prior to carrying them in your arms. Use small gravel as a ground cover near the house, instead of a wood-type mulch.”
From Reader Bobo: What’s up with Poncey-Highlands..where the heck is that?
I don’t know if that’s a general question to the ether, but I wanted to know the answer. According to the Poncey-Highland Neighborhood Association, its boundaries are Ponce de Leon on the North, Moreland Avenue on the East, Freedom Parkway’s southern loop around the Carter Center on the South and the CSX Railroad Corridor on the West. The neighborhood is home to landmarks such as The Carter Center, Freedom Park and Manuel’s Tavern.
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Sick of Traffic Option #2: Car-sharing.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maybe I’m relying too much on lessons from kindergarten here, but would it be so bad to share a car in this city?
Now that I’m car-free — and believe me, I did not intend to be — I’m tickled to be living where Zipcar is available. The car-sharing/short-term-rental company recently merged with Flexcar, which had been the source of shared vehicles here since June, 2006.
Zipcar vehicles are strategically parked around the city. (Keep your eyes open at MARTA stations.) Your membership and an online reservation will get you into one. It’s a rental, but for an hour, or a day, without all the paperwork and signing away of your first-born child. Gas and insurance are included, which is a nice perk.
I haven’t used the service, but I like the idea of it, in combination with my feet, a bike and an employer-subsidized MARTA card.
Kelley Raye, a member services coordinator at Zipcar in Atlanta, told me plenty of others seem to like it, too, especially as gas prices climb higher. (The average price for a gallon of unleaded in Atlanta today: $3.75.) Members will use the cars for lunch or work trips, she said, relying on company accounts instead of their own cars and gas.
But a recent uptick in membership and interest in certain types of vehicles — more Volvos, fewer Honda Accords — doesn’t mean Atlanta’s all about the car-sharing idea: “Atlanta’s a weird market,” Raye said. “Everybody wants their car.”
Indeed, a July 2007 AJC story said Flexcar was taking a gamble to branch out in “sprawling Atlanta,” where 80 percent of commuters drive to work alone.
Have you used ZipCar? Would you use it? Are there any other car-sharing or car-pooling services?
Or do you think my attempt to play nice and live without a car in Atlanta just newcomer naivety?
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Getting Around
Why did the chicken biscuit cross the Mason-Dixon line?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bit of news hidden under an interesting headline— Hey! Free food! — caught my eye.
McDonald’s “Southern Style” chicken biscuits, available locally for two years, are rolling out nationwide. If a fast food giant is taking this Southern staple outside the region, they’re certainly expecting them to sell, no matter the geography of tastebuds.
So what does it mean when a regional delicacy becomes popular elsewhere? Is it sharing the wealth — you can take the food out of the South, but can’t take the South out of the food?
Or is a supply-and-demand issue — does a local favorite become less special when it leaves home?
Or maybe I’m asking the wrong question.
Understand, I’m a vegetarian, but even before I gave up meat, I never ate chicken on a biscuit. Meat obviously wasn’t a diet priority, and I’ve never before lived some place where biscuits are a menu standard. Remember, before my internship here five years ago, I’d never even seen a Chik-fil-A. In fact, I think I pronounced it “chick fill uh?” on first glance.
So while I loooove my veggies and tempeh, I value life experience more. That’s why I ate mazgouf in Iraq and burgoo in Kentucky.
If I thought I was eating the quintessential Southern chicken biscuit, I’d chow down. So what do you say? What’s the most authentic, best chicken biscuit to taste around here?
— Don’t forget: You’ve got questions, Newcomer will find answers.
Leave your question in the comments section, or e-mail me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. Newcomer offers answers for newbies and long-timers alike every Friday.
Permalink | Comments (59) | Post your comment | Categories: Yum!
Where we live, or where we say we live.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During my college years in Michigan, it became very trendy to say that you grew up in Detroit. (Thanks for that, Jack and Meg White.) People raised in anonymous subdivisions an hour from the city would casually say, over cans of PBR, “Well, when I lived in Detroit…”
We have euphemisms for where we live: Arlington, Va. becomes Washington, D.C.; Oakland, Calif. Becomes the Bay Area; Plano, Texas becomes Dallas. Or alternately, a ritzy suburb becomes detached from the city. In Michigan, Grosse Pointe will always be Grosse Pointe, “a community nestled along the shores of Lake St. Clair,” which also happens to border Detroit, not that anybody touts that.
I hear the same thing happening here. One coworker mentioned a fellow who said he was from Vinings in Northwest Atlanta. His address? Mableton. Close geographically, but not quite the same, to say the least.
Another recent conversation revealed that landlords and real estate folks tout Cabbagetown, an the up-and-coming, tornado-fighten’ artists’ community, when what they’re really talking about Reynoldstown, which apparently doesn’t sound as good in an ad.
Even I’m doing it, really. I usually say my apartment is “near Candler Park,” although it’s on the border. Why? Because it’s much easier to give directions from the Flying Biscuit in Candler Park than any other nearby landmark.
Is it an identity issue? Convenience? Cachet? When do you just say where you live, and when do you stretch it a little?
But more importantly: why?
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Attack of the Palmetto bugs!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK.
I’m going to say this as calmly as possible.
BIG. BUG. GREAT BIG GIANT UGLY RED BUG.
IN MY BATHROOM.
RIGHT NOW.
::deep breath::
OK.
Scroll down if you’re squeamish. This is the suspect:
I’ve noticed a few of these ugly bug carcasses around my apartment building lately; it struck me as a seasonal thing, kind of like the day I walked outside and saw that my blue car was a shade of pollen-ized green. A friend that spotted me hovering over the remains of one such bug quickly assured me that I need not panic over that one: “We grow them much bigger down here.”
Again, spoken with false calm: Indeed. Much bigger than I am used to.
But it’s one thing to catch a roach belly-up in the laundry room, another entirely to watch one scurry from beneath your towel, post-shower.
It took about 30 seconds of searching for Google to tell me that what I’m seeing is the American Cockroach, a fine, sturdy breed if there ever was one, known around here as the palmetto bug. How charming.
A childhood obsession with Charlotte’s Web translates into an adult affinity for spiders, and my general sense about icky things is that we are washable. (Hence that whole grit-diving thing.) I draw the line at things the size of some household pets.
The AJC archives tell me that these bugs are quite common in the Southeast United States, and they multiply quickly in wet conditions. Goody.
Any other creepy-crawlies I and other newbies should be aware of? Just tell me now so I’m not shocked later.
If you’re dying to know more, I reposted some info from a 2003 AJC story by Jim Howell that told me more than I cared to know about my free-loading roach roommate, or rather, my palmetto pal. As the story says: “It seems a bit more socially acceptable to say that our home has palmetto bugs rather than roaches.”
Either way — ew.
From the story:
Cockroaches have been around for more than 300 million years, and in that time, they have changed relatively little compared with other organisms. They are incredibly adaptable and have adjusted well to living with humans.
In this area, there are about five important species that invade our homes, and two of them are lumped together in a small group commonly referred to as palmetto bugs. Somehow, it seems a bit more socially acceptable to say that our home has palmetto bugs rather than roaches.
The presence of a large cockroach, though physically harmless, should not be underestimated. I have seen women and children scream and run from the room when first confronted with a large adult palmetto bug inside their home. I remember one particular evening when I was visiting friends and a large adult bug chose to ”fly” into the room and land on the back of our hostess’ neck. The result, had it been caught on film, would have definitely shown up on “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
Identification The American cockroach and the smoky brown cockroach are similar in appearance and biology. The adult American roach is 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, reddish brown, with pale “halolike” markings behind the head. The smoky brown is 1-1 1/2 inches in length and uniformly smoky brown in color. Both can live outdoors and are often self-prescribed caretakers of that dark and clammy space under our decks, porches and crawl spaces.
Biology Both species produce a small case called an ootheca in which about 16 to 20 eggs are deposited. Females drop these cases in secluded places and the eggs hatch in about six weeks. The young reach adulthood in another six to 12 months. When disturbed, palmetto bugs will run rapidly, but on rarer occasions they may fly as well. Though they prefer areas of higher moisture, palmetto bugs can be found throughout the house, at least on the first floor. These species will enter our homes when opportunity permits, through an open door or window or any tiny crevice that affords an entrance.
Damage Their presence alone is enough to afford them “pest status” (especially when they land abruptly on one’s neck), but in addition, they will feed on a wide variety of plant and animal material. Roaches can contaminate food and damage books, clothing and wallpaper and in large numbers can produce a very unpleasant odor. They have even been associated with childhood asthma.
Control Though generally not present in large numbers, these pests will move inside during certain times of year, especially in the fall when outdoor temperatures are cooling down. Exclusion is one way to slow down this seasonal invasion. Seal outside doors with weatherstripping. Use caulking compounds for gaps in walls and floors where pipes enter.
Basement populations can be reduced by controlling dampness with dehumidifiers. If roaches have established a population inside, keep food and garbage sealed in tight containers. Keep clutter from accumulating and vacuum often. Good sanitation is imperative inside and outside the house.
Chemical combat There are many products on the market for roach control. Most come in spray, dust or bait form. Though sprays offer the quickest control and may repel (and kill some) roaches, others will hide until the pesticide residue has diminished. Dusts are longer lasting. Boric acid is perhaps the most popular and can be very effective when applied in a thin film in out-of-the-way places —- under refrigerators, stoves, sinks and in wall voids. Baits can be extremely effective, but remember to use the larger bait stations for palmetto bugs.
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Newcomer Q&A, v. 2.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks, everybody, for pitching in with answers last week. I’m now confident that my dress won’t fall down sometime mid-wedding.
Here are a few questions and answers that popped up this week. (We’ve solved The Mystery of the Over-abundant Phone Book.)
This week’s Q &A is stunted due to a mid-week accident that kept me out of the office, but, if you’ve got a question for next week, leave it in the comments or e-mail me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. This is open to newbies, and to long-time Atlanta dwellers looking for a new perspective.
Question from a bunch of you: How do you get a phone book? And moreso, how do you stop getting a phone book?
- From AT & T corporate communications: “In Georgia, the primary way we receive orders for directories for customers with new service or current customers requesting additional directories is via service orders generated by the AT&T business office or the business offices of other phone companies that provide service in our service areas. For example, if a new mover sets up landline phone service, we are notified and send the newcomer a phone book. The overwhelming majority of orders come in this way. People can also call our distribution vendor at 800-422-1955 to order a telephone directory free of charge as long as they live within the geographic scope of the directory. For customers looking for alternatives to the actual book, AT&T also provides electronic options such as yellowpages.com, realpageslive.com and our directory information on CD-ROM. Folks can call our distribution vendor at 800-422-1955 to opt out of receiving a print directory if they would like, though requests not to receive our books are rare. Because it’s free and generally seen as an important tool to have in the house for finding the businesses and neighbors you need.”
Question from reader Joisey Boi: What’s a grit? Why is the iced tea so sweet? (P.S. You asked a lot of lingo questions; don’t worry…we’ll get to them.)
Grits are coarsely ground corn which can be made into a porridge somewhere between polenta and farina. I think I accidentally stumbled into a minefield by asking how people cook them. The savory-versus-sweet debate rages on. For gooier grit info, look here.
For an answer on why the tea is so sweet, I turned to Marty Kushner, an Atlantan tea expert. It’s another regional food custom, like grits, but especially sweet here because of the preparation. “The custom in the South has been, for as long as I know, sweet tea. It’s the table wine of the south,” he said. “The big difference that in the North, when they sweeten ice tea, the sugar never really melts completely because of the ice. The liquid is cold. Sweet tea in the South is made by brewing the tea and sweetening while the tea is still very hot so it completely dissolves.” When I lived in Lexington, Kentucky, sweet tea was a special request. Seems to be the standard down here. But Kushner pointed out that some restaurants have gone to providing a tumbler of tea and a small pitcher of simple syrup, so tea drinkers can sweeten to their own tastes. For more on the topic, I highly recommend a story the AJC ran in September, 2007 by Southern foodie John T. Edge, Sweet Tea: A Southern Icon. He goes into the modern take on tea, but also its history. The reason the standard tea here is sweet, he writes, is a result of cost, religion and readily available ice. It started in the mid-1800s, when the market was flooded with black tea from India and sweetener was readily available. “For Southerners, who have traditionally raised the majority of the nation’s cane crop, the conjunction of ingredients seemed preordained.”
Drink up!
Question from reader Constance: “Does anybody know where to get a good helmet that doesn’t look dumb? Maybe one that actually breathes? I totally hate mine.”
- Help her out, folks. I’ll report back next week.
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Gone Today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a 10-second skirmish between my hatchback and a chunk of concrete chilling in the left lane on I-75, suffice to say the concrete chunk won, but Little Car put up quite a fight.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming on Friday.
Till then, I recommend this story, because it’s just precious, and this one, because it’s also fascinating.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Housekeeping
Newcomers’ Guide to Georgia Peaches
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, so I’ve had my fill of unintentional ITP-OTP name-calling for the week!
What do you say we just calm down and talk about peaches today?
RIP Peachtree, 2008
A story this week shared that the last peach tree on Peachtree Road is gone. (Awwww…)
We’ve got plenty more, if not on Atlanta’s best-known road. There are 1.6 million on farms in South and Central Georgia — prime peach picking points — and plenty more in U-Pick farms and area back yards, too.
The demise of Peachtree Road’s last tree isn’t a sign that they can’t grow in North Georgia, Al Pearson, chairman of the Georgia Peach Commission tells me. They’d be a bit more susceptible to frost, but mostly fine. It’s just that land in this area is otherwise occupied by, you know, cities, and a freshly planted tree will take a good three seasons before it bears fruit.
Here are five more things you ought to know about peaches if you’re going to live in a state that splashes them on the license plates and billboards.
We’re not the top peach producer. And haven’t been for a long while. We’re behind California, and usually South Carolina. “California took the lead a long time ago. I think they can grow anything out there,” Pearson says. But something in that process of growing, chilling and shipping means, “they don’t taste quite as good.” (Peach pride, we’ll call that.)
We’re swiftly approaching peach season: mid-May to early August. A late frost will probably mean fewer peaches until early June, when there should be a normal-sized crop. If you want to pick your own, keep an eye on the Department of Agriculture’s Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin. It posts periodic lists of U-Pick farms.
Dry weather, like what we had last year, means smaller peaches with sweeter flavor. A relatively wet winter and clay soil that clings to moisture means they probably won’t shrink so much. (For peach-shopping tips, try the Peach Commission, which recommends a creamy “gold to yellow” under color and ripening at room temperature.)
Customers only like the big peaches. So, instead of letting each tree grow the 2,000-3,000 peaches it could yield, they hand-pick it down to 300-400, and let the energy go into those. “That makes them grow to a marketable size, versus a bunch of marbles,” Pearson says.
It’s tough to grow peaches organically here. It’s not impossible, but the humidity and bugs do a number on the trees and relatively fragile fruit. Farmers can reduce pesticides, he says, but going organic would make it tough to stay profitable. (He’s quick to add that buying locally grown produce is important, even if it’s not organic.)
Peaches! In Locust Grove!
P.S. If you’ve got questions for Friday’s Q&A, remember to leave them in the comments or email me by the end of the day. I’ll answer as many as possible.
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Hip ZIPs and other adventures in moving.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An actual line in an e-mail I wrote on March 2, during my three-day whirlwind apartment hunt in Atlanta: I was driving around Virginia-Highland looking at all the crowds of happy young people and wanted to scream, “WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM? HOW DO YOU AFFORD TO LIVE HERE?!”
Armed with a limited in-town map, a pile of ads from craigslist, Creative Loafing and AJC.com, a few recommendations and memories from the Atlanta of five years ago, I needed to find a home. My goal was a reasonably priced, generally comfortable place as close as possible to work, available mid-March and preferably without the freshly white-washed scent of new condo paint.
You know what tool I used to find those available places, and to find my way around? ZIP codes. I eventually stumbled into a place that worked out just about perfectly, but those first few days were kind of demoralizing. ZIP codes were string of numbers that mostly helped me to get lost. Driving around neighborhoods was more helpful, if not good for answering questions. My notes from the trip say things like “V-H: feels like college,” and “Inman Park: why do I keep getting lost on the same street?” and “Old Fourth Ward: I guess the condos are new?”
I’m finally getting a sense of these places, plus so many of the other neighborhoods I would’ve liked to have seen if, you know, I hadn’t been lost in Inman Park and Buckhead the whole time. Every place here seems to be rich with it’s own ever-changing personality, some of which agree with me more than others. One street to another is different, and rarely what I expect.
So…why was the ZIP code, a much larger area with so much variety, the main tool for finding the place you fit in?
On the suggestion of my very smart editor, we put together this story about what ZIP codes really mean and how they’re used for more than just delivering mail. The research introduced me to sites like market researcher Claritas’ ZIP code database, which is happy to categorize based on their ZIP code and the information we’ve provide as consumers.
So tell me this: do you fit into your ZIP code? Do you feel at-home in your neighborhood? How do they compare, for you, and to each other?
And how do all those happy young people afford to live in Virginia-Highland?
Permalink | Comments (108) | Post your comment | Categories: Make This Place Make Sense, Moving
What’s Georgia’s biggest party?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: See what I mean? I watched Derby on Saturday and, as usual, it’s breath-taking and horrifying. I hardly know what to say about it, except to add that the same words can be used to describe most of the Derby parties.
It’s the first Saturday in May, and I plan to relax by writing, working, visiting and if I’m feeling really organized, hanging some of the posters and paintings propped against my apartment walls.
If I still lived in Kentucky, there would be two things on my mind: Derby and sleep deprivation.
The Kentucky Derby is busy, elegant, drunken, decadent, diverse, suspenseful, pretty, tacky, exciting, exhausting, somehow too long and too short at the same time. I covered it three years in a row with my Herald-Leader pals. (Rather, I covered the hoopla around it. The race itself was best left to the pros.)
Whatever you’ve heard about the Derby, well, I’m sure it’s true. It’s that kind of experience.
I tried to finish my celebrity interviews or slice-of-life stories before the big race. I wanted to stake out a good view before the crowd quieted down and broke into My Old Kentucky Home. I watched Giacomo, Barbaro and Street Sense win. That’s a lot of anticipation for two minutes, which is why there’s so much madness the rest of the day. It’s worth going once in your life just to take it all in.
My job usually started the night before, at one of the black tie parties in Louisville or Lexington, and it would usually end hours after the race, at another formal gala. But that’s nothing like the backside of the track, which is nothing like the infield, which is nothing like the nearby sports bars, which is nothing like the media center, which is nothing like the space behind the food vendors stands or the posh celeb quarters. People who never come together mix and mingle during the Derby. For two minutes at least, it all evens out.
Is there any tradition-steeped event in Georgia as sporting, drinking, partying, formal-dressing, spotlight-grabbing, hat-wearing, pie-eating? Or maybe we’ve got something more low key, but more us. Surely there’s something.
The first Saturday in May is sacred; any other day, I’ll be there.
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Newcomer Q&A, v. 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Question & Answer Friday!
The Newcomer is all about learning our way around, so Fridays are specially reserved for answering questions that come up here, whether they’re yours or mine.
Post your questions in the comments throughout the week, or send them to me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. I’ll do the leg work, or at least find the right people to do it.
Question from Reader Constance: “When I move to a new city, it’s always really hard to find a good hair salon that’s affordable. As a dyed-redhead, I have to get my hair done every month, and the cost adds up. Maybe people have some tips on where to go?” Answer: Readers, I’m hoping you’ll pitch in on this one.
Here’s what I’ve got for ya.
- Nedra Rhone, the AJC’s fashion writer, said Salon Red in Decatur is popular. ” It’s an Aveda concept salon so they have some really advanced color techniques that are healthy for hair,” she wrote.
- This is one of those times when www.kudzu.com might come in handy, too. I’d heard of the site before I moved here, but I use it almost obsessively now. This is, of course, a flawed process. Reader reviews aren’t the most reliable, but it’s still an interesting tool.
Question from a bunch of you: How do you get a phone book? And moreso, how do you stop getting a phone book? Answer: The folks at AT&T are working on it. More soon.
Question from Jamie: My big brother is getting married in June. By then, my violet strapless bridesmaid’s dress will have been hanging in my closet for eight months. Even when I bought it, the gown fit on place and nowhere else; I certainly don’t want to carry all that extra purple around. What’s the best place to get a formal dress altered at a reasonable price? I generally prefer to stay in town, but I’m willing to drive if it’ll prevent an unfortunate YouTube moment while I trip down the aisle.
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Sick of Traffic Option #1: Bike
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Photo by Sara Hopkins at SoPo Bike Co-op in East Atlanta.
Navigating this town is tough. I can commiserate with this line from How Stuff Works, which lays it out like the plain-as-day truth it is: “No grid system exists for streets and no apparent rhyme or reason explains street placement, so traveling around the city can be confusing.”
So, if the traffic engineers never got the lesson on coloring inside the lines — or creating straight ones, for that matter — we have to get creative, too.
A bike tour around parts of the city this week convinced me that it’s reasonable for some of us to get around without sitting in traffic. And truly, if I can stay upright and moving on a bike in traffic, you can too. (Suffice to say I lasted about a month in ballet classes before it was clear, to quote my mom, “…there was no hope.”)
I wrote this SoPo Bicycle Co-op story a few weeks ago, which got me thinking more about biking here.
You can also check out bike stores and myriad other bike organizations in the area. There’s a list or groups behind the link, including an update from Reader Janet, who pointed out that the Roswell Mayor’s Annual Ride will start at 8 a.m. Sunday, May 4, at the Roswell Recreation Area Park, 10495 Woodstock Road in Roswell.
Good luck, and click below for more bike info. (Freshly updated at 11:20 a.m. May 2!) Know of another event or organization? Leave a comment or write me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. I have a feeling we’ll be talking about this a lot.
For more bike information, check out these organizations’ Web sites.
Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, a local bike advocacy group.
Critical Mass, a monthly ride starting downtown to promote bike use.
Georgia Bikes, a statewide bike advocacy group.
League of American Bicyclists, the national bike advocacy group with a lot of helpful info, including basic maintenance guides for regular riders or those just returning.
SoPo Bicycle Co-op, an East Atlanta co-op that gives riders access to knowledge and tools for a hands-on bike experience at the rate of whatever you can afford to pay.
Southern Bicycle League, publishers of Freewheelin’ and this site, which features clubs, calendars and information for bikers of all levels. (Thanks Ali!)
Roswell Bikes, a Roswell-based advocacy group.
Roswell, Alpharetta Mountain Bike Organization, a site focused on issues, activities and maintenance for mountain biking. (Thanks Emil!)
Permalink | Comments (37) | Post your comment | Categories: Getting Around
