The Newcomer

By RealityCheck

September 24, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

Wow! Please let us know where you purchased your “rose colored glasses”??

Images are one thing, reality is another…

By Bronxchic

September 24, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this

I’m still looking and I don’t see anything!!! You must live in a glass house. Please!!!

By Jamie G.

September 24, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this

Some of it’s beautiful, some of it isn’t, but this is our space of the world, regardless. I think that if you own any of it, you have to own all of it, work to change what you think is wrong and move on if it’s not worth it to you. I guess that’s a rosy view on things?

By SAR

September 24, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this

I think a lot depends on where you moved to Atlanta from. My job has me here, that’s why I am here. I have lived in Austin, Texas as well as Boulder, Colorado and I can tell you…. this city doesn’t come anywhere close to either of these two places or Portland, OR in my opinion, a far as standard of living is concerned. Atlanta is more like Dallas or any fairly large city with too much unplanned growth and traffic. If you moved here from a small town in a neighboring state, then I suppose I can see why you think Atlanta is the place to be. Where else are you going to go in the south, Birmingham? Yeah, right. Will I leave here as soon as my time with this job is up? You bet I will. I am going back to Boulder and I can’t wait to be there again. You guys keeping thinking you’re in a hip and cool city…..delusional as that may be.

By Corey

September 24, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this

Wait. Is that someone from the Bronx criticizing another city? LOL

By Do what

September 24, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this

I would never tell anyone that I grew up in the Bronx. What a disgusting place!

By T Man

September 24, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this

Like Lewis Grizzard said……”Delta is ready when you are”……The Bronx and Boulder. You are delusional.

By Lee

September 24, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this

Atlanta is a very boring city…yes there are a few attractions but how many times in a month, year, whatever can you handle Six Flags or Stone Mtn. ? The mentality of this city is to tear down and build modern. Very few historical landmarks. Welcome to Atlanta.

By Jamie G.

September 24, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this

Hey SAR, I lived in Dallas, too, and I can see the desire to compare, but I really think Atlanta wins there. I never found even a neighborhood in Dallas where I felt really welcomed and comfortable — and I looked soooo hard. In Atlanta, I found a lot of them right away. I feel like I live in a small, comfortable city inside the larger one. And the places that don’t make me as happy, the sprawling, unremarkable strips and traffic-heavy, attitude-heavier concrete plots? I just don’t go.

By Sonya

September 24, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this

So, basically, this person is no longer an intern but has found pleasing images online of Georgia. That’s ok.

By satch

September 24, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this

lived in the atl ,i,m in seattle driving is pleasant here vs the death defying mess in the atl.you can see water and mountains from the interstate everywhere.i can,t tell you what atl looks like from behind the wheel because you always have to watch out for the homicidal maniacs who live too far away from their job and are driving a 110 mph to get there.plus there are trees EVERYWHERE here.naw yall keep that mess down there

By BPJ

September 24, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

Part of the problem may come from thinking of 6 Flags or Stone Mountain as Atlanta’s big attractions. Here are some Atlanta attractions I have found worth visiting several times a year:

-theatres such as Horizon, Theatrical Outfit, Actor’s Express, 7 Stages, Atlanta Shakespeare, PushPush, Dad’s Garage, the Center for Puppetry Arts, and the Tony-winning Alliance;

-galleries such as Marcia Wood, Sandler Hudson, Kiang, Solomon Projects, Jackson (photo), and Saltworks;

-the Atlanta History Center, Carter Center, the Zoo, Fernbank, the Botanical Gardens (all of these have frequently changing exhibits and programs….I would love to add the King Center to this list, but at present it’s not well-run);

-the High, the Carlos, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Museum of Design Atlanta, Spelman College Museum, Oglethorpe Museum, and Hammonds House (now let’s all bow our heads and pause for a moment while someone points out it’s not New York!….thanks, point taken…..btw have you been to all of the listed museums?);

-the Atlanta Symphony;

-the trails along the Chattahoochee, the increasing number of PATH trails; Piedmont Park; Centennial Olympic Park;

-I also think of restaurants as attractions, and there are too many good ones to list……

These are some of the places I keep going back to, and I doubt I would want to live here if they didn’t exist, or if I didn’t bother visiting them.

By SAR

September 24, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this

Corey, who mentioned the Bronx? You’ve spent too much time on the filthy L train in the Bronx…perhaps. Get some fresh air dude.

By Geeo

September 24, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this

Atlanta is a fairly new city and really only grew in the last 40 years to what it is today. Unfortunately, much of that growth was not planned well, and the result is the mind-numbing highways, strip malls and cul-de-sacs that are all going to be out of fashion at the same time in a few years. It’s hard to get by without a car and driving for miles to get anywhere. That really dents the budget. There are some nice older areas with character, but the bulk of it is really Anywhwere USA.

By Geeo

September 24, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this

Atlanta is a fairly new city and really only grew in the last 40 years to what it is today. Unfortunately, much of that growth was not planned well, and the result is the mind-numbing highways, strip malls and cul-de-sacs that are all going to be out of fashion at the same time in a few years. It’s hard to get by without a car and driving for miles to get anywhere. That really dents the budget. There are some nice older areas with character, but the bulk of it is really Anywhwere USA.

By NNC

September 24, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this

Atlanta and it’s surrounding counties are still operating with the same slow mentality of 20, 30, 40 years ago. Improvement and progress takes a while to sink in for anyone to decide that it’s needed in this area. It’s a shame that there isn’t metro wide public transportation to alleviate the gridlock, long commutes and enormous consumption of gas. It’s really bad in the suburbs for people to even get to the grocery store if they have car problems.

It seems like you have to make a choice of living in an area that is safe, affordable and peaceful that doesn’t offer public transportation as opposed to living in areas that have access train and bus lines, but are plagued by crime.

Atlanta leaders need to get on board with the rest of the major cities and make the necessary changes and improvements if they want the city to retain businesses and residents.

I was born and raised up north, in New York and Connecticut. I have been in metro Atlanta for 5 years for my job and I’m now making plans to move back to New York within the next year. Atlanta has some nice qualities, but they are so far behind in many areas. So, for me, the bad outweighs the good and I can’t do it anymore.

By Honeydew

September 24, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this

Moved here from California 3 years ago (spouse had job transfer). Can’t wait to move back to the West Coast. The cost of living is not lower, wages are low, traffic, humidity and bad drivers. I think the bad drivers were able to get their license out of cracker jack boxes! It makes no sense to me to be able to set out any & everything for the sanitation workers to pick up from your curbside. We had recycling bins and every three months garage clean up days if you wanted to discard large items. Poorly run state from the top to the bottom. Infrastructure not well planned….I will not go on and on…. I am ready to leave yesterday!

By Agree

September 24, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this

I agree 100% with most of the above posting — moved her for the job but ready to go back West ASAP and NEVER look back !!!

By Agree

September 24, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this

Apologies for the duplicate postings above - user error!!

By yo yo

September 24, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

When I retire I am moving me and my family some where up north. I am going to complain about anything and everything I can and will find anyone who will listen. I will complain about the weather, traffic, roads, weather, other people, weather, maybe even about the birds singing too loud, and did I mention the weather. I will tell everyone how great it was in the south and that I am moving back as soon as I can!

By Amy in the ATL

September 24, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this

I think your view of Atlanta largely depends on where you live. Most intown residents would probably say that they love the trees, parks, good restaurants with outdoor dining, access to museums and other places of interest, and the eclectic mix of people. Not to mention some eye-pleasing architecture in many older neighborhoods (note that I use the word neighborhood, not subdivision!). Life intown is anything but boring. But the burbs are a bit lackluster. Hard to tell where you are once you leave the city limits…Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Marietta, Kennesaw…it all kind of looks the same. Same chain restaurants, same traffic, same strip malls, etc. Lots of suburban towns are working to change that—-sprucing up old town centers, adding parkland, etc. But they still have a long way to go.

By NParry

September 24, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

After a few years in the city, now I realize why it’s calls itself a “city too busy to hate” —-because everybody is stuck in traffic all the time!!

By Bronxchic

September 24, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

Yes I’m from the Bronx, NY. If you don’t like it -tough s*t. you probably have never ventured to another city anyway. We’re takling about what a great city ATL is! But what do you country bumkins know about traveling to another city? You think traveling is going to Lake Lanier or whatever Lake you people have. So tell me bumkins - What’s here? Your crime is getting out of hand, traffic is a nightmare(you people can’t drive) your new housing developments are so close together you can hear your neighbors talking, education is a joke. I have 3 months left and I get transfered back to the greatest city in the world. Remember this slow pokes. I can survive in a fast or slow environment but you people can never survive at a faster pace. Keep thinking ATL is keeping up with its growth, but wait you can’t think outside of the box……NYC isn’t all peaches and cream but it is the BIG APPLE. You can have your PEACH - if you can find it!

By BPJ

September 24, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this

NNC’s view that we have to choose between safety and access to transit is about 15 years out of date. As several recent articles have indicated, many intown neighborhoods are now safer and more prosperous than most OTP neighborhoods (where the car is often the only option). “Amy in the ATL” has it right, in my experience; the people who are happiest in Atlanta actually live in the city (and take the time to explore the city), while the unhappiest ones live in places which could be anywhere.