So long Atlanta! Thoughts on the area (Macon, Roswell: real estate, crime)

[Phil P]

I just landed a remote job and will be moving somewhere in the CO mountains after a pit stop at the parents for the holidays and some travels. Wanted to give my thoughts on my experience of the area.

Atlanta feels like suburbs at their best and suburbs at their worst. It really is a livable area: clean, green, safe, convenient... In a lot of ways, they wrote the book on suburban planning. But they are also crippled by lack of infrastructure and being in each others way. Across the entire metro, there's a lot more replicating rather than complimenting. There's not a whole lot of reasons to check out all the town centers, they're nice, but people mostly just stick to the ones they're near. The 5 downtowns exist because someone thought they should throw up some glass towers for all these suburban workers. How dead Downtown downtown is on a Tuesday at 6pm is just weird and sad. The area punches way below it's weight in big ticket attractions compared to other 5-8 million person metros. Atlanta simply grew too big too fast without a cohesive strategy on how to capitalize on the size and make sure it can keep expanding. Are there good restaurants? Yep. Am I going to drive through traffic 14 miles to check them out? No.

The area is a giant hub for immigrants, and that is what will continue its growth, but it adds to the fragmentation the area already has. New immigrants will want to be around people that speak their language, but this means you've essentially got communities that overlap but don't interact. There's the Korean Suwanee and the rest of Suwanee and they don't mix or interact much with each other, except in schools.

It is in a great location, the weather is simply amazing, top tier among any big city in the US. The hilly terrain makes it scenic without being a PITA to build. It's basically natural disaster free with a steady precipitation rate that means so much can grow so well.

But the counties / state could capitalize on the outdoor recreation better than they are. In essence, the metro relies too much on the mountains to the north for the outdoors which are outside of quick trip range. The whole Piedmont can be beautiful, no mountains needed. But the bigger outdoor tracts are woefully underdeveloped. Dawson Forest could be SO much more if they'd just open the gates, put in some parking places, do a little trail work, and throw up some bridges. Oconee National Forest, what the heck even is this? They didn't even bother to put in any trails for recreation. There's some master plan to connect the greenways across the metro, but they are way behind on implementing it. They are fragmented and overused already. In any other city, Stone Mountain would be premier real estate being next to such a cool natural feature. In Atlanta, it's... Stone Mountain.

The music scene is great. That was one of the biggest surprises, there's a never ending stream of small venues that pump out really good quality music. Georgia has contributed a LOT to the music scene. I kinda fell in love with the rest of Georgia more than I did with Atlanta. If I had family in state, I could see relocating to Warm Springs or Macon or Dahlonega.

In summary, it's a reasonable place to live, but the suburban model of commute to core is outdated. I think Atlanta's key to success is developing out the town centers more and just having a bunch of small cities that happen to be next to each other.

[LTCM]

The 'core as center' model has been dead for 20 years, it's just taken many to long to understand. Some still don't recognize it.

Congrats on the position and best of luck.

[NC2ATL60]

Originally Posted by LTCM

The 'core as center' model has been dead for 20 years, it's just taken many to long to understand. Some still don't recognize it.

Congrats on the position and best of luck.

I definitely agree with this sentiment.

[hilltop180]

Good post. I've been here for 30 years. The city has grown quite a bit. I think the best additions intown are the development in Midtown, Beltline(e.g. Old 4th Ward), and Centennial park area. The metro has done a good job with natural areas like the Chattahoochee NF, Sweetwater creek, and the mt bike trail systems. I would say it is a very good "outdoorsy" city. One crippling aspect are the lack of freeways to some of the suburban areas unlike a city like LA. There is good entertainment and groups I think you have to plug into like tennis, church, or other groups. Mass transit seems kind of suck. Suburban areas and such do not want to pay higher taxes like you have in the Northeast. Lot of offer here. I've heard people like Nashville better but I think Atlanta is still ahead of places like Charlotte.

[bryantm3]

I think you got it right. Atlanta isn't one place. It's a bunch of places that are all right next to each other. There are so many bubbles, groups of people doing their own thing, and not a lot of crossover between them. You can be in India one minute and be in Ohio the next. There doesn't seem to be a center.

[Smocaine]

I agree with OP. It's all good enough but Atlanta is definitely not greater than the sum of its parts in any way. It feels like everyone finds their little pocket that they like (whether it's Midtown, West Cobb, Buckhead, Roswell, etc) and then after that there is basically zero reason to ever leave that pocket. Not that you even really can leave due to the absurd distance and amounts of traffic between everything. I'd also say that all of these little pockets are somewhat unsatisfying to their target demographics. West Cobb isn't really the rural-ish, delicately maintained haven that they want. Buckhead isn't really an upscale, cosmopolitan area. Midtown is some sort of Walmart-brand Manhattan that doesn't really give the big city experience people are looking for. Lots of B-minuses and singles, no A-pluses or home runs.



The only areas that I would say have any real, general pull for people who don't live right there are the international area of Buford Highway and the Beltline by Piedmont Park, but even then it's a little meh for the hassle. That's really kind of pathetic for a metro region of this size.

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by Smocaine

I agree with OP. It's all good enough but Atlanta is definitely not greater than the sum of its parts in any way. It feels like everyone finds their little pocket that they like (whether it's Midtown, West Cobb, Buckhead, Roswell, etc) and then after that there is basically zero reason to ever leave that pocket. Not that you even really can leave due to the absurd distance and amounts of traffic between everything. I'd also say that all of these little pockets are somewhat unsatisfying to their target demographics. West Cobb isn't really the rural-ish, delicately maintained haven that they want. Buckhead isn't really an upscale, cosmopolitan area. Midtown is some sort of Walmart-brand Manhattan that doesn't really give the big city experience people are looking for. Lots of B-minuses and singles, no A-pluses or home runs.



The only areas that I would say have any real, general pull for people who don't live right there are the international area of Buford Highway and the Beltline by Piedmont Park, but even then it's a little meh for the hassle. That's really kind of pathetic for a metro region of this size.

If midtown is walmart brand manhattan, then what are the most urban parts of Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix? Goodwill brand? I guess you can call those cities even more pathetic by your standards.

[drtyfui]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

If midtown is walmart brand manhattan, then what are the most urban parts of Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix? Goodwill brand? I guess you can call those cities even more pathetic by your standards.

I get what he's saying. Sunbelt cities are just built much more differently then the more urban northern counterparts. I mean in terms of that group, Atlanta is at the top, but is that really saying much? Houston, Dallas, Phoenix are all mediocre generic sprawling cities. Atlanta just surpassed the Miami metro, will surpass the Philly metro by next year, and is set to surpass the DC metro within 5 years.


Like for the most urban/dense neighborhood in the city, Midtown isn't that vibrant or have tons of foot traffic. Like yeah there's dozens of towers going up, doesn't matter if everybody's just gonna be driving everywhere. I lived in New York, DC, and visited overseas to Europe, Atlanta doesn't feel vibrant at all, I 100% agree with what OP is saying. Not saying Atlanta is trash, cause obviously it isn't. But it defenitely falls short in some areas.

[beach43ofus]

I agree with the OP's post. I left Suwanee 5 years ago, & do not miss it at all, but it was a nice place to raise a family during the time we were there. I feel like we escaped just in the knick of time. We moved up there from the Perimeter Mall area to get away from the traffic, but it followed us right up Peachtree Industrial Blvd, and into Suwanee....ugh! Suwanee Dam Rd was a parking lot, by the time we left.

I would not return to anywhere in Gwinnett County, but would return to Northern Forsyth County near 400. I like Lake Lanier & Mountain access, & its not totally over run w/ people yet. You can still find low density in extreme Northern Forsyth County, and that County is less costly and better run than Gwinnett, or Cobb imho. Forsyth also gives seniors amazing property tax breaks if you are 65+, & they've got a new & growing hospital surrounded by healthcare professional offices. I might also return to the ATL metro if I could live in Peachtree City, South of the ATL.

I used to frequent Buckhead back in the late 80's to ~2010, but then it got too dangerous, so I stopped. We went into the City maybe 3 times/yr...to a game or the Fox or the High Museum. I would like to see the Aquarium some day.

There are some attractive pockets left in metro ATL that appeal to certain people, but overall, I'm glad to be esewhere. The growth was mismanaged as the OP said, as the developers paid off the local polititicans...happens nearly everywhere & nearly every time....eventually.

Thx ATL metro for 20 good years, loved the rolling hills, the greenery, the school cluster we had, the youth sports, & the income I made there. We were only victimized by crime once...pickpocket team working the Tavern at Phipps Plaza, so not too bad for a large metro area.

OP...good luck in CO, I think you'll like it so long as you stay out of Denver. I'm summering in the Mountains of Western N. Carolina starting next Summer, so I can excape the FLA Summer heat. On the trip up, we'll likely overnight in the ATL to visit some old haunts

[MichiganderTexan]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

If midtown is walmart brand manhattan, then what are the most urban parts of Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix? Goodwill brand? I guess you can call those cities even more pathetic by your standards.

Atlanta is a decent city it's not great, it usually either gets too much praise or too much criticism from most people. The description by the OP poster can pretty much describe any of the large sunbelt cities.