Did Your Perceptions Of Atlanta Change When You Left?

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

As someone who was seriously considering moving to DC but finally opted for Atlanta, please feel free to go on and on. If you want, you can even send me a direct message. I would love to hear more about your thoughts about DC and Atlanta.

Send me a message about what you need to know

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

As someone who was seriously considering moving to DC but finally opted for Atlanta, please feel free to go on and on. If you want, you can even send me a direct message. I would love to hear more about your thoughts about DC and Atlanta.

I know that reply wasn't directed towards me, but as someone who had a choice between Atlanta and D.C. in '89 I may offer something of use.

I had visited both cities many times and loved both. D.C. is more urban and seems more "big city" in certain ways...but Atlanta offers that as well, just not as much of it is connected as in D.C. The main reasons we chose Atlanta over D.C. were:

1. weather...hardly any snow, very mild winters in Atlanta. I never liked getting up in the morning to freezing temperatures and icy windshields in NC, so I thought moving further north would be a mistake. I like being able to wear gym shorts and a sweat shirt leaving the gym in January or walking to the mailbox in flip flops...silly little things, but things that aren't doable in D.C.

2. housing costs...our first apartment in Atlanta was $490/mo. We couldn't have rented an outhouse for that in D.C. It made moving on a budget much more feasible.

I'm sure you already knew those two tidbits, but I just thought I would share. I still love both cities and both have their strong points, but in the end these two items helped us make our decision.

[sirrob]

The wife and I moved to Indy 3 yrs ago from Stn. Mtn., and we REALLY miss the "A"!

And it doesn't help that this is the ABSOLUTE best time of the year! "OCT/NOV". It's just BEAUTIFUL, everywhere! I really miss it now.

I'm in the process of re-establishing connections and upgrading my IT skills, so we can move back for good.

When the economy comes back, Atlanta is going offer soooo many new, exciting career opportunites!

Like it was said earlier, we're getting ready, and getting our s**t together!

[bgNCATL]

I met this one girl who said that she hates Atlanta because the people here are fake and all they do is flash there money. I ask her where she wanted to move and she said LA LOL!!!!!!!

[SouthernBoy205]

When I stayed there for 4 years, I heard natives and people who lived there complain how they were ready to leave and how they hated Atlanta. On the other hand, I've heard and felt the excitement of people who wanted to move to Atlanta from other places.

From my living in Atlanta for 4 years, I liked it, but I always knew home was where I wanted to be. People move and leave Atlanta all the time based on expectations. I just hope people who will move to Atlanta will like it for what it offers and move there for SIGNIFICANT reasons and not for what they see on t.v.

[Newsboy]

I haven't lived too many other places, but I have traveled a lot and every time I came back to Atlanta, I found myself appreciating it more. I remember the first time I went to NYC in high school. Nothing about NYC reminded me of Atlanta, but when I came back I discovered there were parts of downtown Atlanta that reminded me of NYC. In college at UGA, I went to a professional conference in Orlando with some other guys who shared my major and we met a bunch of kids who went to University of Florida in Gainesville. All these Gators could talk about was Atlanta and how much they wanted to move there after graduation, to get out of Florida. I'm still friends with some of those guys even to this day.

In 1991, I went out to LA for the first time. This was shortly after Atlanta had been awarded the 1996 Olympics and there were all kinds of doubts about whether the city could pull it off. While in L.A. I made it a point to drive around and see some of the locations of the 1984 Olympics, including the Coliseum down in South Central. I came back to Atlanta telling folks that if L.A. could host an Olympics, ANYPLACE could host the Olympics. We also drove around Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, etc. and I kept thinking, "Buckhead is nicer than this!" (It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I also was surprised to discover that the radio stations in L.A. played the same music as the stations in Atlanta at the time. HEY! I was young!)

I lived in Savannah the mid-90s, then returned to Atlanta for about a decade, and now live in Savannah again. I can honestly say that I missed Savannah from the first day I left and mentally spent 10 years trying to figure out how to get back here. I love it! But that's not to say I don't love Atlanta. In fact, being away again has made me even more fond of the city than before (perhaps because when I visit, I know I only have a short time to enjoy it and then I get to leave ... I don't have to put up with all the &$&!@ of living there!)

It's really as simple as this, and one reason why I get so defensive about Atlanta on these C-D forums: IT IS MY HOMETOWN. Atlanta is where I was born. It is where my extended family has lived for 8 generations. It is where my blood and roots and history run deep. No matter how much Atlanta changes, nobody can ever take that away from me.

I cried when the Braves won their first pennant and World Series.

I cried when the Falcons beat the Vikings to win the NFC title and go to their first Super Bowl.

I cried when Juan Antonio Samaranch uttered the words "City of Atlanta!" and I wept like a baby with 250,000 other people, watching the 1996 Opening Ceremonies in Centennial Olympic Park.

I cry whenever the strains of Willie Nelson's "Georgia On My Mind" begin at the end of the Stone Mountain laser show.

I get chills when I hear "Ramblin' Wreck" or "Glory Glory to Old Georgia" -- and I'm a Georgia grad!

I feel warm and fuzzy reading old columns by Lewis Grizzard and Celestine Sibley.

I only drink Coca-Cola, never Pepsi; I only watch CNN, never Fox; and I shop at Home Depot, not Lowes.

I miss Rich's. I remember the smell of Richway.

I can drive through downtown with a visitor from out of town and point out the places where my mother was born (Grady Hospital), my parents met (The Varsity), where I was born (Atlanta Medical Center, then Georgia Baptist Hospital) where I attended both my junior and senior proms (The Hyatt Regency) and the place where I lost my virginity (OK ... maybe not! But you get the idea!).

I've always said that no matter where life takes me, I can find happiness. But Georgia is my home. It is the place where I will always be happiest.

And when all is said and done, this red clay is where I will be buried.