Does anyone here live in or near Atlanta?

[Divameow77]

I live in Minnesota and am thinking of relocating somewhere and I used to live in northern Georgia along time ago and was thinking Atlanta might be nice. I need to convince my husband.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Atlanta area here.

And I can tell you that it's got a lot of negatives. VERY bad traffic, for one (the longest average commute in the country, and the worst traffic per passenger mile of any US city); poor air quality, for another (in summer, the smog blankets the city in a lovely yellowish-brown haze that obscures the skyline completely from five miles out, and along the freeways you can see the lower limbs of trees gone yellowish and sickly from auto exhaust). The metro area has gotten so built-up and populous that you'll be very lucky to find a decent house within a reasonable distance of the city under about $200-300K. And once you're outside of the city proper and into the suburbs, Georgia is a VERY red state, with a positively frightening number of Republicans and fundamentalist nutjobs. Personally, I wouldn't recommend Atlanta to anyone; I'm looking forward to getting out.

[Divameow77]

2. What about Marietta?

I lived near Rome in Kingston when I was young, but I want to be closer to a major city.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Marietta is terrible...

it's in Cobb County, which is probably the most reactionary, racist and generally backwards part of the Atlanta metro area. They opted outr of the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, for instance, because it would have made it easier for African-Americans from Atlanta to get to Cobb County...and they didn't want that. And that's ALSO where the local school board ruled that high school science textbooks had to carry stickers bearing the disclaimer that evolution is "just a theory". Really, if you want to move to Atlanta, I'd recommend Atlanta itself or the Decatur/Stone Mountain area first. And I'd recommend moving to another city in another state before moving to Marietta.

[Divameow77]

5. I knew Georgia was red

but I don't know the REALLY red parts, guess I want to stay out of those areas. This is such a hard decision for me, I guess I should do some research on the best cities to live in.

[Modem Butterfly]

6. Oh Bullshit

Everyone knows that the most reactionary, racist, and generally backwards part of the Atlanta metro area is Gwinnett. And I say that as a citizen of Cobb county! ;)

Cobb has several advantages; we have the best public schools (despite the recent evolution debacle), excellent county services (particularly animal control, which invested so heavily in a state-of-the-art animal shelter (3 mill!) that is the biggest, cleanest, newest and has the highest survival rate in the metro area), the lowest millage rate (that's property taxes, FYI), and the lowest crime rates. There's a great deal of theater in Marietta, the biggest natural grocer in the metro area (Harry's) in the heart of Marietta, an excellent athletic complex (with multiple pools no less!) that's available free of charge to Cobb county residents next to the fair grouns. Cobb County Transit interfaces with MARTA in several locations (you can hop a MARTA bus cheaper in Cobb county than you can in Midtown). Where I live, in Smryna, I can hit the perimeter in five minuts and midtown in fifteen. We're quite diverse, with a sizeable black, various Latino and Asian populations. Within ten minutes drive of our house, driving into Cobb, I can get Mexican, Columbian, Jamaican, Brazilian, Argentinian, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Nicaraguan, Salvadorian, and of course, traditional Southern food (whatever that means!). Also, there's an excellent French bakery next to Dobbins and Lockheed, whose proprieters come directly from Lyon and does an amazing business with the poor, provincal, racist Cobbians who work at the Air Force base and Lockheed plant.

Georgia's a red state, and some areas are redder than others. But Cobb County is a great place to live.

[Elidor]

7. ACK! Smyrna! Nooooo!!!!

Edit: You didn't go to Kenwood or Oakwood or Campbell High, did you?

I spent a decade in Smyrna and Marietta, and it's not a stretch to say: I. Fucking. Hated. It.

Spider does a pretty good description up above, although he's far too kind. For what it's worth, I also lived in Decatur and in East Altanta (token white boy, I was bussed in). When I left for Tennessee, I wanted to go back. But my first visit back, a year later, I said to my family, "HOW in GOD'S NAME did I EVER LIVE in this place???"

I'll gladly take my 20K a year in small town Tennessee over 40K in the Big Shitty.

I'd advise the OP to look into Alabama. (No, I'm not kidding.) Alabama is quite beautiful in places. Look for a mid-size town without the sprawl. I know people who love the area outside Huntsville.

[Modem Butterfly]

10. Huntsville's a fucking hole

Talk about racism! Jesus, there's folks up there still fighting the civil war, and they're supposedly educated. My partner's from Alabama and we have a few friends from that part of Alabama and they're all trying to get here before Judge Roy Moore becomes Governor!

I moved here from Oregon after I graduated from college. It's obvious Spider's never even been to Cobb county, let alone lived here (just yanking your chain, Spider). Smyrna's a great city and has changed a lot in the ten years I've been here. It sounds like you left not long after high school, I don't know how long that was. I don't want to live in GA anymore, but if I have to (and my partner is stuck here due to work and family) Cobb county's it for us.

[Elidor]

16. Not IN Huntsville but that general area of the state.

Personally, I'd love to live further south, near Cheeaha State Park, which I just love. But I'm thinking more of quality of life, not rednecks. I don't mind rednecks too much - I've lived among them too long to care much anymore. I need a fairly rural setting, small town, lots of wilderness nearby.

Heck, there's plenty of rednecks in Smyrna, as National Geographic famously pointed out. ;-) (Actually, that article was wrong even at the time - the rednecks had already migrated outward to areas like Lithia Springs.)

[Nailzberg]

3. 'bout 2000 miles west of the Big Chicken.

I have a bunch of friends from Marietta. If you get the joke, you've been there, too.

[Tsiyu]

9. LOL The Big chicken

Do the eyes still roll?

[Modem Butterfly]

11. Oh my yes!

[Nailzberg]

19. I couldn't tell you if the eyes still roll.

I actually just learned about the Big Chicken last year. I was trying to locate Atlanta area contractors and subs for a project my company was doing out there. And I'd ask them where they were located, not being familiar with the Atlanta area.

A got a lot of people giving me directions based on the Big Chicken. "5 miles east of the big chicken." and so forth. I have several friends in LA originally from Marietta, and they let me in on it.

When it came time to build out there, I had photos of the Big Chicken on my to-do list. I did not take notice to whether or not the eyes were rolling. Hurricane Francis had just come through, and with Ivan on the way, perhaps they were secured or something.

[newsguyatl]

8. i absolutely LOVE it here

one of best cities in america as far as i'm concerned...

everytime i travel somewhere, i'm always ready to get back home.


and the traffic isn't NEAR as bad as some would have you believe... i live IN the city, downtown, and rarely am stuck in traffic... once you're here long enough, you know when and where to go to avoid the jams...

best restaurants of any city.. great shopping, diversity (overall), incredible weather...

[Elidor]

17. I guess downtown isn't as bad as some of the burbs.

The whole Ashford-Dunwoody scene was straight from hell as far as I was concerned. Twenty minutes to go 200 feet near the hospitals at rush hour. I don't miss any of it.

[ulysses]

12. DeKalb here,

soon to be Paulding. DeKalb is a great, blue area, but cost of living has gone up.

Atlanta has a lot to recommend it, and a lot on the other side too. It helps to love pavement.

[Modem Butterfly]

13. You guys are moving to Paulding?

Wow.

[ulysses]

15. yeah - after years of saying we'd never move outside of 285.

A lot more house for the money out there. We're going to be just over the line from Douglasville.

[Tsiyu]

14. I would say save yourself the heartache

And that would by my opinion only.

Very shallow, strip-shopping mentality in the burbs. Seems like everyone wears pure white tennis shoes and culture is something you put on plastic.

There are good people, but they are outnumbered by Southern Baptists of the fundy sort.

Some places intown are cool but crime and congestion are high. The North Georgia mountains used to be beautiful but are now dotted with gigunda McMansions. Taxes are increasing, schools and infrastructure have been pushed beyond breaking, and you have a Repuke Gov who ran on a platform of restoring the Confederate flag.

The coast was nice years back. But if I were you I'd pick another state.

Results may vary....

[Elidor]

18. BTW, I lived in Burnsville as a boy

Suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I've not been back since about 1972. I remember it as a beautiful state. We used to go camping on the lakes each summer and hide inside from The Swarm at sunset each evening. Those were some fierce skeeters up there.