Is Atlanta Southern Enough?
The irony is that the ad ran on Turner South. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau is running an ad touting Atlanta as a great travel destination. Wonderful! Terrific! Except that many of the people in the group with whom I saw the ad noticed that the ad features imagery almost entirely evocative of northern cities. There was nothing distinctly ‘Southern’ about it.
What did they show? Bloomingdales, the High Museum (by New York architect Richard Meyer), the subway, Ice Hockey, and a spot of a Bop trumpeter. None of these images seem representative of the Deep South.
This raises an interesting question that my Southern friends have long debated: Is Atlanta the south? As someone who has lived in other parts of the country, I find Atlanta very Southern. Yet my Southern Brethren tell me that to them, this is a city of people who want to leave the south behind.
Which do we want to be? How do we reach consensus on which, if any, elements of the southern ontology will be requisite in the Atlanta mindset?
Trends show that more migration now is from people leaving smaller southern towns to come here or from foreign countries than from traditional northern cities. Perhaps these folks will define this. Perhaps it is precisely elements of the south they are trying to get away from by coming here. Perhaps that’s the message in the marketing and it’s not so ironic after all.
July 28th, 2004 at 11:49 am
Atlanta is the “new” South, as they say. I am not originally from the South; however, I did a brief stint in South Georgia, so when I think of Atlanta, I usually think of it in comparison to the rest of Georgia instead of to San Diego or Jacksonville, other big non-Southern cities in which I’ve lived.
And I would agree with your “Southern Brethen”, I like Atlanta precisely because it is not the suburbs or South Georgia, yet has maintained some of that old Southern charm.
July 29th, 2004 at 2:20 pm
I moved here about 5 years ago from San Francisco (talk about culture shock). What struck me was how much this city is like a miniature version of LA. There are very few old or historical buildings, whole neighborhoods seem to get ripped down and rebuilt every few years, and because everything is so new, it’s also very automobile-oriented.
In fact, I would say that Atlanta doesn’t so much resemble a Northern city as it does a Western one: the big sprawling metropolises like LA, Dallas, and Phoenix. It’s a vibrant new city that’s still in the process of defining itself. Cities like New York, Chicago and Boston already know what they are–and probably aren’t going to change too much from that already established pattern.
It’s exciting to watch this city change, and I feel lucky to have a first-row seat.
July 29th, 2004 at 11:57 pm
I still maintain that Atlanta can’t be anything but southern, though certainly there are degrees of southern-ness. People who can’t see what’s southern in Atlanta are blocked, in part because they’re inclined to see all things urban as northern and to ignore the overlap and intermingling of what are often considered two separate thing: southern culture (by which most people mean white) and African-American culture (which people often seem to consider outside of regionalism). But there are definitly pockets in Atlanta–Sweet Auburn, for example. Furthermore, I’d like to set the record straight on the High: it may not look distinctively Southern (nor does it seem evocative of any region to my mind), but the first thing you see inside is the Howard Finster exhibit, which is nothing if not southern.
July 31st, 2004 at 8:57 pm
For instance, there’s no place more glowing with Southern beauty than Peachtree Battle Ave. in springtime. And those moving from the north need not be so nervous about encountering our many natural charms and graces. I’m sure the majority of those lovely estates were purchased by Yankees years ago.
August 6th, 2004 at 5:05 am
My take on the trends can be summarized in a prayer a good friend wrote for me a few years back:
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O Mother of Blessed Acceleration, fail not our brother Michael as he speeeds away from yon Ditch, feeling its delicate, yet effective sting of apathy.
As it beckons him to stay there and suck, like the majority of the population that exists within its confines, help him find his gas pedal.
If he findeth not his keys, giveth him strength and success in his quest for them.
Please, please help him find his keys.
If he findeth not the road, guide him to the sacred I-75 by way of a Nu-way or Fincher’s for nourishment in this, his darkest hour.
If he findeth not comfort in 70 mph, yea, let him go eighty, for it is a Ford.
Bringeth him back safely to the solitude of his home, where beer may be found through neither miracle nor spectacular deed, but only through a short walk down the street, where the common good of man doth prevail and provide drink to my brother.
Yea, let him drink and shaketh off the influence and darkness of the Ditch for, while it is not evil, it reeks of rotting pizza and the stench of mediocrity.
O Blessed Lady of Acceleration, make it so. In the spirit of fuel injection and/or a Holley four barrel carburetor, we humbly ask these things.
Rubber side down. Amen.
September 1st, 2004 at 4:52 pm
Being a northern transplant here in Georgia, I would have to say that Atlanta “the new south” is just that. A progressive melting pot of shit. I moved to the south to get away from the Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis environment. Well damn, I guess not south enough. One personal note:
I hate Atlanta.
July 29th, 2005 at 9:41 am
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July 29th, 2005 at 11:54 am
I lived in Dallas for 8 ill-advised months; before I moved there I had heard many people compare it to Atlanta. Well, I did not find that to be true at all. My assessment? Dallas sucks; Atlanta rules. There’s nothing to freaking do in Dallas, for one thing; and talk about sprawl… it puts Atlanta to shame. And don’t get me started on their wannabe transit system, it makes MARTA look like the New York subway.
I’m with Jen - one of the reasons I like Atlanta so much is that it is a big, cosmopolitan city but has also retained some of that Southern charm. There are so many beautiful, hidden parts of Atlanta that I never knew were here before I moved here. I’m still kicking myself for talking trash about it ~3 years ago.
November 3rd, 2005 at 8:15 am
What is there to do in Atlanta? Tailgate parties? Football games? NASCAR? Go to the ONE museum? Hang out at Buckhead? Little 5 Points?
This place is BO-RING! All it has is churches & strip joints, bad drivers & cops, and dufuses hell-bent on producing atrocious ‘music’ from their kitchen.
November 3rd, 2005 at 4:07 pm
People who have no idea what there is to do in Atlanta really have no business saying a damn word. Atlanta suburbs are boring, maybe, but if you get a little courage about yourself, you’ll soon realize there is more than one art museum. There are so many art galleries and performing arts events going on any given night, you could spend your whole life finding out what Atlanta has to offer. Just start here and find out for yourself what all is happening.
As to whether Atlanta is the south, you can find those little things like sweet tea and biscuits that you can’t find outside the south. But Atlanta has always been ahead of the curve. As the city too busy to hate, Atlanta is more the progressive south. The only tradition that holds this city back now is the urban regime that at one time put the “progressive” in the progressive south.