Comments on: Is Atlanta Southern Enough?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 00:07:20 +0000

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.

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:15:11 +0000

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.

By: Amber

Amber — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 18:54:08 +0000

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.

By: testanchor861

testanchor861 — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:41:33 +0000

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By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 23:52:41 +0000

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.

By: Some Other Mike.

Some Other Mike. — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 12:05:55 +0000

My take on the trends can be summarized in a prayer a good friend wrote for me a few years back:

–
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.

By: Gracie D,

Gracie D, — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 03:57:21 +0000

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.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 06:57:21 +0000

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.

By: Joseph G.

Joseph G. — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:20:26 +0000

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.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 18:49:52 +0000

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.