I lived and worked there for a while there.
* Most of the tech jobs are out in burbs like alpharetta ect.
* City is just not great. There isn't much to do.
* Feels a bit old school and traditional.
* No access to snow for skiing , to the ocean for surfing, mountain biking trails are decent but not great.
* Music scene is not good. I don't like to listen to country , rock ect.
* I always feel a little scared to drive outside ATL into GA, Alabama. Confederate flags, churches in the gas stations. I've heard some stories from my friends. I admit that this might be an irrational fear.
Clearly you don't listen to rap and hip hop either
If you want to ski, fly to Colorado and ski...if you want to be a ski bum, yes...Atlanta is not for you.
And yes, it has its downsides...it is sprawling, public transportation is not good, it can get very hot in the summer, crime can be high, and generally many of the problems that large metro areas deal with.
ATL is also home to the world's busiest airport. If you like to travel, it's a great city. You can fly direct to almost anywhere in the world.
There's tons of world music in Atlanta too, since Atlanta is one of the primary locations new refugees get sent. That's why you can get just about any cuisine on Buford Highway.
Yea definetly. I have friends who love living there and are raising families there.
You must not have tried very hard. Atlanta is a music hub. It's one of the best features of our city.
For one, we're the hip hop / rap epicenter. But we also cater to indie, alternative, electronic, and punk.
Pre-pandemic you could find shows every night at over three dozen different venues. Tabernacle, Buckhead Theatre, Center Stage, Masquerade, Terminal West, Variety Playhouse, The Loft, The Earl, Aisle 5, Chastain Park, Wonderroot, Smith's Old Bar, The Roxy...
I can't count how many times I was torn between seeing two or three different acts I wanted to see because they all happened on the same night. It's like a curse. That's how much music happens in Atlanta.
Music Midtown, Shaky Knees, Shaky Beats...
I think you forget that Atlanta is home to a burgeoning creative industry. And that's more than just music. In 2017, Georgia films collectively grossed more than films shot and produced anywhere else in the world. And we're still killing it.
Atlanta creatives and our art and culture scene are thriving.
I have to disagree, after living in West Midtown Atlanta for the past 3 years. There's one large park (Piedmont) downtown, but beyond that I have to drive 30mins-1hour for any park of comparable size.
If you drive 30-60 minutes you get to dozens of bike and hiking trails in big parks.
Not to mention all the trees everywhere and pocket parks.
The parks aren’t necessarily the best in the world or anything, but there’s lots of space and more than most major cities. One thing is that the parks aren’t built up around very much like other cities.
(it's also worth mentioning that for my first 1.5 years in Atlanta, I couldn't even afford a car, so my options were limited to Piedmont Park and the Georgia Tech campus)
In rush hour traffic from the Atlantic Station area, according to Google Maps:
Grant Park: 26min drive Centennial Olympic Park: 15min drive (I did go there all the time but it's not really a park? plus tons of car noise nearby) Freedom Park: 34min drive Candler Park: 28min drive Chastain Park: 28min drive
I'd occasionally go to the park along Collier Road or to Memorial Park (both 15-20min drive in traffic), but both are surrounded by deadlocked rush hour traffic for most of the afternoon.
I think the lesson is maybe that I should've chosen to live in the Little 5 Points area or somewhere east of Piedmont, but that would mean sacrificing my ~5min bicycle commute to the Georgia Tech campus where I was going to school at the time.
In the end Atlanta's car culture really grated on me, so I left.
That said, I think Atlanta is on a positive trajectory. I'm excited to see how the Microsoft campus impacts the western part of the city. I imagine in 15-20 years it could be a really appealing city.
Traffic is really horrible in Atlanta but I was able to plan around it so that it didn’t bother me much. But I would never think of distance against rush hour unless I had a specific reason. So while it may suck to drive during rush hour to get to a park, just don’t do that. Traffic is dead at 6am and is fine until 330 or after 7. Even a block from Piedmont park, I don’t think I ever went there except mornings, evenings, and weekends. This is different from other cities where there’s just no getting around traffic.
Living in midtown (or anywhere) without a car is hard, but there’s lots of cities that also require cars but don’t have so many parks and outdoor stuff.
There’s definitely a car culture and that’s a downside, but there are lots of parks.