Atlanta - A city without a soul? (1 Viewer)

Most major cities like Chicago, L.A., Philidelphia, N.Y., Boston, and Dallas all have a dominate "personality" that people (people who live there, as well as outsiders) can relate to. I have lived here in Atlanta for 11 years now, and I cannot identify any over-riding "spirit" or "personality" among the people here at all. Some may view Atlanta as being the "capitol" of the South, but Atlanta doesn't really seem like a southern city in the traditional sense. Most of the residents of this city, like myself, are from other states in the northeast, the midwest, from other southern states, and many from other countries.

Because of this influx of people from so many backgrounds, some feel that Atlanta has lost its southern identity. It seems that there are more people here from NY, Detroit, and other countries even than there are native Atlantans. This is evident at most of the Atlanta Falcon football games that I attend at the Georgia Dome. There are sometimes more people who root for the opposing teams than there is for the hometeam Falcons. Not only that, but they really make a point of "rubbing their noses in it". That is unheard of in places like Dallas, Chicago, Green Bay, and Philly. Those fans are passionate about the hometeam - even when they're losing. Even though I'm not from here, I can understand how this might be disappointing to the native population here.

About the only thing that comes to mind about Atlanta is the countless bars and "gentleman's club" establishments (a.k.a. booty shakin' clubs) that litter the downtown area. There is one thing though that Atlanta has plenty of, that is shared w/ no other city in the U.S. that I know of....beautiful women of every background. I lived in Michigan, Dallas, Brooklyn, and spent lots of time in Los Angeles; but Atlanta, GA has some of the most beautiful women that you'll find anywhere in the U.S. at any given time. I'd be curious to know what some of you that have spent time here think of Atlanta, especially those of you who live here. Is Atlanta a city w/o a soul/identity?

I definitely know what you mean. When I first moved to Maryland, I was located in the Gaithersburg/Rockville area. I just never fit in and could never find the area's focus (besides never-ending traffic and strip malls).

Fortunately my job moved further east and I discovered Annapolis ! I would love to stay and retire here, it's just too darn expensive...

We did a project and got some out-of-state consultants in. One was from Atlanta and she was suh-weet ! (but I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud....)

L.A. has a soul? Don't get me wrong I like visiting L.A. a lot but I'm not certain it has a soul, unless of course narcissism can be considered a is a soul.























Ok that was just a joke; like I wrote earlier I really do like the L.A. area and have always enjoyed my trip down there.

L.A. has the whole Hollywood glamor thing going where everyone who aspires to be a celebrity goes to seek their first big break (or something very similar). That's what I, as well as everyone else, thinks of when L.A. comes to mind.

Atlanta has changed a lot. I've lived here all my life. It started changing as it became the "Hub of the south". It also is growing very fast. There are no physical boundaries to stop it. Who knows how big it's going to be in 20 years, but it might scare those of us that live here. I've heard about what they are predicting, and I don't like it. I don't want it to be the NY of the south.

I love ATL. I went there twice last year, including during the holidays. I briefly considered moving there.

Without a soul? I don't know... from what I have seen, it grooves. The nightlife is excellent.

Plus, it has a large number of well to do people of er... hum... negroid descent .

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H

Atlanta is a town full of transplants. It's pretty rare to find native Atlantans.

Kevin, take your post and make the following substitutions:

Replace "Atlanta" with "Houston"
Replace "Atlanta Falcon football" with "Houston Astros baseball"
Replace "Georgia Dome" with "Minute Maid Park"
Replace "downtown area" with "the entire city"

And basically the entire post would still be true. So you're not the only major city in the US with this identity crisis.

At least you guys have hills!!

Ted Turner bought Atlanta's soul and colorized it.

One thing is for sure. A lot of people are moving here because they are tired of the snow up north. I can't blame them. You will never find me owning a snow shovel that I have to use to dig my car out of the snow.

Kevin,

Thanks!

I'll keep murmuring to myself how heartless Alanta is tonight as they grind my poor Cubbies into the dirt. Chicagoans are passionate and loyal to their teams, no doubt. Why? Damned if I know, I expect all the polish sausage permenantly alters our brains as children. First MNF with Green Bay and now I have to watch this tonight.

Ugghh! Get me a beer and a brat, stat!

I think it has a lot of personality, but you have to look around to find it. Soul? I dunno about that. I guess if you consider P. Diddy, Ludacris and Germaine Dupree you could say the soul of Atlanta is about rap now.. bleh.

The US has quite the transient population. I haven't seen any studies comparing it to other countries though.

I lived in Minneapolis until last February. I think Minneapolis has the highest percentage of natives out of the top 20 metro areas in the country (I have a vague recollection of a study on this). It has a certain soul but at the same time you get less exposure to different kinds of people, although that isn't a problem if you go to the local colleges. I think there are a few reasons for that: the city is a wonderful place to live, but the winters are a nightmare. Thus people don't want to leave and no one wants to come

Is there anyone from Phoenix here? I've never been there myself but from what I've read/heard the city sounds like the definition of souless. Built in about 10 years, full of ex Californains and others trying to escape crowded cities and expensive houses, only to create the same situation there.

I don't know. I always thought of Atlanta as the "Dirty South" for some reason.

Well.. it is kind of dirty. And it is in the south.

Maybe the "somewhat messy" south?

Hey no dirt. Didn't you hear? When the Olympics were coming to town, Atlanta went around, found all the homeless people and offered to give them a bus ticket to anywhere in the United States they wanted to go. The only stipulation was that it was a one way ticket, and they didn't give them any money to get back. That's smart!