what do you guys think? and why

Umm, what's it rated?

Does this thread need to happen? I do think a lot of kind of snub Atlanta.

I'm actually going to try to answer this question in a mature way. I think Atlanta is unfairly picked on. Nowadays, it seems the only thing you ever hear about Atlanta is how bad the traffic is or how bad the air quality is. As a Charlottean, all we ever here about around here is how this city doesn't want to become Atlanta. Look, I'm not saying Atlanta is perfect, but it has a LOT of great things going for it, and it's a shame that the only things that ever seem to get mentioned are its flaws.

I don't really think of Atlanta as underrated or overrated. It's just Atlanta. It's a nice place.

Its really neither in my opinion. Atlanta is not gonna change because some think negative of it. Think about it, 5 million people live in the Atlanta Metro, did anyone force any of these people to move there?. What would Georgia be like without Atlanta?.

NoStyle, people here in Birmingham say the same thing about "not wanting to be like Atlanta". I dont know about the people in Charlotte, but I believe Birmingham is bitter about getting its ass handed to it by Atlanta in terms of growth in the 1950's and 60's.

Bottom line is that people either love Atlanta or hate it.

NoStyle, people here in Birmingham say the same thing about "not wanting to be like Atlanta". I dont know about the people in Charlotte, but I believe Birmingham is bitter about getting its ass handed to it by Atlanta in terms of growth in the 1950's and 60's.

I don't think Charlotteans have the same reason. I think they see Charlotte's current growth and many of its local projects and they feel they are very comparable to what Atlanta has been through. Everything in Charlotte seems to have an Atlanta equivalent, from South Park (Buckhead) to Ballantyne (Perimeter Center), to I-485 (I-285) and so on. When Charlotte builds a light rail, what do locals compare it to? Atlanta's development of MARTA. When locals talk about airport expansion, what do they compare it to? Hartsfield. Charlotte has a bit of an obsession with comparing itself to (or separating itself from) Atlanta. Usually the tone is one of "let's not make the same mistakes as Atlanta"...rarely do you hear "Let's do what Atlanta did because look at how well it worked there!"...and there are TONS of things that Atlanta has done well that Charlotte should be emulating.

Neither. It's a big city with all the good and bad that goes with that.

I don't think Charlotteans have the same reason. I think they see Charlotte's current growth and many of its local projects and they feel they are very comparable to what Atlanta has been through. Everything in Charlotte seems to have an Atlanta equivalent, from South Park (Buckhead) to Ballantyne (Perimeter Center), to I-485 (I-285) and so on. When Charlotte builds a light rail, what do locals compare it to? Atlanta's development of MARTA. When locals talk about airport expansion, what do they compare it to? Hartsfield. Charlotte has a bit of an obsession with comparing itself to (or separating itself from) Atlanta. Usually the tone is one of "let's not make the same mistakes as Atlanta"...rarely do you hear "Let's do what Atlanta did because look at how well it worked there!"...and there are TONS of things that Atlanta has done well that Charlotte should be emulating.


I can understand why Charlotte doesnt want to make the same mistakes in terms of planning like Atlanta, and Im guessing Charlotte doesnt want to be known as "Atlanta Jr." But I agree when you say that Charlotte, or any other city should look at what Atlanta has done right.

Also for alot of people Atlanta overwhelms them because of its size, traffic, etc, so in turn they dont their particular metro to become "Atlanta like".

Personally I would push for Atlanta style growth population wise for Birmingham, with smarter planning and devlopment of course.:banana:

so a lot of you are saying neither huh, well i was in atlanta a couple of years ago and unfortunatelly it was a pretty big disappointment, only the terrible heat (the worst i ever experienced) and this is coming from someone who lives in miami. it lacks cultural venues, a rather dead downtown with very few things to do, and just miles of sprawl. trust me i didnt want to write this but im just being truthfull. downtown atlanta has fantastic buildings though, overral the best thing i did during my visit was go to that squarium which is the largest aquarium in the world, it was simply beutifull.

i hope you guys don't find this too offensive :) it was just my experience

overrated in my opinion.

I'm actually going to try to answer this question in a mature way. I think Atlanta is unfairly picked on. Nowadays, it seems the only thing you ever hear about Atlanta is how bad the traffic is or how bad the air quality is. As a Charlottean, all we ever here about around here is how this city doesn't want to become Atlanta. Look, I'm not saying Atlanta is perfect, but it has a LOT of great things going for it, and it's a shame that the only things that ever seem to get mentioned are its flaws.

Yup yup. Contrary to popular opinion, Atlanta's in a major urban boom. I used to enjoy snubbing Atlanta too, much like Dallas, but also much like Dallas, the city has progressed to the point that not even I can treat it this way. I think Atlanta is a special place because it exemplifies the South and it does it with style. The New South is exemplified inside the Perimeter...Atlanta's inner city population is doublin', and there are hardly any Irish people in Atlanta.

Another thing that so often gets overlooked in Atlanta is the graciousness of Southern style that attracts so many retirees to the city or even some of its more tasteful suburbs.

Atlanta is more than an airport and some lifestyle centers, contrary to popular opinion.. it also is shedding its other highly notorious ghetto image. Even the south side, i.e., Grant Park, parts of Atlanta are gentrifying nicely. "Da ATL" just isn't the same anymore. Atlanta is such a tasteful and stylish cosmopolitan city much UNLIKE other cities that throw the term "cosmopolitan" around loosely like MIAMI and LA. Atlanta capitalizes on its black culture, and its Confederate history, and its International present (Olympics, CNN, etc) all without polarizing the other or anyone and without stepping on political toes (i.e., pc nuisance) to get it down. Atlanta is tasteful, trendy, and cosmopolitan, and it exemplifies the South, and we should embrace it.

When I think of a classy city I see a black man in a suit playing a saxophone on a street in front of nice, red-brick buildings. The blues and jazz scenes are in my opinion the apex of classy and cosmopolitan. If I can picture this in a city, said city wins my approval. Atlanta is all about that, so Atlanta gets my approval.

I've personally been to Atlanta once. We went for a hockey game and we also visited the aquarium. It just so happened a NASCAR race was taking place in Atlanta that weekend too. Here is what I found...

- the traffic is everything it's made out to be.
- the aquarium, while BEAUTIFUL, is too packed.
- the arena was nice. the fans were more welcoming than I expected. They were also more passionate than I expected.
- the Underground was disappointing.
- it's weird to be in such a linear center city.
- lots of construction, which I thought was great.
- not a ton of pedestrian activity.
- impressive modern and PoMo architecture.

Atlanta is Awesome and is one of my most favorite cities. I love the Underground Mall, Buckhead, weather, and thick A-town ladies. So many people from chicago especially the southside move down there. It seems like almos everyone there is from somewhere else and thats a testament to how great it is. Hats off to the capitol of the south.

As an overall "city/metro" I would call Atlanta overrated, but only because so many "common" people have a generally favorable opinion of the city. If people thought poorly of Atlanta, than it would be underrated under the same conditions...

More than 60% of the metropolitan population lives in truly suburban neighborhoods surrounded by Big Box retail centers and auto-centric development. Because of this, traffic congestion is horrible. And while it is unfair to single-out Atlanta for having auto-centric sprawl, most cities make up for it with their urban cores. Atlanta's urban core wasn't able to spread too far from the downtown area before the car became king. Often when people move to "Atlanta" they move to the suburban neighborhoods far from the center. And while Atlanta does have many nice suburbs, so does Buffalo and Chicago and Minneapolis.

On the otherhand, the urban core of Atlanta (despite having a relatively small footprint) is denser and more urban than people give it credit for, and therefore is underrated. Downtown, Midtown, etc. easily combine to form one of the nicer urban centers in the country. People often despise "Atlanta" due to the large amounts of low-density sprawl that are eating away at the countryside, but you can live in "Atlanta" and live the same "urban" lifestyle that you can in just about any other major city. Chicago has tons of sprawl that continues to expand along the fringe, but few people "despise" Chicago for that.

As far as particulars, I would say the weather is extremely overrated, because the summer months can be unbearably hot and the winter months while generally mild, can become chillier than many people may expect. For instance at 9:00 PM on January 16th the temperature was only 32 degrees in Atlanta. Ironically it's colder in Atlanta right now than it is in New York (34 degrees). While that generally isn't the case, it's not as if people wear shorts and sandles in Atlanta during the winter months.

^^i couldnt belive the day i was in atlanta i checked the weather and the temp was 101 haha with a heat index around a 115 or so i mean wayyy hotter than miami, + there was hardly any wind to cool off

I went to Atlanta a couple of years ago, and I'll say its overrated but im not trying to say its not a great city and a great place to visit, but nothing really stood out to me, Downtown was all good looking but very standard and kind of generic, but its been a while since Ive gone and alot could have possibly changed. The Underground was disapointing, but the aquarium was awesome. And outside of downtown, the rest of the city is insanely suburban, its almost picturesquely suburban and very bland.
But again its an amazing city, I actually liked it, it just not what I expected.

I think it's both. Some people brag about it and make it overrated while others trash it and make it underrated. It's an endless cycle because the Atlanta bashers unneccessarily trash Atlanta so then the Atlanta supporters go overboard promoting Atlanta, that ticks of the Atlanta bashers who trash Atlanta again so the supporters brag about Atlanta...over and over. It happens/happened with a lot of cities on the forum. Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Toronto...

It's neither in my opinion. Atlanta is reasonably well-known in some international circles, particularly in regards to business and transportation. But there's one thing to think about here: There is not another metro area of its size within 600 miles. It's the Chicago of the Southeast (ignoring South Florida here). Much has been made of why Chicago was able to become top dog of its region. The same should be said of Atlanta. Certainly there have to be a number of factors as to why Atlanta is not like Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville, or Charlotte... cities once its peers. That has to be taken into consideration before answering the question in this thread.

Atlanta is a great city. Had a great time there back in 2006. Hope to visit again. :cheers:

I didn't know what to expect of ATL when I went there last year (but I had heard about the traffic). While downtown/midtown has a couple of genuinely great scrapers the whole area just felt dangerous to walk around, but I feel like that in most US cities (I'm not trying to start a fight!). Piedmont Park was great.

Its not a bad place...

Grow some balls then.

lol. Who would be afraid to walk around midtown Atlanta?

^^yea in my opinion atlanta was pretty easy to get around, and the people were pretty nice too.

Surprisingly this thread has been so far interesting reading both pros and cons. As an Atlantan, I just wanted to point that out because the title is just a magnet for silliness.

One thing I would say is that most of the cultural venues are not Downtown so if thats what you're looking for it might require some research.

I'll weigh in. I think Atlants is pretty nice. I like to visit, but have no desire to live there. I would say alot of people who don't live there probably underrate it, while many I know who live or have lived there tend to overrate it. This is probably true for 99.0% of cities though.:) I know a number of peopl who have moved to Greenville from there. They have varied reports. Obviously it is a much larger city than Gville, with more big city options.

I agree the traffic is a little frustrating. But I remember about two years ago a report on the cities with the worst traffic came out. Atlanta was not even in the top ten. Boston, Chicago, San Fran were on there, but no Atlanta. Maybe the traffic situation gets too much attention. :dunno:

overrated. bunch of thugs and wangstas, hahaha.

Atlanta is great! I love it here!

overrated. bunch of thugs and wangstas, hahaha.

You contribute shit.

Grow some balls then.

:lol:

i try

A Great southern City, but it is overrated.

^^a lot of people think atlanta is overrated, care to give the explanations why you think it is?

heres a few pics of atlanta just for fun:

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd193/iaintgonletup/Atlanta.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc231/g4life33/Atlanta.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n195/nikol14/atlanta.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w287/lil_timo_photo/atlanta.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g49/Soldier1990/Atlanta.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i194/cbonds_2006/atlanta.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t47/csaintlo/atlanta.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/jake7338/Atlanta.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i136/allcolorsandnone23/Atlanta/Picture053.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj47/jbusiness_2008/atlanta.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/dakeels/atlanta_skyline.jpg

traffic:
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/Pascal-Jean-Jacques/th_MVI_8656.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/Pascal-Jean-Jacques/?action=view&current=MVI_8656.flv)

I think Atlanta is a great city but overrated in the sense of how LA is overrated. They're both truly awesome cities and fun places to live or visit, but with all the media coverage i.e. LA is all Hollywood glitz and glamor and Atlanta is a Black haven where you're sure to be a successful hip hop artist or business entrepreneur, I believe in that way the city is overrated. Sometimes it's better to hear little to nothing about a city for example, Portland, Oregon or Charlotte or Austin and be pleasantly surprised when you visit because it may exceed your expectations whereas overhyped cities may not. Not saying that Atlanta doesn't live up to any expectations, but this tends to be the case. Like hearing over and over how awesome a movie is and then seeing it for yourself and it doesn't meet up to the image you had in your head. Just my opinion. :)

^^LA is not overrated! is just normal, it gets the fame it gets because of its size. same thing can be said about other cities

I've had the whole LA experience, yes it's overrated. That's not to say it's not an awesome place, just that the media tends to overhype it.

^ Does the media overhype LA? Yes. But that's not to say it's overrated. Once you get here, you realize it's a completely different place altogether... in a good way.

Also, I doubt very much you've actually experienced LA.

^^i've had the whole LA experience :banana:

^ Does the media overhype LA? Yes. But that's not to say it's overrated. Once you get here, you realize it's a completely different place altogether... in a good way.

Also, I doubt very much you've actually experienced LA.

I doubt you know me personally so how do you know what my experiences are? I'm saying it is overhyped, get over it. It's a great city with lots to do and lots of cool people and lots of great scenery. But it does tend to get blown out of proportion when talked about on TV. That's where it being overrated comes in. I've been to and seen many places in the world. A city I feel that is underrated? Barcelona, Never have I been to a place that you don't hear that much about yet met so many awesome, artistic, friendly hospitable people in such a beautifully aesthetic city, off an awesome coast (La Costa Brava.) So don't take offense. I swear, you give one criticism and people get defensive and tell how your experience is altered and off from what it should be.

overrated. bunch of thugs and wangstas, hahaha.

Are you a wangsta, Dallasbrink?

Are you a wangsta, Dallasbrink?

Sounds like it.

Grow some balls then.

WTF?

Point remains that downtown ATL is not a safe place. And while you're just trying to be a smart arse, I actually know plenty of ppl in ATL who won't walk through downtown outside of work hours. (and they're not all castrated).

Even Peachtree on a Sunday is just a sea of homeless ppl. Not really the urban vibe that a city can be proud of.

But I'm sure Oklahoma has some mind-blowing urban spaces:lol:

I doubt you know me personally so how do you know what my experiences are? I'm saying it is overhyped, get over it. It's a great city with lots to do and lots of cool people and lots of great scenery. But it does tend to get blown out of proportion when talked about on TV. That's where it being overrated comes in. I've been to and seen many places in the world. A city I feel that is underrated? Barcelona, Never have I been to a place that you don't hear that much about yet met so many awesome, artistic, friendly hospitable people in such a beautifully aesthetic city, off an awesome coast (La Costa Brava.) So don't take offense. I swear, you give one criticism and people get defensive and tell how your experience is altered and off from what it should be.

LA is underrated in many respects. Plenty of people would agree with me.

If you've actually experienced LA, the real LA at that, then it wouldn't be a question of "Does LA live up to the hype?" :okay:

WTF?

Point remains that downtown ATL is not a safe place. And while you're just trying to be a smart arse, I actually know plenty of ppl in ATL who won't walk through downtown outside of work hours. (and they're not all castrated).

Even Peachtree on a Sunday is just a sea of homeless ppl. Not really the urban vibe that a city can be proud of.

But I'm sure Oklahoma has some mind-blowing urban spaces:lol:

Is that a personal attack? It sure is one heck of a debate trump card I'm getting sick of.

Gee, I'd hardly say we were having a debate, you haven't said anything with any logic or substance to it.

Get over your fear of US urbanism. It's ridiculous when people say they're afraid of gritty cities. I guarantee you could go for a night walk in Detroit or Atlanta without getting into any trouble..well maybe, but only from police wanting to know what you're doing..

Unless you are a gang member.

Well actually I did walk around downtown at night and I did come accross trouble, in fact twice in the 5 minutes after leaving my hotel. But I'm not afraid to walk around, I just said the place felt dangerous.

During the day I walked through areas where homeless men were 99% of the people on the street, I didn't have any problems and some of them were friendly people who I talked to.

My original comment was about the city of ATL and grit is the overwhelming first impression of the downtown area. Now don't get me wrong, grit has its place but ATL didn't have much else to offer. (Although Atlantic Station was cool area).

overrated. bunch of thugs and wangstas, hahaha.

Hmmmm...maybe we should start a Dallas thread.

Dallas = a bunch of cowboy wannabes (never saw a cow or walked in the mud yet still walk around with cowboy hats).

I feel completely safe walking in downtown Atlanta at night. The city is not nearly as dangerous as it once was.

I live in Greenville, SC right now and frequent Atlanta often. One time we stayed in the Westin hotel and after you walked through centennial park things started to feel a little odd and there were lots of streetwalkers and bum's. It makes me feel uneasy cause you never know when one of them could bust a cap in your ass and take off with your wallet. I think Atlanta has sprawled itself out too much. If it would have had a better plan about growth then it would be a much better place IMO. Charlotte looks so much better and they are doing a much better job with their growth patterns. Just look how all the new highrises going up are in the core of the city and not 1 mile away like Atlanta's Buckhead. I know cities grow different though and no two are exactly the same.

Hmmmm...maybe we should start a Dallas thread.

Dallas = a bunch of cowboy wannabes (never saw a cow or walked in the mud yet still walk around with cowboy hats).
:nuts::lol: wow...
I feel completely safe walking in downtown Atlanta at night. The city is not nearly as dangerous as it once was.

Really??

Hmmmm...maybe we should start a Dallas thread.

Dallas = a bunch of cowboy wannabes (never saw a cow or walked in the mud yet still walk around with cowboy hats).

Cowboy wannabes? I'm sorry darlin, you gotta gotta bout 25 miles west for that. It's called Fort Worth. :lol:

Hmmmm...maybe we should start a Dallas thread.

Dallas = a bunch of cowboy wannabes (never saw a cow or walked in the mud yet still walk around with cowboy hats).

What's wrong with that? It's not doing harm to anybody atleast.

wow 23 peeps think atlanta is overrated, so i guess i wasnt the only one. lol

Just look how all the new highrises going up are in the core of the city and not 1 mile away like Atlanta's Buckhead.

Ummm, downtown Atlanta has several towers that have been recently constructed, are under construction, or are planned. The same is true of Midtown. I consider downtown and Midtown collectively to constitute the core of Atlanta, and together, no lower tier cities (such as Charlotte) can hold a candle to the amount of development going on in intown Atlanta.

Can anyone tell me this? Why is the city of Atlanta itself only 400,000 and the metro 5 million? Is it that spawled out, with the suburbs being almost larger than the city of Atlanta proper?

Can anyone tell me this? Why is the city of Atlanta itself only 400,000 and the metro 5 million? Is it that spawled out, with the suburbs being almost larger than the city of Atlanta proper?

This has been repeated many times. The city of Atlanta is only 131 sq miles. It has not made any major annexations since the 1950's. And no single suburb is close to Atlanta in size. The largest two are Roswell and Sandy Springs, each with over 80,000.

Georgia's state constution gives all county governments home rule, negating much of the need for large municipalities.

I actually think Sandy Springs is near 100,000 now, but even if it is, it won't catch the City of Atlanta, which is really growing now. Atlanta will be over 500,000 for the 2010 Census. The most in its history.

Atlanta is a wonderful place, and I feel that is neither underrated nor overrated. It is a large cosmopolitan city, with lots of diversity and culture. Shopping there is phenomenal, and there are plenty of exciting venues to attend practically everyday of the week. I don't quite understand why anyone feel uncomfortable in downtown, it's fairly safe. More people get murdered, raped, robbed, and jumped out in the suburbs, especially southeastern metro Atlanta. But the city is a beacon of change for the rapidly growing southern states, and judging by how fast it's growing one has to assume that the city is doing something right.

Atlanta being underrated or overrated depends on the perception that a person has before visiting Atlanta. I have underrated Atlanta and it surpassed my expectations.

Actually I was quiet surprized about Atlanta when I first visited there in 1996 for the Olympic Games. I expected the city to be dirty, gritty and not maintained. I went to Birmingham Alabama to watch an Olympic soccer match, and expected Atlanta to be just like Birmingham but bigger.

When I arrived in Atlanta I was surprized to see how clean, nice, attractive and booming the city was. The people there were very friendly, I did not expect that at all, especially not from such a large city. I still believe that people play a great role in the city experience.


It is in Atlanta that my interest for achitecture was triggerd. It has some of the most attractive skyscrapers and high-rises. And the city at night is a real glittery jewel.

Atlanta has the package for me, it is a bit hilly, it has attractions, lots and lofts of big trees, overall clean, people are for the most part real friendly, great architecture, not too expensive. Did I mention it has some of the most beautiful African Americans. One of the things I dislike about Atlanta was the heat, but I love those severe Southern thunderstorms that cool off the day.

I have been to Atlanta 5 times after the Olympics, and with each visit I see the dramatic changes happening in the city. I truly believe that it is an exciting place to live, and to witness how the city grows at such rate each year. If I were to relocate to the U.S. it would be among the 5 cities I would consider.

I am happy with the amount of growth going on inside the perimeter. And I believe that Atlanta will eventually get there.

The problem we have is not Atlanta, the problem is that we on the skyscraper forum don't seem to have the patience and actually cherish the golden age that Atlanta is in now. Atlanta is a growing city that will eventually have modern urbanism, and pedestrian life and life 24hours. It does not happen one, two, three.

The other problem we have is that we fail to understand that Atlanta is booming in the auto era, and the era where suburbs are far more popular than inner city life. The explosive growth of New York, Chicago and Boston happend in a different era.

The beautiful city of Rome was not built in a day, the secret of Rome is patience. Give Atlanta time, it is getting there. For the mean time enjoy the golden age while it last.

I love Atlanta. Been there plenty of times and enjoyed it tremendously. It is right now the most cosmopolitan city in the South outside of Miami or any large metro in Texas. I live in North Carolina and I don't mind saying that the ATL is what I like to see Charlotte model itself after, at least in terms of patterning its successes and learning from its mistakes.

Atlanta being underrated or overrated depends on the perception that a person has before visiting Atlanta. I have underrated Atlanta and it surpassed my expectations.

Actually I was quiet surprized about Atlanta when I first visited there in 1996 for the Olympic Games. I expected the city to be dirty, gritty and not maintained. I went to Birmingham Alabama to watch an Olympic soccer match, and expected Atlanta to be just like Birmingham but bigger.

Is that a bash on Birmingham?

What's wrong with that? It's not doing harm to anybody atleast.

It was a joke based on stereotypes just like Atlanta being nothing but "wangstas" and thugs. It has it's bad parts and its good parts.

i like atlanta...not this thread.