In which I give Atlanta its due
Maybe I hate on the ATL a little too much. I've tried to avoid being the annoying guy at my internship who is always pointing out the petty superiorities of Chicago and its mass transportation system over Atlanta and its Disney World shuttle tram. Any way you look at it, I'm just some rich kid from the suburbs or some rich kid from a gentrified South Side neighborhood. After spending a good deal of time in Inman Park this summer (Atlanta has neighborhoods??), I've come to realize that my perception of Atlanta was formed primarily from driving to and from Braves games on I-75/85 (as seen above). From that perspective, the deepest critique I could make was, "Atlanta's got lots less tall buildings than Chicago."
That may have been true, but the fact is that Atlanta's got lots more buildings than Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham. . . Southern cities off interstates I usually set on the same level as Atlanta. Sure there's an abundance of parking lots, ill-conceived street patterns, and unexplained gravel lots complemented by abandoned billboards. But my new impression is that Atlanta sometimes pulls off being a rich, textured city. And sometimes, when I'm approaching it south on 75/85, there do appear to be, well, a lot of tall buildings, at least more than I give it credit for in my mind's estimation.
Architecure aside, another assumption I always made was that Atlanta wasn't an interesting city. What I've learned is that there aren't always a lot of interesting things to do in Atlanta, at least as long as you're under 21. This is also a typically suburban misconception by a suburban kid who assumed that there had to be things "to do" all laid out in specific destinations. But cities aren't shopping malls... in fact, if you haven't planned out your time right, Chicago can be a very boring city. In New York, as a day-tourist, walking is the only activity required for entertainment. (I always compare cities to Chicago, so I can't imagine the expectations for Atlanta that come from someone equally fixated on NYC.)
The mistake I always made was that, in believing there was nothing to do in Atlanta, I never did anything in Atlanta besides a few scattered rock concerts. But suddenly I'm spending time at work with all sorts of people who do stuff in Atlanta. The people at Dad's--performers, staff, volunteers--are the kind of intelligent, worldy, creative people I'd like to be, and when I see them getting along great in a city I always considered to be below me, I feel almost ashamed. Not only are they people who know how to get the most out of Atlanta, they are the people who are daily making Atlanta the most it can be.
In high school, I felt at worst contempt for the people of Atlanta for perpetuating such a worthless mess and at best pity for the ignorant masses who didn't know what they were missing. I realized my mistake when I discovered that Atlantans know exactly what they're missing. Those of you at Georgia Tech and Emory have no doubt known this for a while, but it's taken me this long to come to the conclusion that nonetheless, Atlantans make the city more worthwhile by making the most of what they have--a lot more than I ever gave them credit for--and working to make it better.
Maybe I hate on the ATL a little too much. I've tried to avoid being the annoying guy at my internship who is always pointing out the petty superiorities of Chicago and its mass transportation system over Atlanta and its Disney World shuttle tram. Any way you look at it, I'm just some rich kid from the suburbs or some rich kid from a gentrified South Side neighborhood. After spending a good deal of time in Inman Park this summer (Atlanta has neighborhoods??), I've come to realize that my perception of Atlanta was formed primarily from driving to and from Braves games on I-75/85 (as seen above). From that perspective, the deepest critique I could make was, "Atlanta's got lots less tall buildings than Chicago."
That may have been true, but the fact is that Atlanta's got lots more buildings than Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham. . . Southern cities off interstates I usually set on the same level as Atlanta. Sure there's an abundance of parking lots, ill-conceived street patterns, and unexplained gravel lots complemented by abandoned billboards. But my new impression is that Atlanta sometimes pulls off being a rich, textured city. And sometimes, when I'm approaching it south on 75/85, there do appear to be, well, a lot of tall buildings, at least more than I give it credit for in my mind's estimation.
Architecure aside, another assumption I always made was that Atlanta wasn't an interesting city. What I've learned is that there aren't always a lot of interesting things to do in Atlanta, at least as long as you're under 21. This is also a typically suburban misconception by a suburban kid who assumed that there had to be things "to do" all laid out in specific destinations. But cities aren't shopping malls... in fact, if you haven't planned out your time right, Chicago can be a very boring city. In New York, as a day-tourist, walking is the only activity required for entertainment. (I always compare cities to Chicago, so I can't imagine the expectations for Atlanta that come from someone equally fixated on NYC.)
The mistake I always made was that, in believing there was nothing to do in Atlanta, I never did anything in Atlanta besides a few scattered rock concerts. But suddenly I'm spending time at work with all sorts of people who do stuff in Atlanta. The people at Dad's--performers, staff, volunteers--are the kind of intelligent, worldy, creative people I'd like to be, and when I see them getting along great in a city I always considered to be below me, I feel almost ashamed. Not only are they people who know how to get the most out of Atlanta, they are the people who are daily making Atlanta the most it can be.
In high school, I felt at worst contempt for the people of Atlanta for perpetuating such a worthless mess and at best pity for the ignorant masses who didn't know what they were missing. I realized my mistake when I discovered that Atlantans know exactly what they're missing. Those of you at Georgia Tech and Emory have no doubt known this for a while, but it's taken me this long to come to the conclusion that nonetheless, Atlantans make the city more worthwhile by making the most of what they have--a lot more than I ever gave them credit for--and working to make it better.
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