Tips for Moving to Atlanta, U.S.A.
1. Arrive friendless and carless to maximize feelings of estrangement in this strange new city full of strangers.
2. Even if Google maps says it’s a bike trail and it’s so trustingly coded in that green dotted line, it may not be a bike trail. As in, sometimes you have to trust the real live world over the internet when you’re biking “the trail” and it just keeps being abandoned railroad tracks covered in gravel and glass, the tall grass on either side hiding syringes below and hoisting up used condoms to glisten in the midday sun. You shouldn’t get to this point but if you do, just wave to the two black escalades parked opposite each other under the bridge. And when an arm emerges from each escalade to share a prolonged handshake — this is the time to maladroitly maneuver a 180 degree turn in the condom gravel and offer a, “Woops! Sorry guys! Google told me this was the Beltline Trail!”
3. Just because every bartender, waitress, and smarmy little dog type man asks you why you’re there alone doesn’t mean you have to feel bad about being everywhere alone all the time. Plus you do have tons and tons of awesome best friends who will gladly hang with you at home every night and sometimes on into the wee morning hours but it’s hard for them to come out because they live on the Battlestar Gallactica.
4. Nobody likes an eavesdropper. Laughing at overheard jokes/conversations in a sad subconscious effort to build the illusion of community makes the funny strangers feel uncomfortable and vulnerable, especially when they can’t get away from you because you’re on the bus. Similarly, unsolicited commentary about the weather, the snazzyness of a lady’s earrings, or the final twist in some handsome man’s book — all of this falls on the Socially Desperate to Totally Annoying Spectrum. If you get comfortable on The Spectrum, you’re a stone’s throw from the corner bum on your old Brooklyn block who every morning informed the neighborhood that you were wearing jeans. Even when you weren’t.
5. Again, the proof is in Atlanta’s pudding: If someone has sampled most Southern prisons, if he doesn’t eat and he drinks and smokes and swaggers as if he’s been addicted to heroin for long periods of his adult life, if his nickname is literally ‘Trouble," this person is not a potential new best friend or lover. Unless he has a car!
6. All the bike lights in the world won’t save you from the owls and bats of these Gothic environs.
7. Just leave the bar when the drunk cartoonist starts to draw you. Because it turns out it’s weird to have someone stare at your face for that long, and it only gets weirder when the caricature he produces looks like a 60-year-old aerobics instructor crossed with maybe a fox?
8. It’s OK that you’ve been here three weeks but managed to get only craisins and coffee in your kitchen cabinet. This fact is not a reflection of your self-worth or a sign of gross shortcomings re: project adulthood; it’s just next to impossible to get 80 pounds of heavy and/or prickly items like stewed tomatoes and pineapples home (not to mention those quick-melting frozen berries you’ve come to love so much!) while bearing this weight on your back, urging your squeaking bicycle uphill in 96-degree heat. Forget finding the store on public transit or trying to spread out your shopping over the week — this will fail and that means you will have to do the unimaginable. So when you do finally confront this grocery enigma head-on, and you do find yourself cranking those pedals up a sun-struck hill, unable to tell if you’re sweating through your underpants or if all 80 pounds of milk and toilet bowl cleaner and limeade and, heaven help you, spreadable cheeses are leaking — nay, oozing — through the unexpectedly porous fabric of your hiking backpack, well then let recent failed grocery attempts propel you to the finish line, i.e. the time earlier this week when you got a flat tire on the way to a grocery store that (surprise!) no longer exists. Yes, let this memory of sweat-soaked failure sweeten the taste of imminent accomplishment and pull you uphill, slowly, to success. This success will look a lot like changing your underpants and drinking a warm glass of milk, but don’t be fooled — success it is!
9. Just pretend you’ve had Sweet Tea before.
10. You don’t have to call, just text the nice lady who sold you the desk chair off craigslist and tell her you can’t figure out how to put it together and if she could either just leave an instruction manual out on her stoop where you originally picked up the chair or maybe just go ahead and take the chair back and refund your $40, that would be really helpful because right now you’re in a seriously tight spot regarding things like cash, desk chairs, and common sense about how everyday objects fit together. This is also a time to break your rule about emoticons and just smatter that sucker with awkwardly winking, humbled but endearing smileys.
11. Offer great thanksgivings and maybe shed a tear of joy or two and then put on some kinda smart/fun girl outfit and ATTEND THE VERY FIRST ATLANTA HAIRPIN MEETUP.
And for tips on how to move to San Francisco, see Elissa Bassist at the Rumpus.
Martha Polk writes about women, movies, and herself.
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Ohmygoodness, I'm pretty sure you just described biking in Bankhead. A good course of action would be to NEVER GO BACK THERE
Luckily in Canada bike trails are usually bike trails and don't go super scary places, but I won't say there are not stretches that can be sketch. Just maybe not as obviously sketch?
Martha, you must go dancing at the Clermont Lounge on Saturday night when DJs Quasi Mandisco and Romeo Cologne are spinning. happiest place on earth.
omg, i need one of these for austin, tx. i am moving from brooklyn to what will apparently be fiery devastation in two months. WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOOOOO??
@Veronica Bayetti Flores@facebook Oh I am so excited for you! Although yes, this is not an awesome time to be reppin' Texas, I'm sure you will have no trouble acclimating to Austin which is Brooklyn's scrappier, twangier cousin twice removed; just replace Pabst with Lone Star, brownstones with bungalows with overgrown yards and comfortably shabby porches, insertbrooklynculinarystereotypehere with BREAKFAST TACOS.
@Veronica Bayetti Flores@facebook I've heard Austin's at least one of the cooler cities in that State? Diners Drive-Ins and Dives at least leads me to believe so because there appears to be awesome food there.
@Veronica Bayetti Flores@facebook Austin can be hot as hell and it is currently ringed by fire but it is a great place to live! Plus, it's easy to make friends – just say Hey!
@Veronica Bayetti Flores@facebook You'll be fine, Austin is a pretty cool and friendly place. I tried to think of some tips for moving here but all I could really come up with is the standard "we pronounce things funny" disclaimer. Guadalupe is "Guada-loop," Burnet is "Burn it," "Manor" is "Maynor," "Manchaca" is "Manshack." Pronouncing any of these street names the more logical, phonetic way pretty much outs you as a newbie.
Did the drunk cartoonist appear at Star Bar? Because I have a drawing of myself that looks a lot like Arianna Huffington.
@Katie Lambert@twitter I think he does a circuit. I have a drawing of myself that look like my fourth grade teacher he did at Manuels.
@Katie Lambert@twitter He drew me topless at Lenny's back in… ohh.. 2005?
I went through a lot of culture shock when I first moved to ATL. Wasn't particularly fond of it. But, I made finding good, cool friends my number one priority and then everything became marvelous. The meetup is a great opportunity!!! Don't be scared to tell people you want to hang out with them again, get their numbers, and then call them. Have fun! Southerners are awesome.
And then drink, eat, and dance your face off, because there's a lot of that in the Dirty.
p.s. Please say hi to the Earl, the Yacht Club, the Local, El Myr, MJQ, the Clermont, and the Righteous Room for me. And Woodfire Grill if you've got the funds.
@Tammy Pajamas Agreed! I was devastated when we moved to Atlanta, but I have ended up loving it for the past 6 years. So true about giving people your number. I met my best friend here after we started talking in Target and she gave me her number. (I still remember sitting in my car in the parking lot afterwards, wondering if it was too soon to call her.)
Also, where you live is much more important to your happiness than in other cities I've lived in. Forgo Buckhead at all costs, and stick to the neighborhoods near all the bar/restaurant recommendations above.
@Tammy Pajamas Um THANK YOU for shouting out MJQ! Trying to explain that place to my friends from home has been impossible. "So, um, it's like a club, right? And it's underground…like literally underground. And on Wednesday nights its free so its extra sketchy…like 'if you fall and scratch yourself you might get hepatitis sketchy…but it's really tons and tons of fun I swear!" Note: I haven't been there in years so apologies if its super legit now.
@Tammy Pajamas Great. Now I NEEED an El Myr burrito for lunch.
@HeyThatsMyBike At least you have access! Please ship a chicken burrito with the green sauce and avocado to LA (also, a Texas margarita). Ironic that I'm in LA, requesting a burrito…
@Crystallica I did the same thing: "well, it's like underground, but literally underground. And then also the other kind of underground… I don't know, it's cool, just go!" I don't know if I ever thought it was sketchy, but that could be because it's nearly impossible to see in there (darkness, smokiness, sheer drunkeness).
@Crystallica It is still exactly the same.
@TammyPajamas. Done. Avocado mails like a dream!
I am concerned that people are moving to Atlanta without cars! I know that midtown and surrounding environs do a slightly more successful imitation of a city now, but I can't imagine there are many areas that are at all livable without cars. I grew up in the fine ATL, and so I forever longed to move to a "real" city, which I defined as having sufficient density and transit that people don't need cars. Of course, having since moved to one of those cities, I totally don't know as much about Atlanta anymore, and miss it!
But ok, enough about my conflicted relationship with A-town. The more important thing is that I take this opportunity to encourage everyone to visit THE CYCLORAMA (next to the Atlanta Zoo). It is the largest oil painting in the world (!) and depicts a civil war battle outside of Atlanta. It has an incorporated diorama and is viewed in an auditorium with an audio/lighting presentation.
A visit to the Cyclorama is best preceded by a reading of the complete works of Flannery O'Connor. While you're reading Flannery, best to stop by some of our fine mega-churches as well, get your Hazel Motes on.
@thejcar I lived in ATL for 2 years with no car! and no boyfriend with a car! but…. see below….
@FromTheFuture I am impressed! If I had been your grad program I would refer to you as "the miraculously not dead of heatstroke girl" but in a complimentary, legitimately amazed way! I honestly don't know how I survived the swelter…
@thejcar In Chicago, there's an interesting divide between people who grew up here and don't think it's possible to live here without a car, and people who moved here and think they can get by without a car.
@thejcar what can I say? I hate driving. also somehow I still managed to gain a ton of weight in ATL– I blame The Flying Biscuit.
@FromTheFuture I miss the Flying Biscuit like crazy! I also blame the availability of chicken and waffles for the fact that none of my pants fit once I left the south.
@thejcar i've lived in atlanta since i was a kid, and lived in midtown, downtown, and decatur for 11 years with no car. of course, the last 2 years were me being obsessed with having a car, and now i have one and will try to never go without one again. marta was fairly better 6 to 10 years ago.
@thejcar There's a Flying Biscuit in my godforsaken suburb now, and it's going to be the death of me since I moved from Athens where I walked everywhere…back here where I don't/can't.
@birah HI!
@josiah I can be very snotty about how easy it is to live in Chicago without a car, but then I have to remind myself that life would be much harder if it were not for the miraculous invention that is Peapod. I used to work with a Chicagoland native who drove her SUV approx. 10 blocks every day from River North to work in the South Loop, and that seemed very extreme in the other direction, don't you think?
12. Start carrying a towel so the people in your grad program who all drive to class in their air conditioned cars finally stop referring to you as 'that sweaty girl'
13. buy a mini mag lite for when you have to walk 2 miles to the nearest place to buy beer which happens to be a CVS and its after dark because even though you live in a city there are no street lights
@FromTheFuture This is wonderful, practical advice for getting around a Southern city.
@bluesuedeshoes Hey! There are streetlights in some parts of New Orleans!
Oh, almost forgot and at the risk of sounding like a drunk, learn now and remember forever that you can't buy booze on Sundays! And if you want liquor, you have to go to the liquor store (not the grocery store).
@Tammy Pajamas That is also solid advice for Massachusetts.
@Ophelia We can buy the booze on Sundays now! And we can drink the booze before noon at Sunday brunch!
@NeenerNeener The world is becoming a more civilized place!
This sounds a lot like when I moved to Houston 6 years ago.
Additional pieces of advice:
12. The people who look like the kind of people who are your friends in that Northeast city you came from? They're not necessarily gonna be your friends.
13. However, the friends you do find will be really awesome and you will likely remain good friends once your time down South is over.
I also grew up in Atlanta, so I'll toss my hat into the ATLANTA IS NOT NEW YORK ring. You need a car, people, unless you plan to live in Midtown and subsist on nothing but Vortex burgers.
Yeah yeah drive a car in Atlanta except that driving in Atlanta is the SCARIEST SH*T EVER.
@sox But the roads (especially interstates) are all so freshly paved! Surely that makes the experience more pleasant? I remember the first time I saw a highway in California I thought it was some sort of sick joke. Ok but for reals when I first got my learner's permit my mom made me drive her SUV on 285 and I was scarred for life
@sox Yeah but I can safely say that having learned to drive there (at 15!) means that I can handle traffic anywhere. Although in my new town I don't have to bust out the "high speed highway weaving sans directional signals" moves that often…
@sox Yeah I remember the day my Nathan's Driving School instructor decided I was ready for 285 & Spaghetti Junction during rush hour. I almost peed myself. But I can drive in anything now…although I did terrify some Colorado friends while driving in traffic in Denver. "What? People don't drive like this everywhere?"
@sox YES!! it is. i hide under my blanket when boyfriend drives through atl (which is, for some reason, the only city we ever visit…)
at least last time i convinced him to let us take the train downtown since we ended up staying in roswell.
Do they still call it Hotlanta like they did when I was a kid (in nearby Chattanooga)? Do they still tell that hilarious MARTA joke? Oh, Atlanta.
@Kneetoe When I was growing up in Atlanta, there was this big prediction that the metro areas of Atlanta and Chattanooga would overlap in like, 20 years. I always judged people by whether they preferred to name this hypothetical metropolis Chatlanta or Atlanooga.
@thejcar
God just think of how much of the same thing over and over again they could fit on that strip!
@Kneetoe WaffleHouseChik-fil-Anooga
@thejcar
Although back in the day (my day, anyhow) it would have been McWendysArbyKing. God, I'm pining for the days when there were just a few chains.
@Kneetoe Yes, the MARTA joke is still alive and well. And people are so proud of themselves when they tell it, as if it is brand new. See also Delta Airlines as "Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport." (It actually does now, and I've generally had delightful experiences with Delta here in Atlanta, especially post-NWA merger, but it doesn't stop the joke).
Oh my god, I need a tip list for Seattle. These are all things I am going to end up doing. Moving in 2.5 weeks, ahhh where did summer go??
@hairdresser on fire My Seattle itinerary has always been and will likely always be, "Go to the Rem Koolhaas library and stare at its amazingness, then go to the Seattle Art Museum, then hang around in Fremont in some bar all evening and chat with the bartender"
@hairdresser on fire I had the best cappuccino of my life at the Caffe Ladro on Union Street, and the pastries are also excellent there. Library is a must, as EC said above.
@hairdresser on fire Mighty-O donuts! This is all.
@Emmanuelle Cunt @vanillawaif @faintly_macabre Aww thanks guys! I'm trying to work up my "doing things alone and not feeling self-conscious" courage. It's going, umm…not well. Haha.
@hairdresser on fire It's so hard at first but you feel good about yourself after. Last week I was way early to an appointment in a town I'm not super familiar with. I had a book and I ended up having a burger and a beer, alone, in a dive bar — reading Atonement! I bet you are capable of doing something way scarier than that and being super proud later.
@hairdresser on fire: Seattle is somewhat notorious for being outwardly friendly, but not really warm and inviting. At least, that is what my transplant friends tell me. I am crazy about this town and haven't experienced that personally.
It is a city of groups of friends, to be sure, which is often the complaint of transplants. You will probably develop several circles eventually, but it can be trying to find and infiltrate your first circle.
My best advice is to be active, and try to stay on the radar. Exchange contacts early and often, and do the follow ups. Happy hours are HUGE here – take advantage of them and invite new friends. Knowing where the best happy hours are in the city is a skill that is a valuable, desirable skill.
Low maintenance is a virtue here – outwardly signs of trying too hard at anything are just off. It is not a name-droppy city, and not a designer label kind of town. We mostly don't give a shit what anyone is wearing, and we are light years more impressed by where you hiked than what club you went to.
My email is my handle at gmail. Feel free to get in touch when you get to town.
@karion Aww thanks (many days later)! I'll look you up for sure.
Yeah, the warmth vs. friendliness thing might be difficult for my hardwired Midwestern brain to process, though I met a lot of nice people when I came to visit (headed to UW for grad school). And "happy hours are huge here"?? Truly, you speak my language.
Man, I really don't like the SF piece linked at the bottom. As somebody who did move to SF recently, who knows about feelings of alienation and this-transportation-sucks etc, it just felt obnoxious and condescending. You didn't show up to your internship on time and now you're fired and San Francisco is hard? Do you think Duluth would put up with you not showing up to your internship on time? The rest of it is just making fun of hipsters, which, fine, why are you living here? A million people move to this city to Become Writers, every single barista in this whole city is Working On Something, why are you writing this entire piece as though you feel like you're better than everybody else around you?
@Diana It rubbed me the wrong way how all of the author's writing scene friends left fawning comments, too. Which is not really a fair criticism, but they do somehow contribute to the overall smugness.
@Melusina @Diana Agreed with both of you, and the worst was that when someone critized the piece and the whole idea of needing to have a stereotypical "writers life" the writer of the piece left the most irritating comment in the world about how that's the only life that you can have if you want to be a writer, which is the biggest load of self important bullshit in the world.
@thebestjasmine Agreed. William Carlos Williams and his duel careers springs immediately to mind. This whole crap about "writing life", you could insert any artistic low/no paid profession "____ life" where people think you have to wear a hairshirt to join the club. Go crap in a sea.
@Diana I didn't like the article either. I live in the east bay, and really dislike it (Berkeley), but I love coming to SF and drinking/shopping with my friends who live there. The transportation isn't NYC, but it's fine. I've lived in NY, DC/MD, and CA, and SF could be a lot worse in terms of transportation. Sure the MUNI kills way too many people, and the BART cops are diabolical, but the Metro in DC sucks equally and costs as much. And the buses in east bay CA and DC-area MD suck massively! The MUNI wins that contest.
Also, I am not easily offended but the whole "say your mother has cancer" joke kind of falls flat when your mother died of cancer. I'm probably overreacting. But it gave me pause and I have a pretty sick sense of humor.
@adminslave The thing that bothered me the most about it is that NONE of what she said is unique to SF, or really even tells you anything about it. It's all just generalized smart white girl angst in your early 20s, and she'd have that anywhere she went. There are so many great ways to either a) introduce someone to SF or b) make fun of SF, and this was just a lot of pretension.
Can we just also admit that public transportation everywhere sucks and everyone likes to whine about it? Yes, NYC has a great subway system, but no where else in America has that, so get over it, people who have moved to anywhere from there. Complain all you want about public transportation, I know we all do every day, but stop acting like it is specific to your city.
@thebestjasmine I do feel like the bay area has some of the most crazy landlords ever. Like comb through your garbage and collect your raw meat and put it in a bucket in the front driveway (because your "Eco conscious"??!!) crazy. Or no running water after 10:30PM crazy. I think its because while being green is important and progressive, a lot of people just have raging OCD and are using it as an excuse to obsess over and control other people's actions? I dunno.
I like the MUNI. It used to come more often before California started seriously to implode like 4 years ago. Where I lived after I graduated in suburban Maryland, the buses only ran once AN HOUR and they had no buses on the weekend. Missing your bus because the bus driver wouldn't let you on when he was at a light (and you missed the stop by 2 mins) is the most traumatic thing when it is 7am, you have an hour to wait, and it is like 30 degrees and snowing. Nothing will ever compare.
Did I miss the SF meet up? Can we have another one. I have been commenting since like 2006 (via gawker) and I would love to meet some norcal ladies!
@DrFeelGood Or think of Wallace Stevens. He was an executive in an insurance agency at the time of most of his writings. I think that makes him cooler, and makes for a better contrast. I went to college to write, and ended up an English major (and properly unemployable) and I write on the side in between admin tasks. I don't think there is anything wrong with compartmentalizing work and art. And I enjoy my dental plan.
@thebestjasmine Oh yes, the self-important exchange about the writer's life, that really took the biscuit. I am gritting my teeth just thinking about it.
@DrFeelGood @adminslave William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens do give me hope, thanks for the encouraging reminder!
@adminslave Dental, eh? I quit my admin job last year to go back to school, but then, I didn't get dental. *raises glass in your direction*
As a native ATLien, I feel obliged to let you know IT GETS BETTER. Marta is hard, but I think you can take the Marta to the Dekalb Farmer's Market? I'd start there for fancy foodstuffs. Also: zipcar?
Atlanta is the best town around and your time here can be great, there's lots of cool people all over the place.
@sarahchristine you'd think I know more about Marta … but I don't. I lived here without a license for a year and the routes have changed so much since then. And now I have a license and car. But I did also choose to live in the middle of Virginia Highlands near bars/restaurants.
Also: I have 4 pictures of myself from the cartoonist. That dude gets around. My first pic from him was 6 years ago, when I was so young, so thin and yet I still look bizarre in the pic.
@sarahchristine Hi neighbor!
I moved to Atlanta few weeks ago, also without an in-town friend of a car. Let's all do it!
Have you lived without a car before? Don't overlook the beauty of those rolly cats you can get at Target for $16. Even if you're not within walking distance of a grocery, I've found at least a few that are on public transit. There's a Publix (and a liquor store) nearly directly across from the Midtown MARTA station and one in Atlantic Station (free shuttle from Arts Center that seems to come every 5-10 minutes). Atlanta's public transit isn't NYC-level of course, but it's not bad! On a related, horrifying note, Is it true that monthly passes are going to go up to $90+?
Can all of us New-South(erners) go to the meet-up, please? And become friends?
@BUtterfieldGR8 Can everyone agree to read the above comment really quickly so no one notices the typos? I'm watching Cupcake Wars and it's very distracting.
@BUtterfieldGR8 Sorry, did you just refer to MARTA as "not bad"? It is very good for a very few specific things. Other than that it's pretty awful. I encourage using it as often as possible but for a lot of things that is impossible unless you are lucky enough to live biking distance or walking distance with sidewalks to a train station.
http://www.ajc.com/news/study-atlanta-among-worst-1120886.html
@florabora My frame of reference is maybe a little skewed. I've always lived in midwestern cities without rail systems and unworkable, limited bus routes. The fact that it's even possible to take a train to/from work, the mall, or the grocery is impressive to me. Actually, the fact that there is a train is impressive to me.
You're right though, you have to make a concerted effort to live close to a train station or MARTA is of no practical use. That was a real challenge when I was apartment hunting because it forecloses some really neat areas.
Atlanta isn't very pedestrian friendly (why do the sidewalks disappear sometimes?), but it has it all over the midwest. *And you just stop it right now, Chicago. I'm not talking about you.
@BUtterfieldGR8 Milwaukee?
@shesarainbow Cleveland, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
I want to go to Milwaukee though! I hear it's the "new Omaha," which I assume means "the new underappreciated midwestern city that other midwesterners start to talk about a little bit more . . . but then forget about and replace with another underappreciated midwestern city." It's your moment, Milwaukee! All my friends originally from there seem to love it and miss it.
@BUtterfieldGR8 THE SIDEWALKS. WHERE DO THEY GO. Right? Even in neighborhoods where they have, um, plenty of money, and are doing well pedestrianly, they just stop.
Also I go to school in Pittsburgh and while the entire PAT system is primarily buses and lacking money and keeps cutting lines, it's really pretty great. (Also, there are sidewalks everywhere! I could literally walk anywhere if wearing the right shoes!)
@BUtterfieldGR8 hey hey! the sidewalks disappear sometimes because the owners of adjacent properties are responsible for their upkeep! like, the people who own the houses. right! not the city. so dumb. ANYWAY, i am with you on the MARTA tip + being better than other places i have lived for pedestrian/transit options. also without a car, but i guess i am cheating because my boyfriend (who actually lives in another state, but visits fairly often) has a car. anywayyy. i am not sure about the pinup but i already love you for your janeway icon, let's be pals? okay.
@elbeejay
That's how sidewalk upkeep is most places I think. At least in parts of Pittsburgh, the city does the major maintenance and then assesses the owners the costs. Which is great bcause the sidewalks are useable, but doesn't seem that great when you get a huge bill from the city for de-rooting and fixing a cracked slab (especially during your first few months of living there). The world is such a complicated place!
My boyfriend lives in another state too! It's too far to drive though, so we both try to tackle the MARTA when he's here. I love that you love Capt. Janeway! As far as I'm concerned, we're pals.
I am so jealous of everyone who is moving/ has moved to a city in the South. I just moved from the South to a rural town in the northeast for grad school. I instantly regret this decision. And wtf! how has a person never had sweet tea? You can get a huge cup of it at McDonalds for a dollar.
@silver flats
"Sweet tea" is a neologism and God bless it, it should go to its heaven now. One hundred years ago, as I clearly recall, the thing was called "tea" or for avoidance of doubt "iced tea." And it was sweet, and nobody had to ask for "sweet tea."
It was very, very sweet.
@Tulletilsynet : Yeah, but "sweet tea" is an important differentiation from "unsweet tea." And some people who like their tea sweetened like it with sweet-n-low or … the stuff in the yellow packets, or Equal, or whatever.
My only problem with sweet tea is that 70% of the time it is waaaaaaaaaay too sweet. But there's no way of knowing! And then you have to get an UNSWEET tea as well and mix them.
@collier Yeah, I like my tea a little sweetened, but typical "sweet tea" tastes like pure sugar. I mix them too, and even half and half is way too sweet. I don't know how people can drink it!
Martha! Polk! As a die-hard Hairpin fan I can't believe I hadn't noticed your byline before! I'm so glad you became a writer as planned. My boyfriend is from Atlanta, so if you're desirous of any sort of hookups, say the word. Hooray!
As someone who moved to Atlanta from the Northeast three years ago, I must say I have extreme respect for anyone who rides a bike in this town. Traffic is crazy, and that means triple-the-crazy aggressive if you're on a bike and they're in a car. And the Beltline… well, we're all optimistic, but optimism doesn't make for navigable bike trails.
@mirrored_lens Seconded. I rode a bike 14 miles roundtrip every day while living in Boulder, but you couldn't pay me to bike on most streets near my house. I'd die in about 3 minutes.
This post just made me decide to officially stop reading Hairpin. I've been considering it for a while, and this post is incredibly obnoxious. Haven't you ever moved before?
@bbgirl Is this the Hairpin's first flounce post??? Congrats, Hairpin! You've truly made it into the big leagues!
I really wish you didn't need access to a car but you're going to need access to a car at least some of the time if you're going to live in Atlanta.
@florabora I have a few friends who only commute by bike. They're a bit crazy. I can also highly recommend getting a scooter. A bit less scary than biking.
I just did this too! Atlanta this year, San Francisco last year. I'm excited for the meetup!
Woah. I think I actually know who you're talking about in #5. That is I know of a drug dealer Blood named Trouble, though it's very possible that more than one person fits that description in Atlanta.
PS. Best coffee shops in Atlanta are Java Monkey and Aurora Coffee. According to me.
Other good places to go: The Plaza Theater (and therefore The Majestic), Last Chance thrift store, Wonderroot, and I second the suggestions of Dekalb Farmer's market (so cheap, so good) and MJQ/Drunken Unicorn.
I haven't lived in Atlanta since I turned 21, but there are supposed to be a lot of good bars in East Atlanta.
Also, if you get a library card, Decatur Library has a room full of CDs and DVDs that you can check out and burn/rip instead of renting or buying stuff, and they actually have a decent selection.
@mrawbot Last Chance reprazent! I love that place.
@mrawbot THE MAJESTIC! i love it so
@mrawbot wait a sec. best coffee in atlanta is definitely octane coffee. just sayin'.
this post bummed me out because I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs, went to UGA for school, and now live in Philadelphia and I kind of want to move to Atlanta more than anything. it's such a great city with so much cool stuff going on, and even if it doesn't have the bike-ability or public transportation system of Brooklyn it's still awesome!
also, from what I understand, the Beltline is a work in progress. I'm sure you could get involved with helping it move along, and you might meet some awesome people that way!
@bthny This post bummed me out because I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs, went to UGA (years ago), and just moved to Philadelphia from Atlanta a few weeks ago. Can we be friends and talk about awesome Atlanta is? Even with all its faults, I miss my city! I am liking Philly's bike-ability and public transportation, though.
@RecklessAbandon yes let's be friends!! email is bethanyy at gmail
The little Yankees and Yankesses coming South humming "Duelling Banjos." It never gets old.
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I love this, good documenting of the weird state your brain gets to when you are alone and in a new place and don't know much about the city or anyone. "Sure, I'll just keep riding on what is clearly not a bike trail, why not?"
There are lots of really wonderful and awesome things about Atlanta specifically that you should really consider focusing on. IDK maybe it's just too early and I'm grouchy, but a lot of these just seem like normal frustrations with moving anywhere (particularly if you haven't done enough research on a place beforehand; I made that mistake with a summer alone? in New Haven). snark aside, it does suck moving to a new city and feeling like a fish out of water.
… anyway, I almost never comment, but I'm excited about the ATL meetup and to make new friends
I never ever comment, and I can't come to the Hairpin meetup because my husband is a bartender and works that night and it's generally frowned upon to leave small children alone after bedtime. But listen! You can totally complement my earrings, and if you're free on Tuesday of Friday mornings, I will PICK YOU UP in my car and take you to the grocery store. Or I dunno, zipcar? It will get better. And was the cartoonist at the Highlander? If so, I know that guy.
I know the "Yeah, I'm alone shut your dirty mouth right now." feeling well. I want to experience all the awesome (and usually tasty) spots the city has, and I'm not going to being single hold me that. It's either that or I'm with my friend who's lived here her whole life, and we wind up spending waaay too much time together to the point where we're "You want to *gasp* see other people!?"… yeah, we defs need to branch out.
I don't think the author is bashing Atlanta – this sounds oddly like my experience moving to Syracuse with no friends and no car, and there are pretty much no similarities between the cities other than maybe the challenges bike trails.
Ahh I just moved to the south too (south carolina) and a) yes, been there, biking on the wrong side of the (in my case freeway) because I missed the turnoff and can't get to the side of town with the yoga studio and on this side there are just a lot of liquor stores and a lot of people looking at me funny and b) no hairpin meetups here yet to salvage my social life. Sigh.
I am totally with you on 3 & 4. And I've been here for 6 years… still go to restaurants and bars by myself quite often. Apparently we should all go out and drink together.
welcome to Atlanta! i moved down here from NYC about 5 years ago (from Brooklyn, no less), and while there are drawbacks and advantages to any city, I gotta say that i love this town. Come see me at my theatre (dadsgarage.com) where we do lots of improv and scripted stuff, and I'll buy you beer
Also, complimenting people and making small talk is a southern tradition. You may just be feeling a little isolated/paranoid. I remember one of my exes from NY being freaked out by how people said hello and such down here–just a different way of life. Of course you'll find juicebags, but they are everywhere. This place is rife with art, cool people, strange little hideyholes, backyards (!!), delicious foods…I hope you get over the hump and bite into the weird fruit that is Atlanta!
@Gina Rickicki@facebook I must know you by proxy. I've volunteered at Dad's off and on (mostly on, but for the past few months off) for the past 3 years.
@Gina Rickicki@facebook One of my best friends works at Dad's and is probably reading this riiiiight now. Hi Amelia! I say that because another thing all should know about Atlanta: it's very small town-ish where there's barely more than 1 degree of separation between all 20 and 30 somethings who live ITP (non-Buckhead). Or it'll feel that way eventually.
@Gina Rickicki@facebook Word on the small talk. I'm a Yankee transplant in Nashville–now that I'm back home visiting the 'rents I feel out of place because I've come to find I smile too much and tell people to "have a good one" (I was also a cashier).
@Jennifer@twitter i agree…friend me on facebook, guh!!
@sarahchristine: Amelia is the gorgeous bomb-jam!
@descie: have a good one!
You're biking in Atlanta. You're biking in Atlanta?! Have you SEEN the 16-lane freeway there?! And you've never had sweet tea, either. IT IS SO GOOD.
Edit: oo! Ooo! Go to the Thinking Man's Tavern in Decatur! It is so good! …once you get a car, that is.
@descie I LOVE Thinking Man!! Such a great little place. Anywhere that has board games is fine by me.
Srsly, this is exactly what it was like for me to move to ATL last year! Soulsister of the bike and mass tran, I feel your pain.
Atlanta is SO full of gems, many of which are listed above, and SO hard to move to from Chicago/the Northeast- I speak from experience. (For both!) So (a) let me hype Decatur HARD — it's MARTA-accessible, entirely walkable, and home of Brick Store Pub, happiest place on Earth and (b) say I am super excited for the meet-up, hoo boy.
Hi @Gina Rickicki@facebook! Hi @sarahchristine! Hi Everyone! Don't forget how nice MARTA's buses are!
@ATL I think this comment is the first and only time I've ever heard MARTA buses referred to as "nice"
based on this piece and the comments, atlanta sounds like detroit? except that it's only hellishly hot and humid for half the year (the other half is frigid and snowy and icy!) and it's really flat here. but everything else… spot on. (disclaimer: i've never been to atlanta, so this comparison might be entirely unfounded).