Love Outside? Love Atlanta.
Decatur Metro | August 3, 2009Atlanta’s love/hate relationship with rankings continue.
This time it’s all about the love, since Outside Magazine rated our city the third “best” in the country after ranking on all the usual factors (quality of life, unemployment, college degrees, income level, home prices, weather) and then throwing in some additional factors that matter most to Outside readers – quality and proximity to hiking, biking, running, paddling, and skiing.
In citing reasons for Atlanta’s supremacy over cities that normally crush us with their ocean views and more iconic skylines, Outside points to things like trout fishing in the Hooch, proximity to the start of the Appalachian Trail, cliff jumping in the Palisades, Piedmont Park, LEED-certified Phillips Arena (huh?), and the Brick Store.
I guess we don’t stand a chance in Couch-Potato Weekly now.
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Too bad it’s too hot to go out and enjoy any of that!
Although I don’t know why bars are top-line assets for outside rankings, Kudos to Outside for referencing The Earl and the Brick Store and not mentioning the hackneyed bars-at-the-mall nightlife. But the erred “Inman Park” caption and being 90 minutes from the Appalachian Trail (or 90 minutes from anything) or 30 minutes from Conyers seems like they are really searching for reasons to list Atlanta. It should be in Atlanta metro, not 90 minutes from Atlanta. (btw, distance should probably not be measured in time in the ATL)
Inman Park. Piedmont Park.
A park’s a park, right?
Also, the Brick Store isn’t a gastro pub. Though that doesn’t detract from its excellence, of course.
It seems that maybe the writer got the BSP & Porter Beer Bar descriptions mixed up. In any event, labeling BSP a gastropub isn’t that far off IMO
It’s not just physical proximity to outdoor life that’s important, it’s also the cultural attitude towards the outdoors. Los Angeles is obviously quite urban and it can take an hour and a half to get to snow or the ocean, depending where in the L.A. basin you reside and traffic, but I met loads of hikers, backpackers, skiers, cross-country skiers, mountaineers there. The Sierras were six hours away but people went up there all the time. Atlanta used to be so suburban that I despaired when I moved here. Most of the people I met considered going out to eat to be their idea of adventure (and this is BEFORE kids!). That’s really changed over the years, at least in Decatur. Lots of folks seem outdoors-oriented. However, the mosquitos are a lot worse in the summer here compared to the Sierras…..
On Philips Arena April 6, 2009 LEED certification:
http://philipsarena.com/Content/view.aspx?CID=d8382799-c4e6-4242-94d4-7250bca72e7b
Confusing City Lists magazine ranks us #1!
People’s comments and “advice” when I moved to Decatur (Atlanta) in 2006 were puzzling and waaay ignorant. I have been so happy to send them lots of on-the-ground information since then and have even had a few visitors to enlighten with even greater clarity (and purpose). I have found the entire Decatur-Atlanta experience fascinating, intriguing, and never-ever boring. The breadth and depth of cultural opportunities, historic neighborhoods, the city-in-the-forest reality, and genuine sweetness of the people in this area all make me happy for the decision I made to move to Georgia. Thanks to everybody I have met and enjoyed here, and hope the fun lasts a long long time.