Travel + Leisure: Atlanta Ninth Dirtiest, But Has BBQ
Decatur Metro | June 14, 2011Don’t you love it when a random ranker in a travel magazine spits all over your hometown? From Travel + Leisure, who recently ranked Atlanta the 9th dirtiest city in the U.S…
Many cities that made the dirtiest Top 10 scored well for having a vivid nightlife, cool neighborhoods, or great live music. Alas, Atlanta couldn’t claim any of those in the survey. At least the city has its quality—and sloppy—barbecue going for it.
Huh? This kick-you-while-your-down statement comes from T+L’s recent “America’s Favorite Cities” survey, which sort of suggests that visitors to Atlanta aren’t aware of our great neighborhoods or music scene. Also, in case you’re interested, Atlanta also ranked among the bottom 10 cities among visitors for Farmer’s Markets, “neighborhood joints or cafes”, “boutique hotels”, microbrew beer, live music and intelligence.
Ignoring the fact that both residents and visitors alike agree that the city is “dirty” and not environmentally friendly, pedestrian friendly or safe, it seems like we’ve got some PR work to do in the great neighborhoods realm.
Right now the only folks that come to Atlanta, check-in to their plushy business hotels (#8) and sit down in their Aeron desk chair to map out their barbeque (#10) tour around the city.
h/t: Atlanta Business Chronicle
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Can’t argue with the dirtiness ranking, but bbq? What year does this so-called travel writer think it is?
Bottom 10 for intelligents. That unpossable.
Atlanta’s barbeque in general bites.
Atlanta and Georgia should be number one in overall garbage along the roadside.
Decatur is just an oasis in the hick desert.
I’m assuming that this is based on how a typical visitor–probably someone attending a convention and staying at one of the big hotels downtown–would view the city. From that end of Peachtree Street, they’re right, there is absolutely no sign of life outside.
Maybe there needs to be some sort of “Rent A Local” tour guide service to cart visitors to the actual cool stuff around town.
Last time I checked I still live in Decatur, not Atlanta. I’m happy for that.
Three Dog Night unknowingly described Decatur….. ” a brightspot in the nighttime”
I like to embrace our dirtiness. I once heard Atlanta referred to as “unhinged”, which I think is a good descriptor. There’s a grungy authenticity to living here that makes other cities seem stale and boring in comparison.
Also, Atlanta BBQ in no way compares to BBQ from the sticks. The more rural, the better.
It’s one thing to be dirty, but yet have “a vivid nightlife, cool neighborhoods, or great live music” as the article describes. Why, New York City and San Francisco are also considered top 10 dirty cities.
But what is depressing is that the article is saying that while we are dirty, we don’t have any of the “grungy authenticity” that you speak of. It seems to believe we are dirty like an older run down, inner ring suburban strip mall is dirty.
“It seems to believe we are dirty like an older run down, inner ring suburban strip mall is dirty.”
Wow, a more apt description I would be hard pressed to come up with. I think that pretty much captures our essence.
To be clear, I’m not kidding. Vast swaths of this city are butt ugly, traffic choked, and filthy. Even the nice neighborhoods often have total crap sidewalks and curbs, poorly maintained lots, and terrible intersections for ped, bike, and car.
But things have improved! At least intown! I remember how depressed I was after moving here from places like California, Oregon, and New Mexico. There’s a lot more charm, depth, and variety in parts. Or have I just lost all sense of perspective?
Compared to the northeast, I always thought Atlanta to be spectacularly clean. Apparently I am the only one!
Good point. There’s parts of New Jersey, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut that are literally all concrete except where the grout has worn through and a little olive green crabgrass sticks up. It’s all in the perspective.
The dirty parts I’m thinking of are mostly intown: EAV, Cabbagetown, Old 4th Ward, DeKalb Ave, Parts of the Westside, etc.
That said, the writer of the article clearly went to none of these areas.
Things have improved, to be sure, but Atlanta (and I mean metro Atl. in general) is still not a very attractive place to live if you have no desire for a large house in a gated community.
There are some dirty, crappy areas around. Been down Memorial Drive or DeKalb Ave to downtown lately?
Also, the BBQ here is OK. But to get real BBQ, you’ve got to get out the “other” GA; i.e. at least an hour OTP.