A new, erratic poll by “Harris Interactive“, ranks Atlanta 15 out of 15 cities that folks want to move to if they were forced from their homes by very adamant Harris employees and move somewhere else.

Atlanta dropped 8 spots from #7 in 2010.  As such, I suggest that Atlanta do everything in its power to change everything back to the way it was last year.  I’ll start things off.  We need to….

1. Get the Thrashers back
2. Return all developed strips of the Beltline back to their natural, trashier state
3. Re-film the first season of The Walking Dead somewhere other than downtown Atlanta
4. Never let it snow on Christmas Day again

What else?  Hurry up!  We only have a year before Harris conducts this crazy poll again!

Don’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

GAK points out that Atlanta has ranked among National Geographic’s global list of 50 “Places of a Lifetime”.  In other words, it’s their 50 cities to visit before you die.

How can Atlanta compete with the likes of Vienna, Chicago and Paris?

NatGeo actually does a pretty good job of hitting the high points: trees, architecture, neighborhoods, food, shopping, arts.  (Emory prof does an even better job in a related Atlanta essay.) The big tourist spots like World of Coke, the aquarium and Turner Field are also mentioned in passing, but isn’t it interesting how most these “must visit” attributes really aren’t things you can buy tickets to, but must experience collectively?

Interesting.

Atlanta’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.

The ballot for this year’s Creative Loafing “Best of Atlanta” awards just went live!

Click over to the ballot page on the Creative Loafing site or on Facebook to vote Decatur for all categories!  Best Suburb? Decatur!  Best Beach Retreat?  Decatur!  Best Neighborhood to Live in Without a Car?  Decatur!

But seriously, head on over and vote for all your favorite Atlanta spots/people/things among 5 categories: “Cityscape”, “Poets, Artists & Madmen”, “After Dark”, “Oral Pleasures”, and “Consumer Culture.”   And FYI, you have to fill out a minimum of 10 slots in order to submit your vote.

And if you’re at all interested in showing DM a little love, you’ll find the “best blog/blogger” and “best blogger” entries near the very bottom of the “Cityscape” section.

XOXO in advance.