10 reasons ex-Atlantans hate living in New York
August 6, 2008 at 10:32 am by Scott Freeman in NewsLast month, the New York Sun picked up a Bloomberg story that detailed how 40,000 former New Yorkers have settled in Atlanta over the past five years. Good enough.
But they then proceeded to diss Atlanta left and right. We have no culture. Our bagels suck. Our pizza doesn’t hold a candle to New York pizza. Whine, whine, whine.
For this week’s CL story — I Love New York — we turn the tables and ask ex-Atlantans who now live in New York to critique their new city. Almost all of them, by the way, intend to move back to Atlanta at some point.
Yesterday, we posted 10 reasons ex-New Yorkers should love Atlanta.
Today, we have our 10 reasons ex-Atlantans hate living in New York. We’re looking for your ideas also. What’s aggravating about New York … or New Yorkers?
For our list, click on the jump.
1) The weather sucks
2) You have to go to a park to see a tree
3) New Yorkers don’t have manners
4) They’ve never heard of sweet tea
5) Astronomical rent for an apartment the size of a broom closet
6) Tired of being teased about their Southern accent
7) No one can make a decent biscuit
8) Car horns are the preferred form of communication
9) If you want a boyfriend, you have to bring one with you
10) Really, the pizza is way overrated
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August 6th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Wow, those opinions in the Bloomberg article seem extreme…
“If my kids have a Southern accent, I will kill myself” WTF!!
Personally, getting called “sugar” by a stranger makes my heart sing.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Yea, well at least now that they are in NY they don’t have to admit that in the last election the voted for Bush and Saxby Chambliss. Plus they don’t have to worry about their state voting for someone like Saxby Chambliss again or not voting for Obama!
Plus they don’t have to feel guilty about the excessive use of gas or feel the pain at the pump since in NY they Transit is not a 4 letter word and walking is not something you just do to get from the fridge to the couch.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Yes, they can point with pride to the carpetbagger who scammed them into a Senatorial launching pad to chase the Presidency and later voting an empty suit for President. So sophisticated…..
August 6th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
That’s right Newt and Bob Barr were long time GA residents.
Then again Barr isn’t that bad, at least he understands that the constitution is more than toliet paper.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Let’s not forget Rudy Gulliani and Bernard Kerik. Our politicians are Sunday School teachers by comparison. Well, except for Newt.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I moved to nyc 11 months ago from atlanta. don’t take it personally, atlanta, new yorkers look down on EVERYTHING and EVERYPLACE that’s not on this island! It got on my nerves at first, but I got used to it…along with getting used to being knocked into on the streets and subways and not having anyone look you in the eye and apologize!
August 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
New York has neither Bicycle Shorts Man nor Dagmar Midcap.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
BB, I remember that cartoon map that was a New Yorker’s view of the U.S. It was essentially NYC and the two oceans. Hilarious, and true.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
You mean that Map was supposed to be funny? I thought it was merely a representation of reality.
that’s why we refer to it as “The City”
Seriously though Stand in the middle of Grand Central Station at Rush Hour and you’ll wonder how we can’t move a fraction of that The City does. Then again that’s probably more a tribute to city planners of past generations (no insult intended GA Tech).
Even more serious. I think people have a memory that tends to remember the good things over the bad. So former Metro New Yorkers (after all The City people include people from CT and NJ work there) in Atlanta remember the good stuff (like that great mom and pop shop around the corner or how long a tank of gas lasted) and not the maddening stuff (the smell of urine)
Oh and I’d take Rudy “911″ Guliani over Saxby “corporate welfare via the farmbill aka arrest the towel heads” Chambliss any day.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
E, you can have Rudy even as we suffer through Saxby. But we still trump with Dagmar Midcap.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Wow, these are pathetic.
And southerners can’t make real biscuits either. Real biscuits are what the English have that Americans would insist on calling a “cookie”.
And I’ve heard of sweet tea, just think it tastes like shit.
I once tried driving into Atlanta to visit a friend at Emory. Coming in on the highway my first reaction was “that’s it!?”. It’s like Charlotte with more traffic.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:01 am
TH, you’ve obviously never had a biscuit cooked by a Southerner.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hey thanks for the Dagmar Midcap link in the story about the Make a Wish child.
I thought Dagmar Midcap was some sort of street character aka flamboyant panhandler that hangs out downtown or something.
Since I get my news from the Daily Show and Colbert report I don’t get the chance to watch local news, though now that I see the pic I remember seeing the name.
And yes now I give up. Dagmar does give ATL the edge over “The City”.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Dagmar is our secret weapon, E.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
As an Atlanta transplant living in New York City for the past two years, I can vouch that this list is dead on.
Not only is the rent through the roof, the quality of construction is shit even in the nicest buildings. The city is overrun with rats and roaches and whenever I go to a “southern” restaurant they have battered old trash hung up as we decorate our walls with old sewing machines and Coke bottles.
Last week I moved to Hoboken, New Jersey and I’ve never been happier. To use the language of the locals, New York City can go fuck itself.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Atlanta reminds me of a baby New York. Both cities have its attributes and it would be silly to expect any other city to compare to the uniqueness of both NY and ATL.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
New York has some advantages that few other cities can duplicate. For one, the geographical reality lead to its verticality, which makes it just damned striking visually. You don’t get the kind of cancerous sprawl that characterizes LA (and Atlanta, though ours is somehow less offensive than LA), which leads to a skyline that can’t be beat. That may be more of a benefit to tourists than residents, but when I lived up there, there would still be frequent moments in which some skyline element would catch my eye and just blow me away. The City also has its age going for it, and it *knows* it. Sure, Atlanta can counter with “We got burned down!” but Atlanta still has an itchy relationship with its past (with good reason, in many cases). Putting aside the history of violent racism, we’ve still become too convinced by the “capital of the new South” mantra and have too frequently torn down old structures in favor of new buildings with very little architectural character. To Atlanta’s credit, this seems to be changing (slowly). And, of course, there’s the transit. Oy vey, the transit. As a friend of mine once posited, MARTA should consider changing their slogan to “Might as well walk.” In the end, though, I left The City a decade ago and have lived here ever since, so something must be worth sticking around for. Does it count that I wouldn’t mind moving back someday?
August 8th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Hoboken to The City could be analogous to Marietta to Atlanta - except Hoboken supports serious transit connections.
Hoboken is nice though. And obviously a city in and of itself. Its kind of amazing how many people live in the 5 boroughs of NYC and the cities (Fort Lee, Newark and Hoboken) just just across the Hudson.
I miss the ferry ride from the jersey side to Manhattan as a commute. Was even better than the Metro North Hudson Line trip up the edge of the Hudson River.
The City Suburbs are definately better than ATL Suburbs - (excluding the costs of course)
August 11th, 2008 at 8:54 am
A friend of mine is getting ready to move to Atlanta from Detroit. I’ll have to send her some of these articles on the whole Atlanta vs. New York. Very interesting stuff!