good post!

Bre
Washington DC

Also of note, you did this from your iPhone (let the iPhone detractors take note…lol)

As I have said to you on Twitter, I like Atlanta. I have fun here. But it has definitely birthed a feeling about my hometown that would have otherwise gone incubated.

In your definition of culture you speak about pride for one’s hometown (which you couldn’t feel for Atlanta, obviously), which I feel immensely for Atlanta. When I lived there (now I live in Columbus, OH), I was able to experience many things that gave me pride for my city: 1996 Summer Olympics, the Braves, having a black mayor, MLK, the Zoo, East Point and College Park, FOX theatre, Q-time, Soul Vegetarian, and many festivals and unique aspects of Atlanta life (slang, etc.). Atlanta has many things that are new and several that haven’t changed for years. Many old churches, new cathedrals, unique parks, and even a ridiculous love for peaches and all things related to them.

Atlanta has even been called the new Motown (no offense to the actual Motown) of the south due to the large number of black music companies that sprung up there in the 1990s.

On behalf of my city, I’d like to apologize for not impressing upon you our culture in six months or less. However, I’d ask that you hold your opinion until you’ve spent more time there. It is unfair to compare your new city to your hometown. The new city can never compare to a lifetime of experience in your original city.

No offense to Detroit or your blog, but I think that both cities have a very unique and diverse history and culture.

Conversely, it has been my experience that Atlanta is far more superficial than I imagined and while it may have once been the very culture rich capital of the south, it is now a city enveloped in image, artificiality and gentrification. Let me be clear: I like Atlanta. It is not a place I want to raise my [future] family.

Nothing is wrong with Atlanta getting money, and don’t doubt that Detroit is making the same efforts. However, it’s the values here in ATL (in this post, occasionally referenced as soul) that clash against mine, not their effort to grow economically [& Detroit is not??] as you so eloquently tried to reduce my statements to. Yes, I feel at home in Detroit, yes, I connect more to Metro Detroit – but it is not because I am addicted to or attracted to poverty or a struggle. It is because it is my home and I care, likely because, as you stated, I can connect with the culture there. Culture that seems absent here in ATL. “Seems.” Same word I used in my post to indicate that I do not detect any [doesn’t mean it is absent]- I welcome any local or native to show me otherwise. After all I am here for a spell and have been exploring since I arrived.

I have fun in Atlanta, and it definitely has its share of opportunity. However, declining to be abused by its poor layout, stark racism and pretentious venues does not mean that I am not interested in opportunity or success. It just means I am interested in opportunity and success that benefit more than just myself. I care about the place from which I sprang and the opportunity to see it grow and develop.

I do not expect everyone to have the same allegiance. We are after all, in a nation that promotes and thrives on individual success and competition. Often without regard to how it affects our fellow human beings.

Thanks for the well wishes, and I welcome any introduction to Atlanta culture you have to offer.
Peace.

Admittedly, I’m from Atlanta, so a lot of the criticisms you level against the city here don’t strike me as bad points at all. Quite the contrary, if Atlanta were *not* trying to get money and improve our standing in the country/world, I would think we were doing something wrong. I would certainly move to impeach any elected official who told me that we didn’t need economic growth because we had “soul.”

Back in the early nineties when South Central L.A. was all the rage in music and movies, I’d look at the depictions of senseless street violence and think to myself “Why would anyone with a choice want to live like that?” And yet I met many relocated gang members who would wax poetically about how they missed the lifestyle and were it not for family/jail/baby, they would never have left.

I can only speak from my perspective, but none of that resonates with me. Being able to keep your dignity in hard times is an asset, but I see no virtue in suffering for suffering’s sake. But just because I can’t see the appeal in a certainly lifestyle doesn’t mean that there is none.

And I suspect the same goes for you. Atlanta’s culture doesn’t resonate with you as strongly as Detroit’s does, but that doesn’t mean that Atlanta has no culture. And it doesn’t mean that those of us who find our niche here are any less resilient or soulful.

I wish you the best in your relocation back to “The D.” (Motown for us noobz.)