[tel]

Living in Atlanta for 4 years while in college at Georgia Tech, I can basically corroborate on the opinions here (except the funding ones which I have less information about).

My overall opinion about the city is that it in a lot of ways is looking to other cities for inspiration, believing that Atlanta needs to become a major city of influence and prestige on the country and the world. With that goal, however, there's currently far too much "us-too" leading to posturing and materialism and burnout.

Underneath that exterior, of course, there are a whole ton of people in art, music (huge underground music scene on the east side), and technology (lots of engineers and young doctors) doing wonderful things. I think it'll come as a surprise to many in the city that should that side of its culture ever take hold that they might have a chance of actually developing a unique city identity.

I'll also reiterate the point that Atlanta feels like a collection of unconnected neighborhoods instead of a real city. The place was burned down twice in history and rebuilt ostentatiously under the influence of zero central planning. Roads meander oddly and there's a demand for a car given the inadequate public transport MARTA provides. Traffic on the major in-city highway, which is a perpetually under construction connector between two major out of city highways, is almost always a parking lot and that spills into the city making rush hours tricky at best. I managed to bike everywhere which is adequate but not immediately safe. It can also be a bear to have to go 15 miles up and down hills to get to your favorite bar or a concert.