Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Booze and Bottomless Dancers
We don’t have a harbor, casinos or a pleasant climate in the summer. But Atlanta still ranks as a major convention destination, in large part because it’s one of the few cities in the country whose strip clubs feature BOOZE AND BOTTOMLESS DANCERS. Even residents who aren’tmore...
We don’t have a harbor, casinos or a pleasant climate in the summer. But Atlanta still ranks as a major convention destination, in large part because it’s one of the few cities in the country whose strip clubs feature BOOZE AND BOTTOMLESS DANCERS. Even residents who aren’t patrons of the ecdysiastic arts appreciate the importance of the convention trade to the city’s economy. And for those who do partake in the occasional table dance, you already know what a bummer it would be if that G-string never came off. Or if you had to drink wheatgrass milk all night long instead of your customary Courvoisier-and-Red-Bull shooters. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Buford Highway
BUFORD HIGHWAY is Atlanta’s Chinatown. It’s also our Koreatown, our Vietnamtown, our Mexicotown and many more. To some, Buford Highway is just a shopping and restaurant district — a place to get a bowl of pho on a Friday night, or a place to pick up stalks of fresh lemongrassmore...
BUFORD HIGHWAY is Atlanta’s Chinatown. It’s also our Koreatown, our Vietnamtown, our Mexicotown and many more. To some, Buford Highway is just a shopping and restaurant district — a place to get a bowl of pho on a Friday night, or a place to pick up stalks of fresh lemongrass for a Thai recipe you’re making at home. Buford Highway’s much more than food and shopping, though. It’s the living, breathing fulfillment of Atlanta’s oft-stated desire to be an international city instead of just a provincial capital. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Our Destiny is in Our Hands
L.A. has earthquakes and wildfires. New York and D.C. have terrorism. Houston and Florida have hurricanes. For a large city and commercial hub, Atlanta is remarkably safe from external mortal threats. The biggest threat to Atlanta is itself. It means OUR DESTINY IS IN OUR HANDS. All the things we bitchmore...
L.A. has earthquakes and wildfires. New York and D.C. have terrorism. Houston and Florida have hurricanes. For a large city and commercial hub, Atlanta is remarkably safe from external mortal threats. The biggest threat to Atlanta is itself. It means OUR DESTINY IS IN OUR HANDS. All the things we bitch about (traffic, sprawl, crime, filthy air, etc.) are our own doing — the result of decades of electing state and local politicians who are better at bickering than leading. Believe it or not, that’s good news. L.A. can’t make earthquakes go away. But we can stop doing stupid shit. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
There’s Culture in Atlanta
Yes, Virginia, THERE’S CULTURE IN ATLANTA. Sure, it’s not a New York City or San Francisco or Chicago, where finding “culture” is a matter of walking a couple blocks or catching a quick train. But Atlanta teems with artistic vision of all varieties if you’remore...
Yes, Virginia, THERE’S CULTURE IN ATLANTA. Sure, it’s not a New York City or San Francisco or Chicago, where finding “culture” is a matter of walking a couple blocks or catching a quick train. But Atlanta teems with artistic vision of all varieties if you’re willing to go find it. It has Lenny’s and Eyedrum, the Fay Gold Gallery and the Decatur Social Club. There are thriving arts, music and literary scenes. There’s theater, opera, art cinema, major-league sports, quirky shops and cutting-edge restaurants. Atlanta is not only a city with culture, it is a city with soul. It is a city of tradition that constantly reinvents itself. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Trees

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Traffic

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Traffic

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Trees

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Trees

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Oakland Cemetery
It’s tough to find much of anything in Atlanta older than OAKLAND CEMETERY, and arguably no place in this city wears its age more gracefully. Founded as a six-acre graveyard in 1850, Oakland exploded in size and, um, popularity as a result of the Civil War. Today, it serves as the final restingmore...
It’s tough to find much of anything in Atlanta older than OAKLAND CEMETERY, and arguably no place in this city wears its age more gracefully. Founded as a six-acre graveyard in 1850, Oakland exploded in size and, um, popularity as a result of the Civil War. Today, it serves as the final resting place for Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, Maynard Jackson and 70,000 of the famous and obscure, including legions of unknown Confederate soldiers. But you needn’t be a history buff or a goth geek to appreciate the cemetery’s collection of ornate mausoleums and endless cobblestone paths. In fact, Oakland is quite living-friendly; it’s open every day of the year to provide a cheerfully morbid spot for a picnic or a stroll. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Fox Theatre

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Most Adults Who Live in Atlanta ain’t From Around Here
Hang out in Atlanta long enough and you’ll discover that MOST ADULTS WHO LIVE IN ATLANTA AIN’T FROM AROUND HERE. Just ask around. Atlanta sucks up folks from parts of the Southeast that suck. But it’s not just Southerners moving in; plenty of newfangled carpetbaggers came downmore...
Hang out in Atlanta long enough and you’ll discover that MOST ADULTS WHO LIVE IN ATLANTA AIN’T FROM AROUND HERE. Just ask around. Atlanta sucks up folks from parts of the Southeast that suck. But it’s not just Southerners moving in; plenty of newfangled carpetbaggers came down during the dot-com era and that crazy international event called the Olympics. More are now flooding in from scores of other nations. In 1990, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Atlanta’s metro population at 2.9 million. By 2005, it had swelled to 5.1 million. And well more than half the people who live in DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties weren’t even born in Georgia. Should you run into a native, avoid asking about Atlanta back in the day. You’ll only get stories that begin with, “I remember when ... .” less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Or are we...?
Maybe we should start with the things that are similar. Smog. Check. Traffic. Double-check. Self-absorbed stars. Check. L.A. is surrounded by ocean and desert, but political junkies describe Atlanta as a blue island surrounded by an ocean of red. So a check for that one, too — kind of. Rodeomore...
Maybe we should start with the things that are similar. Smog. Check. Traffic. Double-check. Self-absorbed stars. Check. L.A. is surrounded by ocean and desert, but political junkies describe Atlanta as a blue island surrounded by an ocean of red. So a check for that one, too — kind of. Rodeo Drive, Lenox Square. Check. Endless sprawl. Check. Hispanic laborers. Check (the one difference is that L.A. Latinos already have plenty of political power, while Atlanta Latinos are about to get power). Hollywood studios, hip-hop studios. Check. Malibu, Duluth. Check. Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson. Check. Mel Gibson, Dallas Austin. Check. Courtney, Whitney. Check. Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick. Check. OK. Enough already. Yes, come to think of it, we have become L.A. ... with more rain. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Trees

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2006
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Pride Week
In a state where there was going to be a special session of the friggin’ Legislature to reinstitute a ban on gay marriage — a practice that was already illegal to start with — PRIDE WEEK symbolizes why Atlanta often feels like an oasis surrounded by a moat (the Perimeter).more...
In a state where there was going to be a special session of the friggin’ Legislature to reinstitute a ban on gay marriage — a practice that was already illegal to start with — PRIDE WEEK symbolizes why Atlanta often feels like an oasis surrounded by a moat (the Perimeter). Venturing outside the moat can give you a case of cultural whiplash. Whoa! What was that? A Confederate flag? Pride week — one of the most colorful, outrageous and unifying events of the year — couldn’t take place anywhere in the Southeast but Atlanta. As a city, Atlanta is a gumbo of cultures and ethnicities and, yes, sexual preferences. People who live here expect diversity and embrace it. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Gentrification
No, this isn’t a misprint. In the midst of intown’s renaissance, GENTRIFICATION has wreaked severe side effects. Rampant development has burdened Atlanta’s already strained sewage system. An overabundance of condos and strip malls has created architectural homogeny. An influxmore...
No, this isn’t a misprint. In the midst of intown’s renaissance, GENTRIFICATION has wreaked severe side effects. Rampant development has burdened Atlanta’s already strained sewage system. An overabundance of condos and strip malls has created architectural homogeny. An influx of people — and a dearth of public transit — has made getting around town a real pain. And skyrocketing property values and taxes are changing the face of the city, literally. Homeowners who’ve been forced out by rising taxes are predominantly longtime, low-income, African-Americans. And it’s now become difficult for first-time homebuyers to afford even the most modest digs. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2005
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Shitty Drivers
Some of the best reasons to leave this city are also the most obvious - sprawl, heat, the DMV office on Moreland. But after careful consideration, we’ve decided that if anything is going to chase us out, it’s SHITTY DRIVERS. And yeah, yeah, it’s never you; it’s always the other guy. But listen:more...
Some of the best reasons to leave this city are also the most obvious - sprawl, heat, the DMV office on Moreland. But after careful consideration, we’ve decided that if anything is going to chase us out, it’s SHITTY DRIVERS. And yeah, yeah, it’s never you; it’s always the other guy. But listen: It is you - if you’ve tailgated for no other reason than to be a jerk. It’s you if you’ve cut someone off on I-85. And it’s “definitely” you if you’ve made a turn without using your freakin’ “blinker”. That is why we had 317,817 wrecks in Georgia in 2002, up 44 percent from 12 years ago. less...

Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

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