The question that’s been on everyone’s mind
15 Jul
Someone wants to know:
Why doesn’t Atlanta feel like Gone With The Wind?
I went on a 4 day trip to Atlanta back in 2003. I enjoyed the city okay, but I didnt get that Old South feeling anywhere. I am from Richmond- so I am naturally used to a lot of Southern hospitality.
Anyways, I took a tour of the Margaret Mitchell home (its really a one level flat), and it was okay. The tour guide was nice. But I was dissapointed in how generic Atlanta seems to be. It seems like anyplace in the USA. I mean, I know its a big city.
But anyways, I was hoping for women in hoop skirts to say fiddle dee dee, and where was Rhett Butler? Stuck on the Marta?
Okay, just kidding.
But you know what I mean.
Atlanta felt like a cross between Washington DC and Chicago.
Anyways, Atlanta just didnt feel much like GWTW.
I hope maybe I can visit again and get that Gone With The Wind feelin’
Frankly, I think Gone With the Wind is kind of a snooze, but Mitchell has a point here that still holds true: “Scarlett had always liked Atlanta for the very same reasons that made Savannah, Augusta and Macon condemn it. Like herself, the town was a mixture of the old and new in Georgia, in which the old often came off second best in its conflicts with the self-willed and vigorous new.”
Also, to answer this tourist’s question, it stopped being legal for rich white men to buy and sell human beings to lace their daughters into their hoop skirts, and that’s when Atlanta stopped being like Gone With the Wind. Thank God.
Previously: “The story behind those fabulous Vera Bradley bags!”
Atlanta stopped feeling like Gone With the Wind when Sherman and his troops burned down all the scenery. Tourists must thus be directed to Madison, Ga., with its sort of hilarious “town Sherman refused to burn” claim. It IS a charming place, though!
Of course, lets not forget that most of the burning and destruction was carried out by retreating southerners – a trend that continues to this day.
…we should also remember that the Atlanta of 1864 had some 6,000 residents and had very little in common with the city that developed later on.
Time Travel (American style!) isn’t that great of idea for those who aren’t white & male y’all. Just think about it.
Any time someone talks about the “good old days” (and they’re talking past 1980) I want to punch them in face.
In places, Atlanta is hardly discernible from Philadelphia, where I lived for nearly eight years. I doubt it is much different from Phoenix, Kokomo or other cities I haven’t visited.
Regional differences in this nation began fading after World War II, when the first Levittown took root outside New York. It continues to this day.
I think it is wrong to imply that Atlanta lacks character, or that it is a generic, sprawling city. Certainly, I don’t recommend it for tourists. You can find better museums, bigger aquariums, and other more compelling tourist attractions in many other American cities. Downtown is a corporate wasteland, and Buckhead is even worse.
That said, living here, the neighborhoods have unique and charming characters. The greenness (I’m talking about trees and lawns here) of Atlanta and its residential quality is entirely unique in American cities of the same size. There are excellent restaurants and bars- I prefer the ones with patios, to take advantage of the Southern summer night air. As a recent college grad, I find that the price is right all around.
And if someone wants to come here to visit some sort of Antebellumland theme park, they deserve to be exactly as disappointed as they inevitably will be.
Exactly. We’ve always said about Atlanta: Terrible place to visit, but I’d definitely want to live here:)
Lindsay brings up a good point. Atlanta’s got some really fine neighborhoods, a fine tree canopy, yes, and good bars.
It’s a good place to watch little boys play.
GWTW a “snooze”? P’shaw! I love GWTW. Book and movie. Love. It.