patrick.net

NOmo:

I suggest you update yourself by going on to the California pages for City Data forum.

"Cali" use is defended by a number of native Californians to the chagrin of out-of-state posters (one in particular from Arkansas) who insist that its not an accepted term.

Again, its use is foreign to older people. I'm sorry that you've missed an opportunity to learn what us younger Cali people are doing.

~Misstrial 4th-generation Californian

Nomo:

Suggest you have a look at this:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=so%20cali

btw, I'm not your "honey."

Further, I am a graduate of UCSB and while a student there, worked in the Admin building in the Graduate Division. Undergrad Admissions is where most official/student conversations take place; whether or not a student says the word "Cali" for you to get angered is something the Dean should look into.

UCs are pretty open regarding diversity of views and opinion, so I'm surprised at your censure of my choice to use this term.
For you to continuously insult me simply so you can spout off your opinion is questionable behavior for a UC employee.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-04-16/bay-area/17192562_1_pension-fund-pension-plan-uc-employees

~Misstrial

Atlanta rocks! Thaink youuuuuu! Cabbage town is really cool IMHO. Homegrown just opened on memorial Dr for breakfast and lunch. Kevin cooks up some yummy cheap food!

Only issue for us Cali natives ( i'll call my sorry ass state what ever the F**k I want thankyou.) is the Humidity and Mosquitoes.

Hope you like hot and humid weather. I spent many a summer at Fort Gordon (Augusta), GA. Had to drink lots of water.

Katy Perry says

Atlanta rocks! Thaink youuuuuu! Cabbage town is really cool IMHO. Homegrown just opened on memorial Dr for breakfast and lunch. Kevin cooks up some yummy cheap food!
Only issue for us Cali natives ( i’ll call my sorry ass state what ever the F**k I want thankyou.) is the Humidity and Mosquitoes.

Yeah, I AM NOT ALONE!!! T/Y!!!

~Misstrial 4th-generation California Gurl (tips hat to Katy)

Nomograph says

I don’t care what term you use; just don’t try to pass yourself off as if you’re something special.

A wee bit snarky today, Nomo? You actually seem well informed about the ways of the world, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise to you to be told that we of the feminine persuasion prefer not to be called honey. or sweetie. or dearie. At my age, I'm fighting "ma'am" and will buy anything from a salesperson who calls me "miss."

FYI.

Katy Perry says

Atlanta rocks! Thaink youuuuuu! Cabbage town is really cool IMHO. Homegrown just opened on memorial Dr for breakfast and lunch. Kevin cooks up some yummy cheap food!
Only issue for us Cali natives ( i’ll call my sorry ass state what ever the F**k I want thankyou.) is the Humidity and Mosquitoes.

I miss my Waffle House waffles. :-)

I lived in Atlanta in 1997.
That summer was NOT hot at all.

The traffic is a problem. It can jam for miles :)

Come on Captain--I'm sure you can't let some of these posts go without commenting....

Yeah fine it's cheap living, but sorry, the bagels still suck.

I was like WHAAAA? when a friend of mine in atlanta bought his 2700sqft SFH at 116K back in 2002. At the time, 116K won't let me buy a condo here in fairfax virginia. It looks like the same thing still is going on. You may able to buy a nice home under 250K, while that's small condo price here.

But I think that's about it. I am not sure I want to live there. My visit to altanta back in 96 for olympic games was not very impressive.

Liz Pendens says

Yeah fine it’s cheap living, but sorry, the bagels still suck.

But they do have Dunkin Donut's.. which rock... lol - haven't seen one yet on the west coast.

As for "Cali" - I've used that term before... and yes, I'm a native east coaster. However, I work with people that were born and raised in Marin and Oakland - but which use the word "Cali" on occasion. Anyhow, who really cares? Some people say "Philly" instead of Philadelphia, or DFW instead of Dallas-Fort Worth.

jvolstad says

I miss my Waffle House waffles. :-)

Whoa sorry, waffle house waffles suck.

joshuatrio says

Liz Pendens says

Yeah fine it’s cheap living, but sorry, the bagels still suck.

But they do have Dunkin Donut’s.. which rock… lol - haven’t seen one yet on the west coast.
As for “Cali” - I’ve used that term before… and yes, I’m a native east coaster. However, I work with people that were born and raised in Marin and Oakland - but which use the word “Cali” on occasion. Anyhow, who really cares? Some people say “Philly” instead of Philadelphia, or DFW instead of Dallas-Fort Worth.
jvolstad says

I miss my Waffle House waffles.

Whoa sorry, waffle house waffles suck.

No they don't. Great eating. We would meet at WF for breakfast before starting training on Fort Gordon.

Beats eating MRE's.

jvolstad says

Beats eating MRE’s.

From what I understand, pretty much anything beats MRE's.

elliemae says

jvolstad says

Beats eating MRE’s.

From what I understand, pretty much anything beats MRE’s.

And don't forget the boiled peanuts being sold from the back of a pickup truck near the nudie bar. ;-)

Nomograph says

Misstrial says

Cali

No California native would EVER use the term “Cali”. You just outed yourself.

Nomo, I am a native Bay Arean, and I like to use the term Frisco, mainly because it grates on the Cool and Hip Friscans, you know the type, who dote on their dogs; and like the villain baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, think children are icky-poo. Wouldn't change a diaper if their life depended on it, but are so Cool and Hip they just might ride naked on their bikes for some street protest.

elliemae says

we of the feminine persuasion prefer not to be called honey. or sweetie. or dearie.
FYI.

How about "luv"? I think they use it a lot in England, not in a derisive way either.

how friendly is Atlanta / Georgia for an immigrant (East Indian)? One of the reason, immigrants pour into coastal areas, is they blend in well enough, and racism is minimal. So most of them don't even consider an affordable patch of land in the middle of the country.

I have family in Atlanta, so I have visited several times but never lived there. As others have mentioned, it's very hot and humid in the summer, so you have to expect an air conditioning bill in keeping with the size of your affordable home, and you will need to get used to going between cool dry air and hot humid air on a regular basis. That does feel strange after awhile. The body starts to dread the transition. Due to the heat and humidity, certain outdoor activities like long bike rides become less practical than they are in California. As in, the heat can actually harm you if you overdo it. Also, rain is a possibility all year, so planning outdoor events is a bit riskier than it is in California. If it's important, you need to rent a tent just in case. If you garden, know that the soil around Atlanta tends toward red clay, so it may take a little more work than you're used to, but you can do it.

Atlanta seems to have significantly different social arrangements than I see in California. Tickets to cultural events like ballet or Cirque du Soliel are much, much more expensive than in the Bay Area ($400 vs. $100 for a ticket to the Nutcracker the year I checked), so the people who attend cultural events are the people who have the money to do so. The public schools are apparently pretty terrible, so there is a lot of private schooling and homeschooling. In the outer suburbs, religion seems to be incredibly important to social interaction. A relative moved to Atlanta awhile ago, and people in her neighborhood constantly asked her where she went to church (nowhere) and whether she would like to join them at church this Sunday (thank you, no). Also, and this weird, when you look at real estate magazines with a focus on the Atlanta suburbs, you start to notice that certain neighborhoods are advertised with pictures of smiling white families and other neighborhoods are advertised with pictures of smiling black families. My relatives seem to live in a neighborhood consisting entirely of white people. This left me with an uncomfortable impression which I hope is actually incorrect.

For those in the outer suburbs, restaurant and grocery options can be limited. You might need to drive to the next town, or the one past that, or the one past that. I'm sure that's different in Atlanta proper. Publix is a pretty common grocery store, and it's reasonably nice, too. Apparently there is a Whole Foods somewhere as well.

Housing just outside of Atlanta is very heavily HOA. It can be difficult to find anything that isn't. So there will probably be HOA dues, and there will probably be people who insist that you do strange things like paint your storage shed beige instead of red. No, really. This happened.

Regarding jobs, I have a programmer pal who lives in Atlanta proper. He just spent almost two years out of work after a layoff. His cost of living is low enough to make that survivable, but the pool of tech jobs really is smaller than in SV, and sometimes that matters. From what I hear, programmers do need to dress more formally in Atlanta.

I don't know whether Atlanta is friendly to immigrants. You might do better to check out Athens (a college town beside Atlanta), or there may be areas of Atlanta proper that are friendlier. There seems to be a growing population of Latino immigrants in Atlanta, but while I was there I did not see very many Asian or East Indian people. That could have been happenstance, though.

Eliza says

Regarding jobs, I have a programmer pal who lives in Atlanta proper. He just spent almost two years out of work after a layoff. His cost of living is low enough to make that survivable, but the pool of tech jobs really is smaller than in SV, and sometimes that matters. From what I hear, programmers do need to dress more formally in Atlanta.

Not when your a sales person or engineer supporting customers in that given region.
Salary + Commission, benefits, means they make more than any engineer in SV.

Further down in Florida, pretty much all US companies have their Latin America offices and supporting said LATM markets out of Florida. Same thing.. fat salaries and cheaper living in Florida. It is what it is....

sybrib says

Nomo, I am a native Bay Arean, and I like to use the term Frisco, mainly because it grates on the Cool and Hip Friscans, you know the type, who dote on their dogs and like the villain duchess in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, think children are icky-poo. Wouldn’t change a diaper for their life but are so Cool and Hip they just might ride naked on their bikes for some street protest

Thats why people are leaving...they had enough of these egotistical pricks!

joshuatrio says

But they do have Dunkin Donut’s.. which rock…

Yeah, DD definitely is good, particularly their coffee... beats the hell out of that rat poison sold at Starbucks

Georgia? Nope.

sybrib says

elliemae says

we of the feminine persuasion prefer not to be called honey. or sweetie. or dearie.
FYI.

How about “luv”? I think they use it a lot in England, not in a derisive way either.

My personal favorite demeaning term is "girlie." I walked out on a car deal over that one.

Nomograph says

WOULD YOU STFU ABOUT THE WAFFLES I’M TRYING TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT HERE

Here's an argument: waffles vs. pancakes. I'm team waffle. How's by you?

Nomograph says

PATIOTS ONLY EAT PORK

Really? You wanna go there? People who eat kosher aren't patiots? I'm certainly glad that you didn't say "patriots" or it'd be ON!

Is it time to take nomo's meds yet? :)

elliemae says
Here’s an argument: waffles vs. pancakes. I’m team waffle. How’s by you?

Oh Elliemae. How I wish I could sway your opinion with my homeade krusteaze (Krusty since I was a little kid) pancakes with real butter and real maple syrup (That log cabin crap doesn't cross my threshold).

Lived in Atlanta for four years, including during the Olympics. It is a corporate town, heavily dominated by Coca Cola, Delta, UPS, CNN, and others. Not a ton of start ups there, and I found in my field, tech, that doing business there was more difficult than out on the West Coast.

People are OK. Mostly transplants from the East Coast or Midwest. It wasn't very diverse. My wife worked at an international TV network. She and everyone else, who were from Spain and Latin America, couldn't wait to leave the town. I did find that there was a large population of very well educated, upper middle class African Americans due to Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark Atlanta universities. It wasnt as segregated as other places I have lived. There is a growing population of Latinos, but many were new immigrants without formal education, working mainly in the home services industries. As an East Indian, you shouldnt have any problems with racism. It is remarkably a tolerant place compared to small towns in the South. (The new South, with places like ATL, Nashville, and Charlotte, are all pretty tolerant).

Traffic is horrendous. There are many times it would take me 40 minutes just to travel 1 mile out of my neighborhood to the freeway. I would semi-joke that I was looking forward to moving to LA to avoid ATL's gigantic traffic jams. They have very good interstates, perhaps the best in the country, but a limited number of side streets, unlike LA. When Friday afternoon occurs, look out. You are very likely to be stuck on the Perimeter for hours.

Weather is interesting. Lots of rain year round, especially in the winter, and the humidity can be stifling for someone not used to it. Im originally from the Midwest so ATL wasnt bad at all. There always seemed to be a breeze there. Everywhere has AC and pools.

Environmental laws suck there. Georgia is beautiful, but it was sad to see developers wholesale rip out a grove of pine trees just to build a strip mall. Then they would burn the trees in a huge bonfire. Nasty.

There are a number of nice places within driving distance. I liked Savannah a lot, Charleston, and the Florida Panhandle's beaches (before the BP spill). Nashville is nice as are Asheville and the Carolina mountains. Athens, GA is only an hour away, and it is a nice college town.

Public Schools for the most part are not good. The upper middle class many times send their kids to private schools. There are some decent publics, but mostly in the OP.

Restaurants are the one thing I miss. There were a good 10-15 restaurants that I loved to eat at that arent to be found anywhere in LA. Nightlife isnt too bad, especially if you just graduated college. Lots of pretty girls, and the girl to guy ratio is very favorable to males. After two years, Buckhead gets pretty tiring.

BTW, I hated Hartsfield Airport. It can take an hour just to get to your plane because of the train. As nasty as LAX can be, there aren't weather delays and you can get to your plane very quickly. Plus there are nonstops to everywhere from here. Delta is perhaps the world's worst airline, and they strangle that market.

All in all, if you want a nice suburban life, with a decent house in the mid 400s, then maybe ATL is for you. If you want to live an urban existence, want diversity, hate horrendous traffic (and I mean more than LA), and need good public schools, then it isnt for you.

BTW, most of the nice places in Atlanta are either in town, or north of the city. Austell and the rest of the suburbs west and south of the city, are IMHO, the sticks. You will be bored to tears coming from California.

Fireballsocal says

elliemae says
Here’s an argument: waffles vs. pancakes. I’m team waffle. How’s by you?

Oh Elliemae. How I wish I could sway your opinion with my homeade krusteaze (Krusty since I was a little kid) pancakes with real butter and real maple syrup (That log cabin crap doesn’t cross my threshold).

well, I'm hungry now. how soon 'til it's ready? :)

btw, krusteaz makes waffle fixin's too. I used to have a waffle maker and it was my fav. And - http://consumerist.com/2011/01/vermont-has-a-problem-with-the-lack-of-maple-in-mcdonalds-maple-oatmeal.html
Vermont likes real maple syrup too.

Waitingtobuy says

BTW, most of the nice places in Atlanta are either in town, or north of the city. Austell and the rest of the suburbs west and south of the city, are IMHO, the sticks. You will be bored to tears coming from California.

That would be the biggest concern. Since moving to this area, we have a large circle of friends, frequent Big Sur and San Jose frequently, not to mention my addiction to surfing - and we're going to take up diving lessons this year.

A lot to give up.

joshuatrio says

and we’re going to take up diving lessons this year.
A lot to give up.

Believe me, Florida diving is awesomely comfortable compared to Florida. When I lived there I'd go about every 6 weeks on average. Many fond memories of diving off Boynton Beach with just my backplate&wings and swim trunks, and NO WET SUIT. I really get tired of the cold water and crappy viz out here. Check the forecast, drive down in one day, dive my brains out for as long as I or the weather would last, then head home. Also saw a Shuttle launch that way, drove down, they scrubbed it, so I drove back home. Repeated until the launch was successful. Didn't have to PLAN a serious vacation with plane tickets and hotel reservations and OMG the weather sucks I just wasted all my money!

joshuatrio says

we have a large circle of friends, frequent Big Sur and San Jose frequently, not to mention my addiction to surfing - and we’re going to take up diving lessons this year.
A lot to give up.

hmmm, so you value relationships and experiences over the square footage of an "owned" home & size of the lot that it sits on?

sounds like another Blue state commie pinko rather than a Red blooded Patriot.

sybrib says

joshuatrio says

we have a large circle of friends, frequent Big Sur and San Jose frequently, not to mention my addiction to surfing - and we’re going to take up diving lessons this year.

A lot to give up.

hmmm, so you value relationships and experiences over the square footage of an “owned” home & size of the lot that it sits on?
sounds like another Blue state commie pinko rather than a Red blooded Patriot.

Lol - ok, ok. It was just an idea. The thought of being mortgage/rent free sounded nice. It was my darn co-worker who brought up the Atlanta area and put the bug in my ear.

We've got an 8-10 foot swell tomorrow, so I'm sure a few nice waves with crush the idea. The Atlantic just produces slop.

Waitingtobuy says

BTW, most of the nice places in Atlanta are either in town, or north of the city. Austell and the rest of the suburbs west and south of the city, are IMHO, the sticks. You will be bored to tears coming from California.

Lol! you pretty much described what Santa Clara County was back in the day.
And you will find even today people, mostly long time natives, moved to the "sticks" like Gilroy and Morgan Hill to get away from the craziness of todays valley.

Imagine for a momement what Sunnyvale or Mountain View or even the so called "Fortress towns" must of looked like back in the 70s and early 80s...

joshuatrio says

We’ve got an 8-10 foot swell tomorrow, so I’m sure a few nice waves with crush the idea. The Atlantic just produces slop.

As they say "Charlie dont Surf".... If your a surfer, and I been hitting Steamers and the Hook for decades, thats your passion in life, but thats not for everyone.

Misstrial says

This is the second recent promotional posting of the Atlanta area I’ve come across in less than one week.
I think the strategy is to come on to California forums and talk it up. Seems to me to be mainly real estate agent or desperate investor sales pitches. Whatever….
The Real Housewives of Atlanta actually live in the Atlanta suburbs, Alpharetta being one.
If you want to get a look at what the ghetto-rich $30k millionaire neighbors will be like in the Atlanta suburbs, have a look at the show.
:/
~Misstrial

What happened to those number #1 seeded Falcons too ? LOL

Vicente says

Didn’t have to PLAN a serious vacation with plane tickets and hotel reservations and OMG the weather sucks I just wasted all my money!

Yep, it's a nice thing about living in the bay area, vacationland ground zero.

thomas.wong1986 says

Lol! you pretty much described what Santa Clara County was back in the day.
And you will find even today people, mostly long time natives, moved to the “sticks” like Gilroy and Morgan Hill to get away from the craziness of todays valley.

Imagine for a momement what Sunnyvale or Mountain View or even the so called “Fortress towns” must of looked like back in the 70s and early 80s…

I'm sure you're right, but I think there is a big difference between Gilroy/Morgan Hill and Austell. People move out of the San Jose area to get away from the "craziness". I would imagine people from small towns in the south move to Austell because they have "hit the big town".

Most of the professional people that move to ATL from other large metro areas will move to northern Atlanta or Buckhead, not to Austell, even if the price on a home is $200K. The median income for a family in Austell is $39K. For Dunwoody, which is north of the city, it is $100K. Big difference. (For Morgan Hill, it is $108K and San Jose, $86K). Unlike the Bay Area, land is not limited in ATL, so suburban northern ATL has plenty of room to grow.

Of course, Im stereotyping, but it holds pretty true. Like-minded people tend to congregate in similar locations.

joshuatrio says

Waitingtobuy says

BTW, most of the nice places in Atlanta are either in town, or north of the city. Austell and the rest of the suburbs west and south of the city, are IMHO, the sticks. You will be bored to tears coming from California.

That would be the biggest concern. Since moving to this area, we have a large circle of friends, frequent Big Sur and San Jose frequently, not to mention my addiction to surfing - and we’re going to take up diving lessons this year.
A lot to give up.

If you're addicted to surfing, you are out of luck. You would be miserable in ATL. Im not even mentioning your circle of friends. I think you might be surprised by your circle of friends in Austell. I know Im sounding like a snob, but like minded people are more likely to congregate in similar places.

If I were a betting person, and of course not knowing you, if you hang at Big Sur and in San Jose, you are more likely to be more comfortable in Buckhead, Vinings, or Little Five Points, all of which are inside the Perimeter, than a place like Austell or Lawrenceville. The minute you step inside the Perimeter, the prices on housing are only maybe 20% less than the nicer areas in the Bay Area. There goes your big savings.