I've been living in Atlanta for the past 5 years, attended college here (GA TECH), and worked here (bar tender, and delivery driver while in college). From my experience, I really like this city. It is a very diverse city, the people are friendly and you still get that southern hospitality. Everywhere else in GA is pretty much country except for Savannah (I also lived there for a year). Even as far the accent is concerned, Atlanta residents have that neutral American Accent. There are numerous places in Atlanta with different cultures and way of life, for example, Atlanta( the metro area) is broken down into three different grids - you have (1). Downtown, which is mostly businesses, fancy restaurants, Ga Aquarium (great place by the way), World Of Coke, Famous Centennial Olympic Park, Ga Dome, CNN, and so forth, mainly for tourists... (2) Midtown is the next grid, this is where in my opinion the heart of Atlanta is. Here you find great locals, a very huge gay population(ranked 2nd in the US, after San Francisco), Piedmont park, great restaurants, very chill subdivisions like virginia highlands, Lil 5 points (a very cool and eclectic mixture of people, this place reminds me of San Diego, I saw a cop smoking weed once here, no kidding) and there are ALOT of people our age/generation between 18 yrs - 35yrs old. I hardly see children in Midtown. You also have really nice clubs, spas, Latin salsa places, my school GA TECH, Museums, art galleries, ATLANTIC STATION which you must visit (think of it as a HUGE mall but outdoors, it even has a school in it, apartments, cinemas, entertainment -it's like a small city that has everything you would want all in one spot, you name it) Restaurants from all countries, Indian, Pakistan, Ethiopian, Morocco, French, etc.... (3) Finally the last grid is BUckhead and this is at the north part of Atlanta, it actually has it's own downtown and this part of Atlanta is for the rich and famous. All these entertainers originally from ATL like Usher, Lil Jon, Outkast, Ludacris, all have condos, houses and even restaurants that they own right here.....Fancy cars, fancy restaurants, fancy dogs, lol...Everything here is super expensive, from food to living....I think the tax rate is between 8-9% while it is 6% in other parts of the city. Very clean, very beautiful high risers,condos.... the buildings look brand new and what's ironic about this place is that most of its inhabitants are old, retired people, mainly rich people.....so buckhead is very conservative unlike Midtown and Downtown, nevertheless there are still youth around and nice malls and very good looking people here 🙂 If you want to become a pharmacist, work and live in ATL, buckhead is the place to be, lol just sayin. Besides these three main grids, you also have DECATUR - it's half part in Atlanta and the other half is it's own city. This is where EMORY university is and it's also a very cool area. You also have Marietta, located North of Atlanta about 15-20min drive....mostly suburbia and many people live and commute to school and work (hence traffic) There is also Chamblee (Mercer is very near to this sub division), Tucker, Alpharetta, Riverdale, Douglassville, SMryna, stone mountain and so on, all these are part of GREATER ATLANTA. So when you hear people say am from Atlanta, it necessarily isn't true because the real Atlanta is FULTON county( whereby all these other small cities are just part of the GREATER ATLANTA area, and they have their own counties such as Cobb county for Marietta and SMryna, Dekalb county for decatur, Gwinnet county for Chamblee and Tucker, Clayton county for Riverdale and so on) The transportation system here is actually pretty good. WE have a subway system called MARTA and it is very good if you travel back and forth between those three grids that i mentioned. Saves on GAS and you dont have to worry about Traffic. Security is also good with this transportation. You also have other private transportation services between counties and they are all great, and YES they go to MERCER, not subway though, you would have to ride the subway then take a bus. Crime in the main city is usuall, just like any other city would. The area where Mercer is located is good and quite safe, I dont here many stories from there. Most crime comes from SOUTH and SOUTH WEST ATLANTA, so don't get an apartment there!!!! MIdtown crime is not as bad, really there are too many gay people living here, it's such a friendly place, and too colorful for criminals, lol.
Night life is quite good although there is a law in Atlanta that night clubs close at 3am (not that you would be partying that late while you are pharm student) and they don't sell liquor on Sundays ( this is a conservative state) ALso I should mention that the location of Mercer is about 12 miles NOrth from the city, so your not really in the city per se. It's more like the suburbs, but you are very close to the city. The location of mercer is in a nice quiet environment suitable for your studies, and very convenient to be near the city if you ever want to relax and have a good time with friends. I personally live in Buckhead and if I get accepted I would just drive and hop on the interstate(would be at school in less than 15 min counting traffic in).....Oooh and another thing, TRAFFIC IS HORRIBLE IN ATLANTA...this city is growing so much, we have more than 6 million people and interstate lanes are only 6 lanes, so RUSH HOUR is TERRIBLE especially friday...when I was a delivery driver, this sucked SO MUCH. If you are out of state, I advise getting an apartment near the school and on the outer limits or rim of the city...traffic here is minimal.
I know I have typed so much, but I feel like this information would help all you guys and gals out of state. Atlanta is a wonderful city, it has a lot of history, and a lot to see. I hope all your interviews go well and that you get accepted... I have my interview on Jan 22nd 2010. I'll be more than glad to answer any other question abt the city because I feel like I know it very very well 🙂
