Polytoners from Atlanta?

[Pekka]

So it looks like I'm moving there for a while soon. In couple of months actually, I'll be staying there half a year working my project, but we do these abroad thingies to get our collaborative stuff moving and functioning like you do... so I'll be doing Robinson College of Business it seems like, CIS department naturally. It's doing pretty well these days so I'm heading over there to work my stuff and get some of them good guys giving some input and so forth. So I guess I'm not really working for them anyway.

So it's located at the... pretty much 35 Broad Street, it looks like it's close to Georgia Dome. So anyway, I need to have a place, so I don't know any of these places. I'd like to live close enough to this place, even walking distance if possible, but I don't know what kind of areas there are. Since I can choose an area and my employer pays for it, I'll have $1500 per month for that. It MUST include rent, electricity, all that stuff, plus internet. Living costs basically, and that's the absolute maximum, and I don't know the rates in there, but maybe it is enough to let me choose from few options. I don't want to live in a hotel.

So a nice area, it can be in the city of course or maybe it should be (well close to that place), but what areas should I be looking into? Let's make it clear, I don't want to live close to any sort of The Wire environment, thank you very much. Then since I'm moving there alone, I'd appreciate all kinds of activities close by and things I could do, so I won't have to just work, 6 months is too long to not do anything else. Just things, so I can make friends and stuff, maybe go out and stuff. So that, and it should be safe and preferrably even nice.

Any suggestions? Also any other kind of info of Atlanta is appreciated.

[Ben Kenobi]

I believe Imran is from there. You might wish to send him a pm in case he doesn't see this thread.

[Kontiki]

You should move in with Imran. You two can take saunas togther.

[DanS]

Imran's a wimpy suburb-dweller. Don't listen to him.

Downtown's not particularly resident-friendly. There are other places that will be better.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I live in Atlanta... and no, I don't take saunas .

Broad Street is just off the MARTA, that's the subway system. So, you can live somewhere close to a station and get there fairly easily. Midtown is a decent part of town to stay in.... close to stations and about 2 miles from Broad Street in Downtown.

[Zkribbler]

Altanta:
Terrible traffic.
Terrible smog.
Terrible humidity and heat in summer.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by DanS
Imran's a wimpy suburb-dweller. Don't listen to him.

Atlanta is a suburb city .

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Altanta:
Terrible traffic.
Terrible smog.
Terrible humidity and heat in summer.

Are you sure you aren't talking about Los Angeles as well?

[DanS]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Atlanta is a suburb city .

At least steer him to a place that's suitably urban-hip for a young Finn looking for some peaches.

Even Atlanta probably has one of those.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Are you sure you aren't talking about Los Angeles as well?

Hahahahah. We don't get high humidity.

[Pekka]

Yeah, I saw Martin Luther King streets all over that place. That alone tells me, "Hmmm, maybe live a bit off of this one"

[Pekka]

Imran, and yes, the subway system is right next to it. It just said underground, so Iw asn't sure, who knows what it really means. Maybe some kind of Southern kinky thing, where blocks of under the street levels has been dedicated to the molestation of objects and things that do not belong up on the street level.

SO anyways, that makes it easy, but I'd still prefer like.. definitely less than 30 minute commute anyway. Can you give like few areas and suggestions? Not very suburban, I mean I don't want just houses. I want stuff, life. I want to be able to walk and have a life, I don¨'t have any family or friends there so... not like I want to hide myself. I also don't want to step out and get stabbed so, something nice, good area for me, with easy commuting options.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, the Midtown area is pretty trendy and has a bunch of MARTA stops off of it. Don't really even need a car if you live there (though the MARTA is fairly limited). Little Five Points and East Atlanta are the trendiest parts of the city, but don't have as good rail access and you'll probably have more need for a car.

[Pekka]

Yeah I don't think I want a car. I'd rather not have a car. Only 6 months, so... it's just a hassle at that point I figure. I can rent one for a day or two if I really need one. So I'll look for Midtown apartments and... possibly those two other areas. What do you mean by trendy though? I just want... you know. I don't want to hide, I want to have fun as well.

[Pekka]

This is really important to me, I cannot point it loudly enough. I've been going through a rough patch lately, and the last thing I need is to have a bad start there, where I'm not socializing enough. I mean if that happens, it's not something that is easy to recover from, since it's only 6 months, have tons of work, yet you know... I don't want to continue my rough patch with 6 months by myself living somewhere where I don't get to know anyone, I want to get the most out of it. It's really really important to me at this point. It's the most important thing, I didn't even want to go first, normally I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but like I said.... this is important, that I have a social life there. It's about as important as the work itself. I can't take 6 months of suck right now.