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As someone from Atlanta, I can confirm that there is a growing interest in start-ups (or at least at GT there was). My goal after grad school is to start a com

As someone from Atlanta, I can confirm that there is a growing interest in start-ups (or at least at GT there was). My goal after grad school is to start a company; I just don't know in what yet :) I should mention that it's difficult to characterize all people in Atlanta under one sort of personality type. In my experience, it varies wildly. Atlanta is more of a commuter city where a lot of people from the suburban area surrounding it drive to work each day. Of those who actually live in the city, I believe liberal is more frequent (particularly in the Midtown area), but again, there is a wide variety. Atlanta has a reputation for crime, but this has actually improved significantly since the Olympics and I don't believe Atlanta is any worse than other big cities now. There's also a variety of things to do in Atlanta. Some examples including the High Museum of Art and many local jazz clubs. There's also a number of outdoorsy things. Two prominent bike trails (Silver Comet and Freedom/Stone Mountain trail) + a new one they're building through Atlanta called the Beltline.

melonakos 14y ago
Xcelerate, shoot me a tweet to talk startups (@melonakos)
- evoxed 14y ago
  Unrelated, but there's something at least mildly amusing about "shooting a tweet". With email it was just a metaphor for sending a message quickly/lightly. Shooting a tweet makes me think of picking off tiny birds (tweets) a la skeet shooting. Carry on ;)
  - melonakos 14y ago
    Yeah, I started by saying shoot an email, but realized I didn't want to post my email address here :)
    - gtank 14y ago
      I do post my email here (profile) and would love to chat with some HN people around Atlanta and/or GT.
TechNewb 14y ago
I also live, work, and have grown up in Atlanta. I have to say he gives a realistic and well made argument. I'd personally rather live/work in Atlanta over Austin, but the culture of Atlanta, while improving, is nowhere near the likes of San Fran or NYC. But there have been many successful start ups through out Atlanta's history, such as Coke, Turner Broadcasting System(CNN/Turner/etc), UPS, and more. All of these were revolutionary start ups at the time, and now are massive corporations. I expect future companies like this to be founded here in Atlanta, because it is essentially the capital of the South East, geographically about a quarter of the country. What makes me want to move away from Atlanta is the poor city infrastructure, the dependence on suburbs, and the lack of culture. In Atlanta there is possibly less muse than in San Fran or NYC, and the city as a whole can sometimes come across as anti intellectual, which is quite the opposite of most of San Fran and NYC. Beside GA Tech and Emory college students, networking would be relatively small when compared to NYC or San Fran. But for someone who already has their network built out, such as a start up from SF/NYC trying to cut costs, Atlanta could be the place. And it's also ideal for people moving from smaller cities who don't want the large city feel. If Atlanta had a more walkable and livable environment, it's be quite amazing.
- lgleason 14y ago
  The anti-intellectual nature is quite frustrating at times and outside of a few pockets is something that could benefit from more intellectuals coming into the area.
- melonakos 14y ago
  It's not "anti-intellectual", it's a refreshing dose of anti-snotty-ism (not typically synonymous with cities containing top research universities).
  - TechNewb 14y ago
    I agree, there is very little snotty-ism compared to other cities. And one would not feel the 'anti-intellectual' nature of the city if working in certain environments, such as GATech, Emory, CDC, ect. Atlanta is a great city, and for many people may be the best, but to compare it to San Fran and NYC, there is still much room for improvement on many areas. GATech is just awesome though.
gte910h 14y ago
>Atlanta has a reputation for crime, Atlanta's population swells by 50% during the day. This causes massive crime rate distortion issues (aka, using night population figures, aka, people with the actual address of the city on their driver's license, when really day population figures are much more appropriate for daylight crimes during the week).
Inebas 14y ago
How can I get more connected? I live in the suburb and it's quite difficult and the traffic through Atlanta is a pain...

melonakos 14y ago

Xcelerate, shoot me a tweet to talk startups (@melonakos)

evoxed 14y ago
Unrelated, but there's something at least mildly amusing about "shooting a tweet". With email it was just a metaphor for sending a message quickly/lightly. Shooting a tweet makes me think of picking off tiny birds (tweets) a la skeet shooting. Carry on ;)
- melonakos 14y ago
  Yeah, I started by saying shoot an email, but realized I didn't want to post my email address here :)
  - gtank 14y ago
    I do post my email here (profile) and would love to chat with some HN people around Atlanta and/or GT.

TechNewb 14y ago

I also live, work, and have grown up in Atlanta. I have to say he gives a realistic and well made argument. I'd personally rather live/work in Atlanta over Austin, but the culture of Atlanta, while improving, is nowhere near the likes of San Fran or NYC. But there have been many successful start ups through out Atlanta's history, such as Coke, Turner Broadcasting System(CNN/Turner/etc), UPS, and more. All of these were revolutionary start ups at the time, and now are massive corporations. I expect future companies like this to be founded here in Atlanta, because it is essentially the capital of the South East, geographically about a quarter of the country. What makes me want to move away from Atlanta is the poor city infrastructure, the dependence on suburbs, and the lack of culture. In Atlanta there is possibly less muse than in San Fran or NYC, and the city as a whole can sometimes come across as anti intellectual, which is quite the opposite of most of San Fran and NYC. Beside GA Tech and Emory college students, networking would be relatively small when compared to NYC or San Fran. But for someone who already has their network built out, such as a start up from SF/NYC trying to cut costs, Atlanta could be the place. And it's also ideal for people moving from smaller cities who don't want the large city feel. If Atlanta had a more walkable and livable environment, it's be quite amazing.

lgleason 14y ago
The anti-intellectual nature is quite frustrating at times and outside of a few pockets is something that could benefit from more intellectuals coming into the area.
melonakos 14y ago
It's not "anti-intellectual", it's a refreshing dose of anti-snotty-ism (not typically synonymous with cities containing top research universities).
- TechNewb 14y ago
  I agree, there is very little snotty-ism compared to other cities. And one would not feel the 'anti-intellectual' nature of the city if working in certain environments, such as GATech, Emory, CDC, ect. Atlanta is a great city, and for many people may be the best, but to compare it to San Fran and NYC, there is still much room for improvement on many areas. GATech is just awesome though.

gte910h 14y ago

>Atlanta has a reputation for crime, Atlanta's population swells by 50% during the day. This causes massive crime rate distortion issues (aka, using night population figures, aka, people with the actual address of the city on their driver's license, when really day population figures are much more appropriate for daylight crimes during the week).

Inebas 14y ago

How can I get more connected? I live in the suburb and it's quite difficult and the traffic through Atlanta is a pain...