How is Atlanta?

[The Annoyed Man]

Is it a nice city?

Somebody on another forum told me there were bad gun laws there.  Is that true?

[Manedwolf]

I did not like it at all. The air was unbreathable, and there were some serious gang hangout-looking places I passed downtown. Briefly there on business, found it to be something like Newark or South Central LA, but more humid.

I'd been there with family long ago, when Underground Atlanta was a nice place. Now I'm told if you go there, you're likely to get jumped, and it's just a Foot Locker and some other generic nothing stuff.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've heard about the air

[Bigjake]

It's the New York City of Jawja, avoid it if you can. 

Manedwolf already hit the major points.  When I was a kid, the Underground always was neat, and theres the Coca Cola world HQ and museum there, a must see.  past that, gobs of traffic and people I'd just rather avoid. 

Go see Savannah, much nicer town.

[Boomhauer]

Atlanta. It sucks ass. It's huge. Crowded. Way too much freakin traffic. Bad drivers. Lotso crime. Never met anybody that likes it...

Anywhere but Atlanta...we Southerners don't claim it...northerners and other outsiders have pretty much taken it over...go elsewhere, and you will be much happier...

[Manedwolf]

Go see Savannah, much nicer town.

Pirate House!

[The Annoyed Man]

How about the gun laws?  Just out of curiosity.

[roo_ster]

I will be the outlier and say I liked Atlanta and think it would be a fine town to go to college in, especially a single man.

Nice City?
You have nice parts and not-nice parts.  Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full does a good job of capturing bits of Atlanta.

North of Downtown, Atlanta is really nice: Midtown, Buckhead, the much-maligned (because of nuveau-riche affluence), but low-crime areas of Dunwoody.  Virgina-Highlands, Little Five Points, and some others are not-scary places to catch some local color.  La Fonda Latina restaurant serves real paella.  Cheap.  There are other interesting neighborhoods and burgs.

The topography is beautiful: hills, trees, water, mountains nearby.

Atlanta was my #1 choice as a place to live & work after getting out of the service.  I ended up getting a hot offer elsewhere, but Atlanta would have been great.

The single girl-to-guy ratio heavily favors the guys, meaning, more gals than guys.  It seems any gal in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas who has something going for her, gets to Atlanta.  Let me put it to you this way: I was newly out of the Army and looking for serious work, living with my sister & BIL in N Atlanta.  I had my double-major in physics/history, but was still under-employed working temp jobs so I wouldn't go nuts just looking for work, but not doing any.  Even under those circumstances, I could still score dates with hot, squared-away, professional, ambitious, going-places gals (CPA, ob-gyn, etc.).  Plenty of single gals to go 'round.  And I am not "Mr. Charm them off their feet," just a fairly sharp guy who was, at that point, much more potential than provider.   

South of Downtown...avoid like the plague.  It is a good place to get killed.  Even Downtown was a little too "urban" for my tastes. 

Also, if you are hetero and male, keep your back to the wall & bring a date if you hit any clubs in Midtown.    Atlanta is run over with, uh, "gals who played softball" and "men who dress well and are really clean." 

Traffic?  You betcha.  But, times traffic is not so thick, the de facto speed limit on freeways is 70+MPH.  Also, there are numerous back-ways to noodle around.  Most times, you can take one of those and save time.


Gun Laws?

Getting a CHL was the easiest of any shall-issue state I have had one, save the "mail $20 and a xerox of your resident CHL" New Hampshire non-res permit.

But, the restrictions on carry places was more extensive than other shall-issue states, IIRC.

[mfree]

" the de facto speed limit on freeways is 70+MPH."

They don't call it the Georgia 400 because of the highway designation.

I have been passed like I was sitting still at 85mph in 285 before as well, and by a string of cars.

[Boomhauer]

Oh, and the drivers in atlanta will change lanes without looking, and it ain't changing lanes into the next lane, no, it is across FIVE freakin lanes of traffic at 90mph+