I’ve lived in Atlanta since 2008. My business is here, and I run a YouTube channel about how much I love living in Atlanta, Georgia. So this is not a post to bash the city. It’s for people who are thinking about moving here, or who have to move here, and want to know what to expect. This post covers the things I hate about living in Atlanta, taken from a video I published in October 2024.
I didn’t want to write the typical list with cockroaches, mosquitoes, pollen and humidity. My list is about higher-level issues that we don’t have much control over, but that shape your day-to-day experience here. I could only come up with four, and these are truly the four biggest.
One caveat: this is specific to me. I grew up in the Northeast, and that experience informs how I feel about living in the Southeast. These are my opinions. My way is not the right way. If you’re planning a move, my relocation page is the place to start.
1. Atlanta Is Anti-Urbanization
Atlanta is one of the fastest growing metros in the country. As of when I made the video in 2024, tens of thousands of people were moving here every year. In my opinion, our infrastructure and urban planning are not adequate for the influx we’re going to see over the next 10 to 20 years. The two biggest consequences are insane traffic and congestion, and a severe lack of affordable housing.
Traffic and affordable housing are things you will hear Atlantans complain about daily. But when potential solutions come up, locals often vote against the initiatives that could help. I see two common examples.
Inner-city neighborhoods vote down density
Picture a single-family lot in an inner-city neighborhood like Kirkwood. A developer wants to build 12 or 24 townhomes on it, depending on the lot size. The community often votes that down. They like the idea of more affordable housing, but they don’t want denser housing in their immediate backyard. They want their big single-family lot, not an apartment building, condominium or townhome across the street or down the block.
It’s not one neighborhood. Neighborhoods all over the city vote down these zoning changes in community meetings, and developers are forced to look elsewhere. I know developers are often the bad guys, and their projects don’t always account for what they mean to the neighborhood.
Commercial projects get pushback too
There’s a major development in the works in the Poncey-Highland area around Ponce City Market, where a large section of parking lots is going to be developed. It’s a beloved nightlife area with popular, long-standing clubs, and I get that. But some of the same people complaining about a lack of affordable housing don’t want a parking lot, which has no housing on it, torn up for a modern residential building. Even if it’s out of the price range of the average consumer, it adds to the overall housing supply, and that has a net beneficial effect on housing costs.
Density projects like these are the ones that would eventually bring down housing costs and reduce our dependence on cars. Many people love the BeltLine, but they don’t want light rail on it, which is exactly what it was originally intended for. They say it’s too crowded or it will ruin it. In reality, light rail could transform the city and make us a little less car dependent.
The suburbs vote down transit
Outside the city, you see it in votes against expanding public transportation, particularly in Cobb and Gwinnett counties. MARTA, the Atlanta area’s public transit system, expanding into those counties would be mutually beneficial in a lot of ways, because many people living in those areas work in the inner city. Our heavy rail and public transit in general are sorely lacking, and they depend far too much on an underfunded bus system. Whenever MARTA expansion measures come up on the ballot in those counties or the other surrounding ones, they don’t get voted through.
We can only build so many more lanes or highways, and we are extremely car dependent. It’s hard to imagine living and working anywhere in metro Atlanta where you absolutely don’t need to own a car. As a consequence, we have some of the worst traffic in the country, and the roads are dangerous.
The problems we’re seeing now will only be compounded by the people still moving here. I really wish Atlanta would get on board with becoming denser and less car dependent.
2. Corporate Chains Everywhere
Atlanta is growing so fast that there are major new developments in every part of the city. When a new strip center goes up, I can tell you off the top of my head which businesses will be in it. There’s going to be a Tropical Smoothie, an AT&T and a Chick-fil-A, or one of a dozen other of the biggest corporate chains you can think of.
I get that you need basic amenities like banks or urgent care. I’m talking about restaurants and retail stores, where there is a severe lack of independently owned businesses. You may not notice it at first, but it stands out once you travel to a city with more independent places.
I spend a lot of time in Portland, Oregon, because I have family there, and the number of independent shops and restaurants is unbelievable. That’s probably an extreme example and a little unfair to Atlanta, because I know Oregon has very aggressive laws that protect those businesses. But it’s a stark difference. Even high-end dining here is usually controlled by a big restaurant group that runs six other places.
Those restaurants can still be very good. But I appreciate the specialness of an independent owner whose livelihood depends on the business. All of my favorite places I’ve ever shopped have been independently owned. As far as I can tell, there are little to no protections or incentives for small business owners in Atlanta, or at least none significant enough to compete with the major chains.
I think that erodes the culture here to a degree. Atlanta does have culture, and in my opinion it revolves around the Civil Rights Movement, entrepreneurship and music. All of that is wonderful and distinct to this city. But there’s a bit of a void when it comes to restaurants and retail. Of all the great things about living here, the restaurant and retail shopping scene is not one of them, so spending your money as a consumer here goes in the “con” category for me.
3. Everyone Owns a Gun
To be honest, this is probably number one for me, and I’m sure I’ll get some levelheaded responses in the comments. I have no issue with responsible gun ownership, and in my experience the majority of gun owners around me are responsible. But I grew up in an area of the Northeast where gun ownership was much rarer, and I prefer that to my current situation.
Here, when I go out, I see people open carry. The majority of people are probably concealed carrying. The overwhelming majority of people in my friend groups are gun owners. Gun violence is very prevalent in metro Atlanta. You constantly see gun-related stories in the news, and recently that includes road rage incidents with shootings on the highway. I just don’t like it. It’s not my preference.
If you think I’m overblowing this, know that in Georgia, residents can carry a handgun in public without a license or a background check. That’s the law Governor Kemp signed in 2022.
Do you need to be really scared about this if you’re moving here? No. I’m not talking about your statistical chances of being involved in gun violence. I’m talking about my personal experience living here for 15-plus years. I haven’t personally had an issue with gun violence, but I know acquaintances who have been victims of it. It’s uncomfortable for me, and I don’t enjoy living in a city where gun culture is so prolific. But that’s just me.
4. People Are Inconsiderate
Before you get your feathers ruffled: there are great people here, and some of my best friends and family now live in Georgia. But most big cities have a personality type or commonalities in how people behave, and in my experience living in a bunch of different parts of the country, people in the Atlanta area are, on the whole, more inconsiderate than in other major cities I’ve lived in. They’re outwardly nice, kind and often helpful, but not aware of how their actions affect the people around them.
Here’s the comparison I use. I grew up just outside New York City. New Yorkers get a reputation for being loud, brash and gruff. My experience is that they have a tough exterior, especially in the city, because they’re hyper aware of how their actions affect other people. It’s so dense that if you’re not paying attention while standing in line, in traffic or in a store or government office, you’ll get yelled at, or at least chirped at. That can strike people as extremely rude, but it creates social pressure to be mindful of others. Atlanta’s culture is very different.
The clearest example is driving. This is the only major city I’ve lived in where I consistently see people just stop in the middle of the road. Not on the highway, but driving around the city. They throw on their hazards, not to pull into the emergency lane or a parking spot, but to finish a phone call or a text or look at something online. And they do it in the most inconvenient places, like a turning lane, so now you have to go around them to make your turn.
It shows up in lines, stores, restaurants and government buildings. People down here move at their own pace, as I’ve said in previous videos, and in my experience they’re not concerned about how what they’re doing affects anyone around them. It could be reckless driving, extremely loud neighbors, or a government worker with zero sense of urgency.
If you picture a scale with Japan at one end, where the whole society takes pride in how everything they do affects everyone else, Atlanta is at the other end. I’m not saying Japan is the standard we should all hold ourselves to. That’s just for context. People here do their own thing and don’t really care how it affects anyone else.
The flip side is that people here are less likely to get pressed if you do something that infringes on them. They’ll just move on instead of complaining to you directly. These are generalizations and anecdotes, and it’s my own experience.
Is Atlanta Still a Good Place to Live?
These are the four things I hate most about living here, after more than 15 years as a resident. They’re specific to me, and none of them may land for you. If it didn’t sound so bad, you might love living here. This is a fantastic place to live, and these are my hardcore critiques. I didn’t leave anything off the list.
If you’re planning to move here, or have to, I want you to know what you’re getting into, good and bad. The channel is always going to be geared more toward the good, because I’m a positive person. But no city is perfect, and I have to balance it with the honest reality.
For more on the downsides, see moving to Atlanta downsides and reasons not to move to Atlanta. To compare areas, start with my Atlanta neighborhoods guide, and you can read more about me. If you’re considering a move and want honest feedback on where you’d fit, book a consultation with me.