re: Atlanta - what's special about it?

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East Cobb? Sandy Springs? North Fulton County? It's 90% white and Asian.

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I live in Buckhead and work in the northern corridor. Go to any restaurant or shopping area in Sandy Springs or Alpharetta and there will be plenty of minorities. Meanwhile, go to the nicer suburbs in any other major city and that won't be the case.

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My wife went to the public school in East Cobb and I think there were less than ten black people in the entire public school. Asians and some Indians, yes. But it was almost all the same socioeconomic class.

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I went to a similar school and had a similar experience. It just isn't the case anymore. Maybe Walton is still like that but I think you'd be hard pressed to find many schools anywhere in the metro that have that sort of racial breakdown anymore. As for wealth disparities, that's kind of true for schools, but certainly not every day life. And most importantly it's not unique to Atlanta.

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Drive north into suburbia for 20 minutes, and drive south into suburbia for 20 minutes. It's like two different suburban worlds. That is what I am referring to.

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Is there somewhere this isn't the case? Anyway, to wrap it up if you go to any "nice part" of the suburbs in any major city other than Atlanta, you're likely to find their shops, restaurants and parks to be far, far more segregated than Atlanta's. Atlanta has a black middle class that allows/requires black and white (and others) to dine and shop and recreate together in a way that just doesn't exist in most parts of the country.

I grew up in BR, went to college, and have lived in Atlanta since. 20+ years. I hate it and would move in ten minutes for several reasons. One being that I got the shite kicked out of me by some dudes looking for trouble about 15 years ago. Traffic sucks and there are not as many good restaurants as a city this large should support. Outside of 285 is suburban cookie cutter crap that I would never step foot in save for my kids sports. My wife's family is from Atlanta and lives here. That and the airport are the only reasons I am here. Once the older generation passes, I will be gone. In ten minutes.

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There is quite literally no city in the country where heavily white communities "go mix it up" with areas that are predominantly middle class black. In part that's because Atlanta is one of the few, if not the only cities in America where there are swaths of suburban areas that have that character (predominantly middle class black).

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I am not saying that north Atlanta is racist or anything close to that. I am just saying that having lived in Charleston, Clemson, Atlanta, Reno, Waynesville, Virginia Beach and a PA rust belt city... Atlanta is by far my least favorite of those cities. I have great friends and family there. It's not terrible, but if I ever make it back there, it won't be because I love metro Atlanta.

I think it just goes with the territory of having a large city that sprawls that has a large white and black population. Sure inside the perimeter its more of a melting pot, but most families live outside the perimeter in the suburbs. I am no fan of the East Cobb bubble.

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That reality is why it's so annoying to hear people from the north in particular talk about the South's racial issues, particularly Atlanta's - We're one of the most integrated cities in the world.

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I am a southerner by birth. This isn't Yankee criticism. It might come with the territory for most big cities with a large minority population. Atlanta is not what I would call integrated. It has a ton of opportunities for black people, but at the end of the day I wouldn't call it integrated. I would say Charleston is much more integrated than Atlanta. Geography/sprawl plays a part in that.

Here is an awesome map on racial breakdown for the entire US... You can see what I am saying about Atlanta.
Racial Breakdown Map

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Here is an awesome map on racial breakdown for the entire US... You can see what I am saying about Atlanta.
Racial Breakdown Map

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This explains the excellent ethnic food along Buford Highway and in Sandy Springs.

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That reality is why it's so annoying to hear people from the north in particular talk about the South's racial issues, particularly Atlanta's - We're one of the most integrated cities in the world.

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This is so very true. Head out to progressive cities like Denver or Portland from Atlanta and you will be SHOCKED how little diversity you see, especially AAs.

The real point I'm trying to make about integration is that I know of nowhere else in the South where black and white people regularly mix in the same shopping areas/restaurants/etc. like they do in Atlanta. There is plenty of segregation remaining (black clubs, black-dominated restaurants, etc.), but I don't go to top restaurants in Charleston or Birmingham or Richmond and see the same mix of black and white people dining in the same places.

That, I believe, is because often the black segments of those cities don't have the resources to shop/dine/drink in the same places. In Atlanta that isn't necessarily true.
Outside of the South it's even less common because the black populations are typically lower. And of course white-black isn't the only metric for diversity but it's the most discussed.

TLDR: I'd be shocked if there are other cities where a suburban Outback or Maggianos might be 50-60% black like is common in the Atlanta metro.

ETA: I wasn't trying to lump you in with the yankees CivilTiger, just adding that point because it's relevant to my middle class-and-integration position

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In most other cities I have lived in, people of all classes and races bump into each other a lot more.

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Chicago/NYC are about as segregated as it gets.

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So, to you, are black people the only people of color to be considered in diversity? This is what you are arguing, seems a bit racists

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Negative. I think I am more arguing about class. The north Atlanta suburbs are a homogenous mix of people all from the same class, and mostly from the same race. A place like Charleston or Virginia Beach is a hodge podge of different classes of people in close proximity.

If you live inside the perimeter, it's a different experience. But most people who are sending their kids to public school are not going with that option.

Charleston has some weird class issues as well with the old Charleston families, but they are a small enough contingent you don't mind them. You can be driving on Johns Island or James Island and on the same road you might have a million dollar home and a trailer or shack next door. So when you go to the grocery store or are shopping, you bump into all classes of people.

That is really what I am talking about... Atlanta is better than a lot of places, but the traffic and suburban sprawl is not for me.

Diversity of women and the capital of CFB.

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It really is.

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Living there for so long I had forgot. Would bring friends to visit parents for sec championship games, peach bowls, the kick off classic and braves games.

They would always be amazed. And that was just taking them to Marietta.