Atlanta tops lists of “most irritated cities”
Argh!
Atlanta is the crankiest city in the nation.
That’s according to a new poll conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces and was based on a measurement of 11 irritation factors, including pest control, traffic congestion, and heat index, among others.
(We just walked across the street for lunch and can attest that the heat index is indeed pretty irritating today.)
The survey was commissioned by Edge Shave Zone, who has signed on comedian John Caparulo to help get the word out. Because of his, ahem, sharp wit. Heh.
Here’s the whole list.
50 Most Irritated U.S. Cities:
Atlanta, GA
Houston, TX
Washington, DC
Baltimore, MD
Los Angeles, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Tampa, FL
Birmingham, AL
New York, NY
Phoenix, AZ
Orlando, FL
Sacramento, CA
Dallas, TX
Miami, FL
Detroit, MI
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
San Diego, CA
Nashville, TN
Jacksonville, FL
Cincinnati, OH
Memphis, TN
Louisville, KY
San Francisco, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Columbus, OH
Raleigh, NC
St. Louis, MO
San Antonio, TX
Indianapolis, IN
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX
Boston, MA
Pittsburgh, PA
Seattle, WA
Virginia Beach, VA
Salt Lake City, UT
Oklahoma City, OK
Richmond, VA
Cleveland, OH
Denver, CO
Hartford, CT
Portland, OR
Kansas City, MO
Providence, RI
Tucson, AZ
Buffalo, NY
Minneapolis, MN
Milwaukee, WI
Rochester, NY
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150 comments Add your comment
Fred
July 23rd, 2010
11:27 pm
I’ll bet we would move to the bottom of the list if all these damn transplanted yankees would move the hell back up north.
mike73
July 23rd, 2010
11:54 pm
I just moved down here from Chicago a can truly say the people down here are much nicer!
VaHighlander
July 23rd, 2010
11:55 pm
NYC is much safer than Atlanta. You can walk down any major street in Manhattan and not fear for your life and pocketbook like you do here.
mike73
July 23rd, 2010
11:56 pm
Chicago is a dark cold evil place to live Atlanta is so nice and bright with so much greenery
Boo Hoo
July 24th, 2010
12:04 am
I is a rehdnec and ahh can’t spell trawler parhk. I wush all thes dam yankees whuld move bark to the nurth and leev tha erban planning to meh ahnd mah wife/sister to mess up even furthar.
blah_blah_blah
July 24th, 2010
12:12 am
I lived in the ATL area for 8 long years and found it just wasn’t for me. I tried but just couldn’t fall in love with ATL as I felt the city didn’t have the heart, soul and engery that a great city offers. Very unsafe, I never heard a gun shot until I moved to ATL and then I heard a lot. Big minority problem that will continue to drain the city. I read the AJC every once in a while to smile and be glad I’m gone. If you haven’t lived outside of the ATL area or the South, you really have nothing to compare it to like some of us do. I would take zero degrees and tons of snow over gangs, home invasions and tons of murders. ATL might have been nice at one point but it sure is the ghetto now.
Andre
July 24th, 2010
12:12 am
Too many angry yankees are here, take yo butt back!!!! Heck, the city wasn’t even this crazy when Freaknik came to town once a year.
Andre
July 24th, 2010
12:16 am
You sir are smoking crack- the raping in the street of freaknik ‘96? yeah, awesome atlanta culture. I think the angry rednecks should go back to the woods from whence they came. We were here first when we scared you away and burned the city a while back, so yeah, read a history book.
vuduchld
July 24th, 2010
12:22 am
Hey Scott, I moved one year ago and haven’t regretted a day. By the look at the latest merto area unemployment numbers, I suggest plenty more people better start doing the same thing! I lived in Atlanta 22 years had had been coming to the city since 1969. At one time it was a nice city , but now I wouldn’t tell a soul to move there. The city is way over hyped, congested, no trees or green space with way too many blighted strip malls. To be blunt, Atlanta best days are behind it. All I have to do is sell my downtown condo because I’m sure as hell not coming back. And for those near-do-wells who keep defending this city, please, stop trying to con people, it is what it is folks!!
outta here
July 24th, 2010
12:32 am
@ vuduchld… I agree with your comments. ATL has seens its best days and is in decline. Best to move on. I did 3 months ago and everyday I’m thankful I have left.
gatorman770
July 24th, 2010
12:53 am
If you can’t stand the heat….get the hail out of the kitchen!
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 24th, 2010
1:02 am
This is developed by a company in St. Louis – Energizer Holdings Inc. which owns “Edge” and Schick.
Makes me feel better about not using their products.
Alternative off-the-cuff promo: “Atlanta’s smoothest living in the world’s best city is almost as smooth as the shave I get from my Gillette razor and King of Shaves’ shaving oil.”
Venus
July 24th, 2010
1:11 am
Atlanta sucks, I moved to here from up north when I was in high school. I hated it then and I hate it now. lol , it is definitely overrated, I would never recommend anyone to move here. ITs cranky and clique-ish.
JJ Johnson
July 24th, 2010
2:55 am
Yep I left Atlanta in 2007. Best thing I ever did. Atlanta was once a great place to live. Now it is just another over populated racist cess pool. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in Atlanta.
sigh-__-
July 24th, 2010
4:01 am
@I’ll move when I’m ready….. Simply get the f*ck out then. no one asked you to stay. and for u to call other people ignorant based on their opinions and then you make your own negative comment is ignorant in itself…… think before you type…. please and thank you
Georgia Pete
July 24th, 2010
4:45 am
Can we PUHLEEEEESE stop this north / south cr*p? I mean come on. I was born in the south, raised up north. You know what? There are cranky people everywhere. Obnoxious northerners, rude rednecks, rude swamp yankees, southern inhospitality and southern hospitality. Northerners are nice as well as rude. Depends on where you are an d who you are talking to. But it’s time for the Civil War to end…..like it did 145 years ago.
Atlanta girl
July 24th, 2010
5:08 am
Well…..this has been a long dang time in coming! I could have told everyone this myself 10 years ago. Too dang many people from other areas have moved here and brought the attitude with em! Move on folks…no more jobs, no more southern hospitality and no more dang patience with the bunch of ya! If ya don’t like it, move back to where you came from! Lord knows we keep hearing how such and such place is so much better and how GA sucks. Need a bus ticket?
From Here
July 24th, 2010
5:30 am
If you sit around whining without trying to make a positive difference, you’re probably one of those who complains about the government but doesn’t vote.
DD
July 24th, 2010
6:37 am
I’m not sure if Atlanta is the crankiest city, but it sure has the worst radio stations and newspapers.
Bill
July 24th, 2010
7:24 am
T.O.
Clearly, you have never been to Detroit.
Peachy
July 24th, 2010
7:38 am
@ Scott
Delta is ready when you are.
oliver
July 24th, 2010
7:40 am
It is all true. Atlanta is the worst place in the world to live. There are toothless sodomites in the forests, the state bird is the mosquito, snakes as thick as your leg and anyone of any sense or value has left this backwater long ago. Remember Scott, Atlanta has the worlds biggest and busiest airport, home to the biggest airline, Delta, and it ‘is ready when you are’. Do you and the rest of your Yankee friends need air fair?
I love atlanta
July 24th, 2010
7:45 am
Why do people that hate Atlanta choose to live here and constantly complain about it? The only thing unpleasant about Atlanta is having to put up with these people. Please move and get the heck out of here!
Jake's mom
July 24th, 2010
8:14 am
anyone who’s ever lived in Cleveland OH knows THEY should top the list
Born and raised in Atlanta
July 24th, 2010
8:20 am
I agree…if you are not happy here in Atlanta there are plenty of other places for you to go and believe me we really don’t want you here! Scott Joe and T.O are porbably the ones who can’t drive and which makes most people irritated, go somewhere where the traffic isn’t bad, may bad traffic is bad everywhere in the major cities! Just get out please! That was nice, I said please!
Tricia
July 24th, 2010
8:33 am
I’ve been here 23 years.. it has not improved in all that time… too much traffic, hot, not enough leisure.. always the same thing each weekend.. shop, go out to eat, and movies… at least in NYC we had the beaches to cool off and plenty of great parks (which we actually use). sorry
Atlanta.. you’re boring… yes I’m irritated… no I’m not leaving.. we came here to try and improve your quality of life.. we’re not leaving till we accomplish that!
Bronco
July 24th, 2010
8:40 am
Since there are some dark age drones on here labeling people as “Yankees,” I will go ahead and admit that I am indeed a carpetbagger. ATL is probably not much “crankier” than most major cities. It is hot, smog ridden and overly busy, as are most major cities. Still, it beats snow and months of below freezing weather up north! Regardless, here is my frustration with the city:
1. Lanes that merge on top of one another with little warning
2. Awful lack of street signs
3. Tons of useless bureaucrats working in businesses (utilities, cable, services, etc.) and government
4. Bums everywhere
5. Police and other city workers who spend more time texting than working
6. The most backward public education system I have ever witnessed
7. Ebonics that non-black folks cannot possibly comprehend
8. Lackadaisical attitude of workers in various customer service areas
Shackled by Real Estate
July 24th, 2010
8:42 am
I was born in the South, lived all over the world for 20 years with the military and moved to Atlanta for a job 3 years ago. What I’ve found is that Southern hospitality is gone. It’s not a north/south thing because,* Newsflash*, the civil war is over! It’s a selfish, I’m better than my neighbor attitude that is rampant here. I’ve never seen so many unfriendly people – try merging in traffic. I’m sure the pickup truck with the rebel flag sticker who won’t let me over is not a transplanted Yankee. Stop blaming others Atlanta residents – the unwelcoming attitude is the new norm here. Now if only the economy will improve so I can sell my d*mn house I’ll be glad to leave you all here to point fingers at the yankees who’ve ruined your town.
Amy
July 24th, 2010
8:55 am
Why do all these people complain? Go away then!!
woodie
July 24th, 2010
8:58 am
Atlanta has a lot of issues for sure. Mostly minority populations that have issues with white people. Reverse racism is rampant and nobody wants to talk about it. A political blindness if you will. It’s driving crime and poverty and apathy. Blame the white male. That’s getting nowhere. Time to wake up to reality. You wanted the city, you got the city, now you hate your city. Atlanta sucks and has for the past 40 years and that’s why I live outside that cesspool.
Critical Think
July 24th, 2010
9:06 am
Ummm…boots…NYC IS on the list (to help you out, it’s below Birmingham and above Phoenix)…perhaps the heat is getting to you
waiting moderation: Not all ‘yankees’ are angry and not all native ’southerners’ are hospitable…trust me. Let me guess…the latter is because they are angry at the ‘those angry yankees’…riiiight, riiight.
BTW – when will people remember the era when ’southerners’ move up North (and I don’t mean after the Civil War)? Did ‘yankees’ have so many compliments back then? Thankfully the south lost and slavery ended…let it go already…geez…
Arrrrgh
July 24th, 2010
9:21 am
It’s 9am and the heat index is already like 100. And the Braves closer blew another game last night. Boy am I irritated.
Jawgee Goobers is Good
July 24th, 2010
9:24 am
One question: Why would any sentient being live in Atlanta, Ga, or Dixie. The air is awful, the traffic horrible, the education a joke, the politicians vile white trash(as are most of the people) the heat and humidity unbearable, the culture(LOL) Nascar, eating contests, high school football, goat roping) and on and on. The gay-bashing obsession and the endless Bible thumping are sickening as well. Here is a hint – why the hey don’t you Southern states secede? I am sure the rest of the nation will object mightily! Not!!!
TMEWSTR
July 24th, 2010
9:27 am
Glad I left! Overall being much improved.Added years to my life.
outta here
July 24th, 2010
9:28 am
I took a 100k hit when selling my home to move, but you know what… it was worth it for me. I am much happier in a safer environment.
@woodie.. I agree “Reverse racism is rampant and nobody wants to talk about it”
If I were a true Southerner, I wouldn’t be upset with the Northerners but the minorities that have “taken over” and are running the city into the ground. Sounds racist, yes… but facts are facts.
read
July 24th, 2010
9:29 am
@boots
NYC is on the list. It’s in the top 10!
kathy
July 24th, 2010
9:30 am
I have lived here all of my life !! all 67 years and I say Ditto to Scott !! This is also one of our good ole Southern cities where people do not like you just because of your political views !! God forbid you are liberal anywhere but Midtown !!! Lots of the usual angry conservatives who scream at you for the Obama sticker on your car !! (really happened!)….just watch them respond to this !!
kathy
July 24th, 2010
9:38 am
Also, to the “not racist” child who wrote about the “minority run” Atlanta government… you obviously were not here in the white 70’s to watch out illustrious Fulton County commission !! and other than the mayor this was a worse run City than it is now !! Remember the old Water Dept or getting a car tag ??/ or rat control downtown ??? It was all a joke !!
Jawgee Goobers is Good
July 24th, 2010
9:41 am
Beautiful Words from James Howard Kunstler:
“Behind the incoherent cargo of conflicting complaints that makes up Tea Party doctrine — like “keeping the government’s hands off our medicare!” — stands the more basic dissolution of the Sunbelt’s miracle economy, along with the pain and bewilderment of the southern peckerwood political nexus that rose out of the dust after World War Two to build the suburban nirvana of universal air-conditioning, happy motoring, Jesus tub-thumping, over-eating, and Friday night football that defined Sunbelt culture. They sense now that history is about to thrust them back into the okra patch, with the hookworms and the chiggers, as the economy whirls down the drain, and the car dealerships close up, and the idle production homebuilders succumb to methedrine addiction, and the price of Reba McEntire tickets exceeds their dwindling resources, and they are none too happy about any of that.
Of course this Sunbelt political culture has tentacles and outposts all over the USA, wherever a few generations of laboring folk enjoyed debt-fueled parabolic rises in living standards during the cheap oil decades, and now find themselves in foreclosure hell, indentured to the very WalMarts that they welcomed with open arms (and allowed to destroy their local businesses) — and, of course, it’s yet another paradox that these are the same folk who will still defend the big box masters to their deaths. The America they stand for is a weird contradictory mish-mash of Confederate nostalgia, hyper-individualism that really owes allegiance to nothing, racial enmity, religious paranoia, and potemkin patriotism — especially involving anything in the constitution that allows them to wriggle out of obligations to the public interest at the same time that they get to push other groups of people around.”
Get Out There and Enjoy
July 24th, 2010
9:45 am
Don’t let a daily dose served morning, noon and night of blacks behaving badly by 5,2, and 11 plant a perception of a city that is just awful. Like all major American cities Atlanta has its share of angst inducing characteristics. Overall Atlanta is a beautiful city. From afar you notice gleaming towers piercing an emerald canvas from downtown to midtown to Buckhead to Sandy Springs and the perimeter/Dunwoody area. Tons of restaurants, not just national chains, shopping, all major league sports teams, major corporations, the world busiest airport that continues to grow, the most ambitious city development (the beltline) in the nation, neighborhood festivals, more black business owners per capita than any other city in the nation. No Atlanta isn’t perfect. No place is. Perfection is unobtainable. We can only improve things but never perfect them. Get away from the keyboard and get out there. Remember, you can’t expect to find your living room everywhere you go.
Jawgee Goobers is Good
July 24th, 2010
10:02 am
More JHK:
Out of Darkness
By James Howard Kunstler
on May 24, 2010 6:55 AM
If the Devil created an anti-city, a place where people would feel least human, Atlanta would surely be that place — despite the prayerful babble of tongues emanating from the evangelical roller rinks at every freeway off-ramp. One might think: Los Angeles, but that city at least came up with the amenity of valet parking, mostly lacking in Atlanta, where the suffocating heat slows the journey of blood from heart to brain.
My homeys, the New Urbanists, held their annual meeting at the “downtown” Hilton there this past week — a most mysterious selection, perhaps due to an x-treme discount on room rates in a time of austerity.
TOM
July 24th, 2010
10:03 am
Why should people who weren’t born here leave? Why can’t all of the racist, conservative morons who think they have more right to be in an American city than I do leave? *Newsflash* Ga has been trying hard and succeeding in attracting companies to move here. THAT is why people came in the last three decades. Native atlantans are a disingenuous mutant breed of swamper whom I do not consider to be actually ’southern’, REAL southerners are graciousness, honest and hospitable – and that is not what you are. Delta is ready when YOU are, need airfare? huh huh
heartofdarkness
July 24th, 2010
10:17 am
I believe the prosecution may rest it’s case.
Not Regionalism
July 24th, 2010
10:28 am
Boots are you retarded.. People on here gives the south a bad name. I was born and raised in the south and the list is no surprise. By the way New york City was on the list. Atlanta is a dirty city and overbuilt. It sauys alot by the vacancy rate. It also shows when stores open and stay only for a few months. Be for real and Boots your list makes no sense because I have been to Chicago and a few more of those cities and Chicago is not a dirty city. If you want to do murders based on population then Atlanta should be there..I don’t know why some try to make this city seem great when its not..ATlanta will never be important because its not a port city and will lack the activities that coastal cities offer. The traffic and crime is why so many are irritated.. Stop messing with Scott he stated his opinion like the rest of you. Many of you probably never left the area yourselfs and if it keeps snowing here then what will be the difference from Atlanta and the rest of the North..You all live in the same country and people up north I do give thenm this that they are open-minded and in the south that is really hard to come by..lmao
Jellie
July 24th, 2010
10:37 am
This article irritates me!!!
rerew
July 24th, 2010
10:40 am
What a stupid story, whoever wrote this must be from Canada. Yes its hot, however I’ve spent years in the heat here so that has nothing to do with my mood
Sick of it all!
July 24th, 2010
10:55 am
We all wish you all would go back where you came from. Ga was better before you came. The crime rate is worse. The educational system is worse. The cost of housing increased. You transplants brought more trouble than you are worth!
YMA
July 24th, 2010
11:02 am
Funny article with a lot of truth to it– just look at all the cranky comments posted by these crank Atlantans. And to all your cranky bigots on this post, the foreigners are actually the nicer people in this city. New York has crime, but it is also the safest city in this country right now, thanks to the common sense of its administration who puts safety first, and spends the monies necessary to ensure that police officers and fire fighters are well paid. I blame all thise cranky Bible thumping Baptists who are blocking any 21st century progress in the city’s archaic laws and regulations.
Tired Of It
July 24th, 2010
11:03 am
Have any of you noticed…, the people who say’s that they moved from Atlanta and are much happier as a result ot the move, never say where they moved to? Why is that? Don’t they like to rep their new homes, or is it that they’re ashamed of their new homes, and they’re not being entirely truthful? As far as this Ga Tech thing goes, if you’re being preyed upom, it’s your own damn fault. Man up, quit acting like little bitches or sissies and act like you have some men on that campus maybe you’ll quit getting pimped on your own campus!!!
Tired
July 24th, 2010
11:39 am
The area around Ga Tech is dangerous PERIOD. That is not a nice area, they have a campus in the midst of a ghetto. Haha there aren’t any men on the GT campus. Why would people just want to bash Atlanta for the heck of it? Why would you imply that downtown & midtown are people friendly when they anything but and dangerous to boot? Atlanta has some obstacles facing it before it can become worthy of all the hype that it generates.