Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. SPECIAL SERIES: A Tale of Two Cities. 2021. Part 4. Atlanta vs Georgia.

I first started hearing about Atlanta as a child in the late early 1980s. Our neighbors in Michigan moved to some place called Dunwoody. A place I am quite familiar with now and imagine was significantly smaller back in the day. I recall they built a home and were overwhelmed with the amount of natural wood used inside on trim and such and the attention to detail the builder put into satisfying their desires. Mr. Riley proclaimed something like “if you don’t like the moldings, they just rip them out and start over” - I don’t think they would find that as easily to be the case today. They also might be scraping into Dunwoody now, not building a custom home from West Bloomfield today. West Bloomfield and Dunwoody are somewhat similar in both being more affluent suburbs. According to Zillow, however, the average home price in Dunwoody is $502,716 and West Bloomfield the average is $348,508.  While West Bloomfield definitely did grow from the time the Rileys left and when my family left in 1985, I don't know of much growth anywhere in Detroit Metro today other than Downtown Detroit is finally having some long anticipated renaissance. Dunwoody, like everywhere around Atlanta, has only grown and continues to have grown over literally my entire lifetime.

In the early 90s, when my age group was entering the workforce, there were large migrations of people I knew from the Northeast and Midwest to Atlanta and Seattle. My step-sister and step-brother are among them. Tracy is a graduate from the University of Georgia and Bill came here not long after finishing law school. It is a rare day in Atlanta that I do not encounter someone from New York or New Jersey.

I considered moving to Atlanta in 1996 when I ultimately moved to Los Angeles. I've been recently saying "Atlanta wasn't ready for me yet." Atlanta in 1996 was ever growing but was still very Southern. I don't say that in a flattering way either. The division between blacks and whites was very ingrained and strong and it was nearly as multicultural as it is today. There were all sorts of archaic laws on the books about who you could lease an apartment with, who could massage whom depending on which county you were located in. Gay sex was still illegal in Georgia. If I recall, the sale of sex toys was still illegal as well.

While some cities and counties added some protections for LGBT people over the years, it has been the courts that have ultimately paved the way toward equality. In Bostock vs. Clayton County which was only decided in June of 2020 by the US Supreme Court, a county south of Atlanta fired an employee for wanting to play in a gay softball league. Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the 6-3 majority opinion that such action was discrimination and covered under Title VII. This not only is a win for Georgia, but the 20+ states that did not still have employment protections for LGBT workers. In 2011 in Glenn vs. Brumby a legislative editor for the Georgia State Assembly was fired for revealing her transgender status. The case prevailed on appeal to the US Circuit Court providing protections for transgender workers in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. So perhaps lingering Georgian ignorance and some hell-bent determination of others are to be thanked for bringing overdue societal change. (I just learned about the latter case myself... really enjoy when I learn writing my own blog!) 

I remember a drag queen saying to me one night, "well honey Atlanta is just fine and all, but it's surrounded by Georgians." Some 25 years later that still holds true to an extent, but while Atlanta has grown extensively, other areas in Georgia have become more progressive and, simply, times are changing. I was here leading up to the recent runoff election for the US Senate. My Father said to me long ago that people in the South wear religion on their sleeve. They also wear their politics in their yard, big time.

I've never seen as many political signs, not just this Senate race or remaining from the recent Presidential election, but for Black Lives Matter, Let us back in school, thanking healthcare workers and the list goes on. As we have been house hunting, we have not only noticed this but that LGBT folks and perhaps their allies seem to like to fly their pride flags. I mentioned to my husband recently that it will be very easy to identify which of our neighbors that we will likely want to meet first; though just because they might be your LGBT progressive neighbor doesn't mean they're your new BFF. In fact, Mac and my views on many things can swing a little off either spectrum so it's hardly an "automatic" fit. But, it is definitely a better starting point than one with a Trump sign and/or NRA flag waving in their yard. 

When I was here in December during the peak of campaigning for the US Senate runoff, it was interesting to see where displays of support were shown. My sister lives in Johns Creek, which is part of Alpharetta. It's all very confusing as she is in one county, but Alpharetta and Johns Creek are in more than one county. I don't recall any yard signs in her neighborhood let alone around the area. In general, there were very few at all and probably about an equal number for all of the candidates. Likewise for stickers on people's cars. Everywhere in the rest of Fulton County that I visited, including throughout the city of Atlanta, as well as DeKalb county, were all supporting Warnock and Ossoff with vigor. I think I recall seeing one Trump supporter with a lingering (well, I guess they could still have been believing the election was stolen) sign in their apartment window in Decatur.

 

As you work your way south of Atlanta, towards my parents, it becomes more Georgia than Atlanta with all signs of Atlanta ending around McDonough in Henry County about 11 miles from where I am writing at my parents' home now. As you continue further south on 19/41, the suburbs end and more rural Georgia begins. Instead of malls with Best Buy, TJ Maxx, Bed Bath and Beyond and other "big box" stores there are now smaller strip malls with gun shops, barbers, and independent gyms. Griffin, where my parents live, is particularly known for its large number of used car and auto parts shops. There are plenty of trailers, many falling apart, along with dead autos in yards. I will look at some of these places with a "Keep America Great" Trump supporter sign proudly displayed in the yard and just wonder "what did he ever do for you?"

 

My parents live in Sun City Peachtree, an "active adult community" for those 55 and over. It's a gated, country club community. The "natives" look at Sun City residents as the "rich" people in town. Comparatively it may be true but isn't really saying much. Homes range between $250,000-$450,000. Virtually everyone is retired and while some have far greater resources than others, it is not a community of multimillionaires. The latter would likely pick places where you didn't pass the dilapidated trailers and the shooting range on Baptist Camp Road to get home. 

Inside the gates at some residents' homes there were signs supporting Warnock and Ossoff. Right outside the gates across the street were large signs supporting Perdue. Times are changing in Georgia. Sun City is bringing a bit of change to Griffin. Constant migration, immigration and evolution is changing the state. What I am confident about is that Atlanta is ready for me - or more importantly, I am ready for Atlanta.