Hey guys. I’ve been living in Japan for 8 years. I moved shortly after my MA.
I’ll be starting a PhD program in Atlanta in August.
I’ve gotten a lot of great advice, but I’m still looking for a place.
Open to any and all suggestions about life in ALT and Georgia. 
Buy some tank tops! Best wishes, congrats on moving towards your PhD!
Will do! Thanks 
Luckily the crazy hot & humid summers in Japan have prepared me for Atlanta in that respect.
It’s a great town. I haven’t been to ATL in years now so any specific recommendations I might be able to think of are probably way out of date but I’m sure someone here can give more up to date info.
Every time I’ve been there I’ve had an absolute blast! Played a fair few shows there. Awesome food everywhere.
I was there for three weeks about 5 years ago and mainly hung out in Decatur and Inman Park when I wasn’t at work in one of those typical anonymous business parks in the outer ‘burbs that the US do so, ah, well.
Anyway, both those areas seemed pretty nice. Safe to walk around, on a reliable subway / metro line, plenty of places to eat and drink that didn’t seem overly pricey (for this middle class-ish Australian, at least).
If I had to pick between the two I would say Decatur as it has the excellent Three Taverns craft brewery buuut, more practically, if you want to be closer to downtown, Inman Park and nearby Poncey-Highland (just to the north) seemed nice, laid-back joints with plenty going on, culturally.
A few thoughts:
–Metro Atlanta is very spread out, and public transportation does not extend far outside of city limits (blame white flight and NIMBYism). Unless you are planning to stay inside Atlanta proper, you will need a car
–Atlanta traffic, while not as bad as Chicago’s, is heavily congested. Definitely use Maps/Waze/etc until you get a feel for how long it will actually take to get anywhere
–If you are looking at nearby suburbs, I can vouch for Smyrna and Marietta, both a <30 minute drive from the city
----Smyrna has the Braves stadium as well as two major music venues: the Roxy and the Cobb Energy Center
----Marietta is more obviously suburb, but has the cute Marietta Square with a good record store (Sweet Melissa) and a dining hall
–The Perimeter = I-285, a highway that loops around Atlanta and marks the defacto border between Atlanta and the rest of the metro area
----ITP = Inside the Perimeter, the actual city
----OTP = Outside the Perimeter, suburbs
A few places worth checking out:
----The Masquerade is a great venue, though it’s pretty rock/alt/metal-oriented
----Little Five Points is the big “cool shops” area. Especially check Junkman’s Daughter (very Adult Swim vibes) and record stores like Beatlab, Wax N Facts, and Criminal Records
----Plaza Theater (on Ponce) shows the cool retro, arthouse, and indie movies on top of some tentpole releases
----Decatur Farmers Market. High quality and varied produce, often great prices on spices
I’m in Atlanta, grew up in Georgia. Feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions, or if you ever want someone to jam with.
Holy smokes, I’m actually from Georgia and worked in Atlanta for parts of my life before coming to Japan!
Atlanta is pretty fun. I’m glad I got to spend time there while I was younger.
I mostly miss southern food at times and if I really want it I have to make it myself. Now you’ll be swimming in it!
As stated above, expect humid summers for sure, but winter can get nice and cold. Sometimes there’s snow, but most people there are terrible drivers as soon as anything starts freezing. Be careful!
Best wishes to you!
Oh also, you oughta check out the Atlanta Synth Club. there’s a facebook group as well as a discord. We generally try to set up little community events every few months.
Dang! Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
I grew up in Inman park, a block from five points… it is awesome. Now I live in Springfield, North bang em Florida. Really what that neighborhood used to be… it is all way too sauce now. And safe… pretentious. I would try Decatur, or even more north like Athens. Savannah for some real culture.
I’ve either lived in small Ohio suburbs, small US university towns, or abroad, so I don’t know what I’m missing, but I get your sentiment. Cities in the US change fast…
I’ll hopefully be between downtown (my office @ Five Points station) and Decatur (just past Inman Park!).