There is a Facebook group called Georgia Followers -- Everything Georgia and someone posted this a few days ago:
"Georgia is too hot during the winter and way too hot during the summer."
Of course, a firestorm of debate was ignited.
One wag speculated that perhaps that inflammatory statement was posted by a Yankee. I wouldn't be surprised.
I immediately took issue with the post -- since I have lived in Georgia most of my life -- and I posted this: "I will never live anywhere else. We have mild weather 8-9 months a year. I never have to shovel snow, evacuate due to hurricanes, or flee mudslides or earthquakes. Atlanta Georgia is awesome!"
Much to my surprise, some people took issue with that. I assumed [perhaps incorrectly] that people belonging to that group would be people living in Georgia by choice. Apparently, I am wrong. There are captives here, itching to get back up north where they can pay twice as much for a decent house, shovel snow out of their driveways so they can go to work, and encounter hostility from store clerks.
One person said what about tornadoes and hurricanes?
Hurricanes sweep up the coast and the most weather we've ever gotten here in Atlanta is rain. Sometimes we get heavy rain -- like, once a year, perhaps.
Unlike California, we never have mudslides. We also don't worry about earthquakes [once in a while we get a little earthquake but it does little or no damage]. We don't have to worry about forest fires consuming our houses. We also don't have to pay half a million dollars for a 1,500 square foot house where we then have to commute 2 hours to work. We also don't pay more for gas, or put up with a boatload of state taxes. My best friend lived in California a couple of years [her husband was in the military] and was horrified by the cost of living out there. They moved as soon as they could.
Tornadoes happen here in Georgia, yes. Rarely. Usually they aim for rural areas where it's easy to find mobile homes to toss around. I've lived in Augusta, Athens, and Atlanta, but tornadoes were never an issue in any of those places. Personally, tornadoes have never caused damage to my house or cars. Mostly just high winds and maybe some limbs down in the yard. No big deal.
left, a painting called Snow in Atlanta
About once every 5 years we get some snow here in Atlanta, and we have a logical, wise response. We shut down the entire city -- after raiding all the grocery stores for bread, milk, and toilet paper. We are not equipped for snow because it happens so rarely. So we hunker down at home in our jammies and watch TV and make French Toast.
Some years ago a cousin came to visit me and it was winter and we had a Snow Event. This cousin grew up in Virginia, where snows happen every winter and nobody gets excited. I introduced him to the joys of watching TV and eating French Toast. He was amused at the local Storm Coverage on every local TV channel. He couldn't believe that camera crews immediately jumped into action and sped north, where snow was actually sticking to the ground, to watch rednecks do wheelies. You see, snow in Atlanta rarely ever sticks to the roads. For that excitement you have to head north, to the North Georgia mountains, where the rednecks live to say "Hold mah beer Darlin' I'm fixing to get famous!" as soon as they see a WSB truck.
I had to patiently explain to my cousin that I would not leave the apartment because others drive badly in snow, not me. I have no problem driving in snow, but it's other drivers I fear.
Is it hot here in summer? Yes. Duh. [Of course, we don't think it's "hot" unless it's over 90...] We are accustomed to it, though, and take sensible precautions. If the high will be over 90 I don't leave the house between noon and 7 p.m. if possible. (Working from home helps.) For yard work or dog walking, I get up early and try to be done before 10 a.m.
I would never live in Georgia in a house without air conditioning. That would be like living in an un-heated house in Maine in winter. Simply foolish.
Just FYI, it's December 30 and I walked the dog this morning without even needing a sweater. High today will be around 65. That's not typical, but wearing shorts on Christmas day or New Year's Day is not uncommon.
I've never had to shovel snow so I could go to work. If it's snowing or there's more than a dusting of snow on the ground I stay home, like everyone else.
When people move here from other places they always complain about the heat. They also do things like keep the air conditioner on 80 all summer, wear pantyhose, and go running in the middle of the day. Learn to acclimate, y'all.
I also want to point out that I don't like big cities. I technically live in the Atlanta suburbs but I am next door to Tucker, Georgia, a small town. I shop, work, and dine in Tucker, 95% of the time. If I want to see a Braves game or see a touring Broadway show at the fabulous Fox Theater I can be at those venues within 30 minutes.
Yes, Atlanta has the busiest airport in the world but we also have MARTA. I never drive to the airport. I hop on the train and avoid traffic and parking nightmares quite easily.
If I want to go to the beach, I can be at Hilton Head Island in 4-5 hours.
If I want to go to the mountains I head north on I-85 and I'm there in less than an hour.
above, a street in my neighborhood, early morning
Here are a few fun facts that you may not know about Atlanta:
- We have great diversity here. Large immigrant communities and places where you can live and work for years and speak only Spanish or Chinese.
- Most people are friendly and have good manners.
- Atlanta is the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., with almost 5.8 million residents and no signs of slowing down according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- We rank 10th in the nation economically with a GDP of $276 billion.
- Lots of movies are filmed in Atlanta because we offer great tax incentives.
- Atlanta magazine wrote a lengthy article about where all the celebrities lives when they are in town filming.
If you prefer a cooler place, feel free to avoid Atlanta. We don't need more traffic. Don't let the screen door hit you on the way out...
