10 ways to fit in like a true Atlantan

Atlanta is an easy place to live.

The greater Atlanta area, which stretches some 100 miles north to south, offers the services, necessities and niceties of a Top 10 Metropolitan Statistical Area without the super-high costs found in other parts of the country.

The city itself has a storied history and strong track record, departing the turbulent 1960s as the economic capital of the South and a leading force in the region's fast growth and appeal. From 1990 to 2020, the metropolitan area’s population more than doubled to 6 million-plus people, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. The region had 6.4 million residents in 2023.

Here are 10 ways to live like a true Atlantan, based on decades of living here and insight from Thornton Kennedy. The sixth-generation Atlantan and business owner recently launched a podcast called “History for Cocktail Parties” with fellow native James Ottley.

Although anchored by the city of Atlanta, the core region contains the five counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett. Combined, they’re home to nearly 60 cities. Add in Fayette, Douglas, Henry and other counties, and there’s a ton of choices for newcomers. Once you pick a city, you need to determine instantly whether you’re "ITP" or "OTP": Inside The Perimeter or Outside The Perimeter. The Perimeter is the loop around the city of Atlanta formed by Interstate 285. While being ITP usually is considered cooler, some great cities such as Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Duluth, Suwanee, Marietta, Jonesboro, Douglasville and McDonough exist OTP.

The key thing, Kennedy said, is to embrace your choice.

“When I was going on college tours with my son, a tour guide said that she was from Atlanta, and when I pulled her aside and asked her, ‘What part of Atlanta are you from? She said Roswell, [and] it almost broke my brain,’ he said. “That's not Atlanta. That’s a separate city altogether. So, I am a bit of a snob about inside the Perimeter versus OTP.”

The Beltline is a 22-mile loop of pathways and parks that rings Atlanta and offers residents and visitors the opportunity to check out different parts of the city while getting exercise. While the Eastside Trail, anchored by Ponce City Market, attracts a lot of attention, other parts of the Beltline on the city’s Southside and Westside are gaining traction.

The kicker is that the Beltline didn’t launch until 2005, and the first section, the West End Trail, didn’t officially open until three years later. Yet, it’s emerged as a top go-to spot. “If someone were coming to Atlanta from out of town, and they wanted to get a sense of the city, I would encourage them to walk that stretch of the Beltline where you go into Piedmont Park, go over 10th Street and down to Ponce City Market. I just think that's such a beautiful stretch. And [my wife] Lori and I walk that Memorial Park route several times a week, the Tanyard Creek Park area over by Collier Road. It’s a great amenity if you're looking for that quote-unquote 'native angle.' I stop and talk to a lot of people on that pathway that I've known all my life.”

Speaking of talking ...

Atlantans love to talk sports, especially college football and the Atlanta Braves. "Everybody in Atlanta loves sports. If you walk into any breakfast spot or lunch spot, you can have a conversation with anybody over sports. College football is No. 1, and it's Georgia and it's Georgia Tech," Kennedy said. "Everybody follows the Braves religiously. Even though they're having a down year this year, that's a big topic of conversation."

Atlantans also welcome newcomers — and invite them to ditch their hometown teams for the local ones. "Turner Broadcasting System, TBS, broadcast the Braves into every home before that was a thing," Kennedy said. "That's why the Braves are America's team. We welcome everybody."

Atlanta is a city of restaurants, and meeting friends and doing business over meals is a favorite thing to do.

Knowing the key places to go is important. For breakfast, head to the White House in Buckhead, any of the Flying Biscuit locations or OK Café at Northside Drive and West Paces, in what the school kids call the “Way Pay shopping center.” It’s old school, and you’re likely to see political and business power players.

For lunch and dinner, Kennedy recommended “two underdogs that people don't think about.” The first is Taqueria del Sol, an Atlanta original that started on the Westside of Midtown and now has several locations. The second is Henri’s sandwich shop, a Buckhead staple that’s expanded to the Upper Westside, Brookhaven and other suburbs. “Taqueria Del Sol is an institution, and there's a line every night out the door, which tells you everything you need to know,” Kennedy said. As for Henri’s, he said, "Everybody hits that place." His favorite sandwich there is turkey on white bread with pickles.

Peachtree Road Race, held each July 4th on Atlanta's most famous street, is a great way to learn about the city and see it as you go from Lenox Square mall on Peachtree Road up Cardiac Hill and through midtown on Peachtree Street before finishing on 10th Street at Piedmont Park. Over 53,000 people ran, walked, or traversed the 6.2-mile route in wheelchairs this summer.

Tip: Be ready to act as soon as registration reopens in April. More than 2,500 people signed up for next year's race during the early registration period that ended last week.

Peachtree Street serves as the city of Atlanta's spine, running from downtown and midtown before it becomes Peachtree Road around Piedmont Hospital in Buckhead. That's only the start of the potential confusion surrounding street names with Peachtree in them. In Midtown and Buckhead alone, there is Peachtree Place, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Battle Road and Peachtree Avenue. In fact, metropolitan Atlanta has 71 roads that have "Peachtree" in them, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

If you have the means, join one of Atlanta’s country clubs, Kennedy said. He’s a member of Piedmont Driving Club, and it’s helped his public relations business. Although, officially, you shouldn’t conduct business while munching on the club’s buttered Saltines and enjoying a cocktail, “the relationships that you build in a very non-business environment," are important, he said. "Belonging to a club is a critical element of doing business in the city of Atlanta.”

While some areas of metro Atlanta have strong public schools, some do not, and independent schools help fill the void. Picking between the two is not a no-brainer as it might be in other parts of the country, partly because of the lingering effects of a cheating scandal that brought national attention to Atlanta Public Schools in the early 2010s. Still, “in the city of Atlanta, you have some great schools,” Kennedy said. “Our son went to one of the private schools and has been very successful. Our daughter went to one of the public schools, and she's been very successful. I don't think it makes a huge difference — with the caveat that I'm not very familiar with the schools on the Southside of Atlanta.” 

Atlanta and its suburbs have several public and private golf courses, and Augusta National, home of The Masters, is only a two-hour drive east. While courses such as East Lake Golf Club, the city's oldest, and Peachtree Golf Club are well known and popular, Kennedy has a pro tip: Check out the complex named after an iconic Georgia golfer. "I would prefer the driving range of Bobby Jones Golf Course," he said. While the links are fun, the real scene there is on the practice tees, Kennedy said. After hitting a couple of buckets of range balls, he said, grab a bite at Boone's Restaurant in Murray Golf House, and "get one of the great iconic views of Atlanta." More than that, the clubhouse houses a Georgia Golf Hall of Fame exhibit that offers "a pretty cool little walk through history."

Across Georgia, residents of cities and towns take pride in knowing the correct way to pronounce things. In southwest Georgia, Cairo is pronounced "K-row," and Albany is "All-binny." Middle Georgia says "How-STUN" for Houston County — just like New Yorkers. And in North Georgia, LaFayette is "La-FAYE-ette."

As for Atlanta, it's best to drop the second "t." Just say "At-lanna"