Maybe You Can't Go Home Again…

Been gone a while.  Sorry about that.  Well, assuming you missed me.  Which I don’t.  But I’m apologizing.  That doesn’t make any sense.
Was in a good friend’s wedding this weekend, and that was quite an experience.  Beautiful ceremony and great stories that I’ll relay a little later.  Clap your hands one time for black love.
But before going to Savannah for the service, I stopped in Atlanta.  Some of you may recall that, about a year ago, I was ready to move back to the A.  The place just feels really natural to me.  Anyway, I decided not to make that move because I wouldn’t be able to sell my house and all that.
Now, I just ain’t tryin’ to make that move.  Something feels different.
First, the traffic is so much more absurd than when I lived there.  I always thought the talk about Atlanta’s traffic was a wee bit overhyped, but I ain’t talkin’ that jazz no more.  The gridlock I hit when I got to downtown at 2pm on Thursday was friggin’ ridiculous.  So, I decided to get off 75/85 and take the streets to the SWATS.  That meant taking a spin past Atlantic Station, the newly gentrified area of Midtown.  It was really nice, and it was kinda cool to see what they’re doing.  However, that gentrification didn’t feel like Atlanta to me.  It would probably be really cool to me if I didn’t know the city, but I just couldn’t appreciate it.
But maybe that was because it messed up the route I was used to taking home.  Not quite sure, to be honest.
But after spinning past Atlantic Station, I got down Northside Drive to the area close to the AUC.  And man, the poverty seemed more abject than ever.  It just felt dreary, and it never felt like that to me.  That’s not to say that it was a vibrant area before.  I mean, we risked our lives every time we spun down that way to go to the liquor store (the dude down there didn’t ID).  But it wasn’t like this.
Then, I decided to go down Simpson Road to get to 20.  Now, Simpson Road’s always been a hellhole.  It’s one of those streets that has absolutely nothing good going on.  Been like that most of my life.  Basically, it fits a rule–if T.I. shouts it out, chances are you ain’t got no reason to be there.
Dude, I didn’t feel good about stopping at red lights.  In broad daylight.
Again, this was never a wonderful area.  But I don’t remember it being like this.
I dunno, man.  It just got a overwhelmed by just how much richer the rich in the city are than the poor.  I’m not feeling nearly as good about that Black Mecca talk because there seem to be more poor-as-shit black people in the city than ever.  It just didn’t feel like a place I’d want to live.
But if I’m using that as a criterion for determining where to live, I need to move out of this country, ha?

14 thoughts on “Maybe You Can't Go Home Again…”

  1. Give it another 25 years or so, and I’d imagine that very few poor people (of any race) will live anywhere near a city or urban environment.
    Proximity to shopping, services, and cultural centers is as valuable as the services and centers themselves. So, new money in, old people out. Poor people will continue to be crowded out into more rural areas. That will push them further away from those same services and centers, making it even more difficult for the poor to access whatever assistance and resources they have available. Can’t sign up for welfare if it’s a 60 mile haul to get the application and you’ve got no car and no bus stop.
    So, yeah, the poverty may very well be worse, and it’s going to get worse still.

  2. Everytime I hear the GOP talk about how “strong” the economy is, I am reminded of how much the economy has changed since I was a child.
    Used to be, if you could just get out of high school with a decent amount of aptitude and didn’t run afoul of the man, he just might let you drill widgets for a good union wage;good enough so that you could move out to the burbs.
    Now, you can’t even do that.
    With every election cycle the distance gets greater and greater, and the people in charge get more diverse, and less in touch.

  3. Bo, welcome to adulthood. You’ve just learned that lesson in life… You can’t go home again. It’s true. I think I was probably your age when I really, really realized it. And, the older you get, the further away home becomes.
    Home is where you make it today!
    We’re your new borthers and sisters! (Haha–you may wanna disown some of us!) And Kirk is your Roger Clinton or Billy Carter!
    (sorry Kirk, I couldn’t resist)
    😉

  4. Real talk.
    Mad people be talking about how Ingham County is on the comeup because rich folks are moving out into the rural towns.
    I’m like.
    Comeup for who? The same people are still poor, and their cost of living is only gonna go up.

  5. Fe from Raleigh

    I completely agree with you. I went to school in the ATL between 1998-2002 and I think that period was really just a boom time in the history of the city. Now its seems like everybody heard that Jermaine Dupri song and decided to move out there. Traffic is crazy, the track is 10Xs worse, and for some reason it seems like more people are moving there to chase that dream. I remember a professor I had by the name of Dr Wilson who talked about urban sprawl constantly I am now starting to see exactly what he meant back in ’00.

  6. In ’98 I went there to do a seminar. From the airport to my hotel was a $70+ cab ride. That place was as bad as Dallas or Houston in terms of sprawl.
    Nice downtown area though. Ate and partied in Buckhead.

  7. The AUC!?! My old stompin’ grounds!
    Yeah, I’m CAU Alum… I miss the A ery now and then and I, too, considered relocating there (again). I think the deal-breaker was a visit which consisted of a shopping trip to Phipps, where I met someone I really liked and who seemed to REALLY want me… I mean, Dude was RIGHT! Well, until I found out thru the grapevine that he went “both ways”. I’m not a homophobe, I just cant marry a fruitloop. (Not cool)
    Atlantic Station is nice. I attempted to go shopping there during my last trip but gave up and hit the yard, where I spent a small fortune on ‘nalia in Collegiate (store).
    I’ll read more but so far so good!!
    Leggs

  8. Your story is my story. I grew up in DC in the 80s and 90s. When I return, its a different place – not necessarily a worst place, just not my place. Home changes. You change. Things just change sometimes.
    And I love the A, but it used to always confuse me how folks seem to be so aware of the A’s status as an amazing place for black achievement but ignored the disparity there.

  9. Rex, if I’m Roger, you’re Hillary. So there!
    Leggs, you should tell that story to jimi izrael. He’s got a very lucrative non-paying career buil on discussing that very issue. Trust, if anyone knows closeted gay men, it’s him.
    Wait, that didn’t come out quite the way I meant it…

  10. Just went home to PG yesterday, seems like so much is growing in the areas that already had money, while the areas without are worse off.
    Didn’t realize it was so bad off when I was living there. And considering that I live and work in Baltimore, that’s a pretty big statement.

  11. As much as I hate that you wont be moving back to the A. I fully understand where you are coming from. Baltimore is home for me and whenever I go back it really hits me how much has changed yet managed to remain the same. I cant stay in that town more than 2 days before I find myself hitting up AirTran’s site to check the times for the next few flights out.
    Like someone said, home is where you make it and for now, at least mine in the A.
    And if I read on here one more time that the even came close the the GA State line and didnt tell me I will hunt you down. 🙂

  12. How can a career be both lucrative and non-paying? Bo knows everything, so maybe he can offer me some insight…
    And yeah, my gaydar is pretty good, Kirk. That’s why you got banned from my site. I felt like you were stalking me in a faggoty-kinda way. Too much time on me and not what I’m writing. I flick women off when they come like that, moreso the gay bros. Sorry. I respect everyone’s choices, but that just ain’t the way I get down, y’dig?
    Re: going home again.
    It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at. Home is too often where the haterz are.
    Carry on.

Leave a Comment

Sorry this site is not allow to view source.
Scroll to Top