Tag: Editor’s Note

Somewhere in the family archives, there is a photo of me as a toddler sitting on the lap of Santa Claus, my face bunched up in a teary-eyed primal scream. Obviously, the concept of the jolly ol’ Saint Nick was not sitting well with me.

In recent years, thanks to generous tax credits, Georgia has become known as the “Hollywood of the South,” and it has changed the landscape of the state. Some people have forged new film-related careers. The Atlanta area is suddenly rich in film soundstages. And it’s no longer a rarity to stumble upon an on-location film shoot, as I did a few times when Black Panther used The Woodruff Arts Center as a backdrop.

It was a cold, rainy Saturday night, and we wanted some comfort food. At the time, I lived in Rhode Island. My girlfriend and I set out for Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill in Providence, a street chock-full of some of the best Italian restaurants in America. Federal Hill was also known as the home of the New England Mafia. The two sometimes commingled: There were restaurants where mob figures had been taken out by a hitman in the middle of the spaghetti course.

I can almost taste it: that thick, salty, marshy air that embraces me whenever I’m aboard the Cumberland Queen II on my way from the quaint village of St. Mary’s to the island that holds a holy place in my soul.

Georgia’s state parks are among the best places to explore our mountains. One of the first I visited was Vogel, which is among the oldest in the state’s system. It’s simply impossible to believe this historic, verdant haven is just over 20 miles away from rollicking Helen. And I’ll put the views in Cloudland Canyon, Tallulah Gorge, Fort Mountain, and Black Rock Mountain state parks—especially when the leaves turn—up against anything in New England.

My neighborhood has a walkability score of zero. At least, this is how we’re evaluated by Walk Score, a rating service that asserts “walkable neighborhoods are one of the simplest and best solutions for the environment, our health, and our economy.” Now, I don’t disagree with its premise. I just disagree with the currently accepted definition of walkable.

In 2011, as part of Atlanta magazine’s 50th anniversary celebration, we invited all the living mayors to the Atlanta History Center for a conversation with Pulitzer Prize–winning author Doug Blackmon. At the time, Kasim...

Our public high school had students from more than 65 different countries. A decade after graduation, my older son still has friends who are Indian, Brazilian, Korean, and American of all colors. Ramadan became as familiar a part of the academic calendar to him as Thanksgiving and Passover.

Humans shape buildings, but they also shape us. This year’s edition of our annual Groundbreakers Awards is dedicated to visionary architecture. Of course, the soon-to-be-iconic Mercedes-Benz Stadium immediately comes to mind. But more subtle revolutions—New Urbanist communities, historic renovations, sustainable construction—are also changing the way we live.

My first assignment for Atlanta magazine was about throwing a houseboat party on Lake Lanier. Back then I’d never been on a houseboat, let alone Lake Lanier. And the story was due in February, when no one’s out cruising. But I would’ve accepted almost any job to get a byline in Atlanta.