Atlanta is sooo LA, Just Smaller
So, I went to LA a week ago. I spent five days exploring the city, seeking neighborhoods, and community. I found it to be a lot like ATL, almost like a bigger sibling. If you doubled Atlanta's population the cities would be nearly identitical in their problems and diversity. I noticed the similarities more after my return than while I was there. For instance, while I don't dwell on Atlanta's smog, I saw it two days this week - only bothering to notice after having been in LA. It was a light haze hanging over the city like a soft filter on a lens. When people talk about LA traffic and Atlanta traffic there are only a few degrees of separation. To test it, commute from GA400 to EAV on a Friday afternoon. The neighborhoods -- and their states of yuppie-dom -- from Los Feliz, to Silver Lake, to Echo Park are very similar to the stretch from Virginia-Highland, to L5P, to EAV. The people were surprisingly warm just like the weather. And weather was a strange topic. Folks in LA think Atlanta is cold -- I set them straight. There are two very big differences -- the proximity to the ocean (though don't go in the water), and the prices. LA is as expensive as New York for housing. My suggestion - visit Silver Lake and Los Feliz.

A recent article in the AJC looks at Moving in the Spirit, a nonprofit after-school program that uses dance and movement to teach leadership and development skills. Moving in the Spirit recently was named one of 17 outstanding youth and humanities programs by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. It was the first program in the Southeast to receive the national honor, which came with a $10,000 award. The article says, "The Grant Park/East Atlanta program instructs about 225 students ages 3-18 in various forms of dance. More than 1,250 students have participated in the program since its inception in 1986."