What's up WSO
Just moved to ATL from NYC a week ago for a PE job - looking for some guidance on what to do. So far, I've just been grinding hinge and bumble with moderate success, but I don't have any male friends here. Anyone got any tips on how to assimilate?
So far my ideas are:
Golf club
men's basketball
meetup
I'm a pretty typical finance guy so any suggestions are appreciated
Thanks in advance
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Lived in Atlanta for most of my life. To be honest, Atlanta's culture is pretty insular, and it's pretty hard to break in if you don't have strong roots to Atlanta (grew up in Buckhead, went to a prep school, parents went to the handful of churches where all white-collar professionals in Buckhead attend or were part of the country club) or are already friends with people who are "in". Peronal advice would be to hang out with your finance peers and co-workers for a while, attend events with them, and meet more people that way.
OP does not want to be friends with John Rutherford III (Lovett, class of ‘18) anyway.
I hate when people say that growing up going to buckhead schools / churches is the only way to be in the “in” group. The “in” group is whatever you want it to be - this isn’t high school. The buckhead crowd is honestly a tiny portion of Atlanta
Atlanta is a huge city, and people from all over the country are doing big things there
yes, Atlanta is a huge city, but if his finance job is in Buckhead, he needs to build a life in Buckhead.
Grew up and live in Atl and completely agree.
If you’re worried about “cliques” I would argue it’s the college people who tend to stick together (Georgia Tech, UGA, Emory, etc. grads staying in their respective friend groups)
This is a very specific view in very specific circles that used to be more true. Nobody is sticking with their parents church group at 24. Also this may be true for the extremely southern white people with huge SEC roots. However, Atlanta and the finance/tech circles are a lot more diverse and there are tons of Asians and Indians who have no roots in anything that you mentioned but are very "Atlanta". However you are right to the degree that the people who grew up in Atl have their own clique. The most common clique would be where people went to college and Emory, Georgia Tech, SEC are very common along with UVA, UNC, Duke.
Agree with the above. I moved to Atlanta and had no prior connection. I’ll also say I’ve made a few friends when golfing solo 9 at Chastain or another relaxed course. Also see if anyone in your office is involved with a rec league bball/kickball/etc team and is looking for new members. That’d be a great way to meet 10-15 people
It’s going to sound cringe, but kickball is a really good way to meet people. Kickball isn’t a serious sport, so anyone who is there is just doing it to drink / meet people on weeknights.
Like a basketball league can be fun too, but some people will be there to hoop HARD, ya know?
Figure out the local intramural scene and join a few leagues that super casual (bowling, kickball, corn hole, etc) or ones that you’re actually good at so you can keep up with the ballers. Volleyball is another good casual one as long as it’s not a serious league (should be at least 4v4 and in sand).
I just moved cities and it’s hard, but you can make friends anywhere. Also going to classes is great - like dancing, cooking, sports classes. Also hiking meet ups, running clubs, cycling clubs, whatever. Just be sure you have a few things on the calendar every single week
^This is very good advice. I moved from Houston to San Antonio (which doesn't sound like a big move but is leaps and bounds a culture shock), but did a lot of this stuff. Another option is if you're a fan of xyz team, look up bars for watch parties. Not a lot of Rockets fans in San Antonio, so the one Rockets bar in town had some good people to commiserate with.
Get a puppy or find someone with a puppy and go hang out at fetch.
Brewery scene is big here and great place to meet people. New Realm, Scofflaw, Sweetwater to name a few. Depending how old you are, there are awesome bars/restaurants in and around Buckhead and Midtown. There is a group called ATL Friends on TikTok & IG that hosts events all the time for anyone and everyone to join.
Thanks for all the advice everyone - going to pursue all the stuff listed and get out there
r u at roark now?
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