In Harry's attempt to be the biggest bigot there is, he is always
telling everyone how much he hates certain places. Places of course,
that HE doesn't live. One is Atlanta. He acts like he knows all about
the city, and thinks he knows so much about it that he can ascertain
that it's a terrible place to live. Well, he's wrong, of course. And
Outside Magazine picks it at number 3 in their list of ten best cities!
Nowhere in the DC, Maryland area made the list...

Here's the URL

http://outside.away.com/outside/dest...tro.html?imw=Y

Here's there criteria:

First, we started with the 100 most populated cities in America, using
public data to rank them on factors like cost of living, unemployment,
Where to Vent
Still think we screwed up by not picking your town? Let us know in our
forum.
nightlife, commute time, and access to green spaces. Then we took the 28
candidates with the highest overall averages and put them through a
second round of number crunching, comparing things like the percentage
of the population with college degrees, income level in relation to home
prices, and weather. The wild card? Our own multisport factor, which
rated each of our finalists on a scale of 1 to 5 for quality and
proximity to biking, running, paddling, hiking, and skiing. After adding
it all up, we had our top ten.

And here's what they say about Atlanta:

Don't call it "Hotlanta." Locals will sigh and tell you there's much
more to this southern metropolis than sultry summer nights. The
Chattahoochee River—home to some of the best trout fishing in the
South—flows through the city, offering everything from boating (the
Class II Devil's Racecourse) to cliff jumping (the Palisades area).
Atlanta is also less than 90 minutes from the beginning of the
Appalachian Trail, in north Georgia, and half an hour from Con*yers's
famous singletrack. (Mountain biking debuted here as an Olympic sport in
1996.) Local blue chips like Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Delta anchor a
strong economy that—as evidenced by recently LEED-certified Phillips
Arena, the first sports stadium of its kind in North America—is
investing in sustainability. The Brick Store, a classic gastro-pub, and
the Porter, a new beer bar, offer some of the best brew lists in the
country, while nearby music venues like the Earl debut major indie-rock
and hip-hop acts. Home prices remain affordable throughout much of the
city, especially in the up-and-coming Eastside neighborhoods. While
commuting by car is a legitimate gripe, the recently launched Beltline
Initiative will help ease some congestion: A 22-mile-long
"live-work-play" corridor—including parks, trails, and green space—it's
one of the most progressive urban-planning projects in the country.
Until it's finished, there's 189-acre Piedmont Park. Just a short walk
from downtown, it's the big city's green jewel.