c/atlanta-local-advice

Tried the Saturday farmer's market at Freedom Park instead of the one at Piedmont Park and it's way less crowded

PSA: That cheap HVAC filter subscription turned out to be a scam

I signed up for FilterTime last summer because it was $8 a month and seemed easy. Turns out they sent me the wrong size filters twice and charged me for ones I never got. Had to call three times to cancel. Anyone else get burned by one of those filter subscription services?

Everyone keeps saying Marta is useless but I use it every single day

I live in Decatur and work off the North Avenue stop. I drive maybe twice a month when I absolutely have to. The rest of the time I take the train and it gets me there in 25 minutes flat. Last week my coworker from Alpharetta spent an hour and a half stuck on 85 and told me Marta was a joke. I just don't get why people who never ride it act like they know how bad it is. Has anyone else actually given it a real try for their daily commute?

Realized I was overwatering my ferns after a guy at the Decatur farmers market yelled at me

I had these two ferns on my porch that kept turning yellow no matter what I did. This older guy selling plants at the Decatur farmers market last Saturday saw me buying a watering can and just said "You're drowning those things, aren't you?" He told me to only water when the top two inches of soil are dry. Now they're green and full again after three weeks. Has anyone else had a random stranger fix a plant problem you didn't even know you had?

Ran into a guy at the Kroger on Ponce who convinced me to stop hating on MARTA

I was standing in line at the deli counter last Tuesday, muttering to myself about how the 26 bus is always late. This older gentleman in front of me turned around and just said, 'You know, I've been riding MARTA for 18 years and it never broke my car.' That stuck with me because my car just cost me $700 for a transmission fix. He told me he used to commute from Decatur to Buckhead every day, and the train saved him about $300 a month in gas and parking. We talked for maybe 10 minutes about his route and how he reads a whole book a week on the ride. I went home and actually looked up a bus route near my house to try next week. Has anyone else had a good experience swapping driving for riding?

Wasted $300 on a parking spot subscription I never used

Signed up for that ParkAtlanta Plus monthly pass near my office in Midtown back in January. Paid $75 a month for 4 months before I realized I was still parking on side streets out of habit. Did anyone else get roped into one of these and find out it only works in like 3 lots total?

Can we talk about how long it takes to get anything approved by the City of Atlanta permit office?

I spent three months waiting on a simple permit to replace a water heater in my house. Everyone told me to hire a expeditor, but I figured I could save the $400 fee. Three months later and four phone calls that went nowhere, I finally got the thing approved myself. Has anyone else dealt with this nightmare or did I just get unlucky?

Question about that patio place off Moreland Ave

I finally stopped by the little nursery on Moreland last Saturday after driving past it for like two years... they had this old timer showing me how to trim back my overgrown boxwoods that I've been messing up for seasons. Has anyone else gotten good tips from the staff there or was it just a lucky day?

Just realized I was way too aggressive pruning my azaleas

A guy at Pike Nursery told me I was cutting back 6 inches too much each spring, and after trying his lighter trim last year I got twice the blooms. Has anyone else been told they're going too far with their pruning?

Took me 6 months to figure out MARTA bus transfers work way different than the train

Heard a guy at the Varsity say the Braves are overrated and it got me thinking

I was grabbing a chili dog last weekend and this older dude at the next table told his friend the Braves bullpen is gonna tank their whole season. He was real specific about it, named three relievers I barely knew. I shrugged it off at first, but then I looked up their ERA numbers later and yikes, he might be onto something. Anyone else hear predictions like that from random strangers around town and end up believing them?

Why is everyone so down on using a reciprocating saw for tree trimming?

I got tired of paying $80 a pop for a tree service to trim branches near my roof line in Decatur. Grabbed my old Sawzall with a pruning blade and cleaned up three big oaks in under two hours. Has anyone else found this works fine or am I the one missing something?

That tip about checking your tire pressure before a long drive actually saved me $200

Last month someone in this group told me to check my tire pressure before my trip to Savannah. I rolled my eyes because I thought I knew better. Turns out my back tires were 10 PSI low and probably would have blown out on I-75 at 70 mph. I got them filled at a QT for free and the car handled way better. Plus my gas mileage bumped up from 28 to 32 MPG over the weekend. Has anyone else dodged a disaster thanks to some random comment on here?

Debate: Is the new sushi spot in Inman Park actually better than that dive ramen place on Buford Highway?

I tried Umi last Friday and the $45 omakase was incredible but my buddy swears the $12 miso ramen at that run-down spot near the old plaza blows it away so which one's worth the trip for real?

Small win: Tried the BeltLine on a bike instead of walking last weekend

I finally decided to rent a bike from one of those stations near Piedmont Park instead of my usual weekend walk on the BeltLine. Got from the skate park all the way to the Krog Street tunnel in maybe 10 minutes, which normally takes me like 40 minutes of walking. Anyone else find certain stretches way better to bike than walk, or do you prefer to take it slow?

Tip: How I finally beat the airport traffic at ATL by 30 minutes

I used to always take I-85 south to the airport and get stuck right before the terminal drop off. Last month I tried a different route and it saved me so much time. I went through the College Park exit and used the cell phone lot entrance instead, then looped around to the domestic terminal. It cut my drive from 45 minutes to just 15 minutes. Has anyone else found a faster way to get to the airport from the north side?

That new MARTA parking deck in Brookhaven is a scam in disguise

I parked there last Tuesday thinking it would save me time getting downtown. $12 for 8 hours and then my car got a scratch from a tight spot with zero camera coverage. What's the point of a "new" deck if they cheap out on basic safety stuff? Has anyone else had issues with that lot or am I just unlucky?

Convinced to spend $150 on a gutter cleaning tool, wish I had just rented a ladder instead

I live in Decatur and my gutters were clogged something fierce after all those leaves this fall. A buddy swore by this fancy attachment that connects to a leaf blower, so I dropped $150 on it at the hardware store. Took me two hours of fighting it on the ground, and it barely knocked out half the gunk. Had to rent a 24-foot extension ladder for $25 the next day to finish it by hand. Anyone else have a tool that sounded like a life hack but just made more work?

The weird change in my neighborhood park that nobody warned me about

Over the last 2 years I've walked my dog through Grant Park and noticed the oak trees got way more sparse on the southern side near the creek. I think it might be from some construction runoff that happened back in 2022 but I'm not sure. Has anyone else seen trees dying off in their local park and figured out what caused it?

Worst day at work in Buckhead last Thursday

I work valet parking at a restaurant off Peachtree. Last Thursday was just nonstop chaos. We had a customer drop their keys down a storm drain and a Mercedes get door dinged by a FedEx truck all within 20 minutes. To top it off the manager made me stay an extra hour to sort out the damage report. Has anyone else had a shift that just snowballed like that?

Got yelled at by a lady at the Dekalb Farmers Market for blocking the spice aisle with my cart

I was standing there comparing two jars of sumac for five minutes and she shoved my cart aside saying people like me are why she can't get her shopping done before noon, so now I always park my cart at the end of the aisle before I even look at labels, does anyone else feel like that place has its own unwritten rules?

Paid $40 for a parking spot at the airport lots that was way out by the highway

Booked a spot at one of those off-site lots near Hartsfield-Jackson for a weekend trip. Their shuttle took 25 minutes to even show up, then another 15 to get to the terminal. When I got back, my car had a scratch on the bumper that was definitely not there before. Anyone else had bad luck with those discount airport parking lots?

Sweetwater Creek trail vs Kennesaw Mountain for hiking on a Saturday

Everyone always raves about Kennesaw Mountain for a good hike, but I tried Sweetwater Creek last weekend and it was way better. The trail along the water is shaded and cooler, took me about 2 hours to do the red trail loop. Kennesaw has that constant uphill grind and more people fighting for parking spots. Has anyone else found a less crowded spot that beats the popular picks?

Debate: Is the MARTA weekend schedule cut worth the savings?

I lost $60 last Saturday waiting 35 minutes for a train at Lindbergh station. MARTA cut weekend frequencies to save money, but is it really worth it when people just drive instead? Some say longer waits are fine if it keeps fares low, but I wasted a whole afternoon. What do you all think, is the trade-off actually working or are we just losing riders over this?

PSA: Tried the new 'secret' entrance to the Georgia Aquarium parking and it was a total disaster

Honestly, I saw a TikTok last week saying you could avoid the main lot chaos by using the Centennial Olympic Park Drive entrance before 10 AM. Tbh, we got there at 9:45, followed the directions, and the gate was just straight up locked. Ended up having to loop all the way back around and paid $30 for the main garage anyway. Has anyone actually had this 'hack' work for them, or was I just fed bad info?