OnTheMapUS! Claim Owners Page - Atlanta, GA 30305

Claim Owner's Greeting
Welcome to all!

It's high time I put up a town page for myself so that I can be a proper citizen with the rest of you. My goal is more than just to get in on the fun for myself... I hope this page serves as a place where you can communicate with us directly, in addition to The Forum. I also plan to use this town page to go through the experience of being a Claim Owner in our virtual United States ... putting up and maintaining a town page, trying to sell advertising, and journaling about my experience as a Claim Owner right here. It should be fun, and provide me with some great feedback that will enable us to make OnTheMapUS the best it can be.

A Little Bit About Life in My Town
As many of you already know, OnTheMapUS is located down here in beautiful Atlanta Georgia.

I was born and raised in New York (Long Island), so you would think I would feel a bit out of place in the South. Not so! It turns out that most Atlantans these days are from somewhere else. It's become a big melting pot of people from all over the country and from all over the world, in fact. Lots of northerners like me are coming down here for better weather, cheaper housing and a nice life-style.

I read somewhere that the Atlanta area adds over 100,000 people every year. I'm not sure if that is accurate, but I checked on these facts: Of the 9 million plus population in the State of Georgia, about half are in the Atlanta metro area. Georgia has grown in population 44.5% since 1990, making it one of the fastest growing states.

About the Atlanta life-style - I like to joke that they hand you a tennis racket along with your first property tax bill down here. Every neighborhood that gets built in the area (and more keep popping up all the time) have swim and tennis right there in the neighborhood! Developers wouldn't even think of building a neighborhood without it. Even people that have never played before (like me) get sucked in and put on a neighborhood team to play in the ALTA league (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association). People play outdoors, year-round. They are tennis-crazy down here, for sure.

Here is something I bet you didn't know... Atlanta is at the bottom of the Appalachian mountain range stretching all the way down from Maine. It sits at about 1000 feet above sea-level. This small amount of elevation helps to cool temperatures down at night. Even in summer, we usually start the day in the 50's or 60's. On average, summer days are hotter and more humid in places like New York, DC, Philly and Baltimore.

More!.
While the history of Georgia highlights its role in the Old South and the burning of Atlanta in the Civil War, it's reconstruction started a process of distinct change. Atlanta is a city that represents the New South. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Atlanta stood alone as one of the only cities in the south, and certainly the only major city, to take a stand against segregation.

Here are some things to do in Atlanta:
Atlanta Botanical Garden
Six Flags - The Superman Ultimate Flight ride is awesome!
The High Museum of Art - Currently showing stuff on loan from the Louvre.
The World of Coca-Cola - Can't find that anywhere else!
Zoo Atlanta
Atlanta Aquarium - Brand new and the largest aquarium of its kind in the world
The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum - A favorite among Civil War history buffs
Underground Atlanta - An entertainment and shopping zone.

Personal Interests
In addition to running the soon-to-be-monsterous media giant and parent company of OnTheMapUS, Manifest Destiny Media, I keep busy with a bunch of other activities.

* I'm the father of 4 perfect children - 2 daughers in college and 2 boys still at home.

* I'm as likely to answer to "Coach" as anything else. I coach pretty much year-round in lacrosse, football and basketball,. Since there aren't too many of us 'dads' down here who have ever played the sport of lacrosse, I get tapped to take on several teams at a time. Lacrosse participation is growing at over 100% a year these days, and I'm only too happy to 'give back' to the game that gave me so much.

* When I'm not working, coaching, fixing things around the house, or parenting (I have lots of help with this task...thanks Honey!), I can usually be found waist-deep in the Chattahoochee River indulging my passion for fly-fishing. Who would have thought that a cool, clear, trout-loaded river would be found this far south?! Not me, that's for sure. The 'Hooch' as we call it, is close enough for me to walk to. You can see how the river comes down from Lake Lanier and runs right through the Atlanta area on the large State map.

Guest Book   Leave a comment    view all
edesir said...   Oct 11, 2007 at 3:39 PM
Hey Joe, Kool site

Beachcomber said...   Apr 12, 2007 at 10:22 AM
Life IS like a box of chocolates!

Milltown said...   Apr 04, 2007 at 1:43 PM
I can't believe it's snowing again! Since the forecast is for it to continue all night we may have a snow day tomorrow. It sure doesn't look like spring at the moment, but I have faith! It's fun to click on a web site onthemap and check out the weather. Somewhere in Fla. right now its 87 degrees. ouch.

Joe's Town Page said...   Mar 29, 2007 at 8:36 AM

Didn't my mug on the map pin take away all doubt? By the way, this is Forrest. I have never been called that,,,at least not to my face. Great movie though.

For those of you who do not know Ajuince, he will go down in history as a virtual real estate visionary! He owns several properties OnTheMap, up and down the East Coast - and even Beverly Hills 90210. Find him and pay him a visit, and tell him I sent you!

Ajuince said... Mar 28, 2007 at 7:15 PM
Forest is that you??

Journal view all
Tuesday, June 5, 2007 New pictures and some additions under the Life in My Town section. It was time to get the spring pictures off the page!

It's been like southern California down here for the past 6 weeks. Hardly any rain. Cool in the mornings and warms up to the low 80s. It's nice, but we could use a bit more rain.

Saturday, May 5, 2007 We got a mention in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. It helped to expose OnTheMapUS to tons of new people. Thanks Wall Street Journal!

Now I'm itching to do another radio interview. Don Imus maybe? Just kidding....

Friday, April 27, 2007 This morning we did our first radio interview! Many thanks go out to Bulldog, Snoopy and the Dude at the Bulldog and the Rude Awakening radio show in Ocean City, MD. I appreciate the invitation, and the nice treatment they gave me on the air. Also, thanks for putting me on before the guy who has visited another planet. I don't think I could have followed that act!

Some of Bulldog's listeners claimed towns today too, so welcome to our new citizens from MD and Delaware.

It just goes to show that people want to become involved at OnTheMapUS once they hear about it, so we will keep trying to get the word out!

I'll put a link to the entire radio interview on the Announcements page under the Corner Cafe tab.

We've got our fingers crossed for the Wall Street Journal article to come out on Monday the 30th. Stay tuned.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 The exciting times continue at OnTheMapUS! While we are waiting (and hoping) for a mention in a Wall Street Journal article coming out at the end of April, I had the chance to do an interview the other day with a company called Wireless Flash News (thanks Imal!). They are a subscription-based news service who supply about 800 media organizations worldwide with interesting content, mostly in the area of entertainment news. David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, etc. get ideas from them for things to talk about.

So, I'll be looking at their website for the story and then Googling OnTheMapUS to see if anyone picks it up and writes about us. I'll also be watching late night TV. I can see it now...Jay Leno saying "Have you heard about this? Apparently, now you can buy your town". I'm hoping whatever punchline follows that will be positive. LOL! Oh well, you know what they say... any publicity is good publicity.

Monday, April 9, 2007 For all the bragging I've done about spring being in full swing down here, nature had a response. It turned a bit cold over the past few days. I think the overnight low was down to about 32 degrees, and it only warmed up to the low 50s. Hopefully, it won't last.

Hope everyone had a nice spring break. I headed down to Florida for a few days to see family down there. Not a bad drive from Atlanta to central Florida... only about 7 hours (and a thousand billboards about pecans, peanuts, citrus fruits, and my presonal favorite, the Florida Visitors Bureau, which sounds official and promises discounts on all-things theme park related, but is actually just a tourist trap).