In the eyes of Hollywood insiders, tech gurus, legal eagles and the world's top temporary lodging website, The Big Peach is starting off 2016 with a bang. A disparate batch of rankings this month has put Atlanta atop several interesting lists — in a good way. See a roundup of this recent positivity tsunami after the jump.
The most flattering accolade might be from MovieMaker Magazine, whose website proclaims it "the nation's leading resource on the art and business of making movies and the world's most widely read independent film magazine." So it's a fairly big deal that Atlanta has topped the mag's list of "Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker 2016," rising up from a measly No. 16 last year.
So why Atlanta?
In the past few years, "Georgia has quietly become home to one of the biggest film industries in the U.S., ranking third in production levels amongst states," the magazine reports. At the heart of this activity, they note, is the "bustling metropolis" of Atlanta, which is "doing everything right and then some to accommodate moviemaker locals and transplants, without having to endure a perma-celebrity culture." Additional perks of filming in Atlanta include burgeoning workforce development, infrastructure and support personnel — oh, and that 30 percent transferable tax discount.
The magazine summarizes A-town as having a thriving restaurant culture, a "hip-hop scene that rivals New York and L.A.," with affordable housing ($1,003 per month average rent) and four distinct seasons ("217 days of the year are pure sunshine"), although they rightly observe that the humidity sucks.
Next, the data crunchers at SpareFoot have named Atlanta the best city in the country for web developers — after anointing it No. 1 last month for lawyers. In both cases, the recognition has to do with relatively high wages and low cost of living. In fact, for web developers, Atlanta ranked second highest for salaries and first in two key metrics: Salary as a percentage of home price (39 percent) and rent as a percentage of income (18 percent). Now that's some food for thought.
Last but not least, Airbnb has named those amazing Buckhead tree houses — booked months out, with a minimum of $350/night — the most desirable rental properties in the world. The basis: how often the tree houses have appeared on people's wish lists.
What's more, the digital marketplace for listing and booking lodging around the globe named Poncey-Highland the world's No. 12 hottest neighborhood. The number of inbound guests to Poncey-Highland swelled by 240 percent between 2014 and 2015, which probably has a lot to do with Manuel's Tavern and the Clermont Lounge.
· Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker 2016 [Movie Maker]
· Atlanta neighborhood named one of the hottest to visit in 2016 [AJC]
· The 10 Best Cities For Lawyers [Spare Foot]
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