A context-free rundown of what America is saying about Atlanta right now

Okay, so maybe a smidgen of context.

Atlanta, for better or worse, has been making an inordinate amount of national lists and getting mentions from unexpected places in recent days, as some readers (and many flacks) have pointed out.

Without further ado, here’s a rundown of what outsiders have been saying about our city— and for once, it’s all pretty much positive. Not a single mention of suburban sprawl, hellacious traffic, or the Civil War.

Playground for singles

As everyone knows, Saturday marks National Single’s Day in America, a sort of anthesis to lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day.

Apartment List

In the spirit of this special occasion marking individual freedom or frustrated loneliness, Apartment List compiled a top 10 ranking of the best cities for singles in the land—and Atlanta topped them all. (In an unrelated study last year, WalletHub also crowned Atlanta the nation’s best place for being single.)

The Apartment List ranking used four metrics, giving most weight to “dating satisfaction” among Atlanta’s renters, who seem mighty pleased with ATL dating options.

Other criteria: “social satisfaction” (social life in general), “dating affordability,” and Census data that determined “percentage of singles” in each city.

Bachelorette mecca?

The site WeddingWire has placed Atlanta at No. 10 on its best American cities for bachelorette parties (Las Vegas was numero uno for the ladies and their bachelor counterparts).

Data came from 1,000 respondents who attended a bachelorette or bachelor party in the past two years.

USA Today then asked WeddingWire’s senior creative director, Jeffra Trumpower, to expound, and she gave these local recommendations: “Escape the busy city vibes and check out the views at Atlanta’s 30 acres of botanical gardens, or dive right into the heart of the city and shop the Ponce City Market... Atlanta’s art museums, shopping, good eats, and nightlife will keep you and the gals busy all weekend long.”

Fun in the sun (belt)

On a related note, sort of, the number-crunchers at WalletHub, a personal finance website, have declared Atlanta the country’s sixth “most fun” city for 2019.

They put 180 U.S. cities through the sifter of 66 key metrics generally related to good times (average open hours of breweries, cost of going to the cinema, and fitness clubs per capita, for example).

In capturing top-six honors, Atlanta shined most in dance clubs per capita (4th), festivals per capita (6th; no surprise), and restaurants per capita (8th). Las Vegas, again, topped that ranking.

PCM love

Speaking of Ponce City Market, or what cool acronym deployers call PCM, the Old Fourth Ward mega-redevelopment is spotlighted favorably in Surface magazine, which covers design, fashion, and travel.

Curbed Atlanta

The story focuses on creative, commercial success stories emerging from America’s industrial past as standard shopping malls continue to die.

The magazine credits the former Sears, Roebuck, & Co. hub as having done nothing short of “[revitalize] the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood with numerous residential complexes, class-A office space, retail shops, restaurants, and one of the American South’s first food halls.”

Meanwhile, in a place that probably nobody ever has likened to Atlanta—Burlington, Vermont—The Green Mountain State’s alt-weekly, Seven Days, explores possibilities for a stalled, 14-story development in the middle of town: CityPlace Burlington.

In a funny article titled “Pit Happens,” the publication solicits suggests for a prominent, six-acre lot that “looks like the landing site of a meteorite.” Reader suggestions, filed under “Good Ideas from Other Places,” lead with this:

“A unique food and local business focused marketplace similar to Ponce City Market in Atlanta. Look it up. It’s amazing.”