Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

You know, you could just think it is cool that people celebrate America in various ways

and if thats all this is then cool 

the beauty?

not sure what your point is

Sorry, half baked thought there.

Basically, the anthem has its power because it stands for everyone. It stands for the mouthy atheist school teacher as much as the God-fearing marine. It stands for the folks who want to sing another song as much as those who want it to stand alone. It stands for those who won't stand for it. That's the beauty and the power of it. 

At points, it's not been used that way. It's used as a prop to divide. Sometimes by people who want to trigger offense in others, sometimes by those who get offended or feign offense. And if that was a reflection of its true power, it wouldn't be a symbol of unity at all. But it's not. Its power and meaning is beyond that. 

That might not be the best phrasing, but that's the gist of my point.

America is the most fair, most compassionate, and most willing to change "If this isn't working" nation on the planet.  Those who don't believe that haven't left this country and operate on rumor alone, or never ventured off the beaten path in another nation....

the "old" world is the worst- I've witnessed gays being thrown off buildings for being gay, and Muslims being killed by their fellow Muslim for the blasphemy of suggesting ANY alternate interpretation of the Qu'ran other than that which is widely accepted. 

I've seen albino people in Africa shunned, starved, and a community relieved when they finally died because they figured their condition some sort of mark against the community.  That is straight truth.

Perfect? No we are not.

We ARE better than almost anywhere else if not every where else... some have affinities for Europe or Asia, but if they are honest with themselves and if they are experienced in those places as they pretend- they'll admit the freedom for anyone regardless of any confining label is far greater here than there.  I dare someone to make argument to the contrary with specific experiences and real exposure contradicting. 

Christian? That's fine here.  Using elementary "cool kids" mentality to isolate and bully someone here with that ideology or system of belief won't be tolerated neither will those of any other religion or system of belief...

Like the anthem, college football joins us.  If you want to argue devisive subjects, there is damn sure room for you in a51... they argue just to argue, and though I love those guys they've taken a mean turn over the last year or three I don't like... this board, however, doesn't need that crap. 

If we can't respect others and their opinions outside of college football, then we have notta.  Therefor, I will exterminate with extreme prejudice those at the root of the issue.  There is one here identified as crossing that line.  I made the threat above publicly and so others can see it and hopefully realize we've got a good thing here and don't need the BS from the environment we are subjected to elsewhere, be it social political or theology. 

There isn't a one of yall I wouldn't enjoy a beer or a burger with.  Both would be banging, actually... that doesn't mean I won't argue with any of you over trivial things, but it DOES mean I would respect your position on subjects of devisive characteristics and pretty much avoid them.  You're adults.  Its what adults do... they show respect... they even allow margin when somebody crosses... some take that as weakness... they are the fools that confound nice with weak.  Don't be that one. 

A thing that struck me as very odd here is construction of private student housing, not a little, but a lot of it.

Over Spring Street in Midtown, 19-story project has broken ground | Urbanize Atlanta

Many of the new buildings that have gone up nearby are for students, apparently, some of them rather substantial.

Off Campus Housing In Midtown | The Mark Atlanta (landmark-properties.com)

I asked our neighbor about it and he noted a lot of the Tech students are Asians with some money and they don't want to live in a dorm, same with Georgia State which has a large student population.  I come from an era of course where students lived in, well, impoverished conditions, not in some high rise deluxe building with "amenities".  I'm sure this trend is not unique to this place.

We looked at a condo just next door to this building.  The folks with units on the 20th floor facing west had a nice view, not they look out at a building a few feet away.  Anyway, this is "student housing" these days, apparently.

Yeah, they seem to be trying to outdo the previous efforts with "amenities".

I'm just surprised at the shear number of units being built, on top of what already exists.  But I see Tech alone claims nearly 27,000 students, that in itself is a big jump from the past.  None of them play football much.

Check that, 40,000 including grad students.

Georgia Tech Enrollment Continues to Rise Despite Pandemic (gatech.edu)

Although Covid-19 shifted the look and feel of the fall semester, Georgia Tech’s Fall 2020 enrollment increased to nearly 40,000 students.

Overall enrollment grew to 39,772, a 9% increase over the previous year. Graduate students accounted for most of the increase, with the bulk of those new students enrolled in online master’s degree programs.

Yeah, they seem to be trying to outdo the previous efforts with "amenities".

I feel like most housing seems to match that. I'm moving to a major metro, and every dang new building has to be shiny, with a pool, and a gym, and whatever else. 

I wonder what's happening to the perfectly reasonable apartments. Are they being destroyed or squeezed out? Are they being held onto because they're cheaper? Did they just not exist in this spot before?

I feel like most housing seems to match that. I'm moving to a major metro, and every dang new building has to be shiny, with a pool, and a gym, and whatever else.

I wonder what's happening to the perfectly reasonable apartments. Are they being destroyed or squeezed out? Are they being held onto because they're cheaper? Did they just not exist in this spot before?

I'm no zoning expert, but nationwide there was a pretty vast expansion of single family home zoning, which heavily influenced every new build project. That placed more pressure on building big apartment complexes in the locations that would allow it. Per head, adding a pool and gym to these places is pretty cheap, and justifies charging top dollar. But it also meant that finding a cheap apartment on top of someone's garage wasn't happening. I know some places are looking at this - Oregon, for example, just changed their zoning laws on this. California looked at it but couldn't get it done.