I meet a new person, be it in class, downtown, or riding the Orbit bus. Small talk ensues and we ask each others’ hometowns.

I reply “Atlanta,” and the other person replies, “Oh, me too! I live in Marietta/Alpharetta/insert any number of other ‘ettas.’” This is an abomination, and I won’t stand for it anymore. Those places are not Atlanta. 

When I say “Atlanta,” I mean real Atlanta.

BAILEY KEIGER

I mean I can smell the stink from the zoo if the wind is blowing the right way on a hot summer day. 

I can hear the Tomahawk Chop from Turner Field if I listen closely. I can see a pretty spectacular view of the skyline right from my front porch.

I am an Atlantan. The city positively runs through my blood.

I love everything about being born and raised in the city, which is why it is so upsetting to hear the name of my beloved hometown on the lips of out-of-towners who probably haven’t had the experiences I have.

I have lived in the same modest 1920s bungalow my entire life. Though suburban neighborhoods often offer security in subdivisions and McMansions, I would never trade my cozy home for a new, sterile monolith that looks just like the one next door, or leave my eclectic neighborhood for one where most of my neighbors are families with 2.5 kids and minivans. 

Yes, Outside-the-Perimeter residents may have visited the city a number of times, attended a football game in high school when their team had to play out of district or ventured inside the dreaded I-285 to go shopping at any of our fine retail districts, but that does not give one the elusive “Atlantan” status.

So if you tell me you’re from Conyers or Peachtree City, I would love to talk to you and compare life stories, as I’m sure ours our drastically different.

I’m content with being a city girl, and as my indiscriminate upbringing has taught me, I am open to others’ viewpoints and tolerant of other lifestyles. 

Live in the suburbs and visit the city, but don’t claim what isn’t rightfully yours.

—Bailey Keiger is a senior from Atlanta majoring in magazines