A Scary Experience in Downtown Atlanta:
Abandon the "Walkable" Fantasy Right Away 🏟😅 Don't trust Google Maps when it says it's a 10 - minute walk—it's purely a psychological limit test. Your heartbeat can soar to 180 in no time. It's like a real - life urban stealth and escape mission. All the following happened on a sunny afternoon from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM. Route: Hotel in Midtown ➡️ World of Coca - Cola ➡️ Centennial Olympic Park ➡️ Underground Atlanta. After lunch, the map showed it was just a ten - minute walk. I thought I'd work off my meal, so I set off from the hotel to the Coca - Cola Museum. I figured a wide - open street in broad daylight would be pretty normal (how naive I was!) As it turned out, although there weren't many homeless people, the whole neighborhood was filled with empty streets and roaring cars. There were hardly any pedestrians on the road. I also had to pass under an overpass, and the whole vibe was like something out of an apocalypse movie. It put me on high alert—I had this strong feeling that "this road doesn't seem to be for people." The situation got even more absurd when I walked from Centennial Olympic Park to Underground Atlanta (who on earth recommended this underground city anyway!). Even though there were tourist attractions all around, during the second half of the journey, I was constantly scanning my surroundings while walking. I kept crossing the street at the curb, trying to avoid the sporadic but overly active homeless people on the sidewalk. Every now and then, I'd follow behind small groups of tourists or black aunties to get a sense of security. It was truly like a survival game scenario, folks. I originally thought Underground Atlanta would be a cultural and creative market + tourist spot like Ponce City Market. But when I took a quick look from across the street, I saw it was desolate, dilapidated, and there were large groups of homeless people gathered on both sides of the road. Scared out of my wits, I immediately turned around and headed into the subway station. I didn't want to play anymore; I just wanted to go home. But inside the station, there were also homeless people staring at passers - by and wandering around. The phone signal was so bad that I didn't dare to buy a ticket. I quickly stood near the security guards and staff and started hailing a ride (I'd been using Lyft all these days because, for some unknown reason, Uber in Atlanta was twice as expensive as Lyft. But I glanced at the estimated arrival time of the vehicles and quickly called for the Uber that would come the fastest. I just wanted to get home alive). The black ladies who were sweeping the floor and at the service window all asked me with concern if I was okay. This scaredy - cat was trembling: "I'm okay, but can I stand close to you? I'm so scared." I was so grateful to them. Waiting for the car, I was so nervous that I was about to dig my nails into my palms. Sure, there are homeless people everywhere in the US, but why are they all clustered in groups here? Or just lying in long rows on the road in broad daylight? It gives me the creeps. The most hilarious contrast is that the day before, I went from the zoo to Ponce City Market and BeltLine. I was happily sipping coffee, doing a city walk, enjoying the flowers, watching people walk their dogs, and then strolling back to the commercial area through the residential area to take the bus. The residential area had signs saying "24 - hour surveillance," and there was even an armed security guard next to CVS who greeted me with a smile. This Chinese kid was like: "I'm so full of a sense of security!" #AtlantaTravel #AtlantaSubway #LifeAsAnInternationalStudent
