I lived in SS for 5 years. Before that, downtown Atlanta for 10.
Most of the comments so far prove that few read the article; and none have actually been there nor understand why SS exists in the first place. It used to be part of Atlanta.
I was with you up until “It used to be part of Atlanta.”
Sandy Springs used to be an area that was part of unincorporated Fulton County, which of course is the county that most of the City of Atlanta is in (for the non-locals).
I remember when the only Pizza Hut in our area was on the Sandy Springs/285 exit. We lived off of N. Peacctree Road way back when. At the time, Pizza Hut was about the only place to get a take out pizza. Otherwise to eat a pizza at home one had to buy the messy kits in the grocery store.
Background for the naysayers w/o the facts:
Articles on Sandy Springs:
2006:
http://reason.org/news/show/122369.html
Sandy Springs Incorporates, Inspires New Wave of ‘Private’ Cities in Georgia
City opts to contract out nearly all government services
Leonard Gilroy and Steve Stanek
November 1, 2006
Fed up with high taxes and poor service delivery, the nearly 90,000 residents of Sandy Springs in Georgia’s Fulton County voted in 2005 to incorporate, making Sandy Springs the first new city in Georgia in 50 years.
The incorporation has gone so well that two new municipalities are about to be created in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. Residents of John’s Creek and Milton voted to incorporate in July. The areas will become cities on December 1.
Incorporation votes in other unincorporated areas of the county are slated for next year.
(snip)
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2011:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/sandy-springs-georgia-privatize-outsource_n_852466.html
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2012:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/business/a-georgia-town-takes-the-peoples-business-private.html?pagewanted=all
Bottom line: The icorporated, privatized city of Sandy Springs or the city of Atlanta? A no-brainer.