Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia
—  City  —
From top left: City skyline from Buckhead, the Georgia State Capitol, Centennial Olympic Park, World of Coca Cola, Downtown Atlanta skyline, and Turner Field
Flag Seal
Motto: Resurgens (English translation: Rising Again)
Location and all 6 Zones in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb County, Clayton County, and Gwinnett County counties and the State of Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia Location in the United States
Coordinates:
Country	United States of America
State	Georgia
County	Fulton and DeKalb
Terminus	1837
Marthasville	1843
City of Atlanta	1847
Government
- Mayor	Kasim Reed
Area
- City	132.4 sq mi (343.0 km2)
- Land	131.8 sq mi (341.2 km2)
- Water	0.6 sq mi (1.8 km2)
- Urban	1,963 sq mi (5,084.1 km2)
- Metro	8,376 sq mi (21,693.7 km2)
Elevation	738 to 1,050 ft (225 to 320 m)
Population (est. 2009)
- City	540,900 (33rd)
- Density	4,019.7/sq mi (1,552/km2)
- Urban	3,499,840
- Metro	5,475,000 (9th)
- Metro density	629.4/sq mi (243/km2)
- Demonym	Atlantan
Time zone	Eastern Time (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
ZIP Codes	30060, 30301-30322, 30324-30334, 30336-30350, 30353
Area code(s)	404, 470, 678, 770
FIPS code	13-04000[1]
GNIS feature ID	0351615[2]
Website	atlantaga.gov

Atlanta (pronounced /ətˈlæntə/, /ætˈlæntə/) is the capital and most populous city in the State of Georgia, USA. As of 2009^[update] Atlanta had an estimated population of about 540,900 people. Its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in the country, inhabited by more than 5.4 million people. The Atlanta Combined Statistical Area has a population approaching six million, making it the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States. Like many areas in the Sun Belt, the Atlanta region has seen explosive growth since about 1976, and it added about 1.1 million residents between 2000 and 2008.

Atlanta is considered to be a top business city and is a primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States - via highway, railroad, and air.^[3][4] Atlanta contains the world headquarters of such large corporations as The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia-Pacific, AT&T Mobility, the Cable News Network, Delta Air Lines, and Turner Broadcasting. Atlanta has the country's fourth-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies (although UPS, Home Depot, and Newell Rubbermaid are not within its city limits) and more than 75 percent of Fortune 1000 companies have business operations in the metropolitan area, helping Atlanta realize a gross metropolitan product of US$270 billion, accounting for more than 2/3 of the Georgian economy. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world's busiest airport since 1998 (measured by number of passengers).^[5][6] Atlanta also hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County and the location of the seat of government of the State of Georgia. A small portion of the City of Atlanta corporate limits extends eastwards into DeKalb County. Residents of Atlanta and its surroundings are known as "Atlantans".^[7]

History

A small part of land of the City of Atlanta was once an American Indian village whose name translates into English as "Standing Peachtree". The land that became the Atlanta Metropolitan Area was obtained from the Cherokee Indians and Creek Indians by white settlers and their armies in 1822, with the first white settlement established in the area being Decatur.

In 1907, Peachtree Street, the main street of Atlanta, was busy with streetcars and automobiles.

On December 21, 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad to provide a trade route to the Midwestern United States.^[8] Following the Trail of Tears exile of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma between 1838 and 1839, this depopulated area was opened up for the construction of railroads. The area around the eastern terminus of the town to the railroad began to develop first, and hence the settlement was named "Terminus" in 1837. It was nicknamed Thrasherville, for John Thrasher, a merchant who built homes and a general store here.^[9] By 1842, the settlement had six buildings and 30 residents and the town was renamed "Marthasville".^[10] The Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, J. Edgar Thomson, suggested that the area be renamed "Atlantica-Pacifica" after the Western and Atlantic Railroad, but this name was quickly shortened to "Atlanta".^[10] The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847.^[11] By 1854, another railroad connected Atlanta to LaGrange, and the town grew to 9,554 by 1860.^[12][13]

During the Civil War, Atlanta served as a vital nexus of the railroads and hence a hub for the distribution of military supplies. At this time, railroads from Atlanta extended eastward to Augusta and Savannah, northward to Chattanooga, southward to Macon, southwest to Columbus, Ga., and Montgomery, Alabama, and due west to northern Alabama. Following the Union Army's capture of Chattanooga in 1863, that army followed the general route of the railroad southwards (via Kennesaw and Marietta) in 1864, in order to attack Atlanta. The Atlanta region then became the target of the major invasion of northern Georgia by the Union.

The region now covered by Metropolitan Atlanta became the location of several major army battles, including the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Jonesborough (now Jonesboro, Ga.), and the Battle of Atlanta. On September 1, 1864, the Confederate General John Bell Hood decided that his army must evacuate Atlanta—following a four-month-long siege laid on Atlanta by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman. General Hood ordered that all public buildings and possible assets to the Union Army be destroyed. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun of Atlanta surrendered the city to the Union Army, and on September 7, General Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. Sherman's army next torched the buildings of Atlanta to the ground, beginning on November 11, in preparation for the march of his army to the southeast—though sparing the city's churches and hospitals.^[14]

Battle of Atlanta during US Civil War, 1864

The rebuilding of Atlanta following the end of the Civil War in 1865 was gradual. From 1867 until 1888, U.S. Army soldiers occupied the McPherson Barracks in southern Atlanta to ensure that the Reconstruction era reforms were carried out. To help the newly-freed slaves of the State of Georgia, the Federal Government's newly-established Freedmen's Bureau worked in tandem with a number of civilian freedmen's aid organizations, especially the American Missionary Association.

Also, in 1868, the Georgia State Capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta because of Atlanta's superior rail transportation network, and hence Atlanta became the fifth location of the capital of the State of Georgia.^[15] The Confederate Soldiers' Home was built to house disabled and elderly Georgia veterans from 1901 to 1941.^[16] Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South", one to be built on a modern economy, less reliant on agriculture. As a focal point of this change, the Georgia Institute of Technology (its future name) was established in Atlanta in 1885 (with its first classes held in October 1888).

However, as Atlanta grew, ethnic and racial tensions mounted. The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 left at least 27 people dead^[17] and over 70 injured.

On December 15, 1939, Atlanta hosted the film premiere of Gone with the Wind, the epic film based on Atlanta's Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel Gone with the Wind. Several stars of the film, including Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, and Hattie McDaniel, and its legendary producer, David O. Selznick, attended the gala event, which was held at Loew's Grand Theatre, now demolished. The film's fourth-billed star, the British actor Leslie Howard, had returned to his home in Great Britain in September 1939 to help with its defense during World War II.^[18] The reception for the film's premiere was held at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, which still exists.

During World War II, manufacturing industries such as the Bell Aircraft Company's large factory in the northwestern suburb of Marietta, a massive growth in railroad traffic - and the manufacture of railroad cars - for the war effort, and great growth at Ft. McClellan, Fort Gillem (ext. 1941), and Rickenbacker Field forced a large growth in the population and economy of Atlanta. Shortly after the war, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was founded in Atlanta.^[19]

Interior of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Sweet Auburn

In the wake of the landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, Brown v. Board of Education, which helped bring about the Civil Rights Movement, racial tensions in Atlanta began to express themselves in isolated events of violence. On October 12, 1958, the Reform Jewish temple on Peachtree Street was bombed. The rabbi of the synagogue, Jacob Rothschild, had been and continued to be an outspoken advocate of desegration.^[20] A group of anti-Semitic white supremacists calling themselves the "Confederate Underground" claimed responsibility.

During the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the Civil Rights Movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and students from Atlanta's historically Black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. Two of the most important civil rights organizations, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, had their national headquarters in Atlanta. Despite some racial protests during the Civil Rights era, Atlanta's political and business leaders labored to foster Atlanta's image as "the city too busy to hate". In 1961, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. became one of the few Southern white mayors to support desegregation of his city's public schools.^[21]

African-American Atlantans demonstrated growing political influence with election of the first African-American mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973. They became a majority in the city during the late 20th century but suburbanization, rising prices, a booming economy and new migrants have decreased their percentage in the city from a high of 69 percent in 1980 to about 54 percent in 2004. The addition of new immigrants such as Latinos and Asians is also altering city demographics, along with an influx of white residents.^[22]

In 1990, Atlanta was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Following the announcement, Atlanta undertook several major construction projects to improve the city's parks, sports facilities, and transportation. Atlanta became the third American city to host the Summer Olympics. The games themselves were marred by numerous organizational inefficiencies, as well as the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.^[23]

Contemporary Atlanta is sometimes considered to be an archetype for cities experiencing rapid growth and urban sprawl.^[24][25] Unlike most major cities, metropolitan Atlanta does not have any natural boundaries, such as an ocean, lakes, or mountains, that might constrain growth.

The city has recently been commended by bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency for its eco-friendly policies.^[26] In 2009, Atlanta's Virginia-Highland became the first carbon-neutral zone in the United States. Verus Carbon Neutral developed the partnership that links 17 merchants of the historic Corner Virginia-Highland shopping and dining neighborhood retail district, through the Chicago Climate Exchange, to directly fund the Valley Wood Carbon Sequestration Project (thousands of acres of forest in rural Georgia).^[27][28]

Geography

The city of Atlanta from Stone Mountain. Downtown and Midtown to the left, and Buckhead to the right.

Topography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 343.0 km² (132.4 sq mi). 341.2 km² (131.7 sq mi) of it is land and 1.8 km² (1 sq mi) of it is water. The total area is 0.54% water. At about 1,050 feet (320 m) above mean sea level the airport is at 1,010 feet (308 m), Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River.

The Eastern Continental Divide line enters Atlanta from the south, proceeding to the downtown area. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur.^[29] Rainwater that falls on the south and east side runs eventually into the Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the Gulf of Mexico^[29] via the Chattahoochee River. That river is part of the ACF River Basin, and from which Atlanta and many of its neighbors draw most of their water. Being at the far northwestern edge of the city, much of the river's natural habitat is still preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Downstream however, excessive water use during droughts and pollution during floods has been a source of contention and legal battles with neighboring states Alabama and Florida.^[30][31]

Climate

Atlanta's Piedmont Park, with a blanket of winter snow.

Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate, (Cfa) according to the Köppen classification, with hot, humid summers and mild, but occasionally cold winters by the standards of the southern United States. January averages 42.7 °F (5.9 °C), with lows in the northern suburbs slightly colder than listed below. However, warm fronts can bring springlike conditions while the stronger Arctic air masses can push lows into the teens (−11 to −7 °C), but rarely any further. July averages 80 °F (26.7 °C), though infrequently, highs can test the 100 °F (38 °C) line.

Like the rest of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall, which is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year, though spring and early fall are markedly drier. Average annual rainfall is 50.2 inches (1,280 mm). Days at or above 90 °F (32 °C) can be seen more than 40 days per year; freezing temperatures can be seen on 45 night, but freezing highs are exceedingly rare. ^[32] Snow is not seen every year and averages 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) annually. The heaviest single storm brought around 10 inches (25 cm) on January 23, 1940.^[33] True Blizzards are rare but possible; one hit in March 1993. Frequent ice storms can cause more problems than snow; the most severe such storm may have occurred on January 7, 1973.^[34]

Extremes range from −9 °F (−23 °C) in February 1899 to 105 °F (41 °C) in July 1980. ^[35] More recently, a low one degree away from the record, was observed on January 21, 1985. ^[35]

In 2007, the American Lung Association ranked Atlanta as having the 13th highest level of particle pollution in the United States.^[38] The combination of pollution and pollen levels, and uninsured citizens caused the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America to name Atlanta as the worst American city for asthma sufferers to live in.^[39]

On March 14, 2008, an EF2 tornado hit downtown Atlanta with winds up to 135 mph (217 km/h). The tornado caused damage to Philips Arena, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, the Georgia Dome, Centennial Olympic Park, the CNN Center, and the Georgia World Congress Center. It also damaged the nearby neighborhoods of Vine City to the west and Cabbagetown, and Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills to the east. While there were dozens of injuries, only one fatality was reported.^[40] City officials warned it could take months to clear the devastation left by the tornado.^[41]

Cityscape

Architecture

Atlanta's skyline is punctuated with highrise and midrise buildings of modern and postmodern vintage. Its tallest landmark – the Bank of America Plaza – is the 38th-tallest building in the world at 1,023 feet (312 m). It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of Chicago and New York City.^[42]

Midtown Atlanta from the Northwest near the Cobb County/Fulton County border on the Chattahoochee River. Atlantic Station is visible to the left with the Atlantic skyscraper in the foreground. April 2010

Unlike many other Southern cities such as Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, and New Orleans, Atlanta chose not to retain its historic Old South architectural characteristics. Instead, Atlanta viewed itself as the leading city of a progressive "New South" and opted for expressive modern structures.^[43] Atlanta's skyline includes works by most major U.S. firms and some of the more prominent architects of the 20th century, including Michael Graves, Richard Meier, Marcel Breuer, Renzo Piano, Pickard Chilton, and locally based internationally known Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam Architects. Atlanta's most notable hometown architect may be John Portman whose creation of the atrium hotel beginning with the Hyatt Regency Atlanta (1967) made a significant mark on the hospitality sector.

A 2008 aerial photo of Atlanta's urban core viewed from the Southwest near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Downtown Atlanta (in the foreground) is followed by Midtown, and then Buckhead. Sandy Springs and Dunwoody's Perimeter Center skyline is visible in the background. In 2008, the entire region had a population of 5,729,304.

Through his work, Portman—a graduate of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture -- reshaped downtown Atlanta with his designs for the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, Peachtree Center, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, and SunTrust Plaza. The city's highrises are clustered in three districts in the city — Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.^[44] (there are two more major suburban clusters, Perimeter Center to the north and Cumberland/Vinings to the northwest). The central business district, clustered around the Hyatt Regency Atlanta^[45] hotel – one of the tallest buildings in Atlanta at the time of its completion in 1967 – also includes the newer 191 Peachtree Tower, Westin Peachtree Plaza, SunTrust Plaza, Georgia-Pacific Tower, and the buildings of Peachtree Center. Midtown Atlanta, farther north, developed rapidly after the completion of One Atlantic Center in 1987.

Urban development

Atlanta's Midtown West

The Atlanta metropolitan area is one of the country's fastest growing areas. The suburbs continue to expand - particularly to the northwest and northeast - while central neighborhoods are experiencing a renaissance as well.

Atlanta suffered an exodus of middle and upper class families to the suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s. This trend saw a gradual decline of Downtown Atlanta as the main shopping area for middle and upper class Atlantans, replaced by Buckhead and suburban malls. Downtown has however maintained its function as one of the main centers for office space in the region.

Meanwhile, the exodus sent previously well-to-do neighborhoods in east-central Atlanta into decay, neighborhoods such as Inman Park and Virginia Highland typified by their craftsman bungalows. A turning point came in the 1970s as neighborhood opposition blocked two freeways from being built through the area. Since then, these neighborhoods have seen a gradual gentrification and are now considered hip urban neighborhoods appealing to young people who wish to be in the middle of entertainment, shopping and transportation options.

The first decade of the 2000s saw rapid infill development in and around these old streetcar suburbs north and northeast of Downtown, in Midtown, the Old Fourth Ward and along the BeltLine. Condos, apartments, and retail space were built into former industrial and warehouse space. October 2005 marked the opening of Atlantic Station, a former brownfield steel plant site redeveloped into a mixed-use urban district. This type of growth has slowed somewhat during the economic crisis of 2008-2010, but nonetheless continues into more and more areas previously considered "marginal" such as Midtown West.

Atlanta can be called the city of three downtowns, as next to downtown Atlanta (22 million square feet of office space), Buckhead boasts 20,000,000 square feet (1,900,000 m²) and Midtown 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m²).

Midtown has taken this position only in recent years with booming growth in office space. Businesses continue to move into the Midtown district.^[46] In early 2006, Mayor Franklin set in motion a plan to make the 14-block stretch of Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta (nicknamed "Midtown Mile") a street-level shopping destination envisioned to rival Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive or Chicago's Magnificent Mile.^[47][48]

High rise residential units in the "Midtown Mile"

The city's northern district, Buckhead, is eight miles (13 km) north of downtown Atlanta. It grew up as a wealthy suburban area but is now of regional importance. Lenox Square mall took its place as an important suburban mall, but many skyscrapers have been built around it and so it has developed into one of the "three downtowns". This, despite the fact that the skyscrapers are immediately bordered by wealthy neighborhoods of single-family houses. There is also a great deal of infill development – condos and apartments – where possible, for example near the Lindbergh MARTA station, along Lenox Road, etc.

Southwestern Atlanta contains a number of suburbs popular with the wealthy and elite African-American population of the city, such as Collier Heights, which features neighborhoods such as Cascade Heights and Peyton Forest.^[49]

Although much of the city's far west, south, and southwest sides are characterized by impoverished neighborhoods, urban pioneers have discovered the transitional neighborhoods of southwest Atlanta such as Capitol View, Sylvan Hills and Adair Park. Due to the housing crisis, these neighborhoods, with the charm of Grant Park and Virgina Highland bungalows, offer opportunities for affordable housing - much of it renovated or in move-in condition - close to downtown and Midtown. The neighborhoods are also located on or near the BeltLine. The area held its first Spring Forward Festival in nearby Perkerson Park in March 2010.

Atlanta has been in the midst of a construction and retail boom, with over 60 new highrise or midrise buildings either proposed or under construction as of April 19, 2006.^[50] As in many cities, new developmet has slowed drastically with the beginning of the world-wide recession of 2007-2009.

In spite of civic efforts such as the opening of Centennial Olympic Park in downtown in 1996, Atlanta ranks near last in area of park land per capita among cities of similar population density, with 8.9 acres (36,000 m²) per thousand residents (36 m²/resident) in 2005.^[51] The city has a reputation, however, as a "city of trees" or a "city in a forest";^[52][53] beyond the central Atlanta and Buckhead business districts, the skyline gives way to a sometimes dense canopy of woods that spreads into the suburbs. Founded in 1985, Trees Atlanta has planted and distributed over 68,000 shade trees.^[54] BeltLine projects will increase Atlanta's park space by 40%^[55], including two new parks: the Westside Reservoir Park and the Historic Fourth Ward Park.

Culture

Entertainment and performing arts

The Fox Theatre

The High Museum of Art, a division of the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta

Atlanta's classical music scene includes the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Ballet, New Trinity Baroque, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Georgia Boy Choir and the Atlanta Boy Choir. Classical musicians have included renowned conductors Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano.

The city has a well-known and active live music scene . The Fox Theatre is an historic landmark and one of the highest grossing venues in the world. The city also has a large collection of highly successful music venues of various sizes that host top and emerging touring acts. Popular local venues include the Tabernacle, the Variety Playhouse, The Masquerade, The Star Community Bar and the EARL.

Atlanta is also a major hub for the marching arts. The city is home of Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps, who competes in Drum Corps International, and both Alliance Drum and Bugle Corps and the CorpsVets Drum and Bugle Corps, both of which participate in the Drum Corps Associates circuit.

Well known and significant museums and galleries in the city include the renowned High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (the Contemporary), the Atlanta Institute for the Arts, and the Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA GA).

Atlanta is home to a flourishing theater community. Major Theater groups include the Tony award winning Alliance Theater (part of the Woodruff Arts Center), The internationally known Center for Puppetry Arts, Seven Stages Theater, The Horizon Theater Company, improv group Dad's Garage, Actor's Express, the Shakespeare Tavern, and the suburban Theatre in the Square in Marietta.

Atlanta is the home of many aspiring and upcoming hip-hop artists, and major recording studios/companies such as So So Def Recordings, Grand Hustle Records, BME Recordings, Block Entertainment, Konvict Muzik. It was announced earlier this year that Atlanta will host WWE Wrestlemania 27 in March 2011.

Tourism

Atlanta's Piedmont Park is the city's largest park. A portion of the park is seen here with the Midtown Atlanta Skyline.

Atlanta attracts the thirteenth-highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the United States, with more than 478,000 foreign visitors arriving in the city in 2007.^[56] That same year (according to Forbes), it was estimated that Atlanta attracted 37 million visitors into the city.^[57] The city features the world's largest indoor aquarium,^[58] the Georgia Aquarium, which officially opened to the public on November 23, 2005. The new World of Coca-Cola, opened adjacent to the Aquarium in May 2007, features the history of the world-famous soft drink brand and provides visitors the opportunity to taste different Coca-Cola products from around the world. Underground Atlanta, a historic shopping and entertainment complex lies under the streets of downtown Atlanta. Atlantic Station, a huge new urban renewal project on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, officially opened in October 2005.

The Varsity has been an Atlanta landmark for over 75 years.

Atlanta hosts a variety of museums on subjects ranging from history to fine arts, natural history, and beverages. Museums and attractions in the city include the Atlanta History Center; the Carter Center; the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site; the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum; historic house museum Rhodes Hall; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. Children's museums include The Fernbank Science Center and Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta.

Piedmont Park hosts many of Atlanta's festivals and cultural events, including the annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival and Atlanta Pride.^[59] Atlanta Botanical Garden sits next to the park. Zoo Atlanta, in Grant Park, features a panda exhibit. Just east of the city rises Stone Mountain, the largest piece of exposed granite in the world.^[60]

During Labor Day weekend each year, Atlanta hosts the popular multi-genre convention Dragon*Con, held downtown at the Hyatt Regency, Marriot Marquis, Hilton and Sheraton hotels. The event attracts an estimated 30,000 attendees annually. The entire month of August is dedicated to filmmaking when Atlanta hosts the month-long celebration of independent film known as Independent Film Month^[61] And in October the Midtown Atlanta area is host to the popular Out on Film gay film festival, attracting film makers and fans from around the world.^[62]

Religion

North Avenue Presbyterian Church, on the southeast corner of North Avenue and Peachtree Street

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Corretta Scott King Tomb in the Sweet Auburn district, preserved as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.

There are over 1,000 places of worship within the city of Atlanta.^[63] Protestant Christian faiths are well represented in Atlanta,^[64] the city historically being a major center for traditional Southern denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). There are a large number of "mega churches" in the area, especially in suburban areas.

Atlanta contains a large, and rapidly growing, Roman Catholic population which grew from 292,300 members in 1998 to 750,000 members in 2008, an increase of 156 percent.^[65] About 10 percent of all metropolitan Atlanta residents are Catholic.^[66] As the see of the 84 parish Archdiocese of Atlanta, Atlanta serves as the metropolitan see for the Province of Atlanta. The archdiocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Christ the King and the current archbishop is the Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory.^[67][68] Also located in the metropolitan area are several Eastern Catholic parishes which fall in the jurisdiction of Eastern Catholic eparchies for the Melkite, Maronite, and Byzantine Catholics.^[69]

The city hosts the Greek Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral, the see of the Metropolis of Atlanta and its bishop, Alexios. Other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions represented by parishes in the Atlanta area include the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.

Atlanta is also the see of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, which includes all of northern Georgia, much of middle Georgia and the Chattahoochee River valley of western Georgia. This Diocese is headquartered at the Cathedral of St Philip in Buckhead and is led by the Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander.^[70]

Atlanta serves as headquarters for several regional church bodies also. The Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America maintains offices in downtown Atlanta; ELCA parishes are numerous throughout the metro area. There are eight United Church of Christ congregations in the Atlanta metro area, one of which, First Congregational in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, is noted for being the church with which former mayor Andrew Young is affiliated.

Traditional African American denominations such as the National Baptist Convention and the African Methodist Episcopal Church are strongly represented in the area. These churches have several seminaries that form the Interdenominational Theological Center complex in the Atlanta University Center.

One "mega church" is the Anglican Church of the Apostles, located on US-41 between West Paces Ferry and Mt. Paran Roads

The headquarters for The Salvation Army's United States Southern Territory is located in Atlanta.^[71] The denomination has eight churches, numerous social service centers, and youth clubs located throughout the Atlanta area.

The city has a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in the suburb of Sandy Springs, Georgia.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta in adjacent Lilburn, Georgia is currently the largest Hindu temple in the world outside of India.^[72] It is one of approximately 15 Hindu temples in the metro Atlanta area, along with 7 other Hindu temples in Georgia serving nearly 100,000 Hindus in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Perry, Savannah, Columbus, Rome/Cartersville and other remote centers.

There also are an estimated 75,000 Muslims in the area and approximately 35 mosques.^[73]

Metropolitan Atlanta is also home to a Jewish community estimated to include 120,000 individuals in 61,300 households.^[74] This study places Atlanta's Jewish population as the 11th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996.^[74] Atlanta also has a considerable number of ethnic Christian congregations such as Korean Baptist/Methodist/Presbyterian Churches, Tamil Church Atlanta, Telugu Church, Hindi Church, Malayalam Church, Ethiopian, Chinese, and many more traditional ethnic religious groups.

Sports

Turner Field

Atlanta is home to several professional sports franchises, including teams from all four different major league sports in the U.S. The Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, have played in the city since 1966. The Braves began playing in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings, and is the oldest continually operating professional sports franchise in America.^[75] The Braves won the World Series in 1995, and had an unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005.

The Atlanta Falcons are an American football team of the National Football League have played in Atlanta since 1966. The team currently plays at the Georgia Dome. They have won the division title three times (1980, 1998, 2004) and one conference championship – going on to finish as the runner-up to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999. Atlanta hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.^[76]

The Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association have played in Atlanta since 1968. The team's history goes back to 1946, when they were known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, playing in the area now known as the Quad Cities (Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa). The team then moved to Milwaukee in 1951, and to St. Louis in 1955, where they won their sole NBA Championship as the St. Louis Hawks. In 1968, they came to Atlanta.^[77] In October 2007, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced that Atlanta would receive an expansion franchise, that commenced their first season in May 2008. The new team is the Atlanta Dream, and plays in Philips Arena. The new franchise is not affiliated with the Atlanta Hawks.^[78]

From 1972–1980, the Atlanta Flames played ice hockey in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1980, due to financial difficulties of the owner, and became the Calgary Flames. On June 25, 1997, Atlanta was awarded an NHL expansion franchise, and the Atlanta Thrashers became the city's newest ice hockey team. The Thrashers play at Philips Arena. The team began play on September 18, 1999, losing to the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime in a preseason game. The Thrashers first home victory came on October 26, 1999, defeating the Calgary Flames.^[79]

Atlanta was, and currently is, home to the professional women's soccer team the Atlanta Beat. The original Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA, 2001–2003) was the only team to reach the playoffs in each of the league's three seasons. The new Atlanta Beat made its debut in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in April 2010, and the following month played its first game in the new soccer-specific stadium that it shares with Kennesaw State University in the northern suburb of Kennesaw. Atlanta was also home to the Atlanta Silverbacks of the United Soccer Leagues First Division (men) and W-League (women). In 2007, the Silverbacks had their best season advancing to the USL Finals against the Seattle Sounders, who have since been promoted to the MLS. The city is supposedly also being considered for a potential expansion team in Major League Soccer.^[80] The Atlanta Chiefs won the championship of the now-defunct North American Soccer League in 1968. In golf, the final PGA Tour event of the season that features elite players, The Tour Championship, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club.^[81] This golf course is used because of its connection to the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones, an Atlanta native.

Atlanta has a rich tradition in collegiate athletics. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets participate in seventeen intercollegiate sports, including football and basketball. Tech competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and is home to Bobby Dodd Stadium, the oldest continuously used on campus site for college football in the southern United States, and oldest currently in Division I FBS.^[82] The stadium was built in 1913 by students of Georgia Tech. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between Auburn University and the University of Georgia in Piedmont Park in 1892; this game is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.^[83] The city hosts college football's annual Chick-fil-A Bowl (Formerly known as the Peach Bowl) and the Peachtree Road Race, the world’s largest 10 km race.^[84]

Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. Centennial Olympic Park, built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, sits adjacent to CNN Center and Philips Arena. It is now operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. Atlanta hosted the NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball Championship most recently in April 2007.

Atlanta is home to two of the nation's Gaelic football clubs, Na Fianna Ladies and Mens Gaelic Football Club and Clan na nGael Ladies and Mens Gaelic Football Club. Both are members of the North American County Board, a branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association, the worldwide governing body of Gaelic games.^[85]

Media

The Atlanta metro area is served by many local television stations and is the eighth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,387,520 homes (2.0% of the total U.S.).^[86] There are also numerous local radio stations serving every genre of music and sports.

Cox Enterprises, a privately-held company controlled by Anne Cox Chambers, has substantial media holdings in and beyond Atlanta. Its Cox Communications division is the nation's third-largest cable television service provider;^[87] the company also publishes over a dozen daily newspapers in the United States, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. WSB AM—the flagship station of Cox Radio—was the first broadcast station in the South.

The notable television stations in Atlanta are Cox Enterprises-owned ABC affiliate (and the city's first TV station) WSB-TV (Channel 2.1), Fox Television's WAGA-TV (Channel 5.1), Gannett Company's NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (Channel 11.1, also known as "11 Alive") and its sister station MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL-TV (Channel 36.1, known as MyAtlTV), the Meredith Corporation's CBS affiliate WGCL-TV (Channel 46.1), and CBS-owned CW station WUPA (Channel 69.1).

The market has two PBS affiliates: WGTV (Channel 8.1), the flagship station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network, and WPBA (Channel 30.1), owned by Atlanta Public Schools.

Atlanta is the home of the nation's first cable superstation, then known as WTCG (Channel 17), first transmitting its signal via satellite in December 1976; the station itself first signed-on in Atlanta as WJRJ-TV in 1967. The station changed its call letters to the more-familiar WTBS in 1979, and became WPCH-TV (also known as "Peachtree TV") in 2007, when its parent company, the Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting System decided to separate the local and national programming feeds.

The Atlanta area is also home to other Turner Broadcasting properties TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network, HLN, truTV, and Turner Classic Movies, as well as NBC Universal's The Weather Channel.

The is ranked seventh in the nation by Arbitron, and is home to more than forty radio stations, notably of which including WSB-AM (750), WCNN-AM (680), WQXI-AM (790), WGST-AM (640), WVEE-FM (103.3), WSB-FM (98.5), WWWQ-FM (99.7), and WBTS-FM (95.5).

Economy

CNN Center

Delta Air Lines headquarters

Atlanta is one of eight U.S. cities classified as a "beta world city" by a 2008 study at Loughborough University,^[88] and ranks fourth in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within city boundaries, behind New York City, Houston, and Dallas.^[89] Several major national and international companies are headquartered in Atlanta or its nearby suburbs, including three Fortune 100 companies: The Coca-Cola Company, Home Depot, and United Parcel Service in adjacent Sandy Springs. The headquarters of AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular Wireless), the second largest mobile phone service provider in the United States, is located near Lenox Square.^[90] Newell Rubbermaid is one of the most recent companies to relocate to the metro area; in October 2006, it announced plans to move its headquarters to Sandy Springs.^[91] Other headquarters for some major companies in Atlanta and around the metro area include Arby's, Chick-fil-A, Earthlink, Equifax, Gentiva Health Services, Georgia-Pacific, Oxford Industries, RaceTrac Petroleum, Southern Company, SunTrust Banks, Mirant, and Waffle House. In early June 2009, NCR Corporation announced that they will relocate its headquarters to the nearby suburb of Duluth, Georgia.^[92] First Data is also a large corporation who announced in August 2009 that they would move its headquarters to Sandy Springs.^[93] Over 75% of the Fortune 1000 companies have a presence in the Atlanta area, and the region hosts offices of about 1,250 multinational corporations. As of 2006 Atlanta Metropolitan Area ranks as the 10th largest cybercity (high-tech center) in the US, with 126,700 high-tech jobs.^[94]

Delta Air Lines is the city's largest employer and the metro area's third largest.^[95] Delta operates one of the world's largest airline hubs at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and, together with the hub of competing carrier AirTran Airways, has helped make Hartsfield-Jackson the world's busiest airport, both in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft operations. The airport, since its construction in the 1950s, has served as a key engine of Atlanta's economic growth.^[96]

Atlanta has a sizable financial sector. SunTrust Banks, the seventh largest bank by asset holdings in the United States,^[97] has its home office on Peachtree Street in downtown.^[98] The Federal Reserve System has a district headquarters in Atlanta; the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which oversees much of the deep South, relocated from downtown to midtown in 2001.^[99] Wachovia announced plans in August 2006 to place its new credit-card division in Atlanta,^[100] and city, state and civic leaders harbor long-term hopes of having the city serve as the home of the secretariat of a future Free Trade Area of the Americas.^[101]

Atlanta is also home to a growing Biotechnology sector, gaining recognition through such events as the 2009 BIO International Convention.^[102]

The World of Coca-Cola museum reopened at a new location near the Georgia Aquarium on May 26, 2007.

Federal Reserve Bank in Midtown Atlanta.

The auto manufacturing sector in metropolitan Atlanta has suffered setbacks recently, including the planned closure of the General Motors Doraville Assembly plant in 2008, and the shutdown of Ford Motor Company's Atlanta Assembly plant in Hapeville in 2006. Kia, however, has broken ground on a new assembly plant near West Point, Georgia.^[103]

The city is a major cable television programming center. Ted Turner began the Turner Broadcasting System media empire in Atlanta, where he bought a UHF station that eventually became WTBS. Turner established the headquarters of the Cable News Network at CNN Center, adjacent today to Centennial Olympic Park. As his company grew, its other channels – the Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT, Turner South, Turner Classic Movies, CNN International, CNN en Español, HLN, and CNN Airport Network – centered their operations in Atlanta as well (Turner South has since been sold). Turner Broadcasting is a division of Time Warner. The Weather Channel, owned by a consortium of NBC Universal, Blackstone Group, and Bain Capital, has its offices in the nearby suburb of Marietta.

Cox Enterprises, a privately held company controlled by James C. Kennedy, his sister Blair Parry-Okeden and their aunt Anne Cox Chambers, has substantial media holdings in and beyond Atlanta; it is headquartered in the city of Sandy Springs.^[104][105] Its Cox Communications division, headquartered in unincorporated DeKalb County,^[106] is the third-largest cable television service provider in the United States;^[107] the company also publishes over a dozen daily newspapers in the United States, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. WSB – the flagship station of Cox Radio – was the first AM radio station in the South.

Unincorporated DeKalb County is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adjacent to Emory University, with a staff of nearly 15,000 (including 6,000 contractors and 840 Commissioned Corps officers) in 170 occupations, including: engineers, entomologists, epidemiologists, biologists, physicians, veterinarians, behavioral scientists, nurses, medical technologists, economists, health communicators, toxicologists, chemists, computer scientists, and statisticians. Headquartered in DeKalb County, CDC has 10 other offices throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. In addition, CDC staff are located in local health agencies, quarantine/border health offices at ports of entry, and 45 countries around the world. Originally established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, its primary function was to combat malaria, the deep southeast being the heart of the U.S. malaria zone at the time.

Atlanta is the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region II.

Law and government

Atlanta City Hall

Atlanta is governed by a mayor and a city council. The city council consists of 15 representatives—one from each of the city's twelve districts and three at-large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority.^[108] The mayor of Atlanta is Kasim Reed.

Every mayor elected since 1973 has been black.^[109] Maynard Jackson served two terms and was succeeded by Andrew Young in 1982. Jackson returned for a third term in 1990 and was succeeded by Bill Campbell. In 2001, Shirley Franklin became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Atlanta, and the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.^[110] She was re-elected for a second term in 2005, winning 90% of the vote. Atlanta city politics during the Campbell administration suffered from a notorious reputation for corruption, and in 2006 a federal jury convicted former mayor Bill Campbell on three counts of tax evasion in connection with gambling income he received while Mayor during trips he took with city contractors.^[111] As the state capital, Atlanta is the site of most of Georgia's state government. The Georgia State Capitol building, located downtown, houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as well as the General Assembly. The Governor's Mansion is located on West Paces Ferry Road, in a residential section of Buckhead. Atlanta is also home to Georgia Public Broadcasting headquarters and Peachnet, and is the county seat of Fulton County, with which it shares responsibility for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. The city of Atlanta is served by the Atlanta Police Department, which has an estimated 1700 officers working in the force.

The United States Postal Service operates several post offices throughout the city. The Atlanta Main Post Office is located at 3900 Crown Road SW, in close proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.^[112][113]

Crime

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, Atlanta recorded 141 homicides in 2006, down from 151 in 2004. In 2007 Dekalb County had a record 102 murders, Clayton County amassed 56 rapes, and unincorparted parts of Fulton County (East Point, College Park, and Union City) recorded 75. All together, the five-county core area of metro Atlanta (Cobb, Clayton, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Dekalb counties) recorded 487 murders in 2007. Crime is consistently dropping over the years.^[114] .^[115]

Demographics

As of the 2009 American Community Survey, the city of Atlanta had a population of 540,921, an increase of 28% from the 2000 Census.^[120]

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition of Atlanta was as follows:

• White: 38.4% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 36.5%)
• Black or African American: 55.8%
• Native American: 0.2%
• Asian: 1.9%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: <0.1%
• Some other race: 2.6%
• Two or more races: 1.1%

• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 4.9%

Source:^[121]

The median income for a household in the city was $47,464 and the median income for a family was $59,711. About 21.8% of the population and 17.2% of families lived below the poverty line.^[122]

The city of Atlanta is seeing a unique and drastic demographic increase in its white population, and at a pace that outstrips the rest of the nation. The proportion of whites in the city's population, according to Brookings Institution, grew faster between 2000 and 2006 than that of any other U.S. city. It increased from 31% in 2000 to 35% in 2006, a numeric gain of 26,000, more than double the increase between 1990 and 2000. Only Washington, D.C. saw a comparable increase in white population share during those years.^[123]

The city of Atlanta also has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks 3rd of all major cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city's total population recognizing themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.^[124][125]

According to the 2000 United States Census (revised in 2004), Atlanta has the twelfth highest proportion of single-person households nationwide among cities of 100,000 or more residents, which was at 38.5%.^[126]

According to a 2000 daytime population estimate by the Census Bureau,^[127] over 250,000 more people commuted to Atlanta on any given workday, boosting the city's estimated daytime population to 676,431. This is an increase of 62.4% over Atlanta's resident population, making it the largest gain in daytime population in the country among cities with fewer than 500,000 residents.

According to census estimates, the city of Atlanta was the thirteenth fastest growing city in the nation, in terms of both percentage and numerical increase.^[128]

Since the 1990s, the number of immigrants from Latin America to the Atlanta metropolitan area has greatly increased^[129]. This flow of immigrants has brought new cultural and religious practices and affect the economy and demography of the urban area, resulting in vibrant Hispanic communities within the city. Although the majority of the Hispanic population is made of Mexicans, it has been declining due to deportation and there has been an increasing number of Puerto Ricans.^[121]

Atlanta is also home to the fastest growing millionaire population in the United States. The number of households in Atlanta with $1 million or more in investable assets, not including primary residence and consumable goods, will increase 69% through 2011, to approximately 103,000 households.^[130]

Education

Main Quad on Emory University's Druid Hills Campus

Colleges and universities

Atlanta is home to one of the largest concentrations of colleges and universities in the country. The city has more than 30 institutions of higher education, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, a premier research university that has been ranked among the nation's top ten public universities since 1999 by US News and World Report, Georgia State University, and Mercer University Atlanta's Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Studies campus. The city also hosts the Atlanta University Center, the largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities in the country. Its members include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the Interdenominational Theological Center. Adjoining the AUC schools, but independent from them, is the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Outer Atlanta contains several colleges, including Emory University, a prominent liberal arts and research institution that has been consistently ranked as one of the top 20 schools in the United States by US News and World Report; Oglethorpe University, a small liberal arts school named for the founder of Georgia with a faculty rated 15th in the nation by the Princeton Review; Agnes Scott College, a women's college; and several state-run institutions such as Clayton State University, Georgia Perimeter College, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, and the University of West Georgia, as well as private colleges, such as Reinhardt University, which is just north of town and the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta campus.

Elementary and secondary schools

Part of the Henry W. Grady High School Campus in Midtown Atlanta.

The public school system (Atlanta Public Schools) is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. As of 2007, the system has an active enrollment of 49,773 students, attending a total of 106 schools: including 58 elementary schools (three of which operate on a year-round calendar), 16 middle schools, 20 high schools, and 7 charter schools.^[131] The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two single-sex academies, and an adult learning center.^[131] The school system also owns and operates radio station WABE-FM 90.1, a National Public Radio affiliate, and Public Broadcasting Service television station WPBA 30.

Transportation

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL, ICAO: KATL), the world's busiest airport as measured by passenger traffic and by aircraft traffic,^[132] provides air service between Atlanta and many national and international destinations. Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways maintain their largest hubs at the airport.^[133][134] Situated 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown, the airport covers most of the land inside a wedge formed by Interstate 75, Interstate 85, and Interstate 285. The MARTA rail system has a station in the airport terminal, and provides direct service to Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and Sandy Springs. The major general aviation airports near the city proper are DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (IATA: PDK, ICAO: KPDK) and Brown Field (IATA: FTY, ICAO: KFTY). See List of airports in the Atlanta area for a more complete listing.

With a comprehensive network of freeways that radiate out from the city, Atlantans rely on their cars as the dominant mode of transportation in the region^[135] Atlanta is mostly encircled by Interstate 285, a beltway locally known as "the Perimeter" which has come to mark the boundary between the interior of the region and its surrounding suburbs.

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority provides public transportation in Atlanta

The Downtown Connector

Three major interstate highways converge in Atlanta; I-20 runs east to west across town, while I-75 runs from northwest to southeast, and I-85 runs from northeast to southwest. The latter two combine to form the Downtown Connector (I-75/85) through the middle of the city. The combined highway carries more than 340,000 vehicles per day. The Connector is one of the ten most congested segments of interstate highway in the United States.^[136] The intersection of I-85 and I-285 in Doraville – officially called the Tom Moreland Interchange, is known to most residents as Spaghetti Junction.^[137] Metropolitan Atlanta is approached by thirteen freeways. In addition to the aforementioned interstates, I-575, Georgia 400, Georgia 141, I-675, Georgia 316, I-985, Stone Mountain Freeway (US 78), and Langford Parkway (SR 166) all terminate just within or beyond the Perimeter, with the exception of Langford Parkway, limiting the transportation options in the central city.

This strong automotive reliance has resulted in heavy traffic and contributes to Atlanta's air pollution, which has made Atlanta one of the more polluted cities in the country.^[138] The Clean Air Campaign was created in 1996 to help reduce pollution in metro Atlanta.

Around 2008 the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute times in the U.S. Also, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top for worst traffic in the country.^[139]

Notwithstanding heavy automotive usage, Atlanta's subway system, operated by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), is the seventh busiest in the country.^[140] MARTA also operates a bus system within Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett Counties. Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties each operate separate, autonomous transit authorities, using buses but no trains.

Atlanta has a reputation as being one of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians,^[141] as far back as 1949 when the Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car and killed while crossing Peachtree Street.^[142] Patrick Nordmann, a well-known Georgia Tech football player was also nearly struck by a speeding Escalade while attempting to cross 14th street.

The proposed Beltline would create a greenway and public transit system in a circle around the city from a series of mostly abandoned rail lines. This rail right-of-way would also accommodate multi-use trails connecting a string of existing and new parks. In addition, there is a proposed streetcar project that would create a streetcar line along Peachtree Street from downtown to the Buckhead area, as well as possibly another East-West MARTA line.

Atlanta began as a railroad town and it still serves as a major rail junction, with several freight lines belonging to Norfolk Southern and CSX intersecting below street level in downtown. It is the home of major classification yards for both railroads, Inman Yard on the NS and Tilford Yard on the CSX. Long-distance passenger service is provided by Amtrak's Crescent train, which connects Atlanta with many cities between New Orleans and New York. The Amtrak station is located several miles north of downtown — and it lacks a connection to the MARTA rail system. An ambitious, long-standing proposal would create a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal downtown, adjacent to Philips Arena and the Five Points MARTA station, which would link, in a single facility, MARTA bus and rail, intercity bus services, proposed commuter rail services to other Georgia cities, and Amtrak.

Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service between Atlanta and many locations throughout the United States, Canada, and up to the Mexican border.

Surrounding municipalities

The population of the Atlanta region spreads across a metropolitan area of 8,376 square miles (21,694 km²) – a land area larger than that of Massachusetts.^[143] Because Georgia contains the second highest number of counties in the country,^[144] area residents live under a heavily decentralized collection of governments. As of the 2000 census, fewer than one in ten residents of the metropolitan area lived inside Atlanta city proper.^[145]

	Rome	Sandy Springs	Athens
	Carrolton		Augusta
		Atlanta
	Columbus	Macon	Savannah

International relations

Sister cities

Atlanta has eighteen sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):^[146]

Notes

References

• Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events: Years of Change and Challenge, 1940–1976 by Franklin M. Garrett, Harold H. Martin
• Atlanta, Then and Now. Part of the Then and Now book series.
• Craig, Robert (1995). Atlanta Architecture: Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929–1959. Gretna, LA: Pelican. ISBN 0-88289-961-9. 
• Darlene R. Roth and Andy Ambrose. Metropolitan Frontiers: A short history of Atlanta. Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1996. An overview of the city's history with an emphasis on its growth.
• Sjoquist, Dave (ed.) The Atlanta Paradox. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2000.
• Stone, Clarence. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946–1988. University Press of Kansas. 1989.
• Elise Reid Boylston. Atlanta: Its Lore, Legends and Laughter. Doraville: privately printed, 1968. Lots of neat anecdotes about the history of the city.
• Frederick Allen. Atlanta Rising. Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1996. A detailed history of Atlanta from 1946 to 1996, with much about City Councilman, later Mayor, William B. Hartsfield's work in making Atlanta a major air transport hub, and about the American Civil Rights Movement as it affected (and was affected by) Atlanta.

External links

• Official Website
• Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
• Atlanta Police Department
• Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive Digital Library of Georgia
• Atlanta Time Machine
• Atlanta travel guide from Wikitravel
• Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary

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