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City of Atlanta
City
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Flag of City of Atlanta
Flag
Nickname(s): 
Hotlanta,[1] The A-T-L[2]
Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties and the state of Georgia
Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties and the state of Georgia
CountryUnited States
StateGeorgia
CountiesFulton, DeKalb
Terminus1837
Marthasville1843
City of Atlanta1847[3]
Government
 • MayorShirley Franklin (D)
Area
 • City132.4 sq mi (343.0 km2)
 • Land131.8 sq mi (341.2 km2)
 • Water0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2)
Elevation
738−1,050 ft (225−320 m)
Population
 (2006)
 • City486,411
 • Density3,690.5/sq mi (1,220.5/km2)
 • Urban
3,499,840
 • Metro
5,478,667
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code(s)404, 678, 770
FIPS code13-04000Template:GR
GNIS feature ID0351615Template:GR
Websitehttp://www.atlantaga.gov/

Atlanta (/ætˈlæntə/ or /ətˈlæntə/) is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Georgia, and the core city of the ninth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although portions of the city extend into DeKalb County. As of July 2006, the city of Atlanta had a population of 486,411[4] and a metropolitan population of 5,138,223.[5] Residents of the city are known as Atlantans.

Atlanta has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence.[6] Between 2000 and 2006, the Atlanta metropolitan area grew 20.5%, the highest percentage amongst the top-ten metro areas.[7] Atlanta is often considered a poster child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid growth and urban sprawl.[8][9]

During the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta stood apart from southern cities that supported segregation, touting itself as "The City Too Busy to Hate." The city's progressive civil rights record and existing population of blacks, made it increasingly popular as a relocation destination for black Americans. Blacks soon became the dominant social and political force in the city, though today some measure of demographic diversification has taken place.[10] Along with St. Louis and Los Angeles, Atlanta is one of three cities in the United States to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games.

History

Main article: History of Atlanta
See also: Atlanta in the Civil War
A map showing roads and Indian trails circa 1815, with late 19th century Fulton County and City of Atlanta outlines overlaid.

In 1836 the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad to provide a trade route to the Midwest. The initial route was to run from Chattanooga to a spot called simply "Terminus", located somewhere east of the Chattahoochee River, which would eventually be linked to the Georgia Railroad from Augusta and the Macon & Western, which ran from Macon to Savannah. Though the initial location of the Terminus was near present-day Norcross, work was moved to Montgomery's Ferry for a savings of $18,000 per mile from the geography differences. Several months later in 1837, the legislature finally established the zero-mile marker for the Terminus at a point near the present-day Georgia World Congress Center, chosen because the area was relatively flat and would better allow for turnarounds. The first store, a general store, was opened at the site in 1839 by John Thrasher and a Mr. Johnson.

The area around Atlanta also began to develop. By 1842, the settlement at the Terminus had six buildings and 30 residents. A two-story depot building was constructed, and after a few renames, the Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, (J. Edgar Thomson) suggested that the area be renamed "Atlantica-Pacifica", which was quickly shortened to "Atlanta". The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as "Atlanta" on December 29, 1847.[11]

File:Atlanta1864.jpg
A slave auction house on Whitehall Street

The first Georgia Railroad freight and passenger trains arrived in 1845. In 1846, a third railroad, the Macon & Western, completed tracks to Terminus, connecting the little settlement with Macon and Savannah.[12] The town experienced a small boom and the population grew to 2,500 citizens. In 1848, the first mayor was elected, the first homicide occurred and the first jail was built. Sidewalks were constructed and a town marshal appointed. By 1854 another railroad connected Atlanta to LaGrange.[13] The town had grown to 6,000 residents.

During the American Civil War, Atlanta served as an important railroad and military supply hub. In 1864, the city became the target of a major Union invasion. The area now covered by Atlanta was the scene of several battles, including the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Battle of Ezra Church. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuated Atlanta after a four-month siege mounted by Union General William T. Sherman and ordered all public buildings and possible Confederate assets destroyed. The next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered the city, and on September 7 Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate. He then ordered Atlanta burned to the ground on November 11 in preparation for his punitive march south.

After a plea by Father Thomas O'Reilly of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sherman did not burn the city's churches or hospitals. The remaining war resources were then destroyed in the aftermath, and in Sherman's March to the Sea. The fall of Atlanta was a crucial event in the Civil War because of the confidence it instilled in the Union.

The rebuilding of the city — immortalized in the city's symbol, the phoenix — was gradual. From 1867 until 1888, U.S. Army soldiers occupied McPherson Barracks in southwest Atlanta to ensure Reconstruction era reforms. To help the newly freed slaves, the Federal Government set up a Freedmen's Bureau, which helped establish what is now Clark Atlanta University, one of several historically black colleges in Atlanta.

In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth city to serve as the state capital. Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, promoted the city to investors as a city of the "New South", one built on a modern economy, less reliant on agriculture. As part of the effort to modernize the South, Grady and many others also supported the creation of the Georgia School of Technology (now the Georgia Institute of Technology), which was founded in 1885. In 1880, Sister Cecilia Carroll, RSM, and three companions traveled from Savannah to Atlanta to minister to the sick. The sisters opened the Atlanta Hospital (later to become Saint Joseph's Hospital), the first medical facility in the city after the Civil War.

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

As Atlanta grew, ethnic and racial tensions mounted. The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 left at least 27 dead[14] and over seventy injured. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Jewish supervisor at a factory in Atlanta was put on trial for raping and murdering a thirteen-year old white employee from a suburb of Atlanta, ultimately resulting in Frank's lynching. This became the storyline for the hit 1998 musical Parade

In the 1930s, the Great Depression hit Atlanta. The federal government established Techwood Homes, the nation's first federal housing project in 1935. With the entry of the United States into World War II, soldiers from around the Southeastern United States went through Atlanta to train and later be discharged at Fort McPherson. War-related manufacturing such as the Bell Aircraft factory in the suburb of Marietta helped boost the city's population and economy. Shortly after the war, the Communicable Disease Center (now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) was founded in Atlanta.

In the wake of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which helped usher in the Civil Rights Movement, racial tensions in Atlanta began to express themselves in acts of violence. On October 12, 1958, a Reform Jewish temple on Peachtree Street was bombed. The "Confederate Underground" claimed responsibility. Many believed that Jews, especially those from the northeast, were advocates of the Civil Rights Movement.

Atlanta's Inman Park neighborhood was the city's first planned suburb. Today, it features several mansions and many colorful restored bungalows.

In the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the US Civil Rights Movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. On October 19, 1960, a sit-in at the lunch counters of several Atlanta department stores led to the arrest of Dr. King and several students, drawing attention from the national media and from presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Despite this incident, Atlanta's political and business leaders fostered Atlanta's image as "the city too busy to hate". In 1961, Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. became one of the few Southern white mayors to support desegregation of Atlanta's public schools. While the city mostly avoided confrontation, minor race riots did occur in 1965 and in 1968.

In 1990, Atlanta was selected as the site for the Centennial Olympic Games 1996 Summer Olympics. Following the announcement, Atlanta undertook several major construction projects to improve the city's parks, sports facilities, and transportation. Former Mayor Bill Campbell allowed many "tent cities" to be built. Atlanta became the third American city to host the Summer Olympics, after St. Louis and Los Angeles. The games themselves were marred by numerous organizational inefficiencies as well as the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.

Geography

Topography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 343.0 km² (132.4 mi²). 341.2 km² (131.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.51% water. At about 1050 feet or 320 meters above mean sea level (the airport is 1010 ft), Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River.

The Eastern Continental Divide line enters Atlanta from the south, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur.[15] 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.[15]

The latter is via the Chattahoochee River, 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.[16][17]

Climate

Atlanta averages 2 inches of snowfall annually.

Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate, (Cfa) according to the Köppen classification, with hot, humid summers and chilly (but not extreme) winters by the standards of the United States. July highs average 90 °F (32 °C) or above, and low average 67 °F (19 °C). Infrequently, temperatures can even exceed 100 °F (38 °C). The highest temperature recorded in the city is 105 °F (40.6 °C), reached on July 13 and July 17, 1980. January is the coldest month, with an average high of 50 °F (10 °C), and low of 29 °F (-1 °C). Warm fronts can bring springlike temperatures in the 60s and 70s in winter, and Arctic air masses can drop temperatures into the teens as well. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -9 °F on 13 February 1899. A close second was -8 °F, reached on 21 January 1985.

Like the rest of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall, which is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year. Average annual rainfall is 50.2 inches (1275 mm).[18] An average year sees frost on 36 days; snowfall averages about two inches (5 centimeters) annually. The heaviest single storm brought 10 inches on January 23, 1940.[19] Frequent ice storms can cause more problems than snow; the most severe such storm may have occurred on January 7, 1973.[20]

In 2007, the American Lung Association ranked Atlanta as having the 13th highest level of particle pollution in the country[21] 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.[22]


Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures for Atlanta, GA (30328)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rec High °F 75 80 85 91 95 101 102 100 98 88 84 76
Norm High °F 50 55 63 71 78 84 90 86 81 72 62 53
Norm Low °F 29 32 38 45 54 62 67 66 60 47 39 32
Rec Low °F -9 1 6 24 31 40 48 50 28 25 10 -1
Precip (in) 5.34 4.28 5.52 4.04 4.63 3.66 4.17 4.32 3.87 3.58 3.73 4.18
Source: The Weather Channel[23]

Cityscape

Panoramic view of the central Atlanta skyline, spanning Midtown (left) and Downtown (right).
See also: Architecture of Atlanta and List of Atlanta neighborhoods

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 26th-tallest building in the world at 1,023 feet (312 m), and was one of the ten tallest buildings on Earth when built. It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of Chicago and New York City.[24]

File:ATL Suntrust Plaza.jpg
SunTrust Plaza in Downtown Atlanta.

The city's highrises are clustered in three districts in the city—Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.[25] (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 Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel – the tallest building in Atlanta at the time of its completion in 1976 – also includes the newer 191 Peachtree Tower, 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.

The influx of business to Midtown has continued – the district's newest tower, 1180 Peachtree, opened in 2006 at a height of 645 feet (197 m), and won a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Award that year from the U.S. Green Building Council. 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.[2] October 2005 marked the opening of Atlantic Station, a former brownfield steel plant site redeveloped into a mixed-use urban district. 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.[26][27]

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 per thousand residents (36 m²/resident) in 2005.[28] The city has a reputation, however, as a "city of trees" or a "city in a forest";[29][30] 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.[31]

The city's northern section, Buckhead, is consistently ranked by the Robb Report as one of the most affluent communities in the United States. Since the opening of the intown segment of the Georgia 400 tollway, which linked the district to the city superhighway system in the early 1990s, Buckhead has developed a dense commercial district, clustered around the high-end retail centers at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza and including a growing number of office buildings and residential highrises, some in the 40+ story range. The Mansion on Peachtree, a 42 Story Luxury Hotel and Condominium tower will open in Early 2008 and the 50 story 3344 Peachtree/Sovereign, planned to reach 660 feet (201 m), is due for completion in late 2007.[32]

The edge cities clustered around Perimeter Mall and Cumberland Mall have distinct skylines of their own. The Concourse at Landmark Center, located near Perimeter Mall in Sandy Springs, includes a pair of buildings called the King and Queen that each measure 570 feet (174 m) in total height.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Atlanta, Georgia

Tourism

See also: Atlanta attractions
File:King Tomb.gif
The Sweet Auburn district is preserved as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.
The Varsity has been an Atlanta landmark for over 75 years.
The Georgia Aquarium.
Atlanta's Piedmont Park is the city's largest park. A portion of the park is seen here with the Midtown Atlanta Skyline.
File:Album 10 002.jpg
The Fox Theatre.

Atlanta hosts a variety of museums on subjects ranging from history to fine arts, natural history, and beverages. Prominent among them are sites honoring Atlanta's participation in the civil rights movement. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in the city, and his boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn district is preserved as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Meetings with other civil rights leaders, including Hosea Williams and Congressman John Lewis, often happened at Paschal's, a diner and motor inn which was a favorite for "colored" people, banned from "white" restaurants in an era of racial segregation and intolerance. King's final resting place is in the tomb at the center of the reflecting pool at the King Center.

Other history museums and attractions include the Atlanta History Center; the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum (a huge painting and diorama in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, that depicts the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War); the Carter Center and Presidential Library; historic house museum Rhodes Hall; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum.

The arts are represented by several theaters and museums, including the Fox Theatre. The Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony, and High Museum of Art. The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is the city's home for challenging contemporary art and education geared toward working artists and collectors of art. Museums geared specifically towards children include the Fernbank Science Center and Imagine It! Atlanta's Children's Museum. The High Museum of Art is the city's major fine/visual arts venue, with a significant permanent collection and an assortment of traveling exhibitions. The Atlanta Opera, which was founded in 1979 by members of two struggling local companies, is now one of the fastest growing opera companies in the nation and garners attention from audiences around the world.[33]

Atlanta features the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, which officially opened to the public on November 23, 2005. The aquarium features more aquatic life than can be found in any other aquarium, in tanks holding approximately eight million gallons of water.[34] Adjacent is the World of Coca-Cola which opened in May 2007, featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising. Pemberton Place, the 20 acre site which houses the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola is within walking distance of Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, the CNN Center and other downtown Atlanta tourist attractions. Underground Atlanta, a historic shopping and entertainment complex is situated under the streets of downtown Atlanta. In addition Atlantic Station, a huge new urban renewal project on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, officially opened in October 2005. While not a museum per se, The Varsity is the main branch of the long-lived fast food chain, featured as the world's largest drive-in restaurant.[35]

Piedmont Park hosts many of Atlanta's festivals and cultural events.[36] In 1887, a group of prominent Atlantans purchased 189 acres (0.76 km2) of farmland to build a horse racing track, later developed into the site of the Cotton States International Exposition of 1895, made famous by W.E.B Dubois' "Fingers of the Hand" speech.[36] In 1904, the city council purchased the land for US$98,000,[37] and today it is the largest park in metro Atlanta,[38] with more than 2.5 million visitors each year.[39] The grounds were part of the Battle of Peachtree Creek – a Confederate division occupied the northern edge on July 20, 1864 as part of the outer defense line against Sherman's approach. Next to the park is the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Zoo Atlanta, with a panda exhibit, is in Grant Park.

Just east of the city, Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite in the world.[40] On its face are giant carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. It is also the site of laser shows in the summer. A few miles west of Atlanta on I-20 is the Six Flags Over Georgia Theme Park, which opened near the city in 1967, and was the second theme park in the Six Flags chain.

Entertainment and performing arts

Atlanta has a thriving music industry and is home to many famous hip-hop and R&B musicians. Jermaine Dupri's 2001 hip hop single "Welcome to Atlanta" (feat. Ludacris) declares Atlanta the "new Motown", referencing the city of Detroit, Michigan, which was known for its contributions to popular music, fertile job market and affordable urban housing in the 1950s to 1980s. The Dirty South style of hip-hop emerged in part from Atlanta artists such as Outkast and Goodie Mob. More recently, rapper/producer Lil Jon has been a driving force behind the party-oriented style known as crunk.

Record Producers L.A. Reid and Babyface founded LaFace Records in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label has eventually become the home to multi-platinum selling artists such as Toni Braxton, TLC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Monica, Usher and Ciara, many of whom are Atlantans themselves. It is also the home of So So Def Records, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape and Dem Franchise Boyz. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent company Arista Records to set up satellite offices. Atlanta is also home to multi-platinum rappers Ludacris and T.I., among others. Artists such as Keyshia Cole, Bow Wow, B5, Phife Dawg, T-Pain, and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys have moved to the city and made it their home. Atlanta is also a well known place for producers and artists trying to get into the music business.

Atlanta has also produced rock and pop music singers, such as The Black Crowes, alternative metal band Sevendust, sludge metal band Mastodon, ska/punk band Treephort, rock bands Swimming Pool Q's, Uncle Green (a.k.a 3 Lb. Thrill), Light Pupil Dilate, Big Fish Ensemble, Collective Soul and Third Day, the folk-pop Indigo Girls, Butch Walker, and was a proving ground for Connecticut-born pop-rock-blues musician John Mayer. Mayer, as well as India.Arie and Shawn Mullins, all performed pre-fame at Eddie's Attic, an independent club in the intown suburb of Decatur. The "Open Mic Shootout" at Eddie's Attic consistently draws singer-songwriter talent from across the nation, and is held every Monday night.

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

Atlanta's classical music scene includes well-renowned ensembles such as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Ballet, period-instrument ensemble New Trinity Baroque, Atlanta Boy Choir, and many others. Classical musicians include renowned conductors such as the late Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano.

The city has a well-known and active live music scene, though recently rapid gentrification and early venue closing times have hurt small clubs and other music venues. In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thriving new wave music scene featuring such bands as The Brains and The Producers, closely linked to the new wave scenes in Athens, Georgia and other college towns in the southeast.

Historically there have been a variety of live music traditions going back to Cabbagetown country music pioneer Fiddlin' John Carson, also including a thriving scene in the 90's, also in Cabbagetown, centered around a bar called Dotties, now known as Lenny's and relocated a few blocks away. Video Concert Hall, precursor to MTV, was founded in Atlanta.

Sports

Club Sport League Venue
Atlanta Falcons American Football National Football League Georgia Dome
Atlanta Braves Baseball Major League Baseball, NL Turner Field
Atlanta Hawks Basketball National Basketball Association Philips Arena
Atlanta WNBA franchise Basketball Women's National Basketball Association Philips Arena
Atlanta Thrashers Ice Hockey National Hockey League Philips Arena
Atlanta Rollergirls Roller Derby Women's Flat Track Derby Association All American Skating Center
Atlanta Silverbacks Soccer (Football) USL First Division Silverbacks Park
Georgia Force Arena Football Arena Football League Arena at Gwinnett Center
Gwinnett Gladiators Ice Hockey ECHL Arena at Gwinnett Center
Atlanta Vision Basketball ABA:Blue Conference The Sampson's Center
Turner Field

Atlanta has a rich sports history, including the oldest on-campus Division I football stadium, Bobby Dodd Stadium, built in 1913 by the students of Georgia Tech. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between the A&M College of Alabama and the University of Georgia in Piedmont Park in 1892; this game is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. 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. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. Centennial Olympic Park, built for 1996 Summer Olympics, sits adjacent to CNN Center and Philips Arena. It is now operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority.

The city is also host to four different major league sports. The Atlanta Braves baseball team has been the Major League Baseball franchise of Atlanta since 1966; the franchise was previously known as the Boston Braves (1912-1952), and the Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965). The team was founded in 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts as a National Association club, making it the oldest continuously operating sports franchise in North American sports. The Braves won the World Series in 1995 and had a recently ended unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005. Before the Braves moved to Atlanta, the Atlanta Crackers were Atlanta's professional baseball team from 1901 until their last season in 1965. They won 17 league championships in the minor leagues. The Atlanta Black Crackers were Atlanta's Negro League team from around 1921 until 1949.

Grady Memorial Hospital is one of Atlanta's major Hospitals.

The Atlanta Falcons American football team plays at the Georgia Dome. They have been Atlanta's National Football League franchise since 1966. They have won the division title three times, and a conference championship once, going on to lose to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII. Super Bowl XXVIII and XXXIV were held in the city. In the Arena Football League, The Georgia Force has been Atlanta's team since the franchise relocated from Nashville in 2002. The 2005 National Conference champions play in Philips Arena.

The Atlanta Hawks basketball team has been the National Basketball Association franchise of Atlanta since 1969; the team was previously known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946-1951), Milwaukee Hawks (1951-55), St. Louis Hawks (1955-68). The team's sole NBA championship was in 1958, when they were the St. Louis Hawks. In October of 2007 the WNBA announced Atlanta would receive an expansion franchise to begin league play in May 2008. They will play in Philips Arena but will not be affiliated with the Atlanta Hawks [1]. Atlanta hosted the NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball Championship most recently in April 2007.

From 1992 to 1996 Atlanta was home to the short-lived Atlanta Knights, an International Hockey League team. Their inaugural season was excellent for a new team, and was only bested by their sophomore season in which they won the championship Turner Cup. In 1996 they moved to Quebec City and became the Quebec Rafales. In 1999 the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team became Atlanta's National Hockey League franchise. They replaced the Atlanta Flames which had departed for Calgary, Alberta in 1980, becoming the Calgary Flames. The Thrashers made it to their first playoffs in 2007.

In golf, the final event of the PGA Tour season, THE TOUR Championship, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. This golf course is used because of its connection to the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones, an Atlanta native.

From 2001 to 2003 Atlanta hosted the Atlanta Beat soccer team of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association. They appeared in two of the three Founders Cup championships held, losing to the Bay Area CyberRays in 2001, and the Washington Freedom team in 2003. Atlanta is the home of the Atlanta Silverbacks of the United Soccer Leagues First Division (Men) and W-League (Women). In 1968 the Atlanta Chiefs professional soccer team won the NASL championship, playing their home games at the now demolished Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

The Atlanta Kookaburras are a successful Australian rules football club that compete in men's and women's divisions in the MAAFL and SEAFL and USAFL National Championships. The women's team is known as the Lady Kookaburras.

Other nearby sports facilities include Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) NASCAR race track in Hampton, Georgia. Road Atlanta is another famous local race track, located in Braselton, Georgia. In 2005 Atlanta competed with other major U.S. cities for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In March 2006, Atlanta lost to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Atlanta also was the home to the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization and events, and was originally owned by Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner. In 2001 it was sold to the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E).[41]

Media

See also: List of newspapers in Atlanta and List of broadcast stations in Atlanta

Atlanta's only major daily paper is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Weekly papers include Creative Loafing, The Sunday Paper and Atlanta Nation. A monthly newsprint publication Stomp And Stammer features local music news, indie rock record reviews, and cultural commentary. International medical, law, and business publisher NewsRx is headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings. The Atlanta Arts community is connected through the ARTNEWS (list serve).

The Atlanta metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the eighth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,310,490 homes (2.05% of the total U.S.). All of the major networks have stations in the market, along with two PBS stations and some independent ones. Several cable television networks also operate from Atlanta, including TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and TNT. These stations are owned by Turner Broadcasting System (now a subsidiary of Time Warner). The Weather Channel (owned by Landmark Communications) also broadcasts from the Atlanta area. According to Billboard, the first nationwide music video programming on cable television, Video Concert Hall was created in Atlanta.

There are also numerous local radio stations serving every genre of music, sports, and talk. The nationally syndicated Neal Boortz and Clark Howard shows are broadcast from Atlanta radio station AM 750 WSB.

Cox Enterprises, which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB-TV, and WSB-AM-FM, is headquartered in Atlanta. Cumulus Media, Inc. engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of commercial radio stations in mid-size radio markets in the United States and is also headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. As of December 31, 2005, it owned and operated 307 radio stations in 61 mid-sized U.S. media markets; and a multimarket network of 5 radio stations in the English-speaking Caribbean; as well as provided sales and marketing services for 2 radio stations under local marketing agreement. Nintendo's American Division has its distribution center based in Atlanta, the primary location from where imported games and products arrive to United States and are often inspected and shipped to stores nationwide.

Religion

Saint Mark United Methodist church

There are over 1,000 places of worship within the city of Atlanta.[3] A large majority of Atlantans profess to following a Protestant Christian faith, the city being a major Southern Baptist center. A number of black megachurches are located in the Atlanta area, including New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and World Changers Ministries, led by Creflo Dollar, and Greenforest Baptist Church.

Atlanta is also home to a large, vibrant Jewish community estimated to include 120,000 individuals in 61,300 households.[42] This study places Atlanta's Jewish population as the 11th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996.[42] The Temple, a reform synagogue, located on Peachtree Street, and its then-rabbi, Alvin Sugarman, were featured in the film Driving Miss Daisy.[43]

As the see of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, Atlanta serves as the Provincial 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.

Atlanta is also the see of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. This Diocese is headquartered at Saint Philip's Cathedral and is lead by the Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander whose voice within the Church made him a candidate for Primacy at the 2006 General Convention.

The city is the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, with Annunciation Cathedral and Metropolitan Alexios presiding. In total, there are eleven Orthodox parishes in Atlanta, including Greek, Orthodox Church in America, Antiochian, Serbian, Ukrainian and Romanian.

The Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ, is also headquartered in Atlanta and serves the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and central and eastern Tennessee. There are eight United Church of Christ congregations in the Atlanta metro area.

The headquarters for The Salvation Army's United States Southern Territory is also located in Atlanta.[44] There are eight churches, numerous social service centers, and youth clubs located throughout the Atlanta, Georgia.

Economy

See also: List of major companies in Atlanta and List of foreign consulates in Atlanta
The World of Coca-Cola museum reopened at a new location near the Georgia Aquarium on May 26, 2007.
File:Oct 5 005.jpg
Federal Reserve Bank in Midtown Atlanta.
The Downtown Connector
Rapid Urbanization has increased the demand for residential units within the City of Atlanta.

One of seven American cities classified as Gamma world cities, Atlanta ranks third in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within city boundaries, behind New York City and Houston.[45] Several major national and international companies are headquartered in Atlanta or its nearby suburbs, including four 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 largest mobile phone service provider in the United States,[46] can be found a short distance inside the Perimeter beside Georgia State Route 400.[47] 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.[48] Other headquarters for some major companies in Atlanta and around the metro area include Arby's, Chick-Fil-A, Earthlink, Equifax, Georgia-Pacific, Oxford Industries, Southern Company, SunTrust Banks, and Waffle House. 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.

Delta Air Lines is the city's largest employer and the metro area's third largest.[49] Delta operates the world's largest airline hub 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.[50]

Much of the wealth created by local companies' growth has found itself reinvested in the region through philanthropy. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus contributed more than $200 million dollars to build the new Georgia Aquarium near Centennial Olympic Park.[51] Fellow Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank purchased the Atlanta Falcons in 2002,[52] and has pledged $35 million for construction of the new Santiago Calatrava-designed Atlanta Symphony Center in Midtown.[53] The late Coca-Cola executive Robert W. Woodruff established an Atlanta-based charitable foundation worth nearly $2 billion,[54] and made a grant to Emory University in 1979 that at the time was the largest single contribution to a university endowment in American history. Roberto Goizueta also made substantial contributions to Emory University before his death;[55] the business school there now bears his name.

Atlanta has a sizable financial sector. SunTrust Banks, the seventh largest bank by asset holdings in the United States,[56] has its home office on Peachtree Street in downtown.[57] 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.[58] Wachovia announced plans in August 2006 to place its new credit-card division in Atlanta,[59] 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.[60]

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. Together the closures mean the loss of 6,000 to 8,000 jobs in the Atlanta region. Kia, however, has broken ground on a new assembly plant near West Point, Georgia.[61]

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, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Headline News, and CNN Airport Network – centered their operations in Atlanta as well (Turner South has since been sold). The Weather Channel, owned by Landmark Communications, has its offices in the nearby suburb of Marietta.

Cox Enterprises – a privately held company controlled by billionaire siblings Barbara Cox Anthony and 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;[62] 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; its call letters stand for "Welcome South, Brother."

Demographics

See also: Population of Atlanta
Atlanta population
Year City
proper[63]		 Metro
area
1850 2,572 N/A
1860 9,554 N/A
1870 21,789 N/A
1880 37,409 N/A
1890 65,533 N/A
1900 89,872 419,375
1910 154,839 522,442
1920 200,616 622,283
1930 270,366 715,391
1940 302,288 820,579
1950 331,314 997,666
1960 487,455 1,312,474
1970 496,973 1,763,626
1980 425,022 2,233,324
1990 394,017 2,959,950
2000 416,474 4,112,198
2006 486,411[4] 5,138,223

According to the 2000 census, there are 416,474 people (486,411 in the July 2006 estimate),[4] 168,147 households, and 83,232 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,221/km² (3,161/mi²). There are 186,925 housing units at an average density of 548/km² (1,419/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 59.39% Black, 33.22% White, 2.93% Asian, 0.18% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.99% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 6.49% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.[64] The city also has one of the largest gay populations in the nation; according to 2006 UCLA survey estimate, Atlanta has the third highest percentage (12.8%) of gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples among the fifty largest cities in the United States.[65]

There are 168,147 households out of which 22.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.5% are married couples living together, 20.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% are non-families. 38.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 3.16.

In the city the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $51,482 and the median income for a family is $55,939. Males have a median income of $36,162 compared to $30,178 for females. The per capita income for the city is $29,772, and 24.4% of the population and 21.3% of families are below the poverty line. 38.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

According to a 2000 daytime population estimate by the Census Bureau,[66] over 250,000 more people commute 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.

The Atlanta metropolitan area had an estimated July 2006 population of 5,138,223.[5] Atlanta is also the central city of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala. combined statistical area, which consists of the metropolitan area, Hall, Polk, Troup, and Upson counties in Georgia, and Chambers County, Alabama. The combined statistical area, according to the Census Bureau, had an estimated July 2006 population of 5,478,667.[67]

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. The mayor of Atlanta is Shirley Franklin.

Possibly owing to the city's black majority, each mayor elected since 1973 has been black. The uninterrupted string of black mayors in excess of thirty years is a first for any metropolitan area in the country. 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. 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.

The Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta

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.

Crime

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, Atlanta recorded 90 homicides in 2005, down from 151 in 2004. Violent crime in 2005 was the lowest since 1969.[68] However, in 2005 Atlanta received media attention for the high-profile Brian Nichols manhunt, who became internationally known as the "Courthouse Killer". In addition, broadcast media focused attention on a standoff involving a murder suspect (not an Atlanta resident) who perched himself on top of a construction crane for several days in the upscale Buckhead district. Murders peaked at 271 in 1973, for a murder rate of 58 per 100,000.

Atlanta's Mayor Franklin is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,[69] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

Atlanta's police department has been plagued by allegations of police brutality.[70][71]

Surrounding cities

Main article: Atlanta metropolitan area
The town square in downtown Marietta, a Cobb County suburb of Atlanta

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.[72] Because Georgia contains more counties than any other state east of the Mississippi River (an accident of history explained by the now-defunct county unit system of weighing votes in primary elections),[73] 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.[74]

A 2006 survey by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce counted 140 cities and towns in the 28-county metropolitan statistical area in mid-2005.[72] Three cities – Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, and Milton – have incorporated or won legislative approval for incorporation since then.[75][76][77]

Atlanta's environs include the following suburbs, listed in order of population:

Education

Colleges and universities

Emory University's Quad
Georgia Tech's Tech Tower

Atlanta has more than 30 institutions of higher education, the most prominent of which include Emory University, one of the United States' premier teaching and research universities, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University. The city is also the locale for members of the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of prestigious historically black colleges and universities. Its members include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Morris Brown College, and Spelman College. Adjoining the AUC schools, but independent from them, is the Interdenominational Theological Center, a collection of seminaries and theological schools from a variety of denominations. The Reformed Theological Seminary is another Atlanta school. The Savannah College of Art and Design opened a Midtown, Atlanta, campus in 2005 and shortly thereafter acquired the Atlanta College of Art. The John Marshall Law School is the city's only freestanding law school. The headquarters of the private institution American InterContinental University are in Atlanta, and two AIU campuses exist in the area—one in Buckhead and another in Dunwoody.

Institutions in the metropolitan area include:

Public 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.[78] The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two single gender academies, and an adult learning center.[78] The school system also owns and operates radio station WABE-FM 90.1 (the National Public Radio affiliate) and PBS television station WPBA 30.

Private schools

Notable private schools in Atlanta include The Westminster Schools, Pace Academy, The Lovett School, Holy Spirit Preparatory School, The Paideia School, Greenfield Hebrew Academy, Yeshiva Atlanta, The Galloway School (Chastain Park), and Atlanta International School.

Notable private schools near Atlanta include Marist School (Dunwoody in unincorporated DeKalb County), Wesleyan School, Greater Atlanta Christian School, St. Pius X Catholic High School (Chamblee), The Epstein School (Sandy Springs), Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (Sandy Springs), the Weber School (Sandy Springs), The Walker School in Marietta, Whitefield Academy in Smyrna/Vinings/Mableton, and neighboring the airport Woodward Academy (College Park).

Transportation

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority provides public transportation in Atlanta
The Downtown Connector, with the downtown skyline in the background
A MARTA bus

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL, ICAO: KATL), the world's busiest airport as measured by passenger traffic and by aircraft traffic,[79] provides air service between Atlanta and many national and international destinations. Situated 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown, the airport covers most of the land inside a wedge formed by Interstates 75, 85, and 285. The MARTA rail system has a station within 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 – a fact that leads some to call the city "the Los Angeles of the South."[80] 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. Terms such as ITP (Inside The Perimeter) and OTP (Outside The Perimeter) have arisen to describe area neighborhoods, residents, and businesses. The Perimeter plays a social and geographical role in Atlanta similar to that of the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C.

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 merge to form the Downtown Connector through the center of the city; the combined highway carries more than 340,000 vehicles per day. The Connector is considered one of the ten most congested segments of interstate highway in the United States.[81] The intersection of I-85 and I-285 in Doraville – officially called the Tom Moreland Interchange, is known to most residents as Spaghetti Junction. Metropolitan Atlanta is crisscrossed 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)).

Notwithstanding heavy automotive usage, Atlanta's heavy rail system, operated by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), is the seventh busiest in the country. MARTA also operates a bus system within Fulton and Dekalb Counties. Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties each operate separate, autonomous transit authorities, using buses but no trains. However, many commuters in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs use private automobiles as their primary transportation. (This may be partly because Georgia has had one of the lowest excise taxes on gasoline in the United States. Such taxes in Georgia have risen, however, in recent years: for example, in July 2002, Alaska was the only state with a tax lower than Georgia's 30.6 cents per gallon, but, by August 2005, Georgia's tax had risen by 34.6%, to 41.2 cents per gallon, and 21 states and the District of Columbia had taxes lower than Georgia's.)[82][83] This results in heavy traffic during rush hour and contributes to Atlanta's air pollution, which has made Atlanta one of the more polluted cities in the country.[84] In recent years, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute times in the U.S. The Clean Air Campaign was created in 1996 to help ease congestion in metro Atlanta. In 2001, a group of transit riders joined to form Citizens for Progressive Transit, an organization dedicated to increasing the reach and improving the quality of public transportation in metro Atlanta.

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 from downtown to Buckhead as well as possibly another East-West line.

Atlanta began as a railroad town and 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 home to 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. The Amtrak station is several miles north of downtown, however, and 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 and Canada.

Atlanta has a reputation as being one of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians,[85] as far back as 1949 when Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car and killed while crossing Peachtree Street.

Sister cities

Atlanta has eighteen sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):[86]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlanta, Georgia.

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  83. ^ "Gasoline Taxes" (PDF). American Petroleum Institute. 2005-08. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-21. Retrieved 2006-04-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  84. ^ Copeland, Larry (2001-01-31). "Atlanta pollution going nowhere". USA TODAY. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  85. ^ Bennett, D.L. (2000-06-16). "Atlanta the Second Most Dangerous City in America for Pedestrians". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Perimeter Transportation Coalition. Retrieved 2007-09-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  86. ^ "Online Directory: Georgia, USA". Sister Cities International. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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