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Atlanta (IPA: or ) is the capital and most populous city of the state of Georgia, and the central city of ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although a portion of the city extends into DeKalb County. According to the July 2005 census estimate, the city has a population of 470,688 and a metropolitan population of 4,917,717. As of July 1, 2005, Atlanta's combined statistical area (CSA) is estimated to have a population of 5,249,121.• A major city in its own right, Atlanta is considered a poster child for cities world wide experiencing rapid urban sprawl, economic development and growth.•• In the last decade, the Atlanta metropolitan area added over 1,150,000 residents – the fourth-largest gain in absolute numbers of any metropolitan area in the United States. Atlanta is recognized as one of the driving forces of the "New South," and has in recent years, along with Houston, Miami and Dallas, undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence. During the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta stood apart from Southern cities that supported segregation, and became known as the "City Too Busy to Hate." The city's progressive civil rights record made it increasingly popular as a relocation destination for African Americans, and the city's population became majority-black by 1972. African Americans soon became the dominant political force in the city; since 1974, all of the mayors of Atlanta have been African-American, as well as the majority of the city's fire chiefs, police chiefs, and other high-profile government officials. White flight occurred in the city in the 1970s and 1980s; the city's population dropped by more than 100,000 from 1970 to 1990. That trend has reversed itself, however, and with accelerating gentrification, the black majority has dropped from 69 percent in 1980 to 54 percent in 2005.• Common nicknames for the city include A Town, The A-T-L (derived from its IATA airport code), the Big Peach, and Hotlanta.
History
Geography 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 feet), Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River. Amongst the 25 largest MSAs, Atlanta is the fourth-highest in elevation, slightly lower than Pittsburgh (the city itself is higher than downtown Pittsburgh, however) and Phoenix, but significantly lower than Denver (1 mile or 1,600 m). According to folklore, its central avenue, Peachtree Street, runs through the center of the city on the Eastern Continental Divide. In actuality, the divide line enters Atlanta from the southwest, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur. 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. 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. Cityscape Atlanta has a prominent skyline, punctuated with highrises and comprising buildings of modern and postmodern vintage. Its tallest landmark – the Bank of America Plaza – is the 20th-tallest building in the world at 1,023 feet, and the newest skyscraper in America to have been one of the ten tallest buildings on Earth. The city center actually contains two distinct skylines. 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 low-slung buildings of Peachtree Center. Midtown Atlanta, farther north, developed rapidly after the completion of One Atlantic Center in 1987 established the neighborhood as a center of commercial development. The skylines meet at the Bank of America Plaza, which sits at the border of downtown and midtown on North Avenue. The influx of business to Midtown has continued – the district's newest tower, 1180 Peachtree, opened in 2006 at a height of 645 feet, 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 highrise construction and retail boom, with over 60 new highrise buildings either proposed or under construction as of April 19, 2006. 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. In spite of civic efforts such as the the opening of Centennial Olympic Park in downtown in 1996, Atlanta ranks near last in acreage of park land per capita among cities of similar population density, with 8.9 acres per thousand residents in 2005. The city has a reputation, however, as a "city of trees" or a "city in a forest"; beyond the central Atlanta and Buckhead business districts, the skyline gives way to a sometimes dense canopy of woods that spreads into the suburbs. The city's northern section, Buckhead, is consistently ranked by the Robb Report as one of the most affluent communities in the United States, comparable to Los Angeles' Bel-Air and Manhattan's Upper East Side. The sprawling layout of the Atlanta region has resulted in serious traffic and air quality problems. The metro area has one of America's longest average daily commutes, and is one of the most car-dependent cities on the planet due both to suburban sprawl and underfunded mass transit systems. It also has a reputation as being one of the most dangerous for pedestrians,• as far back as 1949 when Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car and killed. Climate
Demographics The census of 2000 states there are 416,474 people (470,688 in the July 2005 estimate), 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 61.39% Black, 33.22% White,1.93% Asian, 0.18% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.99% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 4.49% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city has one of the largest gay populations in the nation; according to Census 2000 both DeKalb and Fulton counties are among the ten most heavily gay counties in America. 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. In July 2006, several neighborhoods in South Fulton county voted to join the city of Atlanta, which would become effective October 30, 2006. If these applications for annexation are accepted, this could add another 17,000 or so residents to the city and increase the land area as well. According to a 2000 daytime population estimate by the Census Bureau,• over 250,000 more people commute to Atlanta on any given workday, boosting the city's estimated daytime population at the time to 676,431. This is an increase of 62.4 percent over Atlanta's resident population – the second-largest daytime population swing in America among cities with more than 250,000 residents. See also: Population of Atlanta Law and government
Crime For several decades, Atlanta had been among the most violent cities in North America but in recent years the city has reduced violent crime considerably. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, Atlanta recorded 90 homicides in 2005, down from 111 in 2004. Violent crime in 2005 was the lowest since 1969.• 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. Surrounding cities
Economy Despite romantic associations in the public mind from Gone With the Wind and other pop cultural touchstones, Atlanta has always been more a commercial city than a reflection of the region's antebellum past. It is the major center of commerce in the South, and boasts an especially strong convention and trade-show business. One of seven American cities classified as Gamma world cities, Atlanta ranks third in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in its metropolitan area, behind New York City and Houston. 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, BellSouth, and United Parcel Service in adjacent Sandy Springs. The headquarters of Cingular Wireless, the largest mobile phone service provider in the United States, can be found a short distance inside the Perimeter beside Georgia State Route 400. 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. Over 75 percent 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 claims Atlanta as home, and employs thousands through its hub operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The Delta hub, together with the hub of competing carrier AirTran Airways, has helped to make Hartsfield-Jackson the world's busiest airport, both in terms of passenger traffic and landings and takeoffs. The airport, since its construction in the 1950s, has served as a key engine of Atlanta's economic growth.• 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. Fellow Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank purchased the Atlanta Falcons in 2002, and has pledged $35 million for construction of a new Santiago Calatrava-designed symphony hall in Midtown. The late Coca-Cola executive Robert W. Woodruff established an Atlanta-based charitable foundation currently worth nearly $2 billion, 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; the business school there now bears his name. While liberal banking laws in North Carolina permitted Charlotte to grow into the South's largest financial center, Atlanta still has a sizable financial sector. SunTrust Banks, the ninth-largest bank by asset holdings in the United States, has its home office on Peachtree Street in downtown. 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. Wachovia announced plans in August 2006 to place its new credit-card division in Atlanta, 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. 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. 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 (see also Adult Swim) and companion channel Boomerang, TNT, Turner South, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Headline News, and CNN Airport Network – centered their operations in Atlanta as well. 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; 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." Colleges and universities
Public schools The public school system (Atlanta Public Schools) is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. Currently, the system has an active enrollment of 51,000 students, attending a total of 85 schools: 59 elementary schools (three of which operate on a year-round calendar), 16 middle schools, 10 high schools, and 7 charter schools.• The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two community schools, and an adult learning center. 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 (Buckhead), Pace Academy (Buckhead), The Lovett School (Buckhead), The Paideia School, The Galloway School (Chastain Park), Atlanta International School (Buckhead), Dar-un-Noor School, The Benjamin Franklin Academy, and the Atlanta Girls School. Notable private schools near Atlanta include Woodward Academy (College Park), Bridgeway Christian Academy (Alpharetta), St. Pius X Catholic High School (Chamblee), Marist School (Dunwoody in uninc. DeKalb County), Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (Sandy Springs) and Wesleyan School (Norcross, Georgia). Attractions, events, and recreation
Media The major daily newspaper in Atlanta is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Other weekly papers include Creative Loafing and Atlanta Nation. The Atlanta metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the ninth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,059,450 homes (1.88% of the total U.S.). All of the major networks have stations in the market, along with two PBS stations and some independent ones. There are also numerous local radio stations serving every genre of music, sports, and talk. See List of broadcast stations in Atlanta for a complete list of local TV and radio stations. The nationally syndicated Neal Boortz and Clark Howard shows are broadcast from Atlanta radio station AM 750 WSB. 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. 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 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. Music Atlanta has a reputation as a highly musical city, especially well-known for 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 1950's to 1980's. 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 Jon Boii Productions & So So Def Records, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape, Bow Wow, 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 B5, Phife Dawg, 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, rock bands 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 Indie.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. 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 late Robert Shaw, Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano, New Trinity Baroque's Predrag Gosta, and others. 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. Sports
Religion There are over 1,000 churches and other places of worship within the city of Atlanta. A large majority of Atlantans profess to following a Protestant Christian faith. A number of African-American megachurches are located in the Atlanta area, including New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, led by Bishop Eddie Long, and World Changers Ministries, led by Creflo Dollar. In addition to nearly 50 nonsectarian private schools listed in Fulton and DeKalb counties, there are over 80 religiously-affiliated private schools. Atlanta is also home to a large, vibrant Jewish community estimated by the Jewish Federation of Atlanta's Jewish Community Study to include 120,000 individuals in 61,300 households (study by the Ukeles Associates, 2006). This study places Atlanta's Jewish population as the 11th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996. The Temple synagogue, located on Peachtree Street, and its then-rabbi, Alvin Sugarman, were featured in the film Driving Miss Daisy. As the see of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, Atlanta serves as the Provincial See for the Province of Atlanta. The city is also a major Southern Baptist center. Atlanta is also the see of the Episcopal Diocese of Altanta, one of the largest in the country, both in number of member parishes and in individual worshipers. The Diocese is headquartered at Saint Philip's Cathedral and is currently lead by the Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander whose powerful and influential voice within the Church made him a candidate for Primacy at the 2006 General Convention. The city is also 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. Transportation Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport , the world's busiest airport as measured by passenger traffic and by aircraft traffic, provides air service between Atlanta 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 Atlanta, midtown, Buckhead and Sandy Springs. The major general aviation airports near the city proper are DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and Brown Field . 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." 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.• Interstate 75 just north of the Windy Hill Road interchange in Cobb County carries 17 lanes, making it one of the widest expressways on Earth. The intersection of I-85 and I-285 in Doraville – officially called the Tom Moreland Interchange, but known to most residents as Spaghetti Junction – contains some of the tallest overpasses in the eastern United States. 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)). One of the most notable features of Atlanta's roads are the sheer number of them named Peachtree Street or some variation thereof. The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is Atlanta's public-transit system, operating the rail and 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.••) This results in heavy traffic during rush hour and contributes to Atlanta's air pollution. In recent years, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute times in the U.S. 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. Long-distance passenger service is provided by Amtrak's Crescent train, which connects Atlanta with Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington, D.C. The Amtrak station at 1688 Peachtree Street, N.W., known as Brookwood Station (leased to Amtrak by Norfolk Southern), 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. The Greyhound terminal is situated at 232 Forsyth Street, on the southern edge of the downtown area and directly beneath MARTA's Garnett rail station. Sister cities Atlanta has nineteen sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):• See also Further reading Years of Change and Challenge, 1940-1976 by Franklin M. Garrett, Harold H. Martin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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