History of Atlanta, Georgia

At every turn, rich Atlanta history is revealed through the people and events that grew this settlement into an international city. The roads you travel through Atlanta were worn from the Native Americans who first called this land home. The beautiful and serene green spaces once were the battlefields of a nation torn apart in civil war. From the many railroad tracks crossing the area to the skyscrapers lining Peachtree Street to the world's busiest airport, the story of two centuries of changing Atlanta, Georgia history unfolds. The spirit of Atlanta and the ideals of our people reflect those of the courageous and visionary leaders of our past and present.

Atlanta is the Capital city of the southeast, a city of the future with strong ties to its past.  The old in new Atlanta is the soul of the city, the heritage that enhances the quality of life in a contemporary city.  In the turbulent 60's, Atlanta was "the city too busy to hate."  And today, in the 21st Century, Atlanta is the "city not too busy to care".

Today the fast-growing city remains a transportation hub, not just for the country but also for the world: Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport is one of the nation's busiest in daily passenger flights.  Direct flights to Europe, South America, and Asia have made metro Atlanta easily accessible to the more than 1,000 international businesses that operate here and the more than 50 countries that have representation in the city through consulates, trade offices, and chambers of commerce.  The city has emerged as a banking center and is the world headquarters for 13 Fortune 500 companies.

For more than four decades Atlanta has been linked to the civil rights movement.  Civil Rights leaders moved forward, they were the visionaries who saw a new south, a new Atlanta.  They believed in peace. They made monumental sacrifices for that peace.  And because of them Atlanta became a fast-pace modern city which opened its doors to the 1996 Olympics. Atlanta has become the best example of the New South, a fast-paced modern city proud of its heritage. In the past two decades Atlanta has experienced unprecedented growth -- the official city population remains steady, at about 420,000, but the metro population has grown in the past decade by nearly 40%, from 2.9 million to 4.1 million people.  A good measure of this growth is the ever-changing downtown skyline, along with skyscrapers constructed in the Midtown, Buckhead, and outer perimeter (fringing I-285) business districts.

Present Day

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 29th-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.

Unlike many other Southern cities such as Charleston, Savannah, 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.[42] The Architecture of Atlanta has seen works by most major U.S. firms and some of the more prominent architects of the 20th century, including Michael Graves, Richard Meier, Renzo Piano, and soon, Santiago Calatrava and David Chipperfield. 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 graduate of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture, Portman's work 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. (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 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.

Neighborhoods

Rapid urbanization has increased the demand for residential units within the City of Atlanta; this construction is along the "Midtown Mile".

Businesses continue to move into the Midtown district. The district's newest tower, 1180 Peachtree, opened there in 2006 at a height of 645 feet (197 m), and achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification 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. 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 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. 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. Founded in 1985, Trees Atlanta has planted and distributed over 68,000 shade trees. The city's northern section, Buckhead, is consistently ranked 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 1993, 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.

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.

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. 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), 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.

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. Four cities – Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, and Chattahoochee Hill Country – have incorporated or won legislative approval for incorporation since then.

The state of Georgia has twenty metropolitan and metropolitan areas. In descending order, they are Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Athens, Gainesville, Albany, Dalton, Warner Robins, Valdosta, Brunswick, Rome, Hinesville, LaGrange, Statesboro, Dublin, Milledgeville, Waycross, and Calhoun.

Employment

The national recession and the 9/11 terrorist attacks took their toll on metro Atlanta’s economy, but the recovery has been steady over the past couple of years. ARC estimates that the 20-county area added 52,000 jobs (these do not include proprietors and some self-employed) between 2000 and 2005, a 2.3 percent increase. The 2.3 percent growth rate over this five-year period, however, pales in comparison to the booming 1990s, when metro Atlanta led the nation in job growth. One of the hallmarks of the Atlanta economy is its diversity – it is not overly dependent on any single employment sector. The broad-based nature of the regional economy means, in general, that it is better able to weather national recessions (with the last recession being a notable exception) and when the economy expands, it is better positioned to take full advantage of the recovery. Chart 3 shows this broad employment base. Although the vast majority of jobs and job growth between 2000 – 2030 are found in the Services sector, this sector is itself very diverse. There is great variability within this sector, which includes very low and very high paid workers. Table 4 portends a brighter employment future. While the 20-county area added, on average, 10,400 jobs per year between 2000 and 2005, ARC forecasts indicate that between 2000 and 2030, the 20- county planning area will add 1.6 million jobs, or 53,000 jobs per year on average. For the past several decades, metro Atlanta’s population has grown in a decentralized manner, as the outer areas of the region captured an increasing number of new residents. While this was occurring, job growth stayed relatively centralized, with just a few major job centers capturing the vast majority of new jobs. This trend is changing. While the core 10-county region will still have the majority of the jobs in 2030, the share is declining. In 2000, 88 percent of all jobs in the 20-county area were within the core 10 counties. By 2030, that share will decline to 80 percent.

Future

Georgia's Progression into the Future

According to census estimates, Metropolitan Atlanta is the fastest growing area in the nation since 2000 by numerical increase.

Atlanta is also seeing a unique and drastic demographic increase in its white population, and at a pace that outstrips the rest of the nation. The white share of the city's population, says Brookings Institution, grew faster between 2000 and 2006 than that of any other U.S. city. It increased from 31 percent in 2000 to 35 percent in 2006, a numeric gain of 26,000, more than double the increase between 1990 and 2000. The trend seems to be gathering strength with each passing year. Only Washington, D.C. saw a comparable increase in white population share during those years. 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.

Atlanta has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence. Between 2000 and 2006, the metropolitan area grew by 20.5%, making it the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation. Atlanta is sometimes considered a poster child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid growth and urban sprawl, though the city has recently been commended by bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency for its eco-friendly policies.