ABOUT ATLANTA
Although it will forever be known as the city that Sherman burned during his infamous march to the sea, Atlanta refuses to be defined by long ago misfortune. More than a century after that transforming event, the city stands as one of the nation’s foremost metropolitan areas, a regional powerhouse that proudly bears the moniker, “Capital of the New South.”
Atlanta’s prominence would have been hard to envision in the early 19thcentury when the settlement known as Terminus was little more than a railroad stop. Still, steady growth and a special drive to rebuild following the civil War gave rise to the Atlanta’s ever-increasing stature and its current position as a city of commerce, history, culture and advancement.
Beyond being home to Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell – whose tale of loss and resiliency amid moss-draped oaks and plantation houses colors any mention of the South – Atlanta is the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. Raised in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, King still has a presence in latter-day Atlanta, and visitors make frequent pilgrimages to the home, church and grave of this pre-eminent civil rights leader.
Business prospers in Atlanta, too, thanks to the presence of multi-national corporations, global banks, and mom-and-pop operations alike. CNN maintains it headquarters here, along with Coca-Cola, a hometown success story. The soft drinks history, in fact, is charted in a popular attraction call World of Coca-Cola, which details soda production, Coke products and the company’s well-known advertising campaigns.
With its increasing worldwide connections, Atlanta has necessarily tempered its traditional southern character. Atlanta half the city’s population now has origins from outside the South, hospitality and graciousness remain its strong suits. Moreover, the influx of other cultural influences has only added to the regional dining scene. Great restaurants flourish, serving everything from biscuits and gravy to empanadas, sushi and even churrasco. And without fail, sweet tea flows by the gallon, an addiction cultivated innative sons and daughters since birth.
The city offers plenty for your leisure hours. Atlanta’s nightlife scene promises fantastic clubs, hip lounges and laid-back bars that help smooth out the roughness of a day gone by. Fabulous shopping easily attests to the city’s cosmopolitan flair and its ever-growing disposable income. Culture thrives in theatre, dance, art and such enviable institutions as the High Museum and the Fabulous Fox Theatre.
Sporting events also draw spectators galore. In the spring and the summer, Turner Field becomes a temple to baseball, courtesy of die-hard Braves fans. The Georgia Done, home to the NFL Falcons, hosts not only home games but huge events like the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four. Philips Arena, which sits alongside the CNN Center, serves as home to the NBA Hawks and the NHL Thrashers and welcomes big-name concerts as well as big-ticket events.
The “City of Trees” also invites folks outdoors, and nature is a constant guest in Atlanta. Ever-popular Piedmont Park and the quieter Grant Park call to the athletes and loungers, and Centennial Olympic Park remembers the coup scored when the city hosted the 1996 Olympic Games.
And if all that’s not enough, Atlanta maintains a wealth of additional charm. Lovely neighborhoods, intriguing architecture and a passionate regard for life add character to the city and its suburbs, which shelter more than four million residents. It’s of little surprise, then, that with such unabated growth and eminently appealing quality of life, Atlanta –rather than proving itself the terminus its original name indicated – has developed into a city of expansion and forward movement – lately international,perpetually American, proudly Southern.
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