Atlanta

A warm embrace greets visitors to Atlanta. Top-notch shopping, world-class dining, and major attractions are among the greatest rewards these days. In the past, many of the big draws—Stone Mountain Park, for example—were outside the city limits. Today there's plenty in town to keep you occupied. The Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world, draws visitors who want to get up close and personal with whale sharks. The Woodruff Arts Center is a cultural hub where you can catch a performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra or gaze on treasures from the Louvre on loan at the High Museum of Art. And the fizzy World of Coke is dedicated to the hometown beverage.

Atlanta continues to experience explosive growth. The latest estimates place the city's population at 486,411. But the 20-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area counts more than 5 million residents. A good measure of the city's expansion is the ever-changing skyline; condominium developments appear to spring up overnight, while rundown properties seem to disappear in a flash. In Buckhead—once home to a noisy, raucous bar district—most of the taverns have been razed and work is underway on what developers are hoping will become the Rodeo Drive of the South. Office and residential towers have risen throughout the Midtown, Downtown, and outer perimeter (fringing Interstate 285, especially to the north) business districts. Residents, however, are less likely to measure the city's growth by skyscrapers than by the increase in traffic jams and crowds, higher prices, and the ever-burgeoning subdivisions that continue to push urban sprawl farther and farther into surrounding rural areas.

Originally built as the terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, Atlanta is still a transportation hub. The city now serves the world through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—now ranked as the busiest in the world. It serves nearly 89 million passengers annually. Direct flights to Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia have made Atlanta easily accessible to the more than 50 countries that have representation in the city through consulates, trade offices, and chambers of commerce. Atlanta is the world headquarters for such Fortune 500 companies as Home Depot, Coca-Cola, United Parcel Service, and SunTrust Banks.

"The city too busy to hate," Atlanta has become the best example of the New South, a fast-paced modern city proud of its heritage. Transplanted Northerners and those from elsewhere account for more than half the population and have undeniably affected the mood of the city, as well as the mix of accents of its people. Irish immigrants played a major role in the city's early history, along with Germans and Austrians. Since the 1980s, Atlanta has seen spirited growth in its Asian and Latin-American communities. Related restaurants, shops, and institutions have become part of the city's texture.

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