Does anyone know if Atlanta has a nickname ?
like Chicago is called the "Windy City",
and Philadelphia the "City of Brotherly Love" etc. Thanks.

I'm no expert but I think it's "Hot-Lanta"

The Peachtree state?

Nickname or slogan? I think it's slogan is "The City Too Busy to Hate" or something like that.

"hot-lanta" is certainly the phrase that out-of-towners like to use when they come here, just to watch us cringe...

"the A-T-L" became the phrase that hip-hop people used (not least because there was an outkast album called "A-T-Liens" in the mid-90s) for quite awhile, not necessarily a nickname but somewhat related ("A-Town" is another one dropped on some mid-90s singles)--i've read that this is old hat though, and supposedly the cool thing to say is now the "A-N-T-A" but i think they're just baiting people with it (or else i don't hang out with the type of people who use such a nickname seriously)...

I gotta say, if it's "The City Too Busy To Hate," that has to be the dumbest since Philadelphia's "We're Not As Bad As You Think."

So, if it's the city too busy to hate, does that mean that they'll start hating when things get less busy? Or that we'll start hating them when there's a slowdown?

Come to think of it, maybe this should be a thread in itself: dumb place nicknames and slogans. (Philly still gets my vote.)

Your question made me laugh because in February, Mayor Shirley Franklin announced that the City of Atlanta is officially working on a "new slogan." We seem to have a continuing identity crisis.

I think during the Olympics, former mayors Maynard Jackson (now deceased) or Andrew Young came up with "The City Too Busy to Hate" but people usually rolled their eyes when they said it.

Georgia itself is known as the Peach state. That's the only thing official I can tell you, although in fact California produces the most peaches in the U.S.

Come to think of it, Hotlanta usually makes me roll my eyes, too, but it is accurate many months of the year.

The slogan "The city too busy to hate" has its origins in the civil rights era. While cities south and north were burning, civic leaders here were able to avoid those displays of hate by cooperating. Might sound dumb, but the spirit was not.

The quote "The City Too Busy to Hate" reminds me of the quote Baltimore had for awhile (still might). Baltimore put "Baltimore - The City that Reads" One creative grafitti artist use to put "Baltimore - The City that Breeds" after it came out Baltimore had the highest teenage pregancy rates in the early 90's.

I remember around the time of the Atlanta Olympics, Dave Barry had a column in which he altered the city slogan to something like "The City Too Busy to Hate Because We're Working on Finding More Ways to Gouge the Tourists."

Hootersville?

Lex1, I meant not disrespect. I'm well read in the efforts of both Jackson and Young (and countless others like John Lewis) made during the civil rights era. The reason I sounded rather jaded about it is that despite all the gains made thanks to the Movement, even today there's still a fair amount of ill will in Atlanta (and other big cities).

I thought it was The Big Peach?

Or as we call it "Atlanta-The Gateway to Buckhead".

I thought it was Catlanta. That's what KY calls it when the UK Wildcats are playing there.

Lex is exactly right and the slogan, "The City Too Busy to Hate" came out of the civil rights mess of the late 50s and early sixties. While other southern cities were fighting, Atlanta was smart enough to stay out of that fray.

In 1973, Atlanta, Detroit, and Las Angeles all elected their very first black mayors.

Actually, Atlanta had a four-day race riot way back in 1906. The lessons learned then may have played a part in the fortunate lack of one in the 60s. PBS did a good documentary on it if anyone is interested.

I am aware of the origins of the "too busy to hate" slogan, and I still think it's dumb.

In other words, Atlanta officials were saying, "Everyone around us may be racist and vile, but we're not."

Gimme a break, willya.

Sorry j but during that time many in the south WERE hating. It was a slogan of its time.

Slogan may not have attained the loft expected by the gifted posters who call it "dumb", but the attitude was real and it worked. Scoff, but Atlanta has long enjoyed good race relations.

As a coincidence, there's a story in today's Atlanta Journal/Constitution about the quest of the city fathers/mothers to find and promote a new "brand" for the city.

Lex1, I'll have to read that article. Thanks for mentioning it.

I think at times Atlanta suffers from an identity crisis. The PR gurus want to capitalize on its growth, diversity and modern attitudes but yet include the Civil War/Gone With the Wind theme. That's a hard balance to strike when some of that history is not so pretty.

I, for one, hope to see it become more tourist/pedestiran friendly downtown. We have Centennial Park and World of Coke and CNN Center but that's about it. Underground seems to be dying again. I'm hoping the new Children's Museum and the Aquarium will bring more people into the city.