Atlanta, Georgia

Photo credit: Corbis

"How do I get to Tara?"

"Where are Scarlett and Rhett buried?"

"Why do you put sugar in iced tea but not on grits?"

"Just what is a grit anyway?"

Some visitors come to Atlanta looking for Old South stereotypes -- white-columned mansions surrounded by magnolias, owned by slow-moving folks with accents as thick as molasses. What they find is a lot more cosmopolitan and a heck of a lot more interesting.

When Gen. William Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground in 1864, the city rose from those smoldering bitter ashes and hasn't looked back since. Instead, it has spent the last 140 years or so building what's been described as the Capital of the New South and the Next Great International City. Atlanta's heritage may be Southern, but the current dynamic is brashly Sunbelt, and now it's straight-up economic vitality that drives this city's engines.

Atlanta is and always has been a city on the move. Longtime mayor William B. Hartsfield called it the city "too busy to hate," and the spirit of Atlanta is one of working together to get the job done. The dramatic downtown skyline, with its gleaming skyscrapers, is testimony to Atlanta's inability to sit still -- even for a minute. And its role as host for the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996 finally convinced the rest of the world that Atlanta is a force to be reckoned with -- and a great place to visit. Recent projects have only reinforced that notion. These new ventures include the $214 million, 70,500-seat Georgia Dome, which hosted the Super Bowl in 2000 and will host basketball's Final Four again in 2007, the five-million-gallon Georgia Aquarium nearing completion in 2005, and the new World of Coca-Cola coming in 2006.

Consistently ranked one of the best cities in the world in which to do business, Atlanta is headquarters for hundreds of corporations, including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Holiday Inn, Georgia-Pacific, The Home Depot, BellSouth, and Cox Enterprises, and has become a magnet for many Internet-related companies. A major convention city and a crossroads where three interstate highways converge, it's home to the country's busiest airport. And all those convention-goers certainly find many places to spend money -- Atlanta is considered the shopping capital of the Southeast. Although the city limits are only 131 square miles, the metro area is vast and sprawling. With a population of 4.1 million and still counting, there seems to be no limit to its growth.

But commerce and development are not the only things that characterize this bustling metropolis. Its success is due in no small part to its quality of life, which is hard to beat. Atlanta is often called the City of Trees, and the streets are indeed filled with dogwoods and azaleas. The city has a small-town quality to it, with dozens of neighborhoods and parks. A temperate climate makes Atlanta a magnet for anyone who enjoys the outdoors, and the city's Southern roots ensure graciousness and hospitality. As Atlanta has grown in stature, it has attracted residents from across the continent and around the world, further enriching the city's social fabric. You'll still hear gentle Southern accents here, but at least half of Atlanta's citizens were born outside the South. Interestingly, many of these transplants find themselves bending to the local customs, saying "please" and "ma'am" and holding doors open for each other.

When H. L. Mencken came south earlier in the century, he branded Atlanta a cultural wasteland. He should visit now. Media mogul Ted Turner inaugurated CNN here in 1980, and subsequently launched Superstation TBS, Headline News, and TNT. Also in 1980, the revitalized black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn became a National Historic District, with 10 blocks of notable sites including Martin Luther King, Jr.'s boyhood home, his crypt, the church where he preached, a museum, and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change. It is probably the major black historical attraction in the country, and in the last several years it has undergone a major revitalization and restoration.

The city is home to major art, science, nature, and archaeology museums; a vibrant theater community; an outstanding symphony; a well-regarded ballet company; opera; blues; jazz; Broadway musicals; a presidential library; Confederate and African-American heritage sites; and dozens of art galleries. Add to those leisure options such attractions as Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, a regional theme park, a botanical garden, and major league sports teams, and you have the makings of a lively and sophisticated city. The culinary spectrum here ranges from grits and biscuits to caviar and sushi. Sure, you can still feast on fried chicken and barbecue, but Atlanta also serves up cuisine from across the globe.

Of great significance is the recent development downtown. For years, city leaders have tried to encourage central city living, and it's finally beginning to take hold as developers remake old buildings into attractive apartments and lofts. The mark of a great city is an attractive and vital downtown area where people live as well as work, and Atlanta finally appears to be headed in that direction.

Atlanta now has Shirley Franklin, the first African-American female elected as mayor of this busy city. Her vision for this heart of the New South is expansive, and she's not too shy to tell you all about it. So if it's hoop skirts and plantations you've got your heart set on, go on down to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Gone With the Wind. But if you want to visit a vibrant, energetic city that's rich in heritage, culture, entertainment, and commerce, Atlanta runs right up there with the big dogs.