What will it take to push Atlanta into international greatness (Martin: crime, credit)

[Iconographer]

How about a little patience for this town? It's well on its way to fulfilling its destiny.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You are so anti-City of Atlanta. No tourist ever comes to Atlanta to visit Cobb or Gwinnett counties, most of the tourist stuff is concentrated.

I strongly disagree. There's plenty to see and do in Cobb -- the Energy Center is home to the Atlanta Opera and the Atlanta Ballet, and has a constant stream of great stars coming through. Cobb has fantastic amusement parks like Six Flags and White Water. There are tons of important historical sites in Cobb -- Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park draws over a million visitors a year. (For comparison, the King Center draws around 600,000 a year).

Gwinnett's got an amazing peformring arts center. It's got the Braves, the Force and the Gladiators. Plenty of cool downtowns for strolling, antiquing or hanging out.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You are so anti-City of Atlanta. No tourist ever comes to Atlanta to visit Cobb or Gwinnett counties, most of the tourist stuff is concentrated.

Originally Posted by JPD

Agreed, but you probably get the occaisional war buff who wants to visit Kennesaw Mountain. That's about it, though, unless there are tourists stupid enough to have an interest in the big chicken.

how about historic downtown roswell, which is older than atlanta and has significant civl war history? historic downtown marietta and norcross? stone mountain? the countless nature trails and outdoor activities we have? i think if people knew more about these sorts of things they would certainly go to those places.

[Atlwarrior]

[quote=kittyjo;25255460]I don't think it will ever be considered an international city. Most people outside of the US haven't heard of it. But really, an international city needs a cohesive, highly populated city center that is walkable for tourists with access to history, wide ranging attractions, high-end retail etc. Downtown Atlanta will never be that.
Put it this way, if you got hold of a bunch of travel bucket lists from around the world, very few of them would list 'Eat some Arby's at the CNN center' along with 'Climb the Eiffel tower'......[/

Great point

[Iconographer]

[quote=Atlwarrior;25266282]

Originally Posted by kittyjo

I don't think it will ever be considered an international city. Most people outside of the US haven't heard of it. But really, an international city needs a cohesive, highly populated city center that is walkable for tourists with access to history, wide ranging attractions, high-end retail etc. Downtown Atlanta will never be that.
Put it this way, if you got hold of a bunch of travel bucket lists from around the world, very few of them would list 'Eat some Arby's at the CNN center' along with 'Climb the Eiffel tower'......[/

Great point

Great point? Really? I found it absolutely absurd.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

How does spirituality quantify into a city being top-tier internationally?

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

according to the wikipedia article on global cities:
Global city - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Atlanta ranks as an "Alpha-" global city. The other categories are "Alpha++", "Alpha+", "Alpha", "Beta+", "Beta", "Beta-", "Gamma+", "Gamma" and "Gamma-"

On the "Global Cities Index" we are #39.

On the "Global City Competitiveness Index" we are #31.

I've spent some time examining that "Global City" rating. I think it's worthless as places make wild swings in rankings over a very short period of time. They have to work on it some more. If I recall, a lot of it is normalized using London and New York as the epitome of cities.

Atlanta also has 25 embassies. On an international scale, we're pretty big, but we're not Chicago, Washington, New York, Los Angeles big.

No, capitals have embassies. Other cities have consulates.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

how about historic downtown roswell, which is older than atlanta and has significant civl war history? historic downtown marietta and norcross? stone mountain? the countless nature trails and outdoor activities we have? i think if people knew more about these sorts of things they would certainly go to those places.

Well...I think Europeans would double over in laughter if we held these up as our historic icons. And Stone Mountain is more of a natural wonder. Atlanta doesn't particularly standout in the world for its nature trails and outdoor activities.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by JPD

Agreed, but you probably get the occaisional war buff who wants to visit Kennesaw Mountain. That's about it, though, unless there are tourists stupid enough to have an interest in the big chicken.

Hey...the Big Chicken is our Eiffel Tower.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Well...I think Europeans would double over in laughter if we held these up as our historic icons. And Stone Mountain is more of a natural wonder. Atlanta doesn't particularly standout in the world for its nature trails and outdoor activities.

i think the europeans laugh at pretty much any historical site in america seeing as how our country is so young, it's a moot point. roswell has some pretty impressive history if you're not aware.



bulloch hall was where teddy roosevelt's mother grew up.

mimosa hall was the home of john dunwody (with one o) who dunwoody was named after, in the civil war roswell was a huge manufacturing centre for confederate uniforms, sherman invaded the city and shipped out women and children to the north who were never heard from again. parts of the mill built in the 1800s are still there and can be visited. in addition, roswell is home to some of the oldest townhomes in the united states. if you want to easily dismiss the history found in roswell and around the atlanta area, fine, but don't try to go and claim there are much more historic places in the US— besides the area between williamsburg va and boston ma where the largest colonial settlements were, history doesn't go too far back in the united states. i think we have a fair share of history and to dismiss it only to prove your point is childish.