10 Things that must happed for Atlanta to be considered a "World City" (Decatur: theatre, restaurants)

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by aries4118

I think you missed the point.

My apologies. I did kind of come into that without reading all the back-discussion, so I may have missed the context of the debate over "diversity".

My thinking on the "diversity" issue is as follows: in short, if appears to function as a code word which allows observers (many of whom as you say are trying to compare Atlanta unfavorably with other American cities, esp in the Northeast and Midwest) to denigrate Atlanta for not being the real thing, as a poser among cities, presumably because its population isn't the rough-and-tumble grab bag of groups that you see a little more in the cities that have traditionally been the immigrant gateways.

Hiding behind this, at the very least, is a certain snobbery (we can of course also debate whether there's some racism lurking there, too), though one that's understandable in a sense because it's a fact that Atlanta for the most part missed out on the waves of immigrants that changed urban America from the Civil War up to WWI. And of course this is a characteristic it shares with most of the rest of the South and it's only begun to change over the last 35-40 years or so. But as a result the urban 'mosaic' of Atlanta is very different than in say a Boston, San Francisco or Philadelphia. But since so many city purists (read: snobs) use those cities as their measure of what city-ness is - almost like a Platonic ideal - they of course tend sometimes to approach a city like Atlanta with a certain condescension, at best. If I'm not mistaken it's this that gets under your skin about the whole "diverse" knock on Atlanta - and I'm right with you. As you rightly say, there's no getting around the fact that they're ultimately irritated somehow, and unable to get around, the issue of race.

Originally Posted by aries4118

It is so wonderful that Atlanta has a large, fast-growing Korean community and Indian/South Asian community; so many people from Mexico+Central America; many,many West Indians and Africans; a burgeoning Brazilian community; the continued influx from other parts of the U.S. (Northeast+Midwest+West); and the regional transplants from around the American South.

I agree with you 100% and I'm not sure I've seen it put so eloquently before.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

My apologies. I did kind of come into that without reading all the back-discussion, so I may have missed the context of the debate over "diversity".

My thinking on the "diversity" issue is as follows: in short, if appears to function as a code word which allows observers (many of whom as you say are trying to compare Atlanta unfavorably with other American cities, esp in the Northeast and Midwest) to denigrate Atlanta for not being the real thing, as a poser among cities, presumably because its population isn't the rough-and-tumble grab bag of groups that you see a little more in the cities that have traditionally been the immigrant gateways.

Hiding behind this, at the very least, is a certain snobbery (we can of course also debate whether there's some racism lurking there, too), though one that's understandable in a sense because it's a fact that Atlanta for the most part missed out on the waves of immigrants that changed urban America from the Civil War up to WWI. And of course this is a characteristic it shares with most of the rest of the South and it's only begun to change over the last 35-40 years or so. But as a result the urban 'mosaic' of Atlanta is very different than in say a Boston, San Francisco or Philadelphia. But since so many city purists (read: snobs) use those cities as their measure of what city-ness is - almost like a Platonic ideal - they of course tend sometimes to approach a city like Atlanta with a certain condescension, at best. If I'm not mistaken it's this that gets under your skin about the whole "diverse" knock on Atlanta - and I'm right with you. As you rightly say, there's no getting around the fact that they're ultimately irritated somehow, and unable to get around, the issue of race.




I agree with you 100% and I'm not sure I've seen it put so eloquently before.

Cool.

[mrmocha413]

Enough of the bickering...whether you are for Atlanta or against it, as long as Delta, UPS, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, Georgia Pacific, Georgia Tech have INTERNATIONAL workforces there and around the globe, it is an international city with large convention centers. How many cities have air service direct to Africa? Truth is that it is a city under a gargantuan transformation (huge websites dedicated to Midtown and Downtown revitalizations, Atlanta Roundtable and Atlanta Regional Commission)! As a New York Metro Area resident who is very in-tune with the cultural and business offerings of this region, Atlanta is a welcomed breath of fresh air. Northern cities developed under different circumstances at different timespans (ie 19th and 20th centuries), Atlanta is a progressive, modern developing city. It is going to be different because it has it's own flare and developmental theories and thinkings are 21st century, buildings aren't just going to be erected they're going to require purpose. Purpose is driving this city. The bashers can bash all they want because in essence they're insecure about where they live. Get it through your heads, Atlanta has been here, it's going go stay, it'll grow, and it will be one of the forefront American cities on this continent. Stop comparing it to Miami, Dallas or Houston...they're good developing cities also but how can you compare them? Texans vs Georgians, legitimately will argue over who's BBQ is better and who's college/NFL football teams are better. THATS IT!

[Newsboy]

Atlanta is already a world-class city. What troll revived this thread?!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by SD_Surfer

ATLATNA IS NOT A WORLD CITY.

population wise, it's not even in the top 10 US!!!

The Atlanta MSA is currently #9 in the US population-wise with 5,268,860 people as of 2010.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

Atlanta is bound by boundary lines drawn well over a century ago. Georgia has far more counties than it needs, only Texas with about 5 times the land area has more counties than Georgia. These county boundaries have hemmed in the cities as they have grown.

The city of Atlanta has expanded its boundaries many times over the years. The largest annexation was in 1952 -- although it's sometimes referred to as the Buckhead annexation, Buckhead actually only made up about 20% of the new territory. The city has added several sizable new areas since then, but not much since the late 1960s.

I don't think the city of Atlanta is really hemmed in. There are several areas that are undeveloped or seriously underdeveloped.

With a few exceptions further annexation would likely be a pretty tough row to hoe. Generally speaking, in Georgia people have to agree to be annexed, so a city has to persuade people that it can offer them a better deal.

I did see a post by Mayor Franklin the other day suggesting that it might be time for Atlanta to revisit the idea of merging with Fulton County. Hard to predict how that would work out with the Milton County issue looming on the near horizon.

Blogging While BLUE: Should Atlanta Consolidate With Fulton County?

P.S. Sorry for the large picture but it's hard to follow in a smaller format.

[mrmocha413]

My concluding statement for this forum, the vast majority of you deserve to have dunce hats staples to your scalps.

[arjay57]

This looks like a major win for the ATL.

LEGOLAND Breaks Ground In Buckhead - Buckhead, GA Patch

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Atlanta is already a world-class city. What troll revived this thread?!

LOL ... Another REP POINT from an ANONYMOUS Atlanta hater:


um, it's a world class joke. it's a crime infested sprawling ghetto with no culture except ghetto rap music and country. worst job prospects in the usa and lowest housing sales. atlanta is going down big time! haha!

[RandyWatson13]

How about stores that stay open past 9pm. Atlanta is very lame in way to many aspects to be a world city.