What if Atlanta was near the ocean (Columbus, Savannah: club, versus)

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

I thought this thread was too silly to bother with in the first place. Atlanta is not near the ocean, so it seemed to me a completely pointless hypothetical topic. It's absurd to imagine picking Atlanta up and moving it anywhere. If we're taking on this fantasy, why should there be restrictions? The thread title is "What if Atlanta was near the ocean" not "What if Atlanta was in Savannah's geographic location".

But it is interesting in a way that Atlanta has done so well. Most cities are located next to large bodies of navigable waters or navigable rivers. Atlanta has relied on man-made hubs: railroads, interstates, and an airport but no nearby navigable waterway. As such, Atlanta's location is somewhat arbitrary. But Atlanta not being near the ocean robs it of that last means of commerce, ocean shipping. And an ocean or some large lake would have given Atlanta a needed recreational amenity.

[cabasse]

[On Air]

I'm fine with it not being by the ocean. I like the environment more. I love visiting cities like Miami, Tampa, etc. but I could never imagine actually living there.

[Newsboy]

Why is Atlanta the logistics hub that it is? Proximity to Savannah's port. Why is Savannah's port 4th-busiest in the nation and fastest growing on the Eastern Seaboard? Proximity to Atlanta's distribution network. The two are unilaterallly mutual. Other than not having a "beach" (a questionable asset to some) Atlanta's not being on an ocean has zero relevance.

[plessthanpointohfive]

I like Atlanta pretty much where it is. If I could go back a coupla hundred years I guess I would hub it so it centered on the Chattahoochee...so the river ran right through it, like New Orleans.

I like visiting the beach and spent weeks out of each year in Navarre, FL from birth to age 22 but, and maybe this is because I am from the New Orleans area, I REALLY like the super-treed and hilly terrain of Atlanta. And I like how close we are to the mountains. I can see myself someday getting a little 2 bedroom log cabin up in the Blue Ridge for a weekend get-a-way. The idea of having trails to hike/run, cold streams to wade in, mountain air...boy I LOVE that idea.

Whoever it was is right about how coastal towns look away from the resort areas. My brother lives in Panama City...in the city proper. It's a dumpy place and the natural flora and fauna is scraggly and messy and colorless. It's not even as nice as the desert (and I've been to the Namib desert).

And maybe it's also because I'm from the New Orleans area that I would have appreciated Atlanta being centered around the Chattahoochee.

But the beach? Nah.

[tellitetre]

It sounds ideal - Atlanta near the ocean. But, upon further consideration.. it would be much more humid and more bugs. And, as others have mentioned, tourists could make it intolerable to some degree... trash, charges for parking, congestion. Can you imagine the traffic being any worse due to people trying to get to the beach? Perhaps if it was on a very wide river (not the Chatahoochee), or a large lake, and was thoughtfully planned out, it may work.

[Plokivos]

One of the growth factor for GA is that it's in the center of the south and most transportation trucks have to pass GA to get to a lot of other states from the north. So if it was near the ocean, which it is (hence Savannah), it wouldn't have grown as much.

In fact, it would be either like NC or Louisiana.

[Plokivos]

[quote=cabasse;17674721]

[/ QUOTE]

[plessthanpointohfive]

Originally Posted by Plokivos

One of the growth factor for GA is that it's in the center of the south and most transportation trucks have to pass GA to get to a lot of other states from the north. So if it was near the ocean, which it is (hence Savannah), it wouldn't have grown as much.

In fact, it would be either like NC or Louisiana.

Except that the Port of New Orleans is the 5th largest port in the US.

However, the Port of South Louisiana is largest volume shipping port in the Western Hemisphere and 9th largest in the world (source is Wikipedia but as a NOLA native I've known this for years).

List of ports in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of world's busiest ports by cargo tonnage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, don't knock Louisiana when it comes to portage.

That being said, I don't think Atlanta needs this. We're a modern age hub and unless we get attacked by beings from another planet that render our modern technology totally useless forever and ever...I think we're cool.

[plessthanpointohfive]

BTW, this is why it was a "big deal" when Katrina hit. And when BP greased the gulf.