Where is the Capital of the South: Houston v. Atlanta v. Charlotte v. New Orleans v. Tampa v. Nashville (compare, population)
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To me, the word capital, outside of a political sense, gives off a “premier” title. If you exclude Texas and Florida, I can see Atlanta being that. It is the city that has no competition from any other in the South as no city is close to it economically, in population, socially, etc,. However, if you include the states of Texas and Florida, I don’t think there is a “capital”. If you are also including Virginia as the South, which it is, well they don’t look to Atlanta for much. DC is the city there. Atlanta becomes a center. It retains more of its historical connections to most of the south than Dallas, Houston, or Miami ever could.
Including Texas and Florida, the correct answer is Atlanta. Less to do with size (Miami, Houston, Dallas, and on the fringes DC are also big), more to do with location. For large swaths of the core South, Atlanta is the closest mega city. The fact it’s home to Chick-fil-A and Coke just kind of seals it.
But in a historic fashion, the South was always centered around the Atlanta region. And all the southern cultures that spring up that become a bit different than the original South despite being similar in many ways (Cajun culture, Texan culture, etc), Atlanta is the central city where the region holds its historic ties.
Except the fact that Atlanta was literally a village when New Orleans was the 3rd largest city in the country. The south revolved around New Orleans, definitely not Atlanta before WWII.
I said this in a post about 12 years ago on here in the initial very long capital of the south thread and nothing has changed.
As part of the post you quoted, New Orleans is more connected to Houston than Atlanta. Historically its more similar to the port cities than an inland railroad city like Atlanta.
I agree that its silly to suggest is the capital of anything outside of the neighboring states.
Including Texas and Florida, the correct answer is Atlanta. Less to do with size (Miami, Houston, Dallas, and on the fringes DC are also big), more to do with location. For large swaths of the core South, Atlanta is the closest mega city. The fact it’s home to Chick-fil-A and Coke just kind of seals it.
You’re saying including Texas and Florida, Atlanta is the capital. I don’t know about that one.
As part of the post you quoted, New Orleans is more connected to Houston than Atlanta. Historically its more similar to the port cities than an inland railroad city like Atlanta.
I agree that its silly to suggest is the capital of anything outside of the neighboring states.
Well I did say it was to Atlanta slightly only because of the southern connections maybe longer to Atlanta even though economically and geographically, it does have more of the connection to Houston.
You’re saying including Texas and Florida, Atlanta is the capital. I don’t know about that one.
Let's be serious. Atlanta always overwhelmingly win the "Capital of the South" threads regardless of what other cities are mentioned. We would probably have a better debate if we decided who falls in place behind Atlanta.
Most Southern History: New Orleans
Most Southern Charm: New Orleans
COL: Charlotte
QOL: Atlanta, Nashville, Houston
Geographic Proximity: Atlanta/ Nashville
Economy: Atlanta
Suburbs: Atlanta
Food/Cuisine: New Orleans
Downtowns: Atlanta, Houston, Nashville
Scenery: Atlanta, Nashville
Most success next decade: Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte
Transportation: Atlanta
Things to do: Atlanta, Houston
Lowest Crime: Tampa/ Nashville
Climate: Nashville
Arts/Culture: New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville
Atlanta is the capital of the south. Tampa is more of a retirement city, Charlotte has always lived in the shadows of Atlanta, New Orleans while a lovely place to visit main focus is on tourism, Houston probably would be the best contender but competes with too many cities within its own state, and Nashville is making a name for its self it’ll be interesting to see what the next decade has in store for the city.
ATLANTA
HOUSTON
NASHVILLE/ CHARLOTTE
TAMPA
NEW ORLEANS
I said this in a post about 12 years ago on here in the initial very long capital of the south thread and nothing has changed.
I don't know how many times I've repeated the same thing over the years, but I do recall an old thread where I participated in a lengthy exchange about it that fleshed out the same points.
To me, the word capital, outside of a political sense, gives off a “premier” title. If you exclude Texas and Florida, I can see Atlanta being that. It is the city that has no competition from any other in the South as no city is close to it economically, in population, socially, etc,. However, if you include the states of Texas and Florida, I don’t think there is a “capital”. If you are also including Virginia as the South, which it is, well they don’t look to Atlanta for much. DC is the city there. Atlanta becomes a center. It retains more of its historical connections to most of the south than Dallas, Houston, or Miami ever could.
Atlanta is also the capital in a politically administrative way and in another sense, it's like a second national capital of sorts.
Administratively, it is home to a large number of federal government regional headquarters covering most Southeastern states and other important federal institutions. Texas is usually part of other regions with Dallas (most popularly it seems) and Houston serving as the hub city but those regions sometimes include non-Southern states.
In terms of Atlanta being something of a secondary national capital, that is within an extended New South context that entails the city's status as the nerve center of the Civil Rights movement. The success of that movement, led by city native MLK with other vanguards from Atlanta (or that later moved there) by his side, ultimately saw the realization of America as a true democracy with the passage of landmark legislation in the 60's. The city quickly became a preeminent emblem of this new reality politically and economically with new Black leadership in city government laying the foundation for a significantly expanded Black middle class which, in turn, attracted and created more such families. It was truly representative in its early stages of both a South being reborn and a national ideal becoming fulfiilled.
That second part, ironically, goes straight to the heart of our extreme political polarization today (and Georgia's newfound decisive role in our elections adds another layer to it) but that's another subject for another subforum.
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