It's no sin to say that we have it all in Georgia (Atlanta: to live, rail)

[TheYoungProfessional]

"Would be like" without Atlanta lol Completely hypothetical I know but the reality is it includes Atlanta

[Fountain-of-youth]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I'm not sure if folks are saying this as some sort of a negative, or simply comparing economies in a hypothetical situation. I sure hope it is not the former - Alabama is a beautiful state full of very nice folks (the whole Roy Moore thing aside).

It's because Georgia is the mirror image of Alabama. From the cities location to the state's wealth (without Atlanta).

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Another worn-out fallacy.

Exactly. Without the monolith of Atlanta, Georgia would have become more a North Carolina or Virginia and the second tier cities much more than what they are now.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

Exactly. Without the monolith of Atlanta, Georgia would have become more a North Carolina or Virginia and the second tier cities much more than what they are now.

On what basis do you say this?

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

On what basis do you say this?

The wealth of resources and land, the prime location and the strength and character of the people from Georgia. If growth hadn't happened so lopsidedly in Atlanta, it would have been dispersed to other parts of the state. Perhaps wouldn't be as big... maybe more akin to Tennessee, Macon and Savannah at between 1 and 2 million, Columbus and Augusta between 50ok and a million (keep Savannah as one of those two cities, pick or choose the other peer from the other three... not here to start that Macon/Augusta/Columbus debate). Or perhaps Atlanta was bound to happen but in a slightly different location. It could have been Decatur. Or any other town in the orb of Atlanta now. Regardless, Georgia would have been more than Alabama, Atlanta or no Atlanta

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

The wealth of resources and land, the prime location and the strength and character of the people from Georgia. If growth hadn't happened so lopsidedly in Atlanta, it would have been dispersed to other parts of the state. Perhaps wouldn't be as big... maybe more akin to Tennessee, Macon and Savannah at between 1 and 2 million, Columbus and Augusta between 50ok and a million (keep Savannah as one of those two cities, pick or choose the other peer from the other three... not here to start that Macon/Augusta/Columbus debate). Or perhaps Atlanta was bound to happen but in a slightly different location. It could have been Decatur. Or any other town in the orb of Atlanta now. Regardless, Georgia would have been more than Alabama, Atlanta or no Atlanta

I think most people are saying that if Atlanta were to disappear into thin air, Georgia would resemble Alabama (or SC) and that's fairly accurate. Now if Atlanta were never founded to begin with, it's easy enough to imagine that the railroad would have shifted a couple of miles in any direction and there would still essentially be an 'Atlanta' but by a different name; in that case, things would pretty much be the same as they are now. Now without the Trans-Continental Divide in place (which is why Atlanta was founded as a crucial rail hub), I'm inclined to say Georgia wouldn't be any larger than Tennessee.

[Iconographer]

Atlanta 'exists' because of a legacy of visionary leadership that has its roots in the Reconstruction Era. City and state leaders knew that they had an ace in the hole with Atlanta's emerging role as a transportation hub and the wealth of natural resources and inexpensive labor in the surrounding state. What they also understood is that a coalition with leadership in the industrial North was critical in order to redirect their economic destiny, an idea that the surrounding states and their cities failed to grasp. No one during that period had more impact in changing the city's future than Henry Grady and the inestimably important speech he made before the Wall Street power brokers in 1886, when he coined the now ubiquitous term 'New South'.

Henry Grady Sells the "New South"

If you want an answer as to why Georgia is 'different' than Alabama, then you can draw a direct line back to that moment in time. What separates Georgia from its peer states can be described in one word: Vision.

[oobanks]

For me Georgia Progression level would fall somewhere between Alabama and South Carolina, but lower than Tennessee or North Carolina without Metro Atlanta, IMO... What would have happened with Georgia 2nd Tiers is really hard to say. I'm sure more balanced, on what level or size of balance is hard to say..

[Atlanta Scientist]

I think it'd be more SC balanced.
Savannah like Charleston.
Columbus like Greenville.
Augusta like Columbia.
Not sure where Macon would fall. Florence maybe?

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Atlanta 'exists' because of a legacy of visionary leadership that has its roots in the Reconstruction Era. City and state leaders knew that they had an ace in the hole with Atlanta's emerging role as a transportation hub and the wealth of natural resources and inexpensive labor in the surrounding state. What they also understood is that a coalition with leadership in the industrial North was critical in order to redirect their economic destiny, an idea that the surrounding states and their cities failed to grasp. No one during that period had more impact in changing the city's future than Henry Grady and the inestimably important speech he made before the Wall Street power brokers in 1886, when he coined the now ubiquitous term 'New South'.

Henry Grady Sells the "New South"

If you want an answer as to why Georgia is 'different' than Alabama, then you can draw a direct line back to that moment in time. What separates Georgia from its peer states can be described in one word: Vision.

Great post. That vision filtered down thru the years. Atlanta and Birmingham were equal peers pre WWII. Men like Ivan Allen, JR and Maynard Jackson and others kept that vision alive to separate Atlanta from being just a Memphis or Birmingham or insert blank....