ATLANTA is a relatively young city: only incorporated in 1847, it was little more than a minor transportation
center until the Civil War, when its accessibility made it a good site for the huge Confederacy munitions industry -
and consequently a major target for the Union army. In 1864 Sherman's army burned the city, an act immortalized
in Gone with the Wind . Recovery after the war took just a few years: Atlanta was the archetype of the aggressive,
urban, industrial "New South," furiously championed by " boosters " - newspaper owners, bankers, politicians
and city leaders. Industrial giants who based themselves here included Coca-Cola , source of a string of philanthropic
gifts to the city. Heavy black immigration to Atlanta increased its already considerable black population and led to
the establishment of a thriving community centered around Auburn Avenue .
Very few of Atlanta's buildings predate 1915, and nothing at all survives from before 1868. Its characters, on the
other hand - politicians and newspaper people - have changed little, and the "booster" tradition has continued to
the present, peaking spectacularly when Atlanta won the right to host the 1996 Olympics . The bid to convince the
world of the city's prosperity and sophistication was led by city leaders such as ex-mayor Andrew Young (the first
Southern black congressman since Reconstruction, who became Carter's ambassador to the UN) and flamboyant
media magnate Ted Turner .
Today's Atlanta is at first glance a typical large American city. Its population has reached 3.5 million, and urban sprawl
is such a problem that each citizen is obliged to travel an average of 34 miles per day by car - the highest figure in the
country. Cut off from each other by roaring freeways, bright lights and an enclave mentality, its neighborhoods tend to
have distinct racial identities - broadly speaking, "white flight" was to the northern suburbs, while the southern districts
are predominantly black. That said, the city is undeniably progressive, with little interest in lamenting a lost Southern past.
Since voting in the nation's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1974, it has remained the most conspicuously black-run
city in the US, and an estimated 200,000 black fami lies streamed in from states further north in the 1980s alone.
The Olympics may not have been the triumph Atlanta so eagerly anticipated - even before the Centennial Park bombing
tarnished the event itself, years of disruption and grandiose construction projects had left many Atlantans wondering whether
the city had lost more than it gained - but with its ever-increasing international profile, cosmopolitan blend of cultures and hip
local neighborhoods, the spirit and dynamism of modern Atlanta is a far cry indeed from its much-mythologized Deep
South roots
Atlanta's layout is confusing, following old Native American trails rather than a logical grid system, with no fewer than
32 streets named "Peachtree"; take care to note whether you're looking for Avenue, Road, Boulevard and so forth.
The most important is Peachtree Street , which cuts a long north-south swath through the city. Sights are scattered, but
relatively easy to reach on public transportation. Once you're there, the downtown area, the Martin Luther King Jr Historic
District ranged along Auburn Avenue , and the trendy neighborhoods of Little Five Points and Virginia-Highland are all
easy to explore on foot.
read full wikipedia reference about Atlanta, Georgia
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