Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta ( or ) is the and the most populous city of the  of, and the core city of the  metropolitan area in the. It is the of, although portions of the city extend into. As of July 2006, the city of Atlanta had a population of 486,411 and a of 5,138,223. Residents of the city are known as Atlantans.

Atlanta has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence. Between 2000 and 2006, the Atlanta metropolitan area grew 20.5%, the highest percentage amongst the top-ten metro areas. Atlanta is often considered a for cities worldwide experiencing rapid growth and.

During the, Atlanta stood apart from southern cities that supported segregation, touting itself as "The City Too Busy to Hate." The city's progressive civil rights record and existing population of blacks made it increasingly popular as a relocation destination for black Americans. Blacks soon became the dominant social and political force in the city, though today some measure of demographic diversification has taken place. Along with and, Atlanta is one of three cities in the United States to have hosted the.

History
On, the  voted to build the  to provide a trade route to the. The initial route was to run from to a spot called simply "Terminus", located somewhere east of the Chattahoochee River, which would eventually be linked to the  from  and the Macon & Western, which ran from  to. Though the initial location of the 0 mile marker was near present-day, work was moved to to take advantage of flatter terrain. Several months later in 1837, the legislature finally established the zero-mile marker for the Terminus at a point near the present-day, chosen because the area was relatively flat and would better allow for turnarounds. The first store, a general store, was opened at the site by after he was contracted to do railroad work near the terminus in 1839.

The area around Atlanta also began to develop. By 1842, the settlement at the Terminus had six buildings and 30 residents. A two-story depot building was constructed, and after a few renames, the Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested that the area be renamed "Atlantica-Pacifica", which was quickly shortened to "Atlanta". The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as "Atlanta" on,.



The first Georgia Railroad freight and passenger trains arrived in 1845. In 1846, a third railroad, the Macon & Western, completed tracks to Terminus, connecting the little settlement with Macon and Savannah. The town experienced a small boom and the population grew to 2,500 citizens. In 1848, the first mayor was elected, the first homicide occurred and the first jail was built. Sidewalks were constructed and a town marshal appointed. By 1854 another railroad connected Atlanta to. According to the 1860 census, the town had grown to 7,741 residents.

During the, Atlanta served as an important railroad and military supply hub. In 1864, the city became the target of a. The area now covered by Atlanta was the scene of several battles, including the, the , and the. On, , General  evacuated Atlanta after a four-month siege mounted by Union General  and ordered all public buildings and possible Confederate assets destroyed. The next day, Mayor surrendered the city, and on  Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate. He then ordered Atlanta burned to the ground on in preparation for his punitive march south.

After a plea by Father Thomas O'Reilly of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sherman did not burn the city's churches or hospitals. The remaining war resources were then destroyed in the aftermath, and in. The fall of Atlanta was a crucial event in the Civil War because of the confidence it instilled in the Union.

The rebuilding of the city &mdash; immortalized in the city's symbol, the &mdash; was gradual. From 1867 until 1888, U.S. Army soldiers occupied McPherson Barracks in southwest Atlanta to ensure reforms. To help the newly freed slaves, the Federal Government set up a, which helped establish what is now , one of several historically black colleges in Atlanta.

In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth city to serve as the state capital. , the editor of the , promoted the city to investors as a city of the "New South", one built on a modern economy, less reliant on agriculture. As part of the effort to modernize the South, Grady and many others also supported the creation of the (now the Georgia Institute of Technology), which was founded in 1885. In 1880, Sister Cecilia Carroll and her companions traveled from Savannah to Atlanta to minister to the sick. They opened the Atlanta Hospital (later to become Saint Joseph's Hospital) the first medical facility in the city after the Civil War.

As Atlanta grew, ethnic and racial tensions mounted. The of 1906 left at least 27 dead and over seventy injured. In 1913,, a Jewish supervisor at a factory in Atlanta was put on trial for raping and murdering a thirteen-year old white employee from a suburb of Atlanta, ultimately resulting in Frank's lynching. This became the storyline for the hit 1998 musical

In the 1930s, the hit Atlanta. The federal government established, the nation's first federal in 1935. With the entry of the United States into, soldiers from around the went through Atlanta to train and later be discharged at Fort McPherson. War-related manufacturing such as the factory in the suburb of  helped boost the city's population and economy. Shortly after the war, the Communicable Disease Center (now the ) was founded in Atlanta.

In the wake of the landmark decision , which helped usher in the, racial tensions in Atlanta began to express themselves in acts of violence. On, ,. The "Confederate Underground" claimed responsibility. Many believed that Jews, especially those from the northeast, were advocates of the Civil Rights Movement.

In the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the, with and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. On, , a sit-in at the lunch counters of several Atlanta department stores led to the arrest of Dr. King and several students, drawing attention from the national media and from presidential candidate. Despite this incident, Atlanta's political and business leaders fostered Atlanta's image as "the city too busy to hate". In 1961, Mayor became one of the few Southern white mayors to support desegregation of Atlanta's public schools. While the city mostly avoided confrontation, minor race riots did occur in 1965 and in 1968.

In 1990, Atlanta was selected as the site for the Centennial Olympic Games. Following the announcement, Atlanta undertook several major construction projects to improve the city's parks, sports facilities, and transportation. Former Mayor allowed many "tent cities" to be built. Atlanta became the third city to host the Summer Olympics, after  and. The games themselves were marred by numerous organizational inefficiencies as well as the.

Topography
According to the, the city has a total area of 343.0 km² (132.4 mi²). 341.2 km² (131.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.51% water. At about 1050 feet or 320 meters above mean sea level (the airport is 1010 ft), Atlanta sits atop a south of the.

The line enters Atlanta from the south, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the rail lines through Decatur. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side runs eventually into the while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the.

The latter is via the, part of the , and from which Atlanta and many of its neighbors draw most of their water. Being at the far northwestern edge of the city, much of the river's natural habitat is still preserved, in part by the. Downstream however, excessive water use during droughts and pollution during floods has been a source of contention and legal battles with neighboring states and.

Climate
Atlanta has a, (Cfa) according to the , with hot, humid summers and mild to chilly winters by the standards of the. July highs average 90 °F (32 °C) or above, and low average 67 °F (19 °C). Infrequently, temperatures can even exceed 100 °F (38 °C). The highest temperature recorded in the city is 107 °F (40.6 °C), reached on and,. January is the coldest month, with an average high of 50 °F (10 °C), and low of 29 °F (-1 °C). Warm fronts can bring springlike temperatures in the 60s and 70s in winter, and Arctic air masses can drop temperatures into the teens as well. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -9 °F on. A close second was -8 °F, reached on.

Like the rest of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall, which is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year. Average annual rainfall is 50.2 inches (1275 mm). An average year sees frost on 36 days; snowfall averages about two es (5 s) annually. The heaviest single storm brought 10 inches on,. Frequent s can cause more problems than snow; the most severe such storm may have occurred on,.

In 2007, the American Lung Association ranked Atlanta as having the 13th highest level of particle pollution in the country The combination of pollution and pollen levels, and uninsured citizens caused the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America to name Atlanta as the worst American city for asthma sufferers to live in.

Cityscape
Atlanta's skyline is punctuated with highrise and midrise buildings of modern and postmodern vintage. Its tallest landmark – the – is the 26th-tallest building in the world at 1023 ft, and was one of the ten tallest buildings on Earth when built. It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of and.

The city's highrises are clustered in three districts in the city—Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. (there are two more major suburban clusters, to the north and / to the northwest). The central business district, clustered around the hotel – the tallest building in Atlanta at the time of its completion in 1976 – also includes the newer, , , and the buildings of. , farther north, developed rapidly after the completion of in 1987.

The influx of business to Midtown has continued – the district's newest tower,, opened in 2006 at a height of 645 ft, and won a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Award that year from the U.S. Green Building Council. Atlanta has been in the midst of a construction and retail boom, with over 60 new highrise or midrise buildings either proposed or under construction as of April 19, 2006. October 2005 marked the opening of, a former steel plant site redeveloped into a mixed-use urban district. In early 2006, Mayor Franklin set in motion a plan to make the 14-block stretch of in Midtown Atlanta (nicknamed "Midtown Mile") a street-level shopping destination envisioned to rival Beverly Hills'  or Chicago's.

In spite of civic efforts such as the opening of in downtown in 1996, Atlanta ranks near last in area of park land per capita among cities of similar population density, with 8.9 acres per thousand residents (36 m²/resident) in 2005. The city has a reputation, however, as a "city of trees" or a "city in a forest"; beyond the central Atlanta and Buckhead business districts, the skyline gives way to a sometimes dense canopy of woods that spreads into the suburbs. Founded in 1985, has planted and distributed over 68,000 shade trees.

The city's northern section,, is consistently ranked by the  as one of the most affluent communities in the United States. Since the opening of the intown segment of the, which linked the district to the city superhighway system in the early 1990s, Buckhead has developed a dense commercial district, clustered around the high-end retail centers at  and  and including a growing number of office buildings and residential highrises, some in the 40+ story range. The Mansion on Peachtree, a 42 Story Luxury Hotel and Condominium tower will open in Early 2008 and the 50 story 3344 Peachtree/Sovereign, planned to reach 660 ft, is due for completion in late 2007.

The edge cities clustered around and  have distinct skylines of their own. The, located near Perimeter Mall in Sandy Springs, includes a pair of buildings called the King and Queen that each measure 570 ft in total height.

Tourism


Atlanta hosts a variety of museums on subjects ranging from history to fine arts, natural history, and beverages. Prominent among them are sites honoring Atlanta's participation in the civil rights movement, including the. Other history museums and attractions include the ; the (a huge painting and  in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, that depicts the  in the Civil War); the ; historic house museum ; and the.

The arts are represented by several theaters and museums, including the. The is home to the, Atlanta Symphony, and. The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is the city's home for challenging contemporary art and education geared toward working artists and collectors of art. Museums geared specifically towards children include the and Imagine It! Atlanta's Children's Museum. The, which was founded in 1979 by members of two struggling local companies, is now one of the fastest growing opera companies in the nation and garners attention from audiences around the world.

Atlanta features the world's largest aquarium, the, which officially opened to the public on ,. Adjacent is the which opened in May 2007, featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand. , a historic shopping and entertainment complex is situated under the streets of downtown Atlanta. , a huge new urban renewal project on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, officially opened in October 2005. , featured as the world's largest drive-in restaurant, is located in Midtown Atlanta.

hosts many of Atlanta's festivals and cultural events. Next to the park is the. , with a exhibit, is in. Just east of the city, is the largest piece of exposed  in the world. A few miles west of Atlanta on is the.

Entertainment and performing arts
Atlanta's classical music scene includes well-renowned ensembles such as the, , , period-instrument ensemble , , and many others. Classical musicians include renowned conductors such as the late and the Atlanta Symphony's.

The city has a well-known and active live music scene, though recently rapid gentrification and early venue closing times have hurt small clubs and other music venues. In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thriving scene featuring such bands as  and, closely linked to the new wave scenes in ,  and other college towns in the southeast.

Historically there have been a variety of live music traditions going back to Cabbagetown country music pioneer, also including a thriving scene in the 90's, also in Cabbagetown, centered around a bar called , now known as and relocated a few blocks away. , precursor to, was founded in Atlanta.

Sports
Atlanta has a rich sports history, including the oldest on-campus Division I football stadium,, built in 1913 by the students of. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between the and the  in  in 1892; this game is now called the. The city hosts college football's annual (Formerly known as The Peach Bowl) and the, the world’s largest 10 km race. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial. , built for 1996 Summer Olympics, sits adjacent to and. It is now operated by the Authority.

The city is also host to. The  team has been the  franchise of Atlanta since 1966; the franchise was previously known as the Boston Braves (1912-1952), and the Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965). The team was founded in 1871 in, as a National Association club, making it the oldest continuously operating sports franchise in North American sports. The Braves won the in 1995 and had a recently ended unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005. Before the Braves moved to Atlanta, the were Atlanta's professional baseball team from 1901 until their last season in 1965. They won 17 league championships in the minor leagues. The were Atlanta's  team from around 1921 until 1949.



The  team plays at the. They have been Atlanta's franchise since 1966. They have won the division title three times, and a conference championship once, going on to lose to the in. and were held in the city. In the, The has been Atlanta's team since the franchise relocated from  in 2002. The 2005 National Conference champions play in.

The  team has been the  franchise of Atlanta since 1969; the team was previously known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946-1951),  Hawks (1951-55),  Hawks (1955-68). The team's sole NBA championship was in 1958, when they were the St. Louis Hawks. In October of 2007 the WNBA announced Atlanta would receive an to begin league play in May 2008. They will play in but will not be affiliated with the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta hosted the Men's Basketball Championship most recently in April 2007.

From 1992 to 1996 Atlanta was home to the short-lived, an team. Their inaugural season was excellent for a new team, and was only bested by their sophomore season in which they won the championship Turner Cup. In 1996 they moved to and became the. In 1999 the  team became Atlanta's  franchise. They replaced the which had departed for,  in 1980, becoming the. The Thrashers made it to their first playoffs in 2007.

In golf, the final event of the season,, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. This golf course is used because of its connection to the great amateur golfer, an Atlanta native.

From 2001 to 2003 Atlanta hosted the  team of the defunct. They appeared in two of the three Founders Cup championships held, losing to the in 2001, and the  team in 2003. Atlanta is the home of the of the  First Division (Men) and W-League (Women). In 1968 the professional soccer team won the  championship, playing their home games at the now demolished.

The are a successful  club that compete in men's and women's divisions in the  and  and. The women's team is known as the Lady Kookaburras.

Nearby motorsports facilities include, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) oval race track in , , which hosts two major races each year. is another famous local race circuit, a 2.54-mile road course on natural terrain located in the Appalacian foothills of, , which has hosted professional, club and drivers education events for cars and motorcycles year-round since 1970. Its marquis event is the 1000-mile sports car race, which has been held here since 1998. Next door to it is Lanier National Speedway, an asphalt oval short-track which hosts NASCAR-sanctioned events, among others. In 2005 Atlanta competed with other major U.S. cities for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In March 2006, Atlanta lost to,.

Atlanta also was the home to the now-defunct organization and events, and was originally owned by Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner. In 2001 it was sold to the (WWF/E).

Media
Atlanta's only major daily paper is . Weekly papers include ', ' and . A monthly newsprint publication  features local music news, record reviews, and cultural commentary. International medical, law, and business publisher is headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings. The Atlanta Arts community is connected through the.

The Atlanta metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the eighth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,310,490 homes (2.05% of the total U.S.). All of the major networks have stations in the market, along with two stations and some independent ones. Several networks also operate from Atlanta, including, , , , , and. These stations are owned by (now a subsidiary of ). (owned by ) also broadcasts from the Atlanta area. According to, the first nationwide programming on cable television,  was created in Atlanta.

There are also numerous local radio stations serving every genre of music, sports, and talk. The nationally syndicated and  shows are broadcast from Atlanta radio station AM 750.

, which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,, and WSB-AM-FM, is headquartered in Atlanta. engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of commercial radio stations in mid-size radio markets in the United States and is also headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. As of, , it owned and operated 307 radio stations in 61 mid-sized U.S. media markets; and a multimarket network of 5 radio stations in the English-speaking Caribbean; as well as provided sales and marketing services for 2 radio stations under local marketing agreement. 's American Division has its distribution center based in Atlanta, the primary location from where imported games and products arrive to and are often inspected and shipped to stores nationwide.

Religion
There are over 1,000 places of worship within the city of Atlanta. A large majority of Atlantans profess to following a Protestant Christian faith, the city being a major center. A number of black are located in the Atlanta area, including, and , led by , and.

Atlanta is also home to a large, vibrant Jewish community estimated to include 120,000 individuals in 61,300 households. This study places Atlanta's Jewish population as the 11th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996. The Temple, a reform, located on Peachtree Street, and its then-rabbi, Alvin Sugarman, were featured in the film .

As the see of the, Atlanta serves as the  for the Province of Atlanta. The archdiocesan cathedral is the and the current archbishop is the.

Atlanta is also the of the. This Diocese is headquartered at and is led by the   whose voice within the Church made him a candidate for  at the 2006.

The city is the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, with Annunciation Cathedral and Metropolitan Alexios presiding. In total, there are eleven parishes in Atlanta, including Greek,, , , Ukrainian and.

The, is also headquartered in Atlanta and serves the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and central and eastern Tennessee. There are eight congregations in the Atlanta metro area.

The headquarters for The Salvation Army's United States Southern Territory is also located in Atlanta. There are eight churches, numerous social service centers, and youth clubs located throughout the Atlanta area.

Economy
One of seven American cities classified as, Atlanta ranks third in the number of companies headquartered within city boundaries, behind  and. Several major national and international companies are headquartered in Atlanta or its nearby suburbs, including four Fortune 100 companies:, , and in adjacent. The headquarters of (formerly Cingular Wireless), the largest  service provider in the United States, can be found a short distance inside the Perimeter beside. is one of the most recent companies to relocate to the metro area; in October 2006, it announced plans to move its headquarters to Sandy Springs. Other headquarters for some major companies in Atlanta and around the metro area include, , , , , , , , and. Over 75% of the companies have a presence in the Atlanta area, and the region hosts offices of about 1,250 multinational corporations.

is the city's largest employer and the metro area's third largest. Delta operates the world's largest airline hub at and, together with the hub of competing carrier, has helped make Hartsfield-Jackson the world's busiest airport, both in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft operations. The airport, since its construction in the 1950s, has served as a key engine of Atlanta's economic growth.

Much of the wealth created by local companies' growth has found itself reinvested in the region through. Home Depot co-founder contributed more than $200 million dollars to build the new  near. Fellow Home Depot co-founder purchased the  in 2002, and has pledged $35 million for construction of the new -designed  in Midtown. The late Coca-Cola executive established an Atlanta-based charitable foundation worth nearly $2 billion, and made a grant to  in 1979 that at the time was the largest single contribution to a university endowment in American history. also made substantial contributions to Emory University before his death; the business school there now bears his name.

Atlanta has a sizable financial sector. , the seventh largest bank by asset holdings in the United States, has its home office on Peachtree Street in downtown. The has a district headquarters in Atlanta; the, which oversees much of the , relocated from downtown to midtown in 2001. announced plans in August 2006 to place its new division in Atlanta, and city, state and civic leaders harbor long-term hopes of having the city serve as the home of the secretariat of a future.

The auto manufacturing sector in metropolitan Atlanta has suffered setbacks recently, including the planned closure of the  plant in 2008, and the shutdown of 's  plant in  in 2006. Together the closures mean the loss of 6,000 to 8,000 jobs in the Atlanta region. , however, has broken ground on a new assembly plant near,.

The city is a major programming center. began the media empire in Atlanta, where he bought a UHF station that eventually became. Turner established the headquarters of the at, adjacent today to. As his company grew, its other channels – the, , , , , , , and – centered their operations in Atlanta as well (Turner South has since been sold). , owned by, has its offices in the nearby suburb of.

– a privately held company controlled by billionaire siblings and  – has substantial media holdings in and beyond Atlanta. Its division is the nation's third-largest cable television service provider; the company also publishes over a dozen daily newspapers in the United States, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. – the flagship station of Cox Radio – was the first station in the South; its call letters stand for "Welcome South, Brother."

Demographics
According to the 2000, there were 416,474 people (486,411 in the July 2006 estimate), 168,147 households, and 83,232 families residing in the city. The was 1,221/km² (3,161/mi²). There were 186,925 housing units at an average density of 548/km² (1,419/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.39% Black, 33.22%, 2.93% , 0.18% , 0.04% , 1.99% from , and 1.24% from two or more races. 6.49% of the population were or  of any race. The city also has one of the largest gay populations in the nation; according to 2006 survey estimate, Atlanta had the third highest percentage (12.8%) of gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples among the fifty largest cities in the United States.

There were 168,147 households out of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.5% were living together, 20.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% were non-families. 38.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,482 and the median income for a family was $55,939. Males had a median income of $36,162 compared to $30,178 for females. The for the city was $29,772, and 24.4% of the population and 21.3% of families were below the ,including 38.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.7% of those 65 and older.

According to a 2000 daytime population estimate by the Census Bureau, over 250,000 more people commuted to Atlanta on any given workday, boosting the city's estimated daytime population to 676,431. This is an increase of 62.4% over Atlanta's resident population, making it the largest gain in daytime population in the country among cities with fewer than 500,000 residents.

The had an estimated July 2006 population of 5,138,223. Atlanta is also the central city of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala. , which consists of the metropolitan area,, , , and counties in Georgia, and ,. The combined statistical area, according to the Census Bureau, had an estimated July 2006 population of 5,478,667.

Law and government
Atlanta is governed by a and a city council. The city council consists of 15 representatives—one from each of the city's twelve districts and three at-large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority. The mayor of Atlanta is.

Possibly owing to the city's black majority, each mayor elected since 1973 has been black. The uninterrupted string of black mayors in excess of thirty years is a first for any metropolitan area in the country. served two terms and was succeeded by in 1982. Jackson returned for a third term in 1990 and was succeeded by. In 2001, Shirley Franklin became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Atlanta. She was re-elected for a second term in 2005, winning 90% of the vote. Atlanta city politics during the Campbell administration suffered from a notorious reputation for corruption, and in 2006 a federal jury convicted former mayor on three counts of tax evasion in connection with gambling income he received while Mayor during trips he took with city contractors.

As the, Atlanta is the site of most of Georgia's state government. The building, located downtown, houses the offices of the, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as well as the. The is located on, in a residential section of Buckhead. Atlanta is also home to headquarters and, and is the county seat of Fulton County, with which it shares responsibility for the.

Crime
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, Atlanta recorded 90 homicides in 2005, down from 151 in 2004. Violent crime in 2005 was the lowest since 1969. However, in 2005 Atlanta received media attention for the high-profile manhunt, who became internationally known as the "Courthouse Killer". In addition, broadcast media focused attention on a standoff involving a murder suspect (not an Atlanta resident) who perched himself on top of a construction crane for several days in the upscale district. Murders peaked at 271 in 1973, for a murder rate of 58 per 100,000.

Atlanta's Mayor Franklin is a member of the, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by mayor  and  mayor.

Atlanta's police department has been plagued by allegations of police brutality.

Surrounding cities
The population of the Atlanta region spreads across a metropolitan area of 8376 sqmi – a land area larger than that of. Because Georgia contains more counties than any other state east of the (an accident of history explained by the now-defunct  of weighing votes in s), area residents live under a heavily decentralized collection of governments. As of the 2000 census, fewer than one in ten residents of the metropolitan area lived inside Atlanta city proper.

A 2006 survey by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce counted 140 cities and towns in the 28-county metropolitan statistical area in mid-2005. Three cities – Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, and Milton – have incorporated or won legislative approval for incorporation since then.

Atlanta's environs include the following suburbs, listed in order of population:


 * Pop. 87,802
 * Pop. 85,771 (2000 census)
 * Pop. 63,152
 * Pop. 62,049 (est.)
 * Pop. 48,632
 * Pop. 43,424
 * Pop. 42,204
 * Pop. 34,947
 * Pop. 30,936
 * Pop. 27,870
 * Pop. 28,851


 * Pop. 27,097
 * Pop. 25,838
 * Pop. 24,206 (est.)
 * Pop. 23,424
 * Pop. 22,080
 * Pop. 21,878
 * Pop. 21,482
 * Pop. 20,533
 * Pop. 20,000 (est.)
 * Pop. 19,983
 * Pop. 19,053

Colleges and universities
Atlanta has more than 30 institutions of, including , ,  and. is ranked 17th-best overall among national universities according to, and provides the most comprehensive health care in Georgia through its specialized hospital and clinic system. The city is also the locale for members of the, a consortium of prestigious historically colleges and universities. Its members include, , , , and. Adjoining the AUC schools, but independent from them, is the, a collection of seminaries and theological schools from a variety of denominations. The is another Atlanta school. The opened a Midtown, Atlanta, campus in 2005 and shortly thereafter acquired the. The is the city's only freestanding law school. The headquarters of the private institution are in Atlanta, and two AIU campuses exist in the area—one in Buckhead and another in Dunwoody.

Public schools
The public school system is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. As of 2007, the system has an active enrollment of 49,773 students, attending a total of 106 schools: including 58 elementary schools (three of which operate on a year-round calendar), 16 middle schools, 20 high schools, and 7 charter schools. The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two single gender academies, and an adult learning center. The school system also owns and operates radio station 90.1 (the  affiliate) and PBS television station WPBA 30.

Private schools
Notable private schools in Atlanta include, , , , , Greenfield Hebrew Academy, Yeshiva Atlanta, (Chastain Park),(Christ the King School), and.

Notable private schools near Atlanta include ( in unincorporated DeKalb County),, ,  ,  ,  , the  ,  in Marietta,   in Smyrna/Vinings/Mableton, and neighboring the airport.

Transportation


, the world's busiest airport as measured by and by, provides air service between Atlanta and many national and international destinations. Situated 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown, the airport covers most of the land inside a wedge formed by, , and. The MARTA rail system has a station within the airport terminal, and provides direct service to Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and Sandy Springs. The major airports near the city proper are   and. See for a more complete listing.

With a comprehensive network of freeways that radiate out from the city, Atlantans rely on their cars as the dominant mode of transportation in the region – a fact that leads some to call the city "the Los Angeles of the South." Atlanta is mostly encircled by, a locally known as "the Perimeter" which has come to mark the boundary between the interior of the region and its surrounding s. Terms such as ITP (Inside The Perimeter) and OTP (Outside The Perimeter) have arisen to describe area neighborhoods, residents, and businesses. The Perimeter plays a social and geographical role in Atlanta similar to that of around

Three major converge in Atlanta;  runs east to west across town, while I-75 runs from northwest to southeast, and I-85 runs from northeast to southwest. The latter two merge to form the through the center of the city; the combined highway carries more than 340,000 vehicles per day. The Connector is considered one of the ten most congested segments of interstate highway in the United States. The intersection of I-85 and I-285 in – officially called the, is known to most residents as. Metropolitan Atlanta is crisscrossed by thirteen freeways (in addition to the aforementioned interstates,, , , , , , Stone Mountain Freeway , and Langford Parkway (SR 166)).

This strong automotive reliance has resulted in heavy and contributes to Atlanta's, which has made Atlanta one of the more polluted cities in the country. In recent years, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute times in the U.S. was created in 1996 to help ease congestion in metro Atlanta. In 2001, a group of transit riders joined to form Citizens for Progressive Transit, an organization dedicated to improvement of local public tranportation.

Notwithstanding heavy automotive usage, Atlanta's system, operated by  (MARTA), is the. MARTA also operates a system within Fulton and Dekalb Counties. Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties each operate separate, autonomous transit authorities, using buses but no trains.

Atlanta has a reputation as being one of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians, as far back as 1949 when  author was struck by a speeding car and killed while crossing.

The proposed would create a greenway and public transit system in a circle around the city from a series of mostly abandoned rail lines. This rail would also accommodate multi-use  connecting a string of existing and new parks. In addition, there is a proposed project that would create a streetcar line along Peachtree from downtown to Buckhead as well as possibly another East-West line.

Atlanta began as a railroad town and still serves as a major rail junction, with several freight lines belonging to and  intersecting below street level in downtown. It is home to major classification yards for both railroads, Inman Yard on the NS and Tilford Yard on the CSX. Long-distance passenger service is provided by 's, which connects Atlanta with many cities. The is several miles north of downtown, however, and lacks a connection to the MARTA rail system. An ambitious, long-standing proposal would create a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal downtown, adjacent to Philips Arena and the Five Points MARTA station, which would link, in a single facility, MARTA bus and rail, intercity bus services, proposed commuter rail services to other Georgia cities, and Amtrak.

provides intercity bus service between Atlanta and many locations throughout the United States and.

Sister cities
Atlanta has nineteen, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):