Atlanta
Renting an Apartment in Atlanta
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of Georgia, in the United States. It’s the county seat of Fulton County, although a portion of the city ( the 1909 annex ) is located in DeKalb County. According to the latest census guesstimates ( as of December, 2004 ), the town has a population of approximately 419,122 and the Atlanta urban area totaled 4,708,297. Atlanta has long been considered the economic power house of the Southern US and is maybe a poster-child for towns worldwide experiencing quick urban sprawl, population expansion, and commercial development. As a consequence, Atlanta is a common case study for college kids who study Urban Geography around the globe.
Atlanta is circled by Interstate 285, called the “Perimeter” by neighbors, which has come to delineate the interior of the city from the encircling suburbs. This has given rise to the terms ITP ( within the fringe ) and OTP ( outside the fringe ) to explain area areas, residents, and firms. In this respect, the fringe plays a social and geographical role similar to that of the Capital Beltway around Washington, DC.
Atlanta has such a great economic effect on the state and the surrounding region that cities and towns up to 45 miles away are considered ‘exurbs’, outlined by the undeniable fact that folks rely on their livelihoods by going to work in the city, rapidly growing what is called Metro Atlanta. Atlanta is one of the most prosperous towns in the united states and is commonly known as the unlicensed “capital of the South.” Today Atlanta is one of the most economically crucial Southeastern cities along with Birmingham, Charlotte, Miami, and New Orleans.
The town is also an especially important cultural and economic center for African-Americans , Atlanta hasn’t had a non-black mayor since 1974, and in recent decades almost all Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, and other government officers have been African Yank. Atlanta is also important in making famous hip hop / Rappers who call Atlanta A-Town.
Public transportation
Atlanta is served by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta global Airport ( IATA : ATL, ICAO : KATL ), the planet’s busiest airport by passenger traffic and by aircraft traffic, providing air service to and from many state and international destinations. It is situated 10 miles south of downtown, diagonally opposite to the intersection of I-85 and I-285. The MARTA rail system has a station within the airport terminal, and provides direct service to the business areas in downtown Atlanta, Buckhead and Sandy Springs. The major general aviation airports close to the town correct are DeKalb-Peachtree airfield ( IATA : PDK, ICAO : KPDK ) and Brown Field ( IATA : FTY, ICAO : KFTY ). See List of airfields in the Atlanta area for a more complete listing.
The urban Atlanta quick Transit Authority ( MARTA ) is Atlanta’s public-transit system, operating the rail and bus system within Fulton and Dekalb Counties. Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties each operate separate, autonomous transit authorities, using buses but no trains. However, many commuters in Atlanta and the encircling suburbs use personal autos as their primary transport. ( this can be partly because Georgia has had one of the lowest excise taxes on gasoline in the US. Such taxes in Georgia have risen , however , in recent years : for example, in July 2002, Alaska was the sole state with a tax lower than Georgia’s 30.6 cents per gallon, but , by Aug 2005, Georgia’s tax rose by 34.6%, to 41.2 cents per gallon, and twenty-one states and the District of Columbia had taxes lower than Georgia’s. ) this results in heavy traffic during rush hour and contributes to Atlanta’s air pollution. Lately, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute times in the U.S. In 2001 a group of transit riders joined to form voters for Progressive Transit, an organization devoted to skyrocketing the reach and improving the standard of public transport in metro Atlanta.
Atlanta grew up as a railroad town and is still today a major rail junction, with several busy freight lines belonging to Norfolk Southern and CSX intersecting below street level in the downtown area. Long-distance passenger service is provided by Amtrak’s Crescent train, which connects Atlanta with Baltimore, Maryland, Birmingham, Alabama , Charlotte, North Carolina, New Orleans, Louisiana, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. The Amtrak station is at 1688 Peachtree Street Northwest, several miles north of downtown and not well placed for onward public transportation. 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 service, proposed commuter rail service to other Georgia cities, and Amtrak.
Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service between Atlanta and many locations throughout the United States and Canada. The Greyhound terminal is situated at 232 Forsyth Street, on the southern edge of the downtown area and directly beneath MARTA’s Garnett rail station.
The proposed Beltline would create a greenway and public transit system in a circle around the city from a series of mostly abandoned rail lines. This rail right-of-way would also accommodate multi-use trails connecting a string of existing and new parks. In addition, there is a proposed streetcar project that would create a streetcar line along Peachtree from downtown to Buckhead as well as possibly another East-West line.
Geography
According to folklore, its central avenue, Peachtree Street, runs through the center of the city on the Eastern Continental Divide. In actuality, the divide line enters Atlanta from the southwest, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side runs eventually into the Atlantic Ocean while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
The latter is via the Chattahoochee River, part of the ACF River Basin, 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 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Downstream however, excessive water use during droughts and pollution during floods has been a source of contention and legal battles with neighboring states Alabama and Florida.
Colleges and Universities
Atlanta has more than 30 institutions of higher education, among which Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology (popularly known as Georgia Tech), Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Oglethorpe University are prominent. Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically black colleges and universities, is also located in the city, members of the consortium include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Morris Brown College, and Spelman College. The Reformed Theological Seminary is another Atlanta school. The Savannah College of Art and Design opened a Midtown, Atlanta, campus in 2005 and acquired the Atlanta College of Art shortly thereafter. John Marshall Law School is the city’s only freestanding law school and produces many local lawyers.
Institutions in the metropolitan area include Agnes Scott College, in Decatur, Clayton State University, in Morrow, DeVry University, in Decatur, Georgia Perimeter College, with campuses in Alpharetta, Clarkston, Conyers, Covington (scheduled to open in January 2007), Decatur, Dunwoody, and Lawrenceville, Gwinnett University Center (soon to be known as Georgia Gwinnett College, in Lawrenceville), Kennesaw State University, in Kennesaw, Southern Polytechnic State University, in Marietta, and the University of West Georgia, in Carrollton.
