Although Atlanta has its share of problems, However the city’s history and culture demand that it still be recognized as an Icon. Atlanta, Georgia has long dealt with inequality and homelessness but the city has an incredible amount of historical significance and over time has become the home to many important cultural landmarks.
Atlanta is the location for the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company, as well as the headquarters for the Centers for Disease Control. On a smaller scale Atlanta is home to the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Center is dedicated to informing citizens of both the past struggles of the Civil and Human Rights movements and the current ways to become active within said movements. the center hosts events for the young and old to visit and even private events for schools. The city is full of famous landmarks, one in particular I went into to depth with in my exterior and interior built environment descriptions, the Georgian Terrace. The Georgian Terrace is an old luxury hotel that is one of the many places of cultural significance in Atlanta. Opening for business in 1911, the Terrace was planned to be a reminder of Parisian hotels of the time. The Georgian Terrace has laid out the carpet for a slew of famous individuals “including F. Scott Fitzgerald, President Calvin Coolidge, and actors and actresses such as Tallulah Bankhead. Arthur Murray, then a Georgia Tech student, taught his first dance classes there in the 1920’s”(Rhetta) Speaking of old attractions to the city, the Fox Theatre is an Historic landmark that’s been a part of Atlanta since the theatre’s original conception in 1928. The old theatre has been on the brink of shutting down time and time again and for a while actually did close its doors, but the spirit and efforts of the city managed to revive it once and for all. Doing this by purchasing it and placing the theatre under the protection of Atlanta Landmarks, the organization that had dedicated itself to protecting the Fox Theatre, ultimately succeeding by having it named as an official landmark. There are many more stories like this, of old and nationally famous buildings in Atlanta. Apart from these buildings the city is full of history, “During the Civil War (otherwise known as the ‘War Between the States’ according to some old-timers), General Sherman burned the city on his infamous ‘March to the Sea.’ Following the city’s surrender to Sherman in November of 1864, only 400 structures remained standing” (Coakley). No other american city can claim to have been burned down by Sherman in the Civil War.
Atlanta is currently the major city with the most inequality in America according to a study done by the Brookings Institution. Atlanta’s problem with wealth distribution has gone quite far, “The top 5% of households earn nearly 20 times the income in the Georgia capital than the bottom 20%” (Morath). Atlanta is listed as one of the best places to do business by Forbes and yet it still suffers from such a wealth gap.
Works Cited
Akamatsu, Rhetta. “Atlanta’s Historic Hotels: The Georgian Terrace Hotel.”Examiner. AXS Network, 12 May 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.examiner.com/article/atlanta-s-historic-hotels-the-georgian-terrace-hotel>.
“Atlanta, GA.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.forbes.com/places/ga/atlanta/>.
“Atlanta-History.” Atlanta-History. Atlanta Broadway, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://atlanta.broadway.com/history/>.
Berube, Alan, and Natalie Holmes. “Some Cities Are Still More Unequal than Others.” Brookings. The Brookings Institution, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/03/city-inequality-berube-holmes>.
Coakley, Katie. “10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Atlanta” Huffpost Travel. Huffington Post, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <www.huffingtonpost.com%2Fviator%2F10-things-you-probably-di_b_4145543.html>.
Morath, Eric. “Income Inequality Is Wider in Atlanta Than in San Francisco or Boston.” WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/03/20/income-inequality-is-wider-in-atlanta-than-in-san-francisco-or-boston/>.