What keeps Atlanta from reaching LA, Chicago, or NYC levels?

[jayden]

I like most consider Atlanta to be an international city, and easily one of the most well known within the US, but still a step or two below the Chicago's, LA's and NYC's of the world.

Aside from population, obviously, what keeps Atlanta from reaching these heights?

I would say it's a mixture of heavy rail transportation, and remnants of Old-South conservatism prohibiting more explosive multi-cultural growth.

[The North One]

Sprawl, bad planning, no grid.

[dc_denizen]

Atlanta is not well known outside the US. maybe in the 1990s for a brief period, but that's it.

Miami, NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Boston, DC, Detroit are more well known.

[jayden]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

atlanta is not well known outside the US.

The 1996 Summer Olympics, and it being in strong contention for the 2026 World Cup says otherwise.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Atlanta is not well known outside the US. maybe in the 1990s for a brief period, but that's it.

Miami, NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Boston, DC, Detroit are more well known.

I disagree.

Atlanta is well known internationally not only because of the Olympics, but also because of its airport. It also has one of the largest and most diverse corporate presence of any US city outside of NYC and Chicago (if you're important in the business world, you're likely going to be doing a fair amount of business travel to Atlanta). Furthermore, they don't think "Georgia" when Atlanta comes up in conversations (it's prominent enough to be discussed without being associated with Georgia).

I don't know of anyone who consider the cities of Dallas / Houston relevant outside the US. It's all "Texas" to them, the land of rednecks and cowboys (see King of the Hill and the character Kahn).

The same applies to Miami. To them, it's all "Florida," the land of Disney, Palm Trees and Beaches.

I will give you Detroit. It's the world's automotive capital after all. I will also give you DC (it's the nation's capital). I will also give you Seattle (because of Amazon / Microsoft), and Boston (because of MIT / Harvard). I will spot you San Francisco as well (Silicon Valley)

NYC, Chicago and LA are in classes of their own, simply because they're the largest cities in the country.

[tdawg]

Atlanta is exploding onto the world stage the likes not seen since the Olympics. Atlanta/Georgia are now #1 for film production (https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...oductions.html). It's not just Real Housewives. You have an actual hit show named "Atlanta;" Dynasty is now set in Atlanta; there's the Walking Dead, Baby Driver, etc. Given that Atlanta's nascent soccer team is setting attendance records, I think it's a safe bet that the city will host some World Cup games.

[Xing]

Originally Posted by tdawg

Atlanta is exploding onto the world stage the likes not seen since the Olympics. Atlanta/Georgia are now #1 for film production (https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...oductions.html). It's not just Real Housewives. You have an actual hit show named "Atlanta;" Dynasty is now set in Atlanta; there's the Walking Dead, Baby Driver, etc. Given that Atlanta's nascent soccer team is setting attendance records, I think it's a safe bet that the city will host some World Cup games.

Yes, but very rarely does the film scene there really showcase the city. It's often any city USA, pretending to be another city, and sometimes it plays itself , which for most people outside of Atlanta, doesn't mean much. I've seen more films take place in Detroit , when it had good tax credits, and even those films gave greater mention to that city, and its character - good, and bad.

As we've seen with Louisiana, the tax credits can leave as quickly as they came. State politics, especially in states with strong conservative politics (Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana, for example) can quickly remove a film industry.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

I disagree.

Atlanta is well known internationally not only because of the Olympics, but also because of its airport. It also has one of the largest and most diverse corporate presence of any US city outside of NYC and Chicago (if you're important in the business world, you're likely going to be doing a fair amount of business travel to Atlanta). Furthermore, they don't think "Georgia" when Atlanta comes up in conversations (it's prominent enough to be discussed without being associated with Georgia).

I don't know of anyone who consider the cities of Dallas / Houston relevant outside the US. It's all "Texas" to them, the land of rednecks and cowboys (see King of the Hill and the character Kahn).

The same applies to Miami. To them, it's all "Florida," the land of Disney, Palm Trees and Beaches.

I will give you Detroit. It's the world's automotive capital after all. I will also give you DC (it's the nation's capital). I will also give you Seattle (because of Amazon / Microsoft), and Boston (because of MIT / Harvard). I will spot you San Francisco as well (Silicon Valley)

NYC, Chicago and LA are in classes of their own, simply because they're the largest cities in the country.

Or...maybe if you actually left the country you'd realize that people outside the U.S. probably have an equal familiarity with most 2nd tier U.S. cities mainly depending on what pop culture references they associate them with; Fraiser/ Seattle, Walking Dead/ Atlanta, Dallas/ Dallas, ABQ/Breaking Bad, Baltimore/ Homicide, etc. Others, like Houston are synonymous with oil and gas, Boston with higher education and wicked pissah accents.

Btw, Detroit is no longer the world's automotive capital...not by a long shot. San Francisco is San Francisco, not the Silicon Valley. When people in Hungary or China think of "San Francisco" they don't think of Apple or Google, they think of trolleys, Rice-A-Roni and Haight-Ashbury.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by JManc

Btw, Detroit is no longer the world's automotive capital...not by a long shot.

I don't think anyone in the auto industry would agree with you.

Detroit is still, easily, the auto capital of the planet. Every global auto firm has a sizable presence in Detroit. It's the only place where you absolutely need a presence.

[jayden]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I don't think anyone in the auto industry would agree with you.

Detroit is still, easily, the auto capital of the planet. Every global auto firm has a sizable presence in Detroit. It's the only place where you absolutely need a presence.

Is that why the population and the local economy has been in steady decline over the past decade? And let's not even talk about the recession...

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I don't think anyone in the auto industry would agree with you.

Detroit is still, easily, the auto capital of the planet. Every global auto firm has a sizable presence in Detroit. It's the only place where you absolutely need a presence.

Fair enough. Others have closed the gap; Japan, Europe, and now RoK and CHina.

I was speaking in terms in overall importance. GM was once one of the largest companies in the world with a presence and plants everywhere is now 1/10 the size of Facebook, the purveyor of cat videos and fake news, (in market cap) and 1/2 the size of Netflix. Same with Ford. Chrysler is now a subsidiary of Fiat. Their clout is further eroded by foreign plants all over the US.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by JManc

Or...maybe if you actually left the country you'd realize that people outside the U.S. probably have an equal familiarity with most 2nd tier U.S. cities mainly depending on what pop culture references they associate them with; Fraiser/ Seattle, Walking Dead/ Atlanta, Dallas/ Dallas, ABQ/Breaking Bad, Baltimore/ Homicide, etc. Others, like Houston are synonymous with oil and gas, Boston with higher education and wicked pissah accents.

Btw, Detroit is no longer the world's automotive capital...not by a long shot. San Francisco is San Francisco, not the Silicon Valley. When people in Hungary or China think of "San Francisco" they don't think of Apple or Google, they think of trolleys, Rice-A-Roni and Haight-Ashbury.

Most of your posts boils down to a simple difference in opinion.. We'll agree to disagree.

As far as the bolded, that's just not true. The R&D operations of every major automotive company is based in Detroit. It also has the densest automotive supply chain in the world (with MSU being the world's #1 Supply Chain school) with every major Auto Supplier, if not based in Detroit, having their North American HQ in Detroit.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

The R&D operations of every major automotive company is based in Detroit. It also has the densest automotive supply chain in the world (with MSU being the world's #1 Supply Chain school) with every major Auto Supplier, if not based in Detroit, having their North American HQ in Detroit.

This the main reason "Detroit" is still so important. It's less the Big Three, and more the fact that all the engineering talent is still in SE Michigan. Even if the Big Three disappeared, you would still likely have all the U.S./Japanese/German auto firms clustering in SE Michigan.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by JManc

When people in Hungary or China think of "San Francisco" they don't think of Apple or Google, they think of trolleys, Rice-A-Roni and Haight-Ashbury.

I think you're very, very wrong about that. They think about all of those things. And wine country, and the golden gate bridge, alcatraz, etc.

A ten second youtube search for "san francisco" brings up hundreds of travel videos where the tech industry is a main focus. It's clear that to people outside of the Bay Area, SF and "silicon valley" is often seen as the same thing (my personal experience with visitors backs this up too). And honestly, it kinda is the same thing. Metro areas and all that, not to mention the presence of the tech sector in SF city-proper has been booming over the past decade.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by tech12

I think you're very, very wrong about that. They think about all of those things. And wine country, and the golden gate bridge, alcatraz, etc.

A ten second youtube search for "san francisco" brings up hundreds of travel videos where the tech industry is a main focus. It's clear that to people outside of the Bay Area, SF and "silicon valley" is often seen as the same thing (my personal experience with visitors backs this up too). And honestly, it kinda is the same thing. Metro areas and all that, not to mention the presence of the tech sector in SF city-proper has been booming over the past decade.

But to the average Joe, tech is what not pops in to their minds when asked about San Francisco. It's Full House, the Fisherman's Wharf, and crooked streets. There are numerous travel videos about Houston touting biomedical research and the city's performing arts but most people think of oil, the Astrodome and hurricanes.

This is why they make the videos...

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

I disagree.

Atlanta is well known internationally not only because of the Olympics, but also because of its airport. It also has one of the largest and most diverse corporate presence of any US city outside of NYC and Chicago (if you're important in the business world, you're likely going to be doing a fair amount of business travel to Atlanta). Furthermore, they don't think "Georgia" when Atlanta comes up in conversations (it's prominent enough to be discussed without being associated with Georgia).

I don't know of anyone who consider the cities of Dallas / Houston relevant outside the US. It's all "Texas" to them, the land of rednecks and cowboys (see King of the Hill and the character Kahn).

The same applies to Miami. To them, it's all "Florida," the land of Disney, Palm Trees and Beaches.

I will give you Detroit. It's the world's automotive capital after all. I will also give you DC (it's the nation's capital). I will also give you Seattle (because of Amazon / Microsoft), and Boston (because of MIT / Harvard). I will spot you San Francisco as well (Silicon Valley)

NYC, Chicago and LA are in classes of their own, simply because they're the largest cities in the country.

Dallas is well known as a corporate business capital and Houston is known worldwide for energy, medicine, and ethnic diversity as people pour in from many countries. But the people who know all this don't just base what they know on TV or movies.

Same for Atlanta. I think it's a great city and there's a lot to know about it. I feel bad for people who don't bother to get educated about their own country.

As an aside, I guess this is just another city vs city thread.

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Atlanta is not well known outside the US. maybe in the 1990s for a brief period, but that's it.

Miami, NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Boston, DC, Detroit are more well known.

I'm a Houston homer and there's no way Houston is more well known than Atlanta internationally except perhaps in a few locales. At worst, they are equal.

[dc_denizen]

Originally Posted by ThePhun1

I'm a Houston homer and there's no way Houston is more well known than Atlanta internationally except perhaps in a few locales. At worst, they are equal.

houston is known for the oil business, and for urban (lack of) planning.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

houston is known for the oil business, and for urban (lack of) planning.

Houston's not really the center of the *global* oil industry though.

It's home to a lot of the support companies for US production, but the only supermajor based there is ConocoPhillips, while production in Texas is dwarfed by production in the Middle East.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by jayden

I like most consider Atlanta to be an international city, and easily one of the most well known within the US, but still a step or two below the Chicago's, LA's and NYC's of the world.

Aside from population, obviously, what keeps Atlanta from reaching these heights?

I would say it's a mixture of heavy rail transportation, and remnants of Old-South conservatism prohibiting more explosive multi-cultural growth.

Bear in mind, Atlanta is still a fairly young city that's just starting to come of age. Los Angeles wasn't an "international city" for the first half of the 20th century either.

The city / state has the money to improve its transportation, but there just hasn't been enough will power for the second reason you stated.

With the trend in long-term migration to the sunbelt region and the demographics trending younger, that's going to change much sooner than later.

Atlanta's future is mighty bright IMO.