Atlanta, Georgia is a city with a purely Southern feel and a purely Southern past. One particularly notable person who came from Atlanta was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He made many contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. Atlanta is a city that is growing by leaps and bounds. Its population has increased near forty percent within the last ten years.
Atlanta has a seasonal climate that is chilly in the winter and downright hot in the summer. The heat gave Atlanta its nickname: “Hotlanta.” In today's economy, the unemployment average is higher than the national average but there are many big-name companies available that are continuously hiring. The city's food, which ranges from Southern fare all the way to Cajun and Creole, as well as its other ethnic offerings, is a major draw to tourists. Another major draw is the big-city action of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Ballet and the Alliance Theater. All of these have been awarded at one time or another for excellence in their particular fields. There are also a multitude of sightseeing options available, such as the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Stone Mountain Park. One of the most unusual aspects of Atlanta is a famous shopping district: Underground Atlanta. Underground Atlanta is literally under the ground. It is located in an old subway system. Atlanta, Georgia is considered the quintessential South.
Atlanta, Georgia's official city population is 429,500 people and its greater metropolitan population is 4,917,717. This makes Atlanta the 7th largest city within the United States. The population within the metropolitan area, in the last decade, has grown substantially from 2.9 million to its current population, which is an increase of about 40%. For more than four decades, Atlanta, Georgia, has been linked with the Civil Rights Movement. Die-hard Southerners view Atlanta as the heart of the Old Confederacy.
Atlanta, Georgia is a city that was built upon a railroad, literally. In 1821, permanent settlers began moving onto the Creek lands that would later become Atlanta. Atlanta didn't officially get its name until 1845. Atlanta went through 2 different incarnations before it became the city that it is today. The first name for Atlanta was “Terminus” because the area was the connection site for a railroad connecting Georgia with Chattanooga, Tennessee. The second incarnation was named “Marthasville,” in honor of Martha Lumpkin, daughter of then Georgia Governor Wilson Lumpkin. In 1847, Atlanta was incorporated and then, in 1861, the Civil War began.
Later, in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a native of Atlanta, who helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement, won the Nobel Peace Prize but he was killed in 1968 and then was buried in Atlanta. A terrorist bomb was exploded during the Centennial Olympic Games which were held in Atlanta in 1996. This year, 2010, the City of Atlanta opened the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The quality of life in Atlanta is wonderful because it experiences all four seasons distinctly but it has surprisingly mild temperatures most of the year. The temperatures typically range from 41 degrees in January to a high of 82 degrees in July. During the hottest months of the year, the humidity is so bad that its nickname, "Hotlanta", is a very apt one.
The cost of living is about 15% above national average. This means that the mid-range price for apartment rent is $750 to $800 per month. The average rent, though, is about $930 per month. Since there are over 1,500 apartment complexes available within the City of Atlanta, though, there is always one to be found. Living in downtown Atlanta is becoming a trend. Even though the cost of housing is higher, more people than ever before are flocking to the downtown area to live. An option is the City Plaza Apartments, on Central Avenue, which has 164 apartments priced at between $695, for a studio apartment, and $1,350, for a 2 bedroom apartment. Another option is buying a condo. The Healy Estates, for example, has 1 bedroom, 1 bath condos for around $87 thousand. It also has a 2 bedroom condo for around $258 thousand.
The average gasoline prices as of Mid-August 2010 are $2.60 per gallon in Atlanta and $2.73 per gallon in the Nation.
Atlanta's unemployment as of August of 2010 stands at 10.3% while the National average is at 9.6%. As of June, 2010, Atlanta's total job loss had reached 273,405 people. It had peaked in January of 2010 at 287,315 people unemployed. Thankfully, it has regained 13,910 permanent full-time jobs.
Even with these statistics, there is still employment to be had in Atlanta. There are major companies that are usually always hiring, such as Coca-Cola, founded in 1892, UPS, Turner Broadcasting System, Delta Air Lines and the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. There is also employment to be found within the service, retail, financial, manufacturing, healthcare, conventions, education and Government institutions and industries. It is a good bet that there is employment within some of these industries. You just have to know where to find them. A good place to start would be at a Temporary Agency. They may not have any full time positions available but, more than likely, some sort of temporary position will be available that will pay the bills. Finding a permanent job is just like work. A person needs to work 8 hours a day to find a job.
Another option available to you is the Internet. There are always jobs being posted on there. If you are still having a rough time, go to the employer that you would like to work for. Ask for an application and let him or her know that you are interested in a position.
Atlanta has it all: American cuisine that serves up a range of upscale restaurants to causal sports bars and entertainment centers; Japanese restaurants that specialize in sushi, sake and steak; Seafood restaurants that includes favorites such as New-Orleans style Cajun and Creole cuisine, Hawaiian fusion, Oyster bars, upscale alfresco and raw bars; Southern cuisine with a mix of traditional southern food, like fried chicken, grits and fried green tomatoes, and 21st century fare.
For Southern fare, the Dogwood on Peachtree Street offers sophisticated southern cuisine in a very elegant atmosphere. The trend tends to be toward traditional foods but each item on the menu has its own sophisticated flourish added to it. The meals there are priced in the upper ranges at about $60 for a complete meal. Also, Paschal's Restaurant, located in the Historic Canterbury Hill Neighborhood, represents itself with very upscale southern cuisine that combines traditional with modern southern recipes. Their food is a rather good value at about $30 per meal.
For American fare, the Sun Dial Restaurant Bar and View, on Peachtree Street, offers American upscale dining with a hefty price tag of about $80 a meal. They were voted as having the "Best View of Atlanta" because the restaurant offers panoramic views of Atlanta as well as a scenic elevator ride.
The Alliance Theater has produced 50 world premiere plays and is one of the largest theaters in the nation. It was opened in 1968. In 2007, it was awarded the Regional Theater Tony Award for outstanding achievement. The Theater also believes strongly in its community works. The Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition was developed in 2004 to connect student play writers with professional connections. It is a national competition and the winner's play is fully staged as a world premiere on the Alliance Stage.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, on Peachtree Street, is one of the nation's finest orchestras. It is a Grammy Award winning symphony orchestra that performs more than 230 times annually for over 500,000 music lovers.
The Atlanta Ballet was established in 1967 and its repertoire spans the history and future of ballet with the classics and inventive originals. The Ballet also offers lessons to children and adults who want to learn or relearn the skill set involved in being a ballet dancer.
The Atlanta Opera was founded in 1979 and has entertained more than 800,000 patrons with more than 250 performances of its 75 productions. They orchestrate 4 main stage productions each season. They also offer pre-opera lectures and student matinées to further enhance the experience of Opera.
Atlanta boasts some of the best and most fun activities and sightseeing adventures. The Atlanta Botanical Garden is 30 acres of gardens, urban forestland, wildflower trails, and a 10,000 square foot Fuqua Orchid Center. They are located on Piedmont Avenue. The Atlanta Botanical Garden also does fieldwork projects as well that helps endangered species of plants to be restored to their natural habitats. Admission is $15 for adults and $12 for those ages 3 to 17.
The Center for the Puppetry Arts is a fun one. It is the largest center in North America dedicated solely to the art of puppetry. They offer performances from the Family Series and New Directions for adults. There is also an interactive museum, Puppets: The Power of Wonder, which is the largest puppetry museum in the United States. Admission to the museum is $8. Tours are available for $10 and performances are normally $16 per person.
Stone Mountain Park is an outdoor park with various attractions including the nations' largest adventure ropes course. Storm Mountain also offers a Scenic railroad, a laser show spectacular, mini-golf and a museum. Admission for adults 12 and over is $27, and for those that are 3 through 11 are admitted for $21. The park is located 16 miles East of Atlanta.
There is a varied assortment of bars, nightclubs, dance clubs and parties that come alive after dark. There is the Beluga Martini Bar, on Piedmont Road, which serves up good martinis and live Jazz music every night beginning at 10:30pm. The Compound, on Brady Avenue, was voted "Best Atlanta Nightclub" in 2005 and 2006 by Atlanta Magazine. They are open Friday and Saturday from 10pm until 3am. Halo, at the Biltmore Hotel in Midtown, offers world class DJ's and two bars in its 3,800 square foot high quality facility. It was opened in 2001 and it has been billed as a premiere nightlife destination in Atlanta. Then there's the House Nightclub at Underground Atlanta, located on Upper Atlanta Street. It is a nightclub, dance club and lounge put together. Patrons are allowed to hang out in the living room, dining room, the kitchen and the patio. The Sanctuary is a premiere Latin Dance Club. There are also sports bars like Barley's Sports Bar and Lounge which offers an extensive menu and live music every Thursday through Sunday nights.
There are so many varieties and options to choose from, it is mindboggling the amount of nightclubs, bars and dance clubs available.
Atlanta, Georgia is home for a very strange shopping district. It is called Underground Atlanta. It is called this because the pedestrian walkway is actually located underground. One can find everything there. There is the Humbug Square Street Market in the Underground that offers hard to find items that can't be found anywhere else. The Market also offers stores such as AP Clearance, Aroma Bar, Beach Factory, Greek Street and much, much more. Within Underground Atlanta there are numerous shops available for apparel and accessories. Gift and specialty stores also abound within Underground Atlanta. They are all crowded, with restaurants, art galleries and more, within a 5 block underground paradise that only Atlanta could pull off.
Another great shopping area is Little 5 Points, on Euclid Avenue. It is a retail district that is very bohemian in nature. It is famous for its vintage clothes, vinyl records and tattoos. The district has the best music stores like Wax ‘n Facts and Satellite Records. Boutiques, at Little 5 Points, include Stefan's Wish and Coyote Trading Company. The City of Decatur, 6 miles East of Atlanta, has some of the best shops and they have even dubbed themselves as a premiere "mallternative". There are 200 boutiques, restaurants and galleries all huddled together in Decatur.
Atlanta has some of the best spa services available within Georgia. The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta is designed for sanctuary, and for privacy. Its 10 treatment rooms are soundproofed to allow the client privacy to indulge in total relaxation. They have massages, including Thai Massages for $185; body treatments, including an Urban Detox Marine Wrap for $225 and treatment packages like Awake which includes a vanilla coffee body scrub, aroma radiance facial and a manicure for $350.
29 Spa, located at the Madison on Peachtree, was the recipient of Conde Nast Traveler's 2009 50 Hot Spas. Lydia Mondavi, owner, uses grape seeds or grape seed extracts in every treatment available. She uses grape seeds because she learned of the anti-oxidant and age protecting properties from her family's wine making industry. Various treatments include facial and body treatments such as "Savor the Wine", which is a body treatment that is a rose and cabernet cocoon treatment to replenish the skin. It is perfect for sensitive skin. The cost for this service is $130 for a 50 minute treatment or $150 for an 80 minute treatment.
Atlanta is the quintessential Southern city. It has everything you need to be able to party then relax and then maybe even find a home.
Atlanta, Georgia is a beautiful city in the south of the United States, with plenty of attractions for vacationers to indulge in while relaxing on a family vacation, romantic getaway or spending a weekend away. The Mansion on Peachtree is a luxurious hotel for newlyweds or families with all the amenities it provides, such as a full service health spa including massages that you can make by appointment to have in the privacy of your own room, a beauty salon located inside the hotel, two restaurants, and an indoor pool. Upon request, the hotel can schedule tours for you around Atlanta and provide tickets to an Atlanta Braves game, or certain concert. If you are interested in having a night out, The Mansion even provides babysitting for its guests. The Ellis is centrally located by Peachtree Station, and Olympic Park is three blocks away. You can enjoy intimate evenings enjoying wine tasting and having dinner at the hotel's restaurant on their balcony overlooking the city. If a bed and breakfast has more of an interesting appeal, The Stonehurst Place is chic and elegant, located close to the airport near the Fox Theatre. While in Atlanta you can take personal Segway tours of the city, visit museums, go to Turner Park (home of Atlanta's baseball team, the Braves), or see Centennial Olympic Park, built for when the 2006 Olympics were held in Georgia. Enjoy a dinner of Brazilian cuisine at Fogo De Chao, or have brunch on the Chattahoochee River at Canoe, where their menu boasts an eclectic variety of choices.
Atlanta, Georgia has plenty of choices in the way of getting an education. The school system is made up of 8 separate districts. Total there are 189 public schools and 70 private schools. There are 228 preschools and day care centers open in these districts as well. This is good because the majority of parents in Atlanta are full time workers. The school system does well to compensate for the size of the city. Atlanta has a population of over 500,000, and continues to grow. Three elementary schools are using the year curriculum instead of having summer off. It seems to work well for students, as far as retaining information. There are lots of well known colleges in Atlanta. Le Cordon Bleu College is a culinary school that is known for its programs. Using over 100 years of experience aspiring chefs can expect to get a great education from Le Cordon Blue. ITT Technical Institute is another college in Atlanta that is familiar to lots of people. With over 100 locations across the US it is becoming the most well known technical college. GA State University is one of the larger universities in Atlanta. GA State was founded in 1913 and offers over 250 programs for interested students. Atlanta has over 50 colleges to choose from, thirty of them are higher education campuses. They offer degrees in Criminal Justice, Design, Culinary Arts, Broadcasting, and many more. There are lots of options for Atlanta residents and those who want to attend college in a larger city. Atlanta also has the larger number of predominately black campuses. These include Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse University. Interestingly enough Morehouse is an all male college as well. The city has lots to offer and brings students from all over the country.
Atlanta is a large city with lots to see and do. There are many options for traveling around and taking in the sights. The largest company is the MARTA transportation unit. MARTA stands for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The MARTA Train and MARTA Bus are two of their main transportation options available. The MARTA train runs on two lines and has over thirty stations throughout the Atlanta area. MARTA train operates all 365 days of the year, and only strays from the 5 am to 1:30 am schedule during holidays and the weekends. MARTA is biker friendly and allows passengers to secure their bicycles on the train. My Commute Trip Planner located on MARTA's website helps customers plan what times they will ride the train and where their stops will take them. The MARTA bus is another option for traveling around Atlanta. The MARTA bus has over 90 routes that operate on the same schedule as the MARTA Train. The A to Z route is a fun one for families because it starts at the Atlanta Aquarium and goes to the Atlanta Zoo with lots of fun stops in between. Another transportation option in Atlanta is the AMTRAK. AMTRAK is open every day between the hours of 7 am and 9:30 pm. An additional fun option for taking in Atlanta sites is a carriage ride service. There are two carriage ride services that will take you in a horse drawn carriage around the city. As in other cities there are lots of taxi cabs to take you around. There is also a shuttle system that takes people back and forth from the airport, and can be rented to take you to your destination as well. There is always the option of walking, but Atlanta is such a large city that you would be better off with a different option.
The local government officials of Atlanta are there to provide essential services. They offer a wide variety of business, cultural, educational, and recreational information. The Atlanta council offices, including the Mayor's office and the Executive offices, are located at City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. The city also has a secondary location for all its services at City Hall East, 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia. The Executive offices look after the Departments of Corrections, Fire, Police, Information Technology, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Planning and Community Development, Public Works, Watershed Management and the Emergency Services. Whether you need to report a pothole on your street, contact the Atlanta Commission on Women or find information on Watershed Management for your drinking water, there are city facilities to help. You can contact City Hall if you live in the area and need information on garbage pick-ups, delays on any of the transport routes or the opening times of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens; and visitors can find out information on the myriad of attractions throughout the city. The City uses all types of media to keep you informed, including its own public service TV station, Channel 26. Because of the closure of the analogue TV signal, the City can help you receive the new digital signal by supplying you with a digital converter box. Due to the expensive nature of the switch the federal government is going to provide coupons. Everyone can apply for up to two $40 coupons which should cover the cost of the box. Coupons are available online at www.DTV2009.gov on a first-come, first-served basis. To find all of the information available regarding the local government offices, you should visit the official website at www.atlantaga.gov. The Information Operator can supply you with all contact details for the city government if you phone 404 330 6000.
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