Atlanta metropolitan area
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According to the 2000 census, the 28-county Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area has a population of 4,247,981 making it the eleventh largest metropolitan area in the United States. The 2004 Census estimate shows 4,708,297 people living in the 28-county area, moving it up two spots to the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States.
According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organisations, Atlanta is considered a gamma or minor world city.
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Counties
- Barrow County
- Bartow County
- Butts County
- Carroll County
- Cherokee County
- Clayton County
- Cobb County
- Coweta County
- Dawson County
- DeKalb County
- Douglas County
- Fayette County
- Forsyth County
- Fulton County
- Gwinnett County
- Haralson County
- Heard County
- Henry County
- Jasper County
- Lamar County
- Meriwether County
- Newton County
- Paulding County
- Pickens County
- Pike County
- Rockdale County
- Spalding County
- Walton County
Cities
Anchor city
- Atlanta (Major airport: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport)
Suburbs with 10,000 or more inhabitants
- Acworth
- Alpharetta
- Belvedere Park
- Buford
- Candler-McAfee
- Carrollton
- Cartersville
- College Park
- Conyers
- Covington
- Decatur
- Douglasville
- Druid Hills
- Duluth
- Dunwoody
- East Point
- Fayetteville
- Forest Park
- Griffin
- Kennesaw
- Lawrenceville
- Lilburn
- Mableton
- Marietta
- Monroe
- Mountain Park, Gwinnett County
- Newnan
- North Atlanta
- North Decatur
- North Druid Hills
- Panthersville
- Peachtree City
- Powder Springs
- Redan
- Riverdale
- Roswell
- Sandy Springs
- Smyrna
- Snellville
- Sugar Hill
- Tucker
- Union City
- Winder
- Woodstock
Suburbs with less than 10,000 inhabitants
- Adarsville
- Auburn
- Austell
- Avondale Estates
- Ball Ground
- Berkeley Lake
- Bethlehem
- Between
- Blacksville
- Bonanza
- Bowdon
- Braselton
- Braswell
- Bremen
- Brooks
- Canton
- Carl
- Cassville
- Chamblee
- Clarkston
- Conley
- Corinth
- Cumming
- Dacula
- Dallas
- Doraville
- East Griffin
- East Newnan
- Emerson
- Euharlee
- Experiment
- Fair Oaks
- Fairburn
- Good Hope
- Grantville
- Grayson
- Gresham Park
- Hampton
- Hapeville
- Haralson
- Hiram
- Holly Springs
- Irondale
- Jersey
- Jonesboro
- Kingston
- Lake City
- Lakeview Estates
- Lebanon
- Lithia Springs
- Lithonia
- Locust Grove
- Loganville
- Lovejoy
- Mansfield
- McDonough
- Moreland
- Morrow
- Mount Zion
- Mountain Park, Fulton County
- Newborn
- Norcross
- Orchard Hill
- Oxford
- Palmetto
- Pine Lake
- Porterdale
- Rest Haven
- Roopville
- Scottdale
- Senoia
- Sharpsburg
- Social Circle
- Statham
- Stockbridge
- Stone Mountain
- Sunny Side
- Suwanee
- Taylorsville
- Temple
- Turin
- Tyrone
- Villa Rica
- Vinings
- Waleska
- Walnut Grove
- White
- Whitesburg
- Woolsey
Commerce
Transportation
Metro Atlanta is served by six major interstate highway routes to and from the city. I-75 is the busiest and carries a great deal of truck traffic, running south-southeast to Macon and onward to Florida and northwest to Chattanooga (and I-575 to Canton). I-85 runs southwest to Montgomery (and I-185 to Columbus), and northeast to Greenville/Spartanburg and Charlotte (and I-985 to Gainesville). I-20 runs east to Augusta and Columbia, and west to Birmingham.
I-285 runs around the city in a circle, and is called the Perimeter. I-75/85 is joined through downtown Atlanta, called the Downtown Connector. I-675 joins I-75 in the south metro to the southeastern end of I-285. Georgia 400 runs north to Alpharetta, then somewhat northeast to Dahlonega in the mountains.
MARTA operates rapid transit in Fulton and Dekalb counties, while Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton counties operate their own buses with no current rail transit. Plans are underway for commuter rail and bus rapid transit, though these are several years away yet.
There are many historic roads across the area, named after its mills and early ferries, and the bridges later built to replace the ferries. Pace's Ferry is perhaps the best known.
Communications
The area is the world's largest toll-free calling zone and has three telephone area codes. 404, which originally covered all of northern Georgia until 1992, now covers only inside the Perimeter (Interstate 285). In 1995, the suburbs were put into 770, and 678 was overlaid onto both in 1998, requiring mandatory ten-digit dialing even for local calls under FCC rules. Cellphones, originally only 404, may now have any local area code regardless of where they were issued in the area. Confusingly, 470 will be the next area code, overlaid like 678 was.
Major fiber-optic lines and oil and natural gas pipelines cross the area, running from the Gulf coast, Texas, and Louisiana to the population centers of the northeastern U.S.
Retail centers
Atlanta is a city known in the South for its many shopping areas. The Atlanta area is home to the South's largest shopping mall, the Mall of Georgia, which is located in nearby Gwinnett County.
The other larger shopping establishments in Metro Atlanta includes:
- Arbor Place Mall
- Cumberland Mall
- Discover Mills, a large outlet shopping mall located in Gwinnett County
- Greenbriar Mall
- Gwinnett Place Mall
- Lenox Square, a large 3-level shopping center that is home to some 250 retailers and restaurants that is located in Buckhead. The anchors of Lenox Square include Rich's-Macy's, Bloomingdales, and Neiman-Marcus. [1] (http://www.lenoxsquare.com/)
- Mall at Stonecrest
- Northlake Mall
- North Pointe Mall
- Perimeter Mall
- Phipps Plaza, an upscale shopping center also located in Buckhead. This mall is considered Atlanta's most upscale shopping center with 100+ stores along with Parisian and Saks Fifth Avenue as anchors. [2] (http://www.phippsplaza.com/)
- Shannon Mall
- South DeKalb Mall
- Southlake Mall
- Town Center at Cobb
See also