Atlanta and the South
Yes, Atlanta is Southern, but if you think “the South” means white columns and Spanish moss, you will be surprised by Atlanta.
In many ways Atlanta feels like other large cities in the United States, though you may hear the occasional “y’all.” The city is home to more than five and a half million people, and when the most recent census statistics were released, more than half of metro-Atlanta residents reported being born outside Georgia. That statistic illustrates the amazing growth the city has experienced in the last few decades. Atlanta continues to welcome new residents from around the world, and today you’ll find all the resources and opportunities, and the diversity of opinions, experiences and tastes, that you would expect from a large metropolitan area.
Though we are proud of our diversity and excited about our future, we celebrate our Southern heritage too. At Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a restaurant on Ponce de Leon Avenue, you can taste the past in the form of good Southern cooking and sweet tea. And at Peachtree and 10th streets, you can visit the Margaret Mitchell House, where the Pulitzer Prize-winning author penned her classic Gone With the Wind, the novel that spawned the movie on which many people still base their ideas about the South.