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Don't bet against Atlanta
Traffic crawls through downtown Atlanta along Interstate 75/85 during rush hour in Atlanta, Ga.
A quick final thought today -- literally on the way out the door to go back to the airport.
There's no logical reason for Atlanta to be where it is, y'know. There's no natural harbor or geographic feature that dictated 175 years ago that they put a city right here.
It was, to get back to Mayor Reed's point, infrastructure that did it. Railroads back in the early days when this city was called Terminus.
Ed Glaeser, the Harvard economist, says whatever Atlanta's economic problems right now -- it's a bad idea to bet against a concentration of smart ambitious people.
Hi Kai,
Mr. Robertson is exactly right. Atlanta, aka Terminus exists for very specific geological reasons. The railroads followed the ridge lines. However, this area served as a meeting point long before the railroads. The Creek and Cherokee tribes used this area as a place of trade and negotiation. They too followed the ridgelines to make travel easier. Plus, the nearby geological landmark of Stone Mountain was viewed as sacred ground between both parties. Thanks for highlighting Atlanta!
John McFarland
Decatur, GA
Kai,
As David pointed out, there is an actual geographic reason for Atlanta's location. The City of Atlanta sits atop the Eastern Continental Divide which early railroads followed to minimized the need to construct bridges over rivers/streams. Moreover, Atlanta is the most westerly point (below the Appalachian Mountains) of the divide -making it a ideal access point to the west. Atlanta's geographic location is purely logical.
PS -Love the show!
Evan Robertson
Atlanta, GA
Kai,
I seem to remember reading somewhere that there actually IS a logical/geographical reason for Atlanta to be exactly where it is. Atlanta occupies the same position vis. the Appalachian mountains which Chicago (another great transport hub) occupies vis. Lake Michigan. It is a natural place to build a railroad terminus for that reason. As the railroads expanded westward from the heavily populated and industrial Northeastern US, they of course faced resistance from the mountains. The path of least resistance for the major rail lines was not through the mountains, but around them, and as they went around them they tended to converge on that point where the mountains ended--Atlanta.
I enjoy the show on my commute... keep up the good work!
David Curtin
State College, PA
