Getting Here, Getting Around

By now you probably know that transportation—in the form of railroads, highways, and airports—built Atlanta. But it might surprise you to learn that our area was a transportation center long before the advent of modern travel.

Atlanta stands at the convergence of three giant granite ridges, and these were used by Native Americans as land bridges between the coastal, Piedmont, and mountain regions of southeastern North America. As European settlers drove out the native population, wagon roads, railroads, and finally highways followed the same routes as those old trails.

Modern Atlanta towers at the center of a vast network of roads, rails, and air routes. With so many people and packages arriving, leaving, and passing through, a certain amount of chaos is unavoidable, and most Atlantans are good-humored about it. But as the city has grown to accommodate thousands of new residents and businesses each year, getting around Atlanta has become more challenging—and a lot less convenient.

This chapter is planned to help you understand the basics of finding your way into, around, and back out of Atlanta. Read it, spend a little time studying the maps we’ve included, and soon you’ll be buzzing around town like a native. (OK, you’ll be sitting in traffic jams like a native.)

First, let’s talk about Atlanta’s highways and streets.