Atlanta

Neighborhoods

Downtown Atlanta is the city's business and financial center. Its landmarks include the Peachtree Center hotel, convention, and office complex; the Underground Atlanta shopping facility; Georgia State University; Centennial Olympic Park (developed for the 1996 Olympics); the Georgia World Congress Center; and the Georgia Dome athletic facility.

The traditionally black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn, home of Martin Luther King, Jr., draws large numbers of visitors every year. The National Park Service has accorded park status to the district in honor of Dr. King, whose boyhood home and church are located here.

The Midtown area, north of downtown, is home to some of Atlanta's best-known cultural institutions, including the renowned Fox Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, where the Atlanta Symphony performs, the Hugh Museum of Art, and the Alliance Theatre. Also located here are Piedmont Park and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Buckhead is an upscale district located about ten kilometers (six miles) north of downtown Atlanta, home to elegant mansions, exclusive shops and boutiques, and fine restaurants. The Atlanta History Center is located here.

The Virginia-Highland neighborhood is Atlanta's Greenwich Village, featuring a colorful mix of bookstores, sidewalk cafes, art galleries, bistros, ethnic restaurants, and eclectic shops that draw the culturally sophisticated to this part of town.

Against a gracious setting that includes a number of Victorian homes, Little Five Points serves as a center for youthful Generation X-and Y-ers to display the latest in offbeat youth culture trends.

The suburb of Decatur, founded in 1823, is known for its many festivals and other annual events, as well as the impressive Farmers Market.