Why doesn't Georgia have more than one tier 1 city? (Atlanta: living, cost of living)

[CharlotteNCRepublican]

I remember I kinda worded (badly worded!) a question similar to this somewhere else. Except I said "why is Georgia so rural" (I meant like why is Atlanta the only nationally known city, yea talk about me epic failing)

Atlanta and Savannah were the only cities in Georgia I heard of before visiting the beautiful city of Augusta.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

Having 30,000 new residents in a years time is like dumping nearly 600,000 people on Atlanta in one year, something that took almost a decade to do. Fort Benning will continue to drive growth as more military contracting companies set up shop in the Columbus area. Aflac, TSYS, NCR, and other companies in the area will continue to grow. Tourism is becoming a huge part of the Columbus economy. The National Infantry Museum saw 500,000 visitors last year. If I-14 and the expansion of I-185 happens, Columbus will be well connected. Whitewater is expected to bring over 100,000 people a year. This all brings tons of money to the Columbus economy which creates a trickle down effect creating the expansion of hotels, restaurants, retail, etc. Columbus is way ahead of the curve. 5 years from now you won't even recognize the city. You need to come down for a look.

Actually I do plan to do that soon.

Time will tell how all of the things you mentioned will affect Columbus in the long run, but in the absence of a growing and robust private sector (and not just the presence of a few corporate HQs), the "next level" will be rather elusive. That goes for all of GA's 2nd tier metros.

[Bizurko]

Columbus, macon, savannah, augusta god I love them all. I want Georgia to show what it has to offer to the world and that we're not just an airport ya know.

[In Valdosta]

I noticed that there is a Facebook page called 'Atlanta Sucks'. I was curious to read the comments there and it appears that most blame their hate of Atlanta on the suburbs and the Buckhead section. I have noticed that whenevr I ask someone where they are from down here, alot of times they say Atlanta, only to come to find out that they truly reside in Alpharetta or a similar place. Has anyone else that has been a resident of Atlanta proper (from say the 75-85 split south to maybe Lakewood Frwy) feel the same way? What would cause the animosity?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by In Valdosta

I noticed that there is a Facebook page called 'Atlanta Sucks'. I was curious to read the comments there and it appears that most blame their hate of Atlanta on the suburbs and the Buckhead section. I have noticed that whenevr I ask someone where they are from down here, alot of times they say Atlanta, only to come to find out that they truly reside in Alpharetta or a similar place. Has anyone else that has been a resident of Atlanta proper (from say the 75-85 split south to maybe Lakewood Frwy) feel the same way? What would cause the animosity?

I normally say "Atlanta" because folks not in the area generally have no idea where "Mableton" is. Atlanta gives them a ball park location that they can relate to.

I'm sure that's typical. 90% of the folks in the Atlanta metro are in suburbs, not the city itself.

[Febtober]

Are these tier levels actual defined classifications or just rough informal ideas about a city's population/sphere of influence?

Either way, Atlanta is clearly the only city in the state that could be considered "tier one." Any other city is a very, very, distant second (not that that means there's anything wrong with them. I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Georgia could even point to these secondary cities on a map or has ever heard of them to begin with. Hell, the only reason I even know where Macon and Savannah are is because I used to make the drive from Atlanta to Brunswick a few times a year.

[convextech]

Macon already has a Bass Pro Shops. Robins AFB is the biggest employer in the state. We have Geico. Yet we are not even a tier on the cake. I think we are the plate!

[Augusta Native]

Originally Posted by Bizurko

I love the state of Georgia, but why is there really only one city that can compete on a national scale. I mean Ohio: columbus, cincinnati, cleveland; Pennsylvania: pittsburgh, philadelphia; North Carolina: raleigh/durham, charlotte; Florida: tampa/st. Pete, miami/ft. Lauderdale, orlando.

this has become a real p1$$1ng contest between the usual suspects and no one seems to be answering the original ?

Originally Posted by Bizurko

Why with a state so large and beautiful with so much historical significance have only one true tier 1 city?

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Air travel is one of the key ingredients to all of the above cities economies they were or still are hubs of major airlines at some point in their history or have large volumes of air traveling tourist.

North Carolina cities Charlotte = US Airlines current hub and Raleigh/Durahm = American Airlines former hub
Florida lots of tourist cities Tampa = Gulf stream international aka Continental Connection current hub Miami = American, and Executive Airlines aka American Eagle current hub also Braniff International Airways, Eastern Air Lines, Air Florida, the original National Airlines, the original Pan Am, United Airlines, and Iberia former hub. Orlando = Southwest, JetBlue, and AirTran Airways focus city not quite a hub but close to it.
Pennsylvania cities Pittsburgh = Allengheny Airlines aka US Airlines former hub
Philadelphia = Altair, Eastern, and Midway Airlines from 80's to 90's and US airlines currently
Ohio cities Columbus = TWA, America West, and Skybus airlines former hub. Cleveland = United former hub Continental current hub, Cincy = Delta former hub

Though many of these cities listed have other attributes that encouraged growth outside of or before air travel. This is the most common factor this is what Ga cities lack everyone drives to HJAA with the exception of Savannah.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by convextech

Macon already has a Bass Pro Shops. Robins AFB is the biggest employer in the state. We have Geico. Yet we are not even a tier on the cake. I think we are the plate!

I'm sorry, but Bass Pro doesn't make you a known city. Anyway, this HAS become a pissing contest between Georgia cities and it's become completely and utterly pointless.

Each city/town in Georgia is it's own unique individual city regardless of what company or business is there and how big or small it may be including how much or what kind of development is, has or will take place. It's not about whether Columbus is better than Macon, etc, it's about our state as a whole. It seems as if we're completely divided between Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Atlanta, Savannah and the rest of Georgia, but that's just what weakens us. Let's all be adults and support each other and be happy we aren't Michigan and people flock to us. We have Atlanta with all it's amenities, the Atlantic coast, we're right next to Florida and the Gulf coast. We have beautiful lakes, mountains and history to be proud of. If you wanted to, you could go your whole life without going beyond the state lines (though I would strongly recommend it) because Georgia has all you need!

[convextech]

Duh. It was a joke.