Atlanta City Planning 1950-2000

One thing that I have learned in researching Atlanta is the difference in the population when looking at the census in Atlanta City versus the County. The city population in the year 2000 was 416,474 which almost doubles to 726,709. The majority of the population, 255,689 is black with only 138,352 white and 8,046 Asian. Interestingly the census considers everyone to be Hispanic. Geographically Atlanta is 131 square miles and statistics show that it is still one of the most segregated cities in the south, and even in the country. Atlanta is known as the horizontal city because it does not have barriers like other cities. It does not have to expand by building skyscrapers, but just spreading outwards. Having visited Atlanta last summer, I drove around the city proper and knew that it was a large city, but after researching it, I realized that I did not drive through even half of the city.