Let's start with a few truths. Atlanta's economic base seems to be a doughnut of sorts. The middle is quite poor for a variety of reasons, while the area surrounding it is relatively well off. That has all sorts of consequences, as you could imagine. It's in the top 10 markets of the country, as long as you count the entire metro region. But the population of the city is down in the 30s.
In response to that, the city has created a number of attractions to lure people in, and most of them are fairly close to downtown. That's where some nice hotels are as well. So if you come to Atlanta for a convention or on business, it's relatively easy to see attractions like the football stadium, basketball arena, aquarium, Ferris wheel, etc. (The Olympic splash pad at Centennial Olympic Park, shown here, probably qualifies.) I hear there are some good restaurants too.
But if you don't want to pay a few hundred dollars per night to stay downtown, your options are rather limited. Throw in one other fact - driving in the Atlanta area is a nightmare. Everyone says, avoid that if you can. Parking is also difficult downtown.
Our solution was to stay out by the airport, and take the hotel shuttle back to the airport and its MARTA rapid transit line, which basically goes north/south and east/west from downtown. It was a little inconvenient, but manageable when it came to the tourist stops. Get off the beaten track, though, and it gets tougher. There were a few places, like the Center for Disease Control, that were out of our range. Oh well. We used Uber for the first time on this trip, and it proved handy for the times we didn't want to walk more than a mile or so.
Meanwhile, the downtown areas are surprisingly empty during business hours, and the subway seems underutilized. The MARTA wasn't even crowded at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, which is surprising. (There was a crowd for a basketball game downtown the night before.) Part of that might be due to COVID-19, which might have cleared out some office buildings in favor of work from home. There are a few "characters" in the streets and on the subway; a police suggested reminding such people about the shelters that provide help. Poverty and mental illness are a difficult combination in a city, and Atlanta has more than its share of both.
This certainly is a city worth seeing for a few days on vacation, but it's not quite big enough to make it easy on tourists no matter where you stay. Now, let's look around:
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