1996 The Olympics

ETHAN PALGON, staff writer

acies of the games that still linger today are Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta and Olympic Village, which is now used as dorms for Georgia Tech and Georgia State University. Olympic Park, the 21acre plaza that glistens in what was once an area of urban decay, has sparked economic development in the areas surrounding it. Harvey Newman, a professor of public policy at Georgia State University, says, “The area surrounding the park has added major hotels, condominiums, new office structures and, of course, people continue to flock to enjoy the Olympic rings fountain.” The park is a part of the Olympics’ five billion dollar impact on the city, including planting the seeds for new tourist attractions like the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola Museum right next to it. The games also brought drastic housing and infrastructure projects downtown that would not have happened as quickly or at all without its help.

Aside from infrastructure, the Olympics being hosted in Atlanta was responsible for a huge popu- lation increase: from three million people in 1996 to more than six and a half million in the metro area today. But with spectacular growth almost always comes a downside: increased traffic. Along with population growth, a long-term benefit of hosting the Olympics was the attraction of large companies. The Atlanta region has been quite successful in attracting the headquarters of major corporations, such as UPS, CARE and The National Cancer Society. These newcomers, along with the local contingent that includes Coca-Cola, CNN, Home Depot and Delta Airlines, make the Atlanta region home to more Fortune 500 corporations than any but three other metropolitan areas in the United States.

The 1996 Olympic Games being hosted in Atlanta had an incredible and everlasting impact on the city of Atlanta by boosting the economy, population, transportation system, job market and opportunities for residents. Even today, Atlanta continues to grow.