Newsroom
Get the story behind the places, faces, and current events shaping the downtownATL district.
Mayor Andre Dickens withdrew the city's $80 million offer to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center after Fulton County commissioners voted against extending six downtown-area tax districts he wanted to fund neighborhood reinvestment.
From Spanish fans marching out of South Downtown to a 14-foot LED sphere at Hartsfield-Jackson, years of tournament prep showed up exactly where it was supposed to.
Six years after Atlanta impounded its way to a scooter exodus, riders logged nearly a million miles on Lime devices alone during the tournament.
AJ Robinson has watched downtown host everything since the 1996 Games — here is his six-point case for why the World Cup worked, and what it sets up next.
Circle Feb. 13, 2028: Super Bowl LXII now has an official date at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the next global headliner in downtown's remarkable run.
City Hall gathered to tally the tournament: four million MARTA trips, 122,000 emergency calls answered in under six seconds, and 25 miles of fresh downtown pavement.
The AJC's editorial board delivered its verdict on Atlanta's World Cup month: the city didn't just pass the audition, it stole the show.
Half a million fans packed Centennial Olympic Park for the Fan Fest — now Atlanta's tourism leaders are racing to convert one spectacular month into a five-year pipeline.
Thirty years after the flame was lit, Georgians who lived the 1996 Games say the moments that stuck were never the medals — they were the chance encounters that rerouted whole lives.
MARTA credits World Cup events with 1.7 million extra trips over six weeks — with no major breakdowns or safety incidents — and says the bar for downtown transit has been permanently raised.
The trophy is still up for grabs, but after eight matches the hometown winners are already clear — the stadium, MARTA, downtown's mega-projects and the brand of Atlanta itself.
Two Messi assists in the final 35 minutes flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 semifinal win, sending Argentina to the final and closing Atlanta's World Cup with an instant classic.
"Underground Argentina" is back: a two-day festival at the historic downtown venue is expected to draw some 20,000 La Albiceleste faithful before Wednesday's semifinal against England.
Thirty vendors in the city-backed Welcome to ATL activation are seeking refunds after sales came in thousands of dollars short of projections at booths near the stadium.
The tournament's biggest gift to downtown dining wasn't the crowds — it was the deadline that pushed a wave of new restaurants, hotels and attractions across the finish line.
