Atlantans are always complaining their city has no identity.

Many transplants just don’t look deep enough, while natives often find themselves pointing to events and places that were inevitably torn down between 1950-1980.  City historians and marketing gurus look to the skyline and see no Space Needle, Empire State Building or Sears Tower.  Apparently the post-modern BOA tower and the city’s dispersed,  skyline just doesn’t cut it.

So Atlanta continues on in its struggle to define itself with an unexciting skyline. And all the while the city’s defining characteristic sits not ON Peachtree Road, but one street over.  And miles beyond that.

Hilly terrain and dense tree canopy, hide the city’s lasting identity.  Its streetcar suburbs.

If the city wants to recapture its image, I would humbly suggest a greater focus on this truly unique resource.  And while returning the streetcar to some of its old haunts is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for now, we could all benefit from a little bit of “streetcar suburb” marketing.  Of course, its not easy to throw a “streetcar suburb” on the cover of a Hotlanta Magazine and say “Come visit our beautiful city!” without looking slightly ridiculous.  But a definitive book, documenting this diverse resource would be an excellent first step helping the city define itself.  Not just to the world, but to its own residents, old and new.

We don’t have an ocean or the Rocky Mountains to help us out.  We need to create our own identity.  And as we’ve already touched on, the skyline won’t be filling in anytime soon.  I say we go to Plan B.