If you were silly enough to judge Atlanta based solely on the opinion of the internet’s generally rambling, slightly paranoid and snarky conscientiousness, you’d be apt to think the city was on the verge of collapse;  that at any moment, the city’s vital signs would flat-line as the highways clogged like a ephemeral artery, the populous suffocated from a general lack of art and culture, the 30 Deep gang was discovered to actually be a front for Charlotte transit advocates.

Well, Atlanta’s got some news for us.  For all its modern day problems, it’s still one of nation’s top world cities according to the Globalization and World Cities Study Group’s 2008 study – which I came across on Wikipedia – which ranks “world cities” based on the proliferation of “advanced producer services” such as accountancy, advertising, finance, and law.

In fact, only New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles (all “Alpha” cities) rank above it, when viewed this way.  (See the full chart after the jump.)

So, while I’m not encouraging us to pat ourselves on the back into extinction, I do believe we shouldn’t let the city’s weaknesses completely overshadow the city’s continuing prowess and potential.

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