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Entertaining, but highly suspect.Did anyone else seem to get the idea that he was implying that Earth was actually Hell?
Hmmmm, GLP, a public forum is about as OPEN as you can get. Please don't be misled
This is not what I understand. The oil reserves are diminishing forcing deeper, slower and more expensive drilling just to obtain the crude. He does not back his responses up with any hard scientifc data. I am VERY skeptical
Really, then how do you know?
This is not true. Only God knows the date and time when humanity will cease to exist. They can send out their prophets and warn the people, but even the prophets can only give indications but no exact date.
This too is not true. It depends on the fish. There are many birds who prey on fish and they have a built-in sonar to detect when they are coming. That is their sight.
Wrong question. The question should be HOW DOES HE KNOW?
This is not new, I remember this same thing being on here about a year or so ago, it tells you nothing, if you have read it are you any the wiser now? he is like a 'fortune teller', and uses veiled distractions in his answers, it's all a game, entertaining maybe but only a game of 'meaningless bluff'.
Your basis for saying it's not true is that you believe there is a God, and that only he knows the future of our planet.So, basically all you have is speculation... don't say it's not true if you don't know either then."God" is a theory, nothing more.No, it is the right question. How do you know there is a god?
Your basis for saying it's not true is that you believe there is a God, and that only he knows the future of our planet. So, basically all you have is speculation... don't say it's not true if you don't know either then
"God" is a theory, nothing more.
Anyone want to tell me what this means?Q: Why do elitists worship lucifer the deceiver?A: Billions of people on this planet are serving their own corrupt material/physical/mental/emotional desires, are they al elitist?WHAT QUESTION DID HE ANSWER??
Yep, that's exactly what i thought too. Personally i would like to get off this rock either alive or dead, i don't really want to come back or be stuck here.So that kinda put the fear of...reincarnation into me lolI also got the feeling that it was a female writing it, dunno why.
The thing that bugged me was the following, if the elite control the politicians (semi-true), and politics controls the facets of deceptions(semi-true), then the logically the elite are behind the deception, BUT at the same time, he says the elite are not behind the deceptions and are not the root of the problems.Below is how I perceive things of the order of control, listed on a non-comprehensive way.Elite (by their own definition, protectors of occult knowledge)>In the know sycophantic Priests (Infiltrators of all religions)Top global Bankers>Higher or real sciences>MediaFood and MedicineEducationTheoretical ScienceLocal pastures or equivalent in all religions (useful idiots)>MilitaryPoliceParamilitaryOrganized CrimeAgent ProvocateursIntelligence>Politicians>Fascist movements (herded useful idiots)>Large Corporations (that are already not part of the above listed)>Local Bankers>Laborers
No no no. Like someone above, I also came to the conclusion that this is hell.Hear me out. In the article he says that this is like a prison but much worse. Well, what could be worse than a prison? A prison where the inmates are allowed to do whatever they wanted.I think that, in another life, in another dimension, all of us somehow blasphemed or denied the spiritual force that governs the universe, and we were sent here as an example of what life is like when removed from IT, even if that removal or distance in illusory.The powers that be, the elite, illuminati, whatever...they *revel* in this prison. Remember that so many of them are psychopaths? This universe and reality suits them.So, why does he not reveal that simple truth? Because the very act of bringing forth an idea into this reality corrupts it, because this universe is a corrupted shadow of "something else"--gnosticism pointed to this, so does buddism, christianity, and now science (holographic theory). Notice how he doesn't type, or tries not to type god. It's because the very act of naming that force, putting it into a box, is a perversion and a shadow of what that force is.If you want to believe that it's fortune telling, it may very well be; but the amazing thing is that I think he's telling most of us what we already know, or simply needed and wanted to hear. I know I did.
That doesn't answer why he (or more probably she, by writing style) fundamentally contradicts himself. They rule the deceivers and parasites, so logic dictates that they are the deceivers and parasites. Yet he adamantly denies that, he is lying about something, most likely everything. Anyone who listens to C2C regularly could roleplay just as well.
Think about it, what if you went around telling people that we live in hell right now, and they believed you.]Think about it, what if you went around telling people that we live in hell right now, and they believed you.
check this website out. This was in October of 2008. http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/m.php?v=thread&tid=402958&p=1
Have you's guys looked at this website, it's the same thing!!
It is NOT the same. I was not going to chime in. I posted this new link a while back.The ATS thread is a lot more real than the one posted on GLP. GLP is known to be connected to the Tavistock Institute. The GLP post by the "Insider" is very negative.The one on ATS is much more on track...
No I meant the same kind of posting. Meaning an elite is claiming to be on some website talking to people!! Like they would really waste their time with us!!
I posted that other link on here as well. I was pretty much mocked and laughed at and had my thread thrown in the off-topic realm.I think the big picture is we need to do some serious soul-searching to find out who we really are and why we are here. Deep down I agree with this. I think our dreams are very important as they communicate with us on a subconcious level of who we are. As both articles suggst, there is a lot of truth in the Native American and Shaman spiritualitys. This is one of the reasons I feel Kymatica(movie) was so powerful. It taught us to focus on ourselves.
I was glued. I believe him. He is who he says he is. But you have to truly READ what he is saying. Particularly in the repeated statement "the truth is swimming in a perversion of lies". I think the entire post was spoken through that philosophy.Something I found quite interesting though was how he says the soul has a dual existence. Sometimes I dream in third person. Sometimes I remember in third person as well. My first memory is of me standing in my crib, grabbing the bars and shaking them furiously in order to escape. I not only remember this from a first person perspective but even clearer from a third person perspective. Very interesting indeed.
My thoughts exactly. Frankly, I am not impressed. on the question of oil, he states that:This is not what I understand. The oil reserves are diminishing forcing deeper, slower and more expensive drilling just to obtain the crude. He does not back his responses up with any hard scientifc data. I am VERY skeptical.
I also have no doubt he is who he says he is. I read the entire thing, and when confronted with truths one must accept or reject them. What does one have to lose by opening one's perspective to what the 'Insider' has to say?
Because his message is that the elites are ambivalent, and they have some secret knowledge and they have divine right to it, which is BS, there is a minority of elite who rule this world through deception of all sorts, and they must be rooted out and exposed.Get a book on interrogation and how to detect lies, read it at least once as you need to tune your BS sensor. He is not who he says he is, because if he was telling the truth he would not have contradicted himself in several ways. He is just a coast to coast listener or disinfo agent making you or us look and act like retards.Sure a lot of what was said was true. But as you know, even if you cover poop with sugar frosting, its still going to taste bad.
Did you read all 39 pages? If so, how did you come to that conclusion?Think about what was stated about the elites. Would the true elites be so public and accessible? I'd think that a true ruling class would have the sense to make sure that you don't even know they exist in the first place.
It was very clear, he claimed that they ruled politicians and media, that they play their part. Politicians and media are deceitful. However he said the Elite are ambivalent and are not the enemy. That is called a contradiction. When someone contradicts themselves it is the most glaring sign of a liar.
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Organizing and De-Cluttering: Cleaning Gayle King's Closet
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Becky |
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Leave a comment! | Published in Get Organized
Because we've been chatting about de-cluttering and getting organized in the new year, I want to tell you to pick up the March 2012 issue of O magazine. Publishing the clutter-clearing issue arrive in March is wise; everyone else is doing it in January, and we've all run out of steam, given up or forgotten about it by March.
The de-cluttering issue is always great, especially since clutter guru Peter Walsh is in Oprah's posse. However, my favorite feature was not his decluttered 'til it's really boring Palm Springs home, but rather, a bunch of people cleaning out the closet of Oprah's BFF, Gayle King. It is helpful, if not all that realistic (her closet is bigger than my kitchen). It is also totally hilarious. My favorite part was seeing her wearing this 1984 Ungaro dress she didn't want to get rid of (I think you'll have to buy the magazine to see the shot):
My second-favorite part was writer Lisa Kogan's description of said dress: "A marigold and black Ungaro with the kind of shoulder pads seldom seen outside the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line." She sounds ready to give Michael Kors a run for his money on Project Runway!
Anyway, I know shelling out money for magazines is a luxury right now, but this is an issue I will hoard until Peter Walsh declares it clutter and pries it from my cold, dead hands.
image via Just a Titch
Also, speaking of clutter, how have you been clearing yours lately? I dropped the ball on those Easy Organizing Projects, didn't I? Here is a really easy, really enjoyable one attack the magazines! I realize this is ironic, that I'm telling you to purge the glossies right after telling you to buy one; sue me. Take a stack along with a box and a stapler and enjoy them while watching TV, trying to get sleepy in bed, whatever. Rip out articles you want to read someday and staple each article together. You'll now have a stack of juicy reading that won't weigh you down next time you are on the train, a plane or the bathtub. Cut out pictures that you know you'll want to save for future inspiration. Put them in your inspiration binder or scan or photograph them and upload them to Pinterest. If you don't do this within a month, you need to recycle them as well.
If you don't wind up cutting a thing out of your magazines, see if any schools, hospitals, shelters, nursing homes, etc. would like to use them. If you did cut things out, lots of art classrooms can use your magazines (make sure they are age-appropriate). If you just want them out of the house, pop them in with the newspaper and cardboard recycling.
Hi, I'm Becky. I live in Atlanta. Besides acting as the Editorial Director here on Hatch, you can find me talking design over at Houzz. Make me happy — leave a comment!


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Outdoor festivals return to Hampton Roads with a vengeance when autumn leaves start to fall.
You'll find a celebration for most every inclination. Seafood, peanuts, sophisticated sculpture, homey crafts, Egyptian culture, indie music, gospel — all that and more will be showcased at events this season.
The festival circuit heats up as the temperatures drop. Just ask Michelle Sharp of Hampton. Her business That's The Spirit Decals, sells vinyl decorations and stickers for your automobile at outdoor events in the region.
Chances are, you'll find her in a booth at Bay Days next weekend hawking her wares.
"I love sitting out there and meeting people. It's...


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Big Grin All
A really cool world
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
'Celebrity Big Brother': Omarosa Slams Vice President Mike Pence, Dubs Him 'Scary'
'Can I just say this, as bad as you all think Trump is, you should be worried about Pence,' warned Omarosa. *Atlanta, Georgia City City of Atlanta From top to bottom left to right: Atlanta skyline seen from Buckhead, the Fox Theatre, the Georgia State Capitol, Centennial Olympic Park, Millennium Gate, the Canopy Walk, the Georgia Aquarium, The Phoenix statue, and the Midtown skyline From top to bottom left to right: Atlanta skyline seen from Buckhead, the Fox Theatre, the Georgia State Capitol, Centennial Olympic Park, Millennium Gate, the Canopy Walk, the Georgia Aquarium, The Phoenix statue, and the Midtown skyline Flag of Atlanta, Georgia Flag Official seal of Atlanta, Georgia Seal Nickname(s): Hotlanta,[1] ATL,[2] The City in a Forest,[3] The A,[4] The Gate City.[5] (See also Nicknames of Atlanta) Motto: Resurgens (Latin for rising again) City highlighted in Fulton County, location of Fulton County in the state of Georgia City highlighted in Fulton County, location of Fulton County in the state of Georgia Atlanta is located in USA Atlanta Atlanta Location of the city of Atlanta, Georgia Coordinates: 33°45'18?N 84°23'24?WCoordinates: 33°45'18?N 84°23'24?W Country United States of America State Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Counties Fulton, DeKalb Terminus 1837 Marthasville 1843 City of Atlanta December 29, 1847 Government • Mayor Kasim Reed • Body Atlanta City Council Area • City 134.0 sq mi (347.1 km2) • Land 133.2 sq mi (344.9 km2) • Water 0.8 sq mi (2.2 km2) • Urban 1,963 sq mi (5,080 km2) • Metro 8,376 sq mi (21,690 km2) Elevation 738 to 1,050 ft (225 to 320 m) Population (2013) • City 447,841[6] • Density 3,360/sq mi (1,299/km2) • Urban 4,975,300 • Urban density 2,540/sq mi (979/km2) • Metro 5,522,942[7] (9th) • Metro density 660/sq mi (255/km2) • CSA 6,162,195[8] (11th) • Demonym Atlantan[9] Time zone EST (UTC-5) • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4) ZIP code(s) 30060, 30301-30322, 30324-30334, 30336-30350, 30353 Area code(s) 404/678/470 FIPS code 13-04000[10] GNIS feature ID 0351615[11] Website atlantaga.gov Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2013 population of 447,841.[6] Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,522,942 people and the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States.[7] Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. Atlanta was established in 1837 at the intersection of two railroad lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the Civil War to become a national center of commerce. In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement, during which the city earned a reputation as "too busy to hate" for the progressive views of its citizens and leaders,[12] Atlanta attained international prominence. Atlanta is the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States, via highway, railroad, and air, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998.[13][14][15][16] Atlanta is considered an "alpha-" or "world city",[17] ranking 36th among world cities and 8th in the nation with a gross domestic product of $270 billion.[18] Atlanta's economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors including logistics, professional and business services, media operations, and information technology.[19] Topographically, Atlanta is marked by rolling hills and dense tree coverage.[20] Revitalization of Atlanta's neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the city's demographics, politics, and culture.[21][22] Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Cityscape 2.2 Climate 3 Demographics 4 Economy 5 Culture 5.1 Arts and theater 5.2 Music 5.3 Tourism 6 Sports 7 Parks and recreation 8 Government and politics 9 Education 10 Media 11 Transportation 12 Tree canopy 13 Sister cities 14 See also 15 References 16 Further reading 17 External links History Main articles: History of Atlanta and Timeline of Atlanta Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek and Cherokee Indians inhabited the area.[23] Standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta.[24] As part of the systematic removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825,[25] the Creek ceded the area in 1821,[26] and white settlers arrived the following year.[27] Marietta Street, 1864 In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad in order to provide a link between the port of Savannah and the Midwest.[28] The initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as "Terminus", and later as "Thrasherville" after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area.[29] By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents, and was renamed "Marthasville" to honor the Governor's daughter.[30] J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed "Atlantica-Pacifica," which was shortened to "Atlanta".[30] The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847.[31] By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554.[32][33] During the Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies. In 1864, following the capture of Chattanooga, the Union Army moved southward and began its invasion of north Georgia. The region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four-month-long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood made the decision to retreat from Atlanta, ordering all public buildings and possible assets to the Union Army destroyed. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, General Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. On November 11, 1864, in preparation of the Union Army's march to Savannah, Sherman ordered Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the city's churches and hospitals.[34] Atlanta in ruins during the Civil War, 1864 After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt. Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved to Atlanta from Milledgeville in 1868.[35] In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city. Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South" that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) and the city's black colleges had established the city as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South's development to the world.[36] During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs; the city's skyline emerged with the construction of the Equitable, Flatiron, Empire, and Candler buildings; and Sweet Auburn emerged as a center of black commerce. However, the period was also marked by strife and tragedy. Increased racial tensions led to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, which left at least 27 people dead and over 70 injured.[37] In 1915, Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent, convicted of murder, was hanged by a lynch mob, drawing attention to antisemitism in the United States.[38] On May 21, 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire destroyed 1,938 buildings in what is now the Old Fourth Ward, resulting in one fatality and the displacement of 10,000 people. In 1907, Peachtree Street, the main street of Atlanta, was busy with streetcars and automobiles. On December 15, 1939, Atlanta hosted the film premiere of Gone with the Wind, the epic film based on the best-selling novel by Atlanta's Margaret Mitchell. The film's legendary producer, David O. Selznick, as well as the film's stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Olivia de Havilland attended the gala event at Loew's Grand Theatre, but Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel, an African American, was barred from the event due to racial segregation laws and policies.[39] Atlanta played a vital role in the Allied effort during World War II due the city's war-related manufacturing companies, railroad network, and military bases, leading to rapid growth in the city's population and economy. In the 1950s, the city's newly constructed freeway system allowed middle class Atlantans the ability to relocate to the suburbs. As a result, the city began to make up an ever smaller proportion of the metropolitan area's population.[40] During the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the Civil Rights Movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. While minimal compared to other cities, Atlanta was not completely free of racial strife.[41] In 1961, the city attempted to thwart blockbusting by erecting road barriers in Cascade Heights, countering the efforts of civic and business leaders to foster Atlanta as the "city too busy to hate".[41][42] Desegregation of the public sphere came in stages, with public transportation desegregated by 1959,[43] the restaurant at Rich's department store by 1961,[44] movie theaters by 1963,[45][46] and public schools by 1973.[47] The Olympic flag waves at the 1996 games In 1960, whites comprised 61.7% of the city's population.[48] By 1970, African Americans were a majority of the city's population and exercised new-found political influence by electing Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973. Under Mayor Jackson's tenure, Atlanta's airport was modernized, solidifying the city's role as a transportation center. The opening of the Georgia World Congress Center in 1976 heralded Atlanta's rise as a convention city.[49] Construction of the city's subway system began in 1975, with rail service commencing in 1979.[50] However, despite these improvements, Atlanta lost over 100,000 residents between 1970 and 1990, over 20% of its population.[51] In 1990, Atlanta was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Following the announcement, the city government undertook several major construction projects to improve Atlanta's parks, sporting venues, and transportation infrastructure. While the games themselves were marred by numerous organizational inefficiencies, as well as the Centennial Olympic Park bombing,[52] they were a watershed event in Atlanta's history, initiating a fundamental transformation of the city in the decade that followed.[51] During the 2000s, Atlanta underwent a profound transformation demographically, physically, and culturally. Suburbanization, a booming economy, and new migrants decreased the city's black percentage from a high of 67% in 1990 to 54% in 2010.[53][54] From 2000 to 2010, Atlanta gained 22,763 white residents, 5,142 Asian residents, and 3,095 Hispanic residents, while the city's black population decreased by 31,678.[55][56] Much of the city's demographic change during the decade was driven by young, college-educated professionals: from 2000 to 2009, the three-mile radius surrounding Downtown Atlanta gained 9,722 residents aged 25 to 34 holding at least a four-year degree, an increase of 61%.[57][58] Between the mid-1990s and 2010, stimulated by funding from the HOPE VI program, Atlanta demolished nearly all of its public housing, a total of 17,000 units and about 10% of all housing units in the city.[59][60][61] In 2005, the $2.8 billion BeltLine project was adopted, with the stated goals of converting a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop that surrounds the central city into an art-filled multi-use trail and increasing the city's park space by 40%.[62] Lastly, Atlanta's cultural offerings expanded during the 2000s: the High Museum of Art doubled in size; the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award; and numerous art galleries were established on the once-industrial Westside.[63] Geography Main article: Geography of Atlanta Atlanta encompasses 134.0 square miles (347.1 km2), of which 133.2 square miles (344.9 km2) is land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km2) is water.[64] The city is situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and at 1,050 feet (320 m) above mean sea level, Atlanta has the highest elevation of major cities east of the Mississippi River.[65] Atlanta straddles the Eastern Continental Divide, such that rainwater that falls on the south and east side of the divide flows into the Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide flows into the Gulf of Mexico.[66] Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River, which is part of the ACF River Basin. Located at the far northwestern edge of the city, much of the river's natural habitat is preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.[67] Cityscape Main articles: Architecture of Atlanta and Neighborhoods of Atlanta See also: List of tallest buildings in Atlanta The Downtown skyline The Midtown skyline The Buckhead skyline Most of Atlanta was burned during the Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Yet architecturally, the city had never been particularly "southern"—because Atlanta originated as a railroad town, rather than a patrician southern seaport like Savannah or Charleston, many of the city's landmarks could have easily been erected in the Northeast or Midwest.[20] The skyline of Midtown (viewed from Piedmont Park) emerged with the construction of modernist Colony Square in 1972. During the Cold War era, Atlanta embraced global modernist trends, especially regarding commercial and institutional architecture. Examples of modernist architecture include the Westin Peachtree Plaza (1976), Georgia-Pacific Tower (1982), the State of Georgia Building (1966), and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis (1985). In the latter half of the 1980s, Atlanta became one of the early adopters of postmodern designs that reintroduced classical elements to the cityscape. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with most displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such as One Atlantic Center (1987), 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). Also completed during the era is Atlanta's tallest skyscraper, the Bank of America Plaza (1992), which, at 1,023 feet (312 m), is the 61st-tallest building in the world and the 9th-tallest building in the United States. The Bank of America Plaza is the tallest building outside of New York City and Chicago, and was the last building built in the United States to be in the top 10 tallest buildings in the world until One World Trade Center was completed externally on May 2013.[68] The city's embrace of modern architecture, however, translated into an ambivalent approach toward historic preservation, leading to the destruction of notable architectural landmarks, including the Equitable Building (1892–1971), Terminal Station (1905–1972), and the Carnegie Library (1902–1977). The Fox Theatre (1929)—Atlanta's cultural icon—would have met the same fate had it not been for a grassroots effort to save it in the mid-1970s.[20] Atlanta is divided into 242 officially defined neighborhoods.[69][70][71] The city contains three major high-rise districts, which form a north-south axis along Peachtree: Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.[72] Surrounding these high-density districts are leafy, low-density neighborhoods, most of which are dominated by single-family homes.[73] Downtown Atlanta contains the most office space in the metro area, much of it occupied by government entities. Downtown is also home to the city's sporting venues and many of its tourist attractions. Midtown Atlanta is the city's second-largest business district, containing the offices of many of the region's law firms. Midtown is also known for its art institutions, cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and dense form.[74] Buckhead, the city's uptown district, is eight miles (13 km) north of Downtown and the city's third-largest business district. The district is marked by an urbanized core along Peachtree Road, surrounded by suburban single-family neighborhoods situated among dense forests and rolling hills.[75] Craftsman bungalows in Inman Park Beath-Dickey House (1890) in Inman Park neighborhood, 2011 Surrounding Atlanta's three high-rise districts are the city's low- and medium-density neighborhoods,[75] where the craftsman bungalow single-family home is dominant.[76] The eastside is marked by historic streetcar suburbs built from the 1890s-1930s as havens for the upper middle class. These neighborhoods, many of which contain their own villages encircled by shaded, architecturally-distinct residential streets, include the Victorian Inman Park, Bohemian East Atlanta, and eclectic Old Fourth Ward.[20][77] On the westside, former warehouses and factories have been converted into housing, retail space, and art galleries, transforming the once-industrial West Midtown into a model neighborhood for smart growth, historic rehabilitation, and infill construction.[78] In southwest Atlanta, neighborhoods closer to downtown originated as streetcar suburbs, including the historic West End, while those farther from downtown retain a postwar suburban layout, including Collier Heights and Cascade Heights, home to much of the city's affluent African American population.[79][80][81] Northwest Atlanta contains the areas of the city to west of Marietta Boulevard and to the north of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, including those neighborhoods remote to downtown, such as Riverside, Bolton and Whittier Mill, which is one of Atlanta's designated Landmark Historical Neighborhoods. Vine City, though technically Northwest, adjoins the city's Downtown area and has recently been the target of community outreach programs and economic development initiatives.[82] Gentrification of the city's neighborhoods is one of the more controversial and transformative forces shaping contemporary Atlanta. The gentrification of Atlanta has its origins in the 1970s, after many of Atlanta's neighborhoods had undergone the urban decay that affected other major American cities in the mid-20th century. When neighborhood opposition successfully prevented two freeways from being built through city's the east side in 1975, the area became the starting point for Atlanta's gentrification. After Atlanta was awarded the Olympic games in 1990, gentrification expanded into other parts of the city, stimulated by infrastructure improvements undertaken in preparation for the games. Gentrification was also aided by the Atlanta Housing Authority's eradication of the city's public housing.[83] Climate Atlanta's Piedmont Park in winter Under the Köppen classification, Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with four distinct seasons and generous precipitation year-round, typical for the inland South. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures somewhat moderated by the city's elevation. Winters are cool but variable, with an average of 48 freezing days per year[84] and temperatures dropping to 0 °F (-17.8 °C) on rare occasions.[85][86] Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring spring-like highs while strong Arctic air masses can push lows into the teens (= -7 °C). July averages 80.2 °F (26.8 °C), with high temperatures reaching 90 °F (32 °C) on an average 44 days per year, though 100 °F (38 °C) readings are not seen most years.[87] January averages 43.5 °F (6.4 °C), with temperatures in the suburbs slightly cooler due largely to the urban heat island effect. Lows at or below freezing can be expected 40 nights annually,[87] but extended stretches with daily high temperatures below 40 °F (4 °C) are very rare, with a recent exception in January 2014. Extremes range from -9 °F (-23 °C) on February 13, 1899 to 106 °F (41 °C) on June 30, 2012.[88] Dewpoints in the summer range from 63.6 °F (18 °C) in June to 67.8 °F (20 °C) in July.[87] Typical of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall that is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year, though spring and early fall are markedly drier. The average annual rainfall is 50.2 inches (1,280 mm), while snowfall is typically light at around 2.1 inches (5.3 cm) per year.[89] The heaviest single snowfall occurred on January 23, 1940, with around 10 inches (25 cm) of snow.[90] However, ice storms usually cause more problems than snowfall does, the most severe occurring on January 7, 1973. Tornadoes are rare in the city itself, but the March 15, 2008 EF2 tornado damaged prominent structures in downtown Atlanta. [show]Climate data for Atlanta (Hartsfield–Jackson Int'l), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1878–present[a] Note Official records for Atlanta were kept at the Weather Bureau in downtown from October 1878 to August 1928, and at Hartsfield–Jackson Int'l since September 1928.[91] Demographics Main article: Demographics of Atlanta See also: Religion in Atlanta Historical population Census Pop. %± 1850 2,572 — 1860 9,554 271.5% 1870 21,789 128.1% 1880 37,409 71.7% 1890 65,533 75.2% 1900 89,872 37.1% 1910 154,839 72.3% 1920 200,616 29.6% 1930 270,366 34.8% 1940 302,288 11.8% 1950 331,314 9.6% 1960 487,455 47.1% 1970 495,039 1.6% 1980 425,022 -14.1% 1990 394,017 -7.3% 2000 416,474 5.7% 2010 420,003 0.8% Est. 2014 456,002 [94] 8.6% U.S. Decennial Census[95] [hide]Racial composition 2014[96] 1990[48] 1970[48] 1940[48] Black or African American 51.4% 67.1% 51.3% 34.6% White 41.3% 31.0% 48.4% 65.4% —Non-Hispanic 38.3% 30.3% 47.3%[97] n/a Asian 3.7% 0.9% 0.1% - Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 4.7% 1.9% 1.5%[97] n/a The 2010 United States Census reported that Atlanta had a population of 420,003. The population density was 3,154 per square mile (1232/km2). The racial makeup and population of Atlanta was 54.0% Black or African American, 38.4% White, 3.1% Asian and 0.2% Native American. Those from some other race made up 2.2% of the city's population, while those from two or more races made up 2.0%. Hispanics of any race made up 5.2% of the city's population.[98][99][100][101] The median income for a household in the city was $45,171. The per capita income for the city was $35,453. 22.6% percent of the population was living below the poverty line. However, compared to the rest of the country, Atlanta's cost of living is 6.00% lower than the U.S. average. Atlanta has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita, ranking third among major American cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city's total population recognizing themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.[102][103] 7.3% of Atlantans were born abroad.[104] In the 2010 Census, Atlanta was recorded as the nation's fourth largest majority black city, and the city has long been known as a center of African American political power, education, and culture, often called a black mecca.[105][106][107] However, African American Atlantans have rapidly suburbanized in recent decades, and from 2000 to 2010, the city's black population decreased by 31,678 people, shrinking from 61.4% of the city's population in 2000 to 54.0% in 2010.[55][108] Atlanta has recently undergone a drastic demographic increase in its white population. Between 2000 and 2010, the proportion of whites in the city's population grew faster than that of any other U.S. city. In that decade, Atlanta's white population grew from 31% to 38% of the city's population, an absolute increase of 22,753 people, more than triple the increase that occurred between 1990 and 2000.[55][108][108][109] Out of the total population five years and older, 83.3% spoke only English at home, while 8.8% spoke Spanish, 3.9% another Indo-European language and 2.8% an Asian language.[110] Atlanta's dialect has traditionally been a variation of Southern American English. The Chattahoochee River long formed a border between the Coastal Southern and Southern Appalachian dialects.[111] However, by 2003, Atlanta magazine concluded that Atlanta had become significantly "de-Southernized", with a Southern accent considered a handicap in some circumstances.[112] In general, Southern accents are less prevalent among residents of the city and inner suburbs and among younger people, while they are more common in the outer suburbs and among older people;[111] this pattern coexists alongside Southern variations of African American Vernacular English. Religion in Atlanta, while historically centered on Protestant Christianity, now involves many faiths as a result of the city and metro area's increasingly international population. While Protestant Christianity still maintains a strong presence in the city (63%),[113][114] in recent decades Catholicism has gained a strong foothold due to migration patterns. Metro Atlanta also has a considerable number of ethnic Christian congregations, including Korean and Indian churches. Large non-Christian faiths are present in the form of Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. Overall, there are over 1,000 places of worship within Atlanta.[115] Economy Main article: Economy of Atlanta Encompassing $304 billion, the Atlanta metropolitan area is the eighth-largest economy in the country and 17th-largest in the world.[116] Corporate operations comprise a large portion of the Atlanta's economy, with the city serving as the regional, national, or global headquarters for many corporations. Atlanta contains the country's third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and the city is the global headquarters of corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, AT&T Mobility, Chick-fil-A, UPS, and Newell-Rubbermaid. Over 75 percent of Fortune 1000 companies conduct business operations in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and the region hosts offices of about 1,250 multinational corporations.[117] Many corporations are drawn to Atlanta on account of the city's educated workforce; as of 2010, nearly 43% of adults in the city of Atlanta have college degrees, compared to 27% in the nation as a whole.[118] The Coca-Cola world headquarters Atlanta began as a railroad town and logistics has remained a major component of the city's economy to this day. Atlanta is an important rail junction and contains major classification yards for Norfolk Southern and CSX. Since its construction in the 1950s, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has served as a key engine of Atlanta's economic growth.[119] Delta Air Lines, the city's largest employer and the metro area's third largest, operates the world's largest airline hub at Hartsfield-Jackson and has helped make it the world's busiest airport, both in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft operations.[120] Partly due to the airport, Atlanta has become a hub for diplomatic missions; as of 2012, the city contains 25 general consulates, the seventh-highest concentration of diplomatic missions in the United States.[121] Media is also an important aspect of Atlanta's economy. The city is a major cable television programming center. Ted Turner established the headquarters of both the Cable News Network (CNN) and the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in Atlanta. Cox Enterprises, the country's third-largest cable television service and the publisher of over a dozen major American newspapers,[122] is headquartered in the city.[123][124][125] The Weather Channel, owned by NBCUniversal, Bain Capital, and The Blackstone Group, is headquartered just outside of Atlanta in Cobb County. Information technology, an economic sector that includes publishing, software development, entertainment and data processing has garnered a larger percentage of Atlanta's economic output. Indeed, Atlanta has been nicknamed the Silicon peach due to its burgeoning technology sector. As of 2013, Atlanta contains the fourth-largest concentration of information technology jobs in the United States, numbering 85,000. Atlanta also ranks as the sixth fastest-growing city for information technology jobs, with an employment growth of 4.8% in 2012 and a three-year growth near 9%, or 16,000 jobs. Information technology companies are drawn to Atlanta's lower costs and educated workforce.[126][127][128][129] Largely due to a statewide tax incentive enacted in 2005, the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which awards qualified productions a transferable income tax credit of 20% of all in-state costs for film and television investments of $500,000 or more,[130] Atlanta has become a center for film and television production. Film and television production facilities in Atlanta include Turner Studios, Pinewood Studios (Pinewood Atlanta), Tyler Perry Studios, Williams Street Productions, and the EUE/Screen Gems soundstages. Film and television production injected $1 billion into Georgia's economy in 2010, with Atlanta garnering most of the projects.[131][132] Atlanta has gained recognition as a center of production of horror and zombie-related productions,[133] with Atlanta magazine dubbing the city the "Zombie Capital of the World".[134][135] The CNN newsroom Compared to other American cities, Atlanta's economy has been disproportionately affected by the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, with the city's economy earning a ranking of 68 among 100 American cities in a September 2014 report due to an elevated unemployment rate, declining real income levels, and a depressed housing market.[136][137][138][139] From 2010–2011, Atlanta saw a 0.9% contraction in employment and only a 0.4% rise in income. Though unemployment had dropped to 7% by late 2014, this was still higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.8%[140] Atlanta's housing market has also struggled, with home prices falling by 2.1% in January 2012, reaching levels not seen since 1996. Compared with a year earlier, the average home price in Atlanta fell 17.3% in February 2012, the largest annual drop in the history of the index for any city. Atlanta home values average $85,000 as of January 2012, second-lowest among major metropolitan areas, ranking slightly behind Detroit.[citation needed][141][142] The collapse in home prices has led some economists to deem Atlanta the worst housing market in the country.[143] Nevertheless, in August 2013, Atlanta appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the Best Places for Business and Careers.[144] Culture The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) Public art on the BeltLine Atlanta, while located in the South, has a culture that is no longer strictly Southern. This is due to a large population of migrants from other parts of the U.S., in addition to many recent immigrants to the U.S. who have made the metropolitan area their home, establishing Atlanta as the cultural and economic hub of an increasingly multi-cultural metropolitan area.[145][146] Thus, although traditional Southern culture is part of Atlanta's cultural fabric, it is mostly the backdrop to one of the nation's most cosmopolitan cities. This unique cultural combination reveals itself in the arts district of Midtown, the quirky neighborhoods on the city's eastside, and the multi-ethnic enclaves found along Buford Highway.[147] Arts and theater Main article: Arts in Atlanta Atlanta is one of few United States cities with permanent, professional, resident companies in all major performing arts disciplines: opera (Atlanta Opera), ballet (Atlanta Ballet), orchestral music (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), and theater (the Alliance Theatre). Atlanta also attracts many touring Broadway acts, concerts, shows, and exhibitions catering to a variety of interests. Atlanta's performing arts district is concentrated in Midtown Atlanta at the Woodruff Arts Center, which is home to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Theatre. The city also frequently hosts touring Broadway acts, especially at The Fox Theatre, a historic landmark that is among the highest grossing theatres of its size.[148] As a national center for the arts,[149] Atlanta is home to significant art museums and institutions. The renowned High Museum of Art is arguably the South's leading art museum and among the most-visited art museums in the world.[150] The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), a design museum, is the only such museum in the Southeast.[151] Contemporary art museums include the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Institutions of higher education also contribute to Atlanta's art scene, with the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus providing the city's arts community with a steady stream of curators, and Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum containing the largest collection of ancient art in the Southeast.[152] Music The stage of the Tabernacle during a live music show Main article: Music of Atlanta Atlanta has played a major or contributing role in the development of various genres of American music at different points in the city's history. Beginning as early as the 1920s, Atlanta emerged as a center for country music, which was brought to the city by migrants from Appalachia.[153] During the countercultural 1960s, Atlanta hosted the Atlanta International Pop Festival, with the 1969 festival taking place more than a month before Woodstock and featuring many of the same bands. The city was also a center for Southern rock during its 1970s heyday: the Allman Brothers Band's hit instrumental "Hot 'Lanta" is an ode to the city, while Lynyrd Skynyrd's famous live rendition of "Free Bird" was recorded at the Fox Theatre in 1976, with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant directing the band to "play it pretty for Atlanta".[154] During the 1980s, Atlanta had an active Punk rock scene that was centered on two of the city's music venues, 688 Club and the Metroplex, and Atlanta famously played host to the Sex Pistols first U.S. show, which was performed at the Great Southeastern Music Hall.[155] The 1990s saw the birth of Atlanta hip hop, a subgenre that gained relevance following the success of home-grown duo OutKast; however, it was not until the 2000s that Atlanta moved "from the margins to becoming hip-hop's center of gravity, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the South".[156] Also in the 2000s, Atlanta was recognized by the Brooklyn-based Vice magazine for its impressive yet under-appreciated Indie rock scene, which revolves around the various live music venues found on the city's alternative eastside.[157][158] Tourism Main articles: Tourism in Atlanta, Festivals in Atlanta, List of museums in Atlanta and Cuisine of Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr.'s childhood home The World of Coca-Cola As of 2010, Atlanta is the seventh-most visited city in the United States, with over 35 million visitors per year.[159] Although the most popular attraction among visitors to Atlanta is the Georgia Aquarium,[160] the world's largest indoor aquarium,[161] Atlanta's tourism industry mostly driven by the city's history museums and outdoor attractions. Atlanta contains a notable amount of historical museums and sites, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, which includes the preserved childhood home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as his final resting place; the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum, which houses a massive painting and diorama in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, depicting the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War; the World of Coca-Cola, featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising; the College Football Hall of Fame which honors college football and its athletes; the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which explores the American Civil Rights Movement and its connection to contemporary human rights movements throughout the world; the Carter Center and Presidential Library, housing U.S. President Jimmy Carter's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, site of the writing of the best-selling novel Gone with the Wind. Atlanta also contains various outdoor attractions.[162] The Atlanta Botanical Garden, adjacent to Piedmont Park, is home to the 600-foot-long (180 m) Kendeda Canopy Walk, a skywalk that allows visitors to tour one of the city's last remaining urban forests from 40-foot-high (12 m). The Canopy Walk is considered the only canopy-level pathway of its kind in the United States. Zoo Atlanta, located in Grant Park, accommodates over 1,300 animals representing more than 220 species. Home to the nation's largest collections of gorillas and orangutans, the Zoo is also one of only four zoos in the U.S. to house giant pandas.[163] Festivals showcasing arts and crafts, film, and music, including the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and Music Midtown, respectively, are also popular with tourists.[164] A meal at The Varsity Tourists are also drawn to the city's culinary scene, which comprises a mix of urban establishments garnering national attention, ethnic restaurants serving cuisine from every corner of the world, and traditional eateries specializing in Southern dining. Since the turn of the 21st century, Atlanta has emerged as a sophisticated restaurant town.[165] Many restaurants opened in the city's gentrifying neighborhoods have received praise at the national level, including Bocado, Bacchanalia, and Miller Union in West Midtown, Empire State South in Midtown, and Two Urban Licks and Rathbun's on the east side.[63][166][167][168] In 2011, the New York Times characterized Empire State South and Miller Union as reflecting "a new kind of sophisticated Southern sensibility centered on the farm but experienced in the city."[169] Visitors seeking to sample international Atlanta are directed to Buford Highway, the city's international corridor. There, the million-plus immigrants that make Atlanta home have established various authentic ethnic restaurants representing virtually every nationality on the globe.[170] For traditional Southern fare, one of the city's most famous establishments is The Varsity, a long-lived fast food chain and the world's largest drive-in restaurant.[171] Mary Mac's Tea Room and Paschal's are more formal destinations for Southern food. Sports Main article: Sports in Atlanta Turner Field Atlanta is home to professional franchises for three major team sports: the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. The Braves, who moved to Atlanta in 1966, were established as the Boston Red Stockings in 1871 and are the oldest continually operating professional sports franchise in the United States.[citation needed] The Braves won the World Series in 1995, and had an unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005.[172] The Atlanta Falcons have played in Atlanta since their inception in 1966. The Falcons have won the division title five times (1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012) and the conference championship once, when they finished as the runner-up to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999.[173] The Atlanta Hawks began in 1946 as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, playing in Moline, Illinois. The team moved to Atlanta in 1968, and they currently play their games in Philips Arena.[174] The Atlanta Dream is the city's Women's National Basketball Association franchise.[175] Atlanta has also had its own professional ice hockey and soccer franchises. The National Hockey League (NHL) has had two Atlanta franchises: the Atlanta Flames began play in 1972 before moving to Calgary in 1980, while the Atlanta Thrashers began play in 1999 before moving to Winnipeg in 2011. The Atlanta Chiefs was the city's professional soccer team from 1967 to 1972, and the team won a national championship in 1968. In 1998 another professional soccer team was formed, the Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League. In April 2014, a Major League Soccer team, Atlanta United FC, was formed as an expansion team to begin play in 2017. Atlanta has been the host city for various international, professional and collegiate sporting events. Most famously, Atlanta hosted the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. Atlanta has also hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. In professional golf, The Tour Championship, the final PGA Tour event of the season, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. In 2001 and 2011, Atlanta hosted the PGA Championship, one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, at the Atlanta Athletic Club. In professional ice hockey, the city hosted the 56th NHL All-Star Game in 2008, three years before the Thrashers moved. In 2011, Atlanta hosted professional wrestling's annual WrestleMania. The city has hosted the NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball Championship four times, most recently in 2013. In college football, Atlanta hosts the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the SEC Championship Game, and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.[176] Parks and recreation Main article: Parks in Atlanta Mosaiculture at the Atlanta Botanical Garden The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in northwestern Atlanta Atlanta's 343 parks, nature preserves, and gardens cover 3,622 acres (14.66 km2),[177] which amounts to only 5.6% of the city's total acreage, compared to the national average of just over 10%.[178][179] However, 64% of Atlantans live within a 10-minute walk of a park, a percentage equal to the national average.[180] Furthermore, in its 2013 ParkScore ranking, the The Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, reported that among the park systems of the 50 most populous U.S. cities, Atlanta's park system received a ranking of 31.[181] Piedmont Park, located in Midtown is Atlanta's most iconic green space. The park, which has undergone a major renovation and expansion in recent years, attracts visitors from across the region and hosts cultural events throughout the year. Other notable city parks include Centennial Olympic Park, a legacy of the 1996 Summer Olympics that forms the centerpiece of the city's tourist district; Woodruff Park, which anchors the campus of Georgia State University; Grant Park, home to both Zoo Atlanta and the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum; and Chastain Park, which houses an amphitheater used for live music concerts. The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, located in the northwestern corner of the city, preserves a 48 mi (77 km) stretch of the river for public recreation opportunities. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, adjacent to Piedmont Park, contains formal gardens, including a Japanese garden and a rose garden, woodland areas, and a conservatory that includes indoor exhibits of plants from tropical rainforests and deserts. The BeltLine, a former rail corridor that forms a 22 mi (35 km) loop around Atlanta's core, will eventually be transformed into a series of parks, connected by a multi-use trail, increasing Atlanta's park space by 40%.[182] Atlanta offers resources and opportunities for amateur and participatory sports and recreation. Jogging is a particularly popular local sport. The Peachtree Road Race, the world's largest 10 km race, is held annually on Independence Day.[183] The Georgia Marathon, which begins and ends at Centennial Olympic Park, routes through the city's historic east side neighborhoods.[184] Golf and tennis are also popular in Atlanta, and the city contains six public golf courses and 182 tennis courts. Facilities located along the Chattahoochee River cater to watersports enthusiasts, providing the opportunity for kayaking, canoeing, fishing, boating, or tubing. The city's only skate park, a 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) facility that offers bowls, curbs, and smooth-rolling concrete mounds, is located at Historic Fourth Ward Park.[185] Government and politics Main articles: Government of Atlanta, List of mayors of Atlanta and Crime in Atlanta Atlanta City Hall Atlanta is governed by a mayor and the Atlanta City Council. The city council consists of 15 representatives—one from each of the city's 12 districts and three at-large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority.[186] The mayor of Atlanta is Kasim Reed, a Democrat elected on a nonpartisan ballot whose first term in office expired at the end of 2013. Reed was elected to a second term on November 5, 2013.[187] Every mayor elected since 1973 has been black.[188] In 2001, Shirley Franklin became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Atlanta, and the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.[189] Atlanta city politics suffered from a notorious reputation for corruption during the 1990s administration of Bill Campbell, who was convicted by a federal jury in 2006 on three counts of tax evasion in connection with gambling income he received while Mayor during trips he took with city contractors.[190] As the state capital, Atlanta is the site of most of Georgia's state government. The Georgia State Capitol building, located downtown, houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as well as the General Assembly. The Governor's Mansion is located in a residential section of Buckhead. Atlanta serves as the regional hub for many arms of the federal bureaucracy, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[191][192] Atlanta also plays an important role in federal judiciary system, containing the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Historically, Atlanta has been a stronghold for the Democratic Party. Although municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, nearly all of the city's elected officials are registered Democrats. The city is split among 14 state house districts and four state senate districts, all held by Democrats. At the federal level, Atlanta is split between two congressional districts. The northern three-fourths of the city is located in the 5th district, represented by Democrat John Lewis. The southern fourth is in the 13th district, represented by Democrat David Scott. The city is served by the Atlanta Police Department, which numbers 2,000[193] officers and oversaw a 40% decrease in the city's crime rate between 2001 and 2009. Specifically, homicide decreased by 57%, rape by 72%, and violent crime overall by 55%. Crime is down across the country, but Atlanta's improvement has occurred at more than twice the national rate.[194] Nevertheless, Forbes ranked Atlanta as the sixth most dangerous city in the United States in 2012.[195] Education Main articles: List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Atlanta, Atlanta Public Schools and List of private schools in Atlanta Tech Tower on the Georgia Tech campus Tech Tower on the Georgia Tech campus Main Quad on Emory University's Druid Hills Campus Main Quad on Emory University's Druid Hills Campus Due to the more than 30 colleges and universities located in the city, Atlanta is considered a center for higher education.[196] Among the most prominent public universities in Atlanta is the Georgia Institute of Technology, a research university located in Midtown that has been consistently ranked among the nation's top ten public universities for its degree programs in engineering, computing, management, the sciences, architecture, and liberal arts. Georgia State University, a public research university located in Downtown Atlanta, is the second largest of the 35 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia and a major contributor to the revitalization of the city's central business district. Atlanta is also home to nationally renowned private colleges and universities, most notably Emory University, a leading liberal arts and research institution that ranks among the top 20 schools in the United States and operates Emory Healthcare, the largest health care system in Georgia. [197] Also located in the city is the Atlanta University Center, the largest contiguous consortium of historically black colleges, comprising Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Interdenominational Theological Center. Atlanta also contains a campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, a private art and design university that has proven to be a major factor in the recent growth of Atlanta's visual art community. Atlanta Public Schools enrolls 55,000 students in 106 schools, some of which are operated as charter schools.[198] The district has been plagued by a widely publicized cheating scandal exposed in 2009. Atlanta is also served by many private schools, including parochial Roman Catholic schools operated by the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Media Main article: Media in Atlanta The primary network-affiliated television stations in Atlanta are WXIA-TV (NBC), WGCL-TV (CBS), WSB-TV (ABC), and WAGA-TV (FOX). The Atlanta metropolitan area is served by two public television stations and one public radio station. WGTV is the flagship station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network and is a PBS member station, while WPBA is owned by Atlanta Public Schools. Georgia Public Radio is listener-funded and comprises one NPR member station, WABE, a classical music station operated by Atlanta Public Schools. Atlanta is served by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, its only major daily newspaper with wide distribution. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of a 1950 merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, with staff consolidation occurring in 1982 and separate publication of the morning Constitution and afternoon Journal ceasing in 2001.[199] Alternative weekly newspapers include Creative Loafing, which has a weekly print circulation of 80,000. Atlanta magazine is an award-winning, monthly general-interest magazine based in and covering Atlanta. Transportation Main article: Transportation in Atlanta Concourse B at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport The Downtown Connector, seen at night in Midtown. Atlanta's transportation infrastructure comprises a complex network that includes a heavy rail line, a streetcar line, multiple interstate highways, the world's busiest airport, and over 45 miles (72 kilometres) of bike paths. With a network of freeways that radiate out from the city, automobiles are the dominant mode of transportation in the region.[200] Three major interstate highways converge in Atlanta: I-20 (east-west), I-75 (northwest-southeast), and I-85 (northeast-southwest). The latter two combine in the middle of the city to form the Downtown Connector (I-75/85), which carries more than 340,000 vehicles per day and is one of the most congested segments of interstate highway in the United States.[201] Atlanta is mostly encircled by Interstate 285, a beltway locally known as "the Perimeter" that has come to mark the boundary between "Inside the Perimeter" (ITP), the city and close-in suburbs, and "Outside the Perimeter" (OTP), the outer suburbs and exurbs. The heavy reliance on automobiles for transportation in Atlanta has resulted in traffic, commute, and air pollution rates that rank among the worst in the country.[202][203][204] The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) provides public transportation in the form of buses and heavy rail. Notwithstanding heavy automotive usage in Atlanta, the city's subway system is the eighth busiest in the country.[205] MARTA rail lines connect many key destinations, such as the airport, Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and Perimeter Center. However, significant destinations, such as Emory University and Cumberland, remain unserved. As a result, a 2012 Brookings Institution study placed Atlanta 87th of 100 metro areas for transit accessibility.[206] Emory University operates its Cliff shuttle buses with 200,000 boardings per month, while private minibuses ply Buford Highway. Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides service to Atlanta via the Crescent train (New York–New Orleans), which stops at Peachtree Station.[207] In 2014, the Atlanta Streetcar opened to the public. The streetcar's line, which is also known as the Downtown Loop, runs 2.7 miles around the downtown tourist areas of Peachtree Center, Centennial Olympic Park, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, and Sweet Auburn.[208] The Atlanta Streetcar line is also being expanded on in the coming years to include a wider range of Atlanta's neighborhoods and important places of interest, with a total of 66 miles of track being laid in the near future.[citation needed] Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport as measured by passenger traffic and aircraft traffic,[209] offers air service to over 150 U.S. destinations and more than 80 international destinations in 52 countries, with over 2,700 arrivals and departures daily.[210] Delta Air Lines maintains its largest hub at the airport.[211] Situated 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown, the airport covers most of the land inside a wedge formed by Interstate 75, Interstate 85, and Interstate 285. Cycling is a growing mode of transportation in Atlanta, more than doubling since 2009, when it comprised 1.1% of all commutes (up from 0.3% in 2000).[212][213] Although Atlanta's lack of bike lanes and hilly topography may deter many residents from cycling,[212][214] the city's transportation plan calls for the construction of 226 miles (364 kilometres) of bike lanes by 2020, with the BeltLine helping to achieve this goal.[215] In 2012, Atlanta's first "bike track" was constructed on 10th Street in Midtown. The two lane bike track runs from Monroe Drive west to Charles Allen Drive, with connections to the Beltline and Piedmont Park.[216] Tree canopy Main article: Atlanta tree canopy For a sprawling city with the nation's ninth-largest metro area, Atlanta is surprisingly lush with trees—magnolias, dogwoods, Southern pines, and magnificent oaks. " " National Geographic magazine, in naming Atlanta a "Place of a Lifetime"[217] Atlanta has a reputation as a "city in a forest" due to an abundance of trees that is rare among major cities.[218][219][220][221][222] The city's main street is named after a tree, and beyond the Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead business districts, the skyline gives way to a dense canopy of woods that spreads into the suburbs. The city is home to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, an annual arts and crafts festival held one weekend during early April, when the native dogwoods are in bloom. However, the nickname is also factually accurate, as the city's tree coverage percentage is at 36%, the highest out of all major American cities, and above the national average of 27%.[223] Atlanta's tree coverage does not go unnoticed—it was the main reason cited by National Geographic in naming Atlanta a "Place of a Lifetime".[217][224] The city's lush tree canopy, which filters out pollutants and cools sidewalks and buildings, has increasingly been under assault from man and nature due to heavy rains, drought, aged forests, new pests, and urban construction. A 2001 study found that Atlanta's heavy tree cover declined from 48% in 1974 to 38% in 1996.[225] However, the problem is being addressed by community organizations and city government: Trees Atlanta, a non-profit organization founded in 1985, has planted and distributed over 75,000 shade trees in the city,[226] while Atlanta's government has awarded $130,000 in grants to neighborhood groups to plant trees.[219] Sister cities See also: List of sister cities in the United States Atlanta has 18 sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):[227][228] Belgium Brussels, Belgium (1983) Austria Salzburg, Austria (1967) Jamaica Montego Bay, Jamaica (1972) Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1972) Nigeria Lagos, Nigeria (1974) Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan (1974) France Toulouse, France (1974) United Kingdom Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom (1977) South Korea Daegu, South Korea (1981) Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (1987) Georgia (country) Tbilisi, Georgia (1988)[229] Greece Ancient Olympia, Greece (1994) Romania Bucharest, Romania (1994) Benin Cotonou, Benin (1995) Dominican Republic Salcedo, Dominican Republic (1996) Germany Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bavaria, Germany (1998) Israel Ra'anana, Israel (2000)[230] Japan Fukuoka, Japan (2005)
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Colin Farrell wanted a cigarette, but he didn't have one on him. He was sitting poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel, which seemed like the kind of place where one smokes. So he asked a pretty hostess if she had a pack; she did not.
"You want a cigarette?" asked an interloper standing nearby who had overheard the exchange. "I'm going to get you one right now."
A few minutes later, the stranger returned, cigarette in hand. He asked Farrell what movies the actor had coming up, adding that he was producing a few.
"Good luck with it. Good luck with it, brother," Farrell replied. "Thanks for the smoke."
He sat back down in a bungalow and sighed.
"See," he said, "you really can get anything."
Well, sort of. Cigarettes and booze and drugs and girls and hotel rooms have all been at Farrell's disposal since he became famous, he says. But the actor, who kicked a years-long substance abuse problem in 2005, has had a more difficult time earning respect as a leading man in Hollywood. He's certainly been given plenty of chances: In the last decade, he's starred in a reboot of the sci-fi classic "Total Recall," a remake of the vampire comedy "Fright Night" and the swords-and-sandals epic "Alexander." None of them worked at the box office.
With his latest effort, this weekend's time-travel love story timed for Valentine's Day, "Winter's Tale," Farrell is trying his hand at playing a romantic hero. In the film, based on Mark Helprin's lengthy fantasy novel, Farrell plays a charming thief who falls for an heiress stricken with tuberculosis.
The movie, which marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, faces a tough challenge, going up against the remake of "RoboCop" and several other movies aimed at couples celebrating the Feb. 14 holiday.
Even if he isn't a huge box-office draw, the 37-year-old Farrell has earned a reputation as a compelling actor with a surprisingly wide range. In December, he earned strong reviews for his supporting role as P.L. Travers' endearing alcoholic father in "Saving Mr. Banks." He may have the looks for glitzy studio fare, but he often seems most at home in grittier independent films — "In Bruges," "Seven Psychopaths," "The Way Back" — movies in which he has given some of his most well-regarded performances.
But even Farrell isn't sure of where he fits into the movie business. His résumé of late, he admits, "paints a picture of a very confused actor who has no idea what the hell he's into." Here's what he does know: He doesn't want to do any more films with guns. Part of that might be because he has two young boys and he's begun to think about the effect violence in movies has on society. But he's also interested in telling different kinds of stories now — ones with fewer explosions.
"The scripts I'm drawn to now are ones that deal in a greater degree of emotional and psychological minutiae," he said. "I just don't know that I want to be part of things that are superficially entertaining. ... Without getting too high and mighty about it at all, I have to have a greater level of justification if I'm going to do something that involves that kind of violence again."
He's not just saying that, either. In the weeks leading to production on "Saving Mr. Banks," director John Lee Hancock said, Farrell sent the filmmaker dozens of emails about his vision for the character.
"You don't often get letters from actors, and he was writing this beautiful stuff about what the character meant to him," Hancock recalled. "He's such a soulful guy with this Irish poet's soul that I totally believed he could play a father a little girl would idolize."
Shedding darkness
That Farrell is now able to come off believably as a role model of sorts is somewhat of a feat, given his history as a tabloid mainstay. Before he shipped off to rehab nine years ago, he was known as the ultimate Hollywood bad boy. He spent two years living in the Chateau Marmont, when he "had more money than sense," his kids subsisting on room service club sandwiches. He filmed a sex tape with a Playboy Playmate (which she eventually leaked) and showed up high on the set of "Miami Vice."
He's been clean for nearly a decade, but the stories trail him. Even though, as he put it, "the worst thing I've done since then is sneak a ... Subway sandwich into the ArcLight. And even that was only a 6-inch."
By the pool last week, the only physical remnants of his edgy persona were the small silver hoops piercing his ears. His hair was held back with an elastic headband, as if he had just come from a yoga class, and beaded bracelets with tassels littered his wrists. Between drags of his free cigarette, he sipped green tea.
Farrell has lived in L.A. for years now. Two of his sisters as well as his mom, whose apartment he drives past almost daily on Sunset Boulevard, moved here after he got famous. But his roots are in Ireland, where he grew up in a Dublin suburb, the son of a professional club soccer player. Farrell went on to train at the country's Gaiety School of Acting before landing his breakout role in Joel Schumacher's 2000 film "Tigerland," shortly after which Vanity Fair anointed him "the Irish Brad Pitt."
Such labels, Farrell insisted, are no longer as important to him as they once were. He was disappointed, for instance, when "Total Recall" didn't do well at the box office a couple of years ago, but he didn't take it nearly as hard as when "Alexander" flopped in 2004.
"I read every bad thing on 'Alexander.' I think I wrote some bad reviews for 'Alexander,'" he joked. "I read everything. I translated [stuff]. I read stuff that was in Farsi because I wanted to know every single word."
Of course, his misfires have affected him in other ways. "Total Recall," which cost $125 million, grossed less than $60 million domestically in 2012, which means "studios aren't going to be running to put your number on speed dial on their cellphones," Farrell said.
Maybe not, but Goldsman still wanted him for "Winter's Tale." More important, "the studio didn't care as much [about Farrell's track record] at this price point," the filmmaker said, alluding to the movie's modest $35-million budget.
"I didn't really think about how the audience thinks of him," Goldsman said. "I just thought about how I saw him, which is that there's something very magnetic about him. He's got a great, giant heart, but he's shielded — and that makes you lean in."
Which is all to say that even if "Winter's Tale" doesn't sell many tickets, Farrell will probably be fine. He's already got another gig lined up: "The Lobster," a dystopian love story costarring Rachel Weisz, which he'll begin filming in Ireland next month. And when that wraps, he'll come back to his home in Los Feliz, where he has his kids and his hikes and his movie nights — more, all told, than he's ever had outside the world of film.
"A genuinely interesting thing has happened to me in the last year or two. I'm paradoxically more into the work than I've ever been, and yet in a way it's less important to me than it's ever been."


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Hertz takes feedback on proposed arena redesign, steadfast on bright yellow
Germain Arena in Estero is soon to become Hertz Arena, and with that, a new look. As soon as the bight yellow color scheme was revealed, residents expressed their feelings.
"I just think that's a horrible color, it's fine now. They need to pick a nicer color for our beautiful area," said Estero resident Diane.
Even the way it looks now didn't immediately get approved by the design review board two years ago.
The Estero Director of Community Development said in an email they even made suggestions about "toning down colors" before moving forward when the current neutral gray color scheme was proposed.
"Possibly if they went with a pale yellow instead of a bright yellow," said Estero resident Dan Appel. "I understand that's Hertz colors, but if you look at Hertz headquarters its a white building."
According to the Village of Estero code, all buildings must be neutral, warm earth tones or subdued pastels. Bright colors are permitted but only on parts like trims, columns, and doors.
But Hertz isn't backing down on the color yellow.
Estero Villagers packed into the design review board meeting Wednesday night to get one message across.
"Reconsider that garish yellow color, I don't know how else to describe it," said Estero resident Joe Miceli.
Some attendees said if Hertz is so committed to yellow, might as well go all in by coloring the roadway to the building yellow as well, and installing a sign that says, 'follow the yellow brick road.'
Villagers pointed to the mild and toned down style of Estero. They claimed it is part of the reason why they moved there. Now, residents are saying plopping a big yellow building in the middle of it would take away the charm.
Hertz says they'll take the feedback and come up with a solution, but yellow isn't completely out of the picture.
"We've been here for 100 years, and we're proud of our yellow," said Senior Vice President of Hertz Jayesh Patel.
The mayor said the next step for the Hertz Arena design is it will likely go to a mediation process to come up with some kind of compromise.


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Copy-let's-get-this-RightSeptember 13, 2003
Freedom wins.
Point: there are people who will steal Zen Garden designs no matter what we do.
Point: slapping a restrictive license on the CSS files is completely against what the Zen Garden is trying to accomplish.
Point: cheap knock-offs are not a professional threat to the original designers.
Point: those who need to use other people's CSS are still learning, or they're lazy. If it's the former, their use is an intermediate step; when they feel comfortable enough to move beyond someone else's design, there's no question they will. If it's the latter, the site they're applying the design to won't be around for long anyway.
So there you go. Creative Commons is back (although it never technically went away, since I hadn't got around to modifying the .css files yet), and all new submissions will continue to be open.
I realized the value of the Zen Garden is much more than I originally intended: not only do we have a strong demonstration of what CSS design is all about, but we also have a central repository of tested CSS designs that have solved browser compatibility issues and layout problems. Little Boxes, Blue Robot, and Glish are all still useful and relevant, but we're moving beyond duplicating table-based layouts.
Creative Commons remains a double-edged sword. Individual use has never really bothered me (there have been plenty of people basing sites/weblogs on the .css files), but the recent example moved into a whole new territory I wasn't prepared to deal with, namely re-distribution.
I worry all this will inhibit some submitters. Design is not software: there is no such thing as an 'open source' mentality. Some share more freely than others, but most are very firmly negative about their work being used elsewhere. The quality of work being submitted keeps going up despite it all; maybe I needn't worry.
Plunder! Dissect! Pilfer! Learn! (Just don't steal the images.)
Reader Comments
A noble and, almost, expected outcome, shame about the stress n worry to get there. :)
Good move - that is the only logical conclusion available unless you want to become a crazy person. I applaud your speed and diligence.
All the Best!
Thats a really good news, Dave. Thanks a lot for keeping the CC, and thanks a lot for Zen Garden. Its been a huge source of inspiration for a whole lot of people. For every jacka$$ who steals the CSS, there will be a thousand others who will get inspired and learn the CSS.
For me, the impact of Zen Garden has been beyond just the web. I have started using layouts similar to some of the designs for my technical presentations. For my powerpoint talks, I use slide layout similar to "Not so minimal" and for posters, I use layout similar to "Zunflower".
Thanks a lot Dave.
Hi All,
I've gone through most of the entries in this thread and the earlier, originating thread and am naively confused. I'm a programmer and not a designer and clearly the cultural trappings of the two activities have some serious differences.
This provocateur behaved as a software programmer / engineer would: reuse what's already been done if at all possible. This attitude arises from deadline and scheduling pressures and produce the notion of code sharing when there are no legal restrictions. Were one engineer to tell another that the code used belonged to him, the other engineer would find the attempt ludicrous. The engineering environment requires sharing, teaches through sharing and develops through sharing. The notion of one person creating something and not allowing anyone else to use the code is in fact the GPL's reason for being: to prevent this scenario.
So I now find myself in a very confusing situation where you, designers as a group, have adopted a licensing scheme that to me looks like the GPL, yet your intent is not to promote sharing but to treat it in some way alien to me yet wholly consistant and appropriate for you.
Why do you see use of your CSS templates as stealing? I am very sincere in this question since I don't understand your concept of ownership and sharing. I do understand the images concern so I guess I have a difficult time seeing CSS coding in the same category as images such as jpeg, gif, etc.
Bill here on a visa
as long as there's still a clause against stealing images, then it should be fine…
how about dating submissions ? at least then people will know hopefully what came first…the garden submission, or the cheap knock-off site..
I agree strongly with the idea of dating the submissions, although since the HTML file doesn't change, the date would need to be embedded in the CSS and/or one of the images.
I would like to add that the CSS Zen Garden has been a wonderful inspiration to me. I've been fooling around with web design for a couple of years, using XHTML and CSS right from the outset. As a result, I should not be shackled to the grid-based layouts that using tables often creates, should I? Unfortunately, my inexperience with design has meant that everything I have done thus far has been rather ordinary-looking and very much 'inside the box'.
After browsing the work of The Garden, I have come to understand the power of the tools I already possessed. By learning a little bit of Photoshop and looking at the nature around me, I have cut some of my bonds.
Oddly enough, it is not so much the clever CSS as the gorgeous imagery that draws me in. The image replacement techniques can be learned by anyone, but the understanding of good design principles is what sets one design apart from another.
I'm very much happier with the way my work is going now, and so much of it is because of The Garden. Interestingly though, the VERY first time I was struck by the power of CSS from a design perspective had nothing to do with the CSS Zen Garden. It was seeing Eric Meyer's complex spiral demo. Just one beautiful image, cleverly deployed with CSS, utterly transformed an otherwise ordinary page.
Now if we can get proper IE support for position:fixed and PNGs, we can all be web design gods.
I find the CSS Zen Garden site to be a remarkable inspiration. It's awesome to see the work of professionals here, and to see how they solved thorny problems of layout and styling to make beautiful, magical works of art. It's been a great help (and incentive) for me to keep improving my own skills, which are decidedly amateurish.
Couldn't agree more with your points. I, as an amauter web designer, often begin with other people's designs. I take them, learn from them, improve upon them, and then I evolve them into my own.
One drawback to getting into accessible and standards-complaint markup is starting with a blank slate - something which often pushes the amauter designer into using table-based layouts generated by WYSIWYG editors. The time and effort that often goes into the first draft discourages the move to complaince. Basing a first draft on popular designs lets you begin with a complaint design, and you also learn the coding practices from the best on the web (Zeldman, Shea, Bowman, et al).
YAAAYYY!!! Let me say, as a designer/developer who is currently re-designing TSN.ca (Canada's ESPN) to use a standards compliant, CSS and XHTML 1.1 codebase, I couldn't get where I am right now without the lessons I've learned from ZenGarden.
I've pilfered a goodly many lines of CSS from that site, torn them apart, examined them, and put them back together to get an idea of how the more advanced stuff works, and I'm forever greatful!
I've always been concerned about the use of the creative commons license. But not in the Zen Garden, this is one of those show stoppers where my concerns don't apply. Good to see that you have stuck to your guns.
I for one had already started work on a submission for the 'Garden' regardless of your decision. I understand that any entry I submit will be open to abuse. By hacks and 'professionals' alike, sad but true. And Dave, it's indeed not something to keep you, and anybody else for that matter, awake at night.
Great ideas like the Zen Garden are bigger than the few weak minded souls out there.
And Dave, thanks for letting us share, learn and inspire.
The discussion leading up to this decision was valuable for everyone, and I'm glad it came to a happy conclusion. Thanks, Dave!
Somewhat off-topic, but still about the CSS Zen Garden. Is there any place where people can discuss the designs? I guess a forum of some sort would be nice instead of commenting on the artist's/designer's blog post if ever he or she blogged about it
Patrick – dating the submissions is a great idea. I don't know why I haven't been doing that all along. Thanks!
Brian – TSN is taking the plunge? Very cool! Although I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that after ESPN's success all the other sports news networks are buying into XTHML/CSS.
Matt – 'The discussion leading up to this decision was valuable for everyone' – totally agreed. I bought heavily into CC when it first hit the scene, but things have become a little clearer lately. I'm still debating what to do with the licensing on THIS site. Maybe when their next generation licenses come out I'll have better options.
Eugene – it's been requested in the past, but I won't be pursuing that. If you want to talk about the design, you'd be better off just e-mailing the designer.
When I saw the savings from ESPN's re-design, I decided that we needed to get rid of all of the useless tables. It's been bugging me since we launched last summer that our front page is over 80k of HTML alone.
I started using some CSS stuff for layout on sub-sites like the X-Games over the last year, and wanted to really branch out to the entire site.
The big stickler was convincing the right folks that now's the time to kill off the Netscape 4.7 users, and ESPN's decision to do the same was enough of a push.
The "We get it moment" was when I took a CSS design, put in TSN branding and colours, then re-did the CSS with CTV, and then re-did the CSS again with Sympatico, and showed the powers that be that the entire site could be changed by simply changing which style sheet was presented. That sold them. "No back end work, but complete flexibility? Sold!"
I'm in the process of convincing the Globe and Mail that they need to do the same thing for their impending re-design, but I'm not getting a lot of buy in due to the fact that they claim 15% of their audience is Netscape 4.7 users.
Dave, you're a Gent.
I guess that design stealing is just going to be an inevitable fact of life, and it'll happen anywhere that there are ideas worth stealing.
When I started using XHTML (and CSS properly) earlier this year, it was by looking at the source code of sites like stopdesign that I learnt. Its important that folks can still look and learn.
Finally, the Zen Garden has become the most useful tool to convince my clients (and programmers that I work with) of the power, flexibility and benefits of CSS. I always get the same reaction - awe and suprise. Its quite simply the best showcase there is, and the standard of entries just keeps rising. I'm glad its not going to be spoilt.
I am also relieved to hear about your decision to stick with an open license. While usually people give me an image of the layout they want for their site, I look at the CSS of sites like Zen Garden to figure out how to implement the design without tables. Thanks for all the time and consideration you put into the garden.
Simon: Complex spiral was most definitely an eye opener for me too. The all CSS pop-up was also fantastic (having just been forced to do something similar in javascript).
I like your point about the intermediary step.. having lived through the "my niece/nephew could do that better" era.. the truth was so much more than that and CSS is no different.
I learned HTML by viewing the source and I thought I was clever ;) but now the nieces and nephews will need to apply even more impetus no more copying the source and changing the colors/graphics. A bit more is required here, yes they may be able to copy any one particular design, but are they really learning??
The fact that "zen" has produced 100+ different designs from the same source means I'm glad I actually learned this stuff as opposed to copying the source. Until there is is a satisfactory WYSIWYG (and if IE is anything to go by that won't be for a long time) to cope with the different browser quirks there will be no substitute for knowledge.
Bill it�s funny, I've always wondered why programmers have often been so willing to share unique code with each other. After all, programmers are usually very creative and thus like designers in a way. Maybe it's because that in learning how to solve certain problems or to get a result examples can be useful as a teaching tool. The ability to write code and come up with creative solutions to apply the code is part of a programmer�s asset. Part of a programmer�s value. For designers the uniqueness of our work is actually very important not the ability to apply it. Besides the fact that the design has to work, the form should also be functional and effective. Identity and style are also a part of the equation. The end result is unique. Always.
The problem is really highlighted by the fact that you can�t really tell anybody how to do this. You can guide them and give them the knowledge how to achieve good results. But how to design is a skill and ability one has to develop on their own. Even examples do not help in this regard. They can function as a guide but on the whole that is all they can do.
The collection of stylesheets for a site is tied into the design and is in itself unique. The styles designers or web developers code and how it�s coded should be shared and this is what the Zen Garden is all about. Using the CSS code as a guide or copying parts of it is one thing copying the design is another. So it�s not surprising that designers frown when somebody takes their unique creation and claim it as their own.
Good points Egor, and the only thing I would add is that it's about recognition.
Design is visible. When I do some particularly clever work, you can see how smart I am just by looking at it.
Code is invisible. When you put together a particularly clever system, the problem-solving that went into it is invisible, it's only the end result which someone can see. Sometimes that's enough, but the source is really what you want people to see.
It's no wonder coders want to share, and show people just how clever they are. Designers don't have to do that, because people can tell by just looking at their work.
a bit off topic, but i was wondering of anybody could give me a hand getting this "single-image css rollover":
…to work within a UL/LI styled list?
i've tried, but for some reason i cant seem to get the rollover to work properly when i nest it inside a UL/LI combo. was also trying to get rid of the "flicker" that happens under IE6.
any suggestions would be appreciated!
On Bill's question, I think there are a couple of other factors at work….
With programming, there seem to usually be a finite number of workable ways to solve a particular problem. (I say that from limited experience.) There's less of that feeling of boundedness with design.
Additionally, design is intimately connected to the identity of the designer or the designer's organization, client, etc…making it more like stealing your face than stealing your stuff.
forgetfoo > There is another example of no-preload CSS roll-overs here:
I do not experience any problems in IE with this one, although I have not tested to see if it uses a different technique than the one you posted.
thanks conan ;)
although, it does have that 'flicker' under IE/Win - at least for me it does (ie6/win2k)
btw, i'm happy to hear that the Garden will continue… and boldly go where no dino-browser has gone before.


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Matt Wiebe
Something I've been using in conjunction with rgba backgrounds for the last 6 months is Lea Verou's rgba.php script. It automatically generates a transparent png file using URL parameters.
See her blog post Bulletproof, cross-browser RGBA backgrounds, today for more
Looking forward to what 24 ways has in store this January!