Despite its romantic connotations, Atlanta has always been more of a commercial city than an antebellum monument. It is the Southeast’s regional center of commerce and boasts an especially strong convention and trade show business. In the last several years, the Atlanta metropolitan area has grown almost 21 percent, the highest percentage among the nation’s top-ten metro areas. What is astounding is that all of those newcomers seem to be finding jobs.

Atlanta has 18 Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits. This ranks it third among cities with the most Fortune 500 companies within their borders, behind only New York City and Houston. Some of the more well-known corporations include The Coca-Cola Company, BellSouth, United Parcel Service, Home Depot and Georgia-Pacific. Even those companies that are not headquartered in Atlanta have offices here; more than 75 percent of all Fortune 1000 companies have a presence in the metro area.

This is just a sample of what you'll find in the complete Atlanta guide.