A look at the decade when Atlanta came of age

As calendars flipped to 1970, Atlanta had few traffic jams, three skyscrapers and virtually no smog.

Atlanta Municipal Airport featured one cramped terminal and no international flights. Public transit was limited to buses.

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AJC file photo

Partiers danced at the Backstreet nightclub.

Yachtsman Ted Turner owned a thriving billboard empire and a ramshackle UHF station. Georgia’s governor, Lester Maddox, was an unapologetic segregationist.

Cobb and Gwinnett counties were still largely rural and dry. Downtown Atlanta was anything but.

The city’s transformation in the ’70s —from “The city too busy to hate” to “Hotlanta,” from the Heart of Dixie to a mecca for black professionals — was breathless, and its growth stood in stark contrast to the nation’s other urban centers.

.In the days ahead, we’ll look back at the decade of disco, when Atlanta came of age.

— News researcher Nisa Asokan contributed to this series.

• Introduction
• Politics: A big change was coming
• The Mouth of the South
• MARTA: A train to greatness
• The hottest spots were Underground
• City quickly became a destination
• Riverbend a decade-long party
• Timeline of the decade

• Photos: Scenes | Politics | People
• YOUR TURN: Send us your '70s photos! | Tell us what you remember — or don't remember — about the 1970s in Atlanta?