Atlanta is a money town.

Stand on any corner and watch the cars go by. Try to find an old clunker. Have you ever seen so many new cars on the road? New Yorkers, if they even have a car, hold onto that junk wagon until the wheels fall off. Atlantans drive everywhere they go, and they drive in style, with mortgage-sized car payments.

Check out the real estate signs with slogans such as "Starting at $250,000." Developers and homeowners don't seem to notice that the national economy took a dive.

How many shopping malls in America are as chi-chi as Phipps Plaza? And Lenox Square ain't too shabby either.

People in Atlanta must have the cleanest kitchens in America. Because they rarely use them.

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Atlanta is a restaurant town.

It's not San Francisco, but it comes pretty close in that regard. Restaurant openings are an event. Chefs are celebrities. Upscale is the norm. Wine culture is bigger than barbecue.

Atlanta has yet to realize that the fat wallet days of the '90s are over. We're still drinking martinis.

True, the hospitality industry is hurting, jobs are disappearing and homelessness is out of control. Many are feeling the pinch. Restaurant workers -- and this town is full of them -- are painfully aware of a decline in tips. The frantic construction pace that began before the 1996 Olympics has slowed substantially but has not ground to a halt.

Eventually, the culture of Atlanta may change to reflect the new reality. Or the economy will pick back up.

Whatever changes may come, some characteristics of Atlanta are strong enough to survive.

Atlanta is a green town.

The city seems to have more trees than its suburbs. Piedmont Park is a vast oasis of green in the heart of Midtown. Neighborhoods such as Inman Park, Ansley Park and residential sections of Buckhead are lined with shade trees. Since most development within the city is in-fill, the basic landscape is unlikely to change all that much. In the suburbs, any large tract of vacant land is subject to clear-cutting to make room for shadeless new subdivisions. Trees are safer in the city.

Atlanta is a city of neighborhoods.

Less urban than most big cities, intown Atlanta is a collection of well-defined, long-established neighborhoods. It's part of what makes it a nice place to live and a strange place to visit. Locals love their neighborhoods, know the local establishments, take pride in their part of town. Visitors tend to get lost. Try directing a tourist from a hotel in Buckhead to a restaurant in Virginia-Highland to a theater in Little Five Points. It's a city of hidden pockets of charm.

In-fill development, such as the growth spurt in the formerly industrial Old Fourth Ward, is pulling neighborhoods closer together. An effort by City Council President Cathy Woolard to revive an old railroad loop through the old neighborhoods with light rail or other transit may someday bring these neighborhoods even closer.

But the character of individual neighborhoods is so strong that the street an Atlantan chooses to call home tends to say a lot about his or her personality. A Buckhead person can be a far cry from a Little Five Points person. There are fewer distinctions between someone who chooses to live in Virginia-Highland vs. Midtown. If you've lived inside the Perimeter for more than a year, you just know these things.

Some things Atlanta is not.

Atlanta is not a great outdoor recreation town. There's no beach, no ski slope. That cannot be helped. The Chattahoochee River is dirty and sometimes unsafe for swimming. The bike trail from Freedom Parkway to Stone Mountain is a wonderful touch. But the parts of the trail that are actually off road are too short for a decent workout. And the parts that are along the roadway are fine for those who trust Atlanta motorists to share the road -- and that requires a lot of trust.

Atlanta is not a blue collar town. This is no Baltimore or St. Louis. This is not a town that largely loves cans of American-brewed beer, hockey or labor unions. There is no shame in wearing a suit here. College is important. Being poor or undereducated is not a badge of honor. Poverty is something to overcome. Atlanta does not settle for being average.

Atlanta is a money town.