A.M. ATL: Then and now

Morning, y’all! It’s World Cup Day, Part 2. The Czech Republic and South Africa face off at noon downtown. More deets in a bit.

Let’s get to it.

HOW HAS ATLANTA CHANGED OVER THE LAST 30 YRS?

At least we got rid of the giant construction workers nesting on top of our high-rises. (John Spink/AJC)

It’s easy to get lost in the festive chaos of the World Cup, but this summer is also the 30-year anniversary of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

The AJC’s Zach Hansen categorized all the ways Atlanta has grown in the time between these momentous international events.

Well, not all of the ways. That would be impossible. Think about how much you’ve grown in the last 30 years. Some of you weren’t even born. Then again, some of you are probably sitting at the same exact kitchen table. Time is funny.

There’s so much Hansen covered in his story, I just pulled a potpourri of everything:

Buildings, fields and neighborhoods:

• The Georgia Dome? No more. Blasted into the history books in November 2017.
• In its place: the $1.6 billion galactic pinwheel of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which has attracted a Super Bowl, a College Football Playoff National Championship* and several record-breaking Atlanta United* matches.
• Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium is also just a memory.
• The Olympic Stadium became Turner Field and later Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium.
• Centennial Olympic Park, built for the Games, was largely an industrial site in 1996, and now it’s the center of World Cup action in the city.
• The Midtown of 2026 is much different than the Midtown of 1996. Since 2018 alone, 53 projects, mostly consisting of high-rises, have been completed in the area.
• The Beltline has transformed empty rail lines into a verdant loop of trails and new development around the city core.

*also not a thing in 1996

The people:

• Atlanta’s 29-county metro region was approaching 6.3 million residents at the end of 2024, which is a 65% increase from 1996.
• The city’s demographic makeup has a much higher proportion of Latino and Asian groups, and the number of immigrants is also significantly higher throughout the region.
• The number of people with college degrees has also grown.

🔎 READ MORE: Unfortunately, all of that growth has an ugly side

❓ TRIVIA TIME! Atlanta is one of only two U.S. cities to host both the World Cup and a Summer Olympics. What is the other city? Answer at the bottom.

Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.

GOP REDISTRICTING PLAN NIXED AT THE CAPITOL

Demonstrators react as lawmakers discuss redistricting on Wednesday. (Mike Stewart/AP)

As predicted, Georgia Republican leaders won’t redraw the state’s political maps during their current special legislative session.

• House Speaker Jon Burns wrote a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp pointing out Georgia’s 2021 maps are still under legal review. Every member of the Georgia House Republican leadership team signed it, and Senate leadership indicated they were in accord.
• Even though Republican lawmakers were bullish on the idea at first, the final calculus at the Capitol found the issue to be too politically risky with big midterm elections coming up.

🔎 READ MORE: How the decision came to be

Public outcry and key elections contributed to the decision

• The push to capitalize on a SCOTUS decision many see as an erosion of democratic American ideals has proved to be unpopular, especially in the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement.
• Democratic lawmakers from Georgia and other Southern states held a rally Monday. On Wednesday, faith leaders and voting rights groups marched to the Georgia Capitol as civil rights and organized labor groups held a news conference.
• Black political leaders framed the issue as an attempt to roll back decades of political progress.

Democratic leaders hailed the decision as a win for Georgia voters but cautioned the redistricting threat is still very much alive. Just not right now.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🥊 With Rick Jackson’s dark-horse GOP gubernatorial nod, Democratic challenger and former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is in for a very different campaign fight.

🗳️ Now that the dust has cleared, here’s who’s on the ballot for November’s elections.

MATCH DAY NO. 2 AT ATLANTA STADIUM

MARTA may not be perfect, but A.M. ATL readers said agency workers were out in full force and extremely helpful. (Ben Hendren/AJC)

It’s the Czech Republic v. South Africa today at Atlanta Stadium! Apparently, traffic outside of downtown wasn’t horribly affected during Monday’s match, so maybe we’ll get through this tournament with minimal gridlock.

Practical details

• Time: Match begins at noon at Atlanta Stadium. Doors open at 9 a.m.
• Forecast: A high of 79 degrees with a high chance of rain. Don’t be fooled by the temperature — it will be humid and gross enough to feel much hotter. If you’re headed to any outdoor festivities, bring a poncho.

A look at the matchup

• It’s a do-or-die situation for both teams, who need a win if they want to get out of the group stage.
• The Czech Republic and South Africa are in Group A with Mexico and South Korea.
• The Czech Republic lost to South Korea, and South Africa lost to Mexico, meaning they’re fighting each other to stay out of the basement.

Helpful group stage boilerplate: There are 12 groups of four teams each. Every team in a group plays each other in the group stage. Wins are worth 3 points, draws are 1 and losses are zero. At the end of the group stage, the three teams with the most points in every group go on to the next round. (Ties will be decided on which team scored more goals.)

Thank you to all of the soccer fans who told us about their World Cup experience so far! If you go tomorrow, let us know how it is.

⚽ READ MORE: Read the latest Kick It newsletter and subscribe here

If you want to live vicariously through someone who went to Monday’s match, the AJC’s Gavin Godfrey wrote a beautiful piece about the hype and passion of Atlanta’s first World Cup game and how it energized the city.

“After the match, outside felt like 1996 all over again. Street vendors lined Centennial Olympic Park Drive outside The Center. Fans flocked to the FIFA Fan Fest. Downtown Atlanta felt like the bustling downtown it aspires to be,” he wrote.

“Yeah, shawty, this is the World Cup in Atlanta. It’s only the beginning.”

NEWS BITES

Tropical Storm Arthur, the season’s first named storm, brought nasty flooding to Gulf Coast areas

Bertha, Cristobal and Dolly, you’re next up in the named storm queue. Behave yourselves.

Fan demand leads Dream to move Barbie Game Day to State Farm Arena

That’s Monday, Aug. 3. You’re welcome.

Where does the South actually begin?

This argument could probably end friendships.

Braves fan Jimmie Boulware attends 500th consecutive home game

I’ll save you the math: He started his streak in 2019!

ON THIS DATE

June 18, 1949

Campus nursery. Bohunk, a “sort of” German police dog and pet of University of Georgia students, recently gave birth to six puppies inside the hollow trunk of a large oak tree on the University campus in Athens. Students tacked a “Quiet, Maternity Ward” sign on the trees and are solicitously nursing both Bohunk and her sextuplets. Here, Sue Brown, left, of Athens, and Ann Massenburg, of Macon, law students, cuddle four of the tree-trunk inhabitants, which seem none too impressed.