re: Auburn > Tuscaloosa

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its not really an international city to me.

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Except it is, especially in business and travel.

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Atlanta certainly has elements of a global city. There are plenty of publications that rank cities based on their importance to the global economy.

Atlanta ranks #31 according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Atlanta ranks #36 according to the AT Kearney Global Cities Index
Atlanta ranks #45 according to the Globalization & World Cities Research Network

But when you zero into the North American region, Atlanta still trails quite a few cities.

As far as North America goes, the EIU rankings look like this (global rank in parentheses):
1. New York (#1)
2. Washington (#8)
3. Chicago (#9)
4. Boston (#10)
5. Toronto (#12)
6. San Francisco (#13)
7. Los Angeles (#19)
8. Montreal (#22)
9. Houston (#23)
10. Dallas (#25)
11. Seattle (#29)
12. Philadelphia (#30)
13. Atlanta (#31)
14. Miami (#43)

If you rank the cities in North America according to the GCI, you get a similar result:

1. New York (#1)
2. Los Angeles (#6)
3. Chicago (#7)
4. Washington (#10)
5. Toronto (#13)
6. Vancouver (#18)
7. Boston (#21)
8. San Francisco (#24)
9. Miami (#29)
10. Montreal (#30)
11. Mexico City (#35)
12. Atlanta (#36)
13. Houston (#38)
14. Dallas (#50)
15. Mexico City (#71)

So by most expert accounts, Atlanta ranks around #12 or #13 of the most important cities in North America.

This is what I'm talking about. Certainly Atlanta has elements of being a global city, but compared to cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.... its not in the same league to be quite honest.

I travel all of the world several times per year. Walking around Atlanta has a totally different feel than the ones at the top of the list. Atlanta still feels like a big southern city. It feels like its about the 12th most important city within a 2500 mile radius.

New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chicago, LA, Beijing, Shanghai... its a different story. Way different.

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It has the largest airport in the world that 35% of all international travelers to the United States [b]pass through on the way to their final destination[/b].

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Bingo. And there you have it.

The world comes to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. They pass through Atlanta.

Atlanta has direct service to many foreign destinations because they are a Delta hub and people often have no choice but to have a stop-over in Atlanta.

Take away Delta, and Atlanta has (or has announced) non-stop service on foreign air carriers to 8 cities: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Seoul, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Doha, and Toronto.

Many of those flights exist simply because Delta partners funnel their passengers on Delta connections once in Atlanta (Korean Air, KLM, Virgin, etc.).

Compare that to New York who has non-stop service to over 80 foreign destinations on foreign airlines.

Even Chicago has non-stop service to nearly 40 cities on foreign airlines.

When Atlanta gets flights to Cairo on Egypt Air, Baku on Azerbaijan Airlines, or even Helsinki on Finnair like New York has at JFK, then you'll know you've reached true global status. It's certainly a good indicator.

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So, I agree that it isn't international in that it is a center of international activity like Paris or New York

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Well of course not.

But its not just Paris and New York... there are at least 7 cities in the United States alone that are far more globalized than Atlanta (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Boston), and another half dozen or so that are arguably equal to Atlanta (Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit).

Stand in the middle of the Atlanta Airport (even in the F Terminal) and you see mostly Americans walking briskly to catch their flight.

Go sit in a terminal in Dubai, Shanghai, or even Munich (let alone London, Paris, or Tokyo) and you feel like every people group in the world is represented right in front of your eyes.