digATL | The Digital Atlanta Portal

Archived by the Wayback Machine. Not all layers or content may load.

Created in Classic Esri Story Maps, a platform retired in 2026. This project visualizes the transformations of Atlanta’s public transit system over the last 100 years. By highlighting the routes that have been proposed in the development of these systems, this project aims to contribute to larger discussions taking place around the topic of public transit in Atlanta. The displayed map layers were georeferenced from planning documents available through GSU’s Planning Atlanta collection. These historical, paper maps often served general planning purposes and therefore were not created with attention to precise geographical accuracy. While map layers represented here accurately reflect rail transportation routes displayed by planning documents, please be advised that the map layers accessible from this page have limited geographical accuracy and do not necessarily align with one another. 

Interactive web map created by Georgia State University Library that invites researchers, students, and the public to visualize the extensive built environment and demographic changes that have occurred throughout our metropolitan region from the 1940s to the present. The project provides aerial imagery overlays of the five core metropolitan counties – Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton – documenting over eight decades of growth and change in our region. Also included are census tract level population and housing data, providing additional context to these visualizations. Among the changing patterns revealed are the dramatic growth of the suburbs, decline in agricultural areas, decline and rebuilding of the urban core, and shifting racial and housing patterns.