Atlanta, on a roll, named No. 1 in another 'best city' list

The Big Peach, as national media has grown fond of calling Atlanta, has another reason to feel warm and fuzzy in 2022.

Already this year, city rankings using all manner of metrics have crowned Atlanta a top destination for global investors, the best U.S. city for young adults, the country’s most livable city, and the all-around best place to live in America right now.

Now ATL’s exceptional creative economy is getting some love.

A new report by Workamajig, producers of a software tool for creative agencies and firms founded in 2008, has slotted Atlanta at No. 1 on a ranking of “The Places in the U.S. for Creatives.”

Workamajig’s analysis aimed to determine the most creative U.S. cities, per capita, at a time when burn-out levels have reached historic highs and city dwellers across the country are searching for new wellsprings of inspiration—whether they know it or not. As one criteria used for comparison, Google searches in the U.S. for “cities with best music scene” and “best cities for street art” have increased by 100 percent in the past year alone, according to the analysis.

With an eye on “creative economy and atmosphere,” Workamajig weighed each city’s number of museums, artists and musicians, creative jobs in industries such as marketing, arts, and design, and the number of film and music festivals per capita. The number of Cannes Lions Winners in 2022 from each city was another factor.

Analysts found the City of Atlanta has the highest number of talent and creative outlets per capita in the country, in addition to one of the highest numbers of art galleries and art schools per capita.

Atlanta shined in particular with its number of music festivals (23; second only to Miami) and film festivals (six; tied for first with San Francisco, Burbank, and others).

Y’allywood’s status as America’s “most creative” city right now was summarized as follows:  

“With a groundbreaking street art scene, a diverse musical heritage, and a booming creative economy, it’s no wonder Atlanta is the top creative city in the country. From renowned museums, such as the High Museum of Art, to legendary music festivals, including One Music Fest, Atlanta's creative scene is outstanding. The Big Peach is also a hub for live music, with 11 times more music festivals than the national average. You can see why more creatives are drawn to Atlanta, and more local talent is staying put.”

The ranking continues Atlanta’s 2022 winning streak for positive—if sometimes questionable—city rankings. Most famously, Money magazine’s October issue declared the city proper “the Best Place to Live in the U.S.”, citing Atlanta’s “booming jobs market and eye on equality,” among other factors.

Just last week, Vancouver-based global consulting firm Resonance Consultancy slotted Atlanta at No. 50 on its 2023 World’s Best Cities Report.

Earlier in 2022, British publication The Economist declared Atlanta the “most livable” city in the United States in August. A couple of weeks later, a CommercialCafe analysis found Atlanta to be the country’s best city for young adults, or Generation Z. All of that followed a poll in April among 175 organizations in 23 countries that determined ATL to be the top target for global real estate investment in the U.S. That’s not a shabby showing for a single year.

Not taken into account in Workamajig’s study, however, was Atlanta’s rising cost of living—and how that might impact starving artists.

On the bright side, metro Atlanta did manage to crack the Top 25, if barely, in Rent.’s ranking of the most affordable U.S. metros in October—a list dominated by much smaller metro areas.

• Report: Metro Atlanta home prices exploded by 70 percent in 5 years (Urbanize Atlanta)