Atlanta dubbed best ‘non-New York or San Francisco’ startup city

Atlanta is officially the best place in North America to launch a startup. If you don’t count the true top dogs, New York City and San Francisco, that is.

According to a new report by FitSmallBusiness.com, Atlanta is the best place to kickstart a new business concept, if you don’t have the capital to shell out $80 per square foot to rent office space, as many people do in New York and California.

Granted, Atlanta has recently proven to be a swell place to launch a business idea. And it’s fast improving in that aspect as well. In 2016, Atlanta was deemed the fifth best startup city in America, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and last year, Forbes dubbed the ATL a top three “Tech Mecca” of tomorrow.

But while the city’s economic development arm, Invest Atlanta, celebrates our “top marks for the large size of our tech labor pool, the high number of startups, and the growing amount of venture capital investments” on Twitter, some clever observers have started cheering on Atlanta for being almost the best at other things.

One commenter nodded to the University of Georgia as a prime example of an institution that’s pretty much the best in its field—so long as you don’t consider who else is on the field.

“We’re also the best non-Alabama college team from last year,” tweeted Peter Fuller, referencing UGA’s loss to the Crimson Tide in January’s NCAA Championship.

Atlanta also boasts the nation’s best NFL stadium, assuming arenas in Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Dallas aren’t taken into account, according to a ranking by Thrillist.

Tampa and Tulsa notwithstanding, you can consider Atlanta the most young entrepreneur-friendly city, according to Forbes.

And in 2017, U.S. News & World Report crowned Atlanta the No. 1 best American city to live in! (Don’t bother clicking that link; there’s definitely not 49 other cities ranked better).

• Atlanta No. 5 American city to launch tech startup [Atlanta Business Chronicle]
• Atlanta ranked 50th best U.S. city to live in. Cue angst! [Curbed]