City

New York and other cities in the east weren't torn down and started from scratch, they went from woodland to city over time, but were built earlier than cities out west or down south because they had harbors to grow around. They were dense before there were cars (New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and even DC/Baltimore) , while cities like Atlanta and even LA were still small towns in the country (or by the sea). Why would anyone expect Atlanta to develop more like New York on a grid when it was never meant to be, since Atlanta and New York have different histories, as do most cities.