I'll look to my left and see hammerhead sharks. To my right will be an artificial coral reef and an assortment of tropical fish.

When I leave the building, I'll see an area bustling with out-of-town visitors. I'll see shops and plenty of restaurants.

Later, I'll jump in my car-or maybe a train-and head to Atlanta's city-within-a-city. There I'll see parks, more restaurants and a movie theater. Most of all, I'll see an area of Atlanta where I can walk around for hours without having to worry about getting hit by an out of control Hummer.

Atlanta needed a before-and-after picture series during the Olympic years. That time has come again.

Last week, the Marcus Foundation and Coca-Cola announced plans to build an aquarium north of Centennial Park on nine acres of land that Coke owns. The aquarium will be adjacent to the new World of Coca-cola museum.

Both of the facilities are expected to open in 2005. The Children's Museum of Atlanta, slated for a 2003 opening in the Museum Tower east of Centennial Park will add another dimension to Atlanta's "museum district." These developments will join Atlantic Station, which is being built just north of the Georgia Tech campus (surrounded by Northside Drive, 14th street, and I-75/85).

Atlanta is slowly pushing it's way up for recognition, and the addition of both of these developments to the south's most vibrant city will be the first large steps Atlanta takes to becoming a true 24-hour city.

These developments are filled with positives for the Tech community; they mean more things to do on the weekends and more places to go to unwind. They also create excitement; something many of us need in our lives following days of lectures. Atlanta will only move up in "quality of life" ratings in comparison to other major cities, an area where Atlanta is already holding its own.

We'll also see the snowball effect in regards to jobs; Atlanta has already proven in the past that people will move to the city when jobs are available. Atlanta gained over a million people in the 90's and the urban developments taking place now will continue to draw more people. While the downtown developments will mainly bring in tourists, Atlantic Station will bring in a large variety of businesses.

Last year Peter Jennings went on a tour of several major cities. One of his stops was Atlanta. His feelings were obvious: Atlanta is a nice place to live but not a tourist destination. If you don't have a car in Atlanta, you can't move around easily. Now, convention visitors at the Georgia World Congress Center and other major downtown hotels won't mind bringing their families along to visit the museums. Best of all, they won't ever have to jump in a car. The developments around Centennial and at Atlantic Station will continue to help to bring Atlanta closer together.

The major cog missing from this puzzle is transportation. These new developments mean more cars and more pollution to city that has plenty already. However, these developments will force Atlanta to further develop the basic Marta transportation system. Look for a light rail system to debut and for Marta to start branching out from the simple cross layout that currently exists.

Another area that will undergo a major change is real estate. If I had some cash, one of the first things I would do would be to buy a condo around Centennial Park or a home near Atlantic Station. One of Atlanta's biggest assets, its low cost of living, will begin to shrink away as these developments are built. Atlanta will be faced with a hefty challenge: how to keep the cost of living moderate in areas where they will surely jump up. Although I don't think there is a solution to this problem, I'm sure Atlanta will mandate that a percentage of apartment units be for families whose incomes falls below the average. This will be implemented in Atlantic Station.

The Tech student population will only benefit from this construction. Businesses that move around the Tech campus mean one of two things: more places to work and more places to fool around. While traffic congestion will increase, mass transportation alternatives will be built around the Tech campus.

Atlanta is moving forward even in a state of economic decline. In a city that has been built by business, it seems only fitting that the downtown development will be built by Atlanta business leaders at no cost to taxpayers. Many aquariums have struggled in the past because they were saddled with debt and needed to sacrifice exciting exhibits to pay back loans.

The Atlanta aquarium won't have to face those problems as Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus will pay for the aquarium construction expected to be over $200 million. Marcus promises that the aquarium, expected to hold over 5 million gallons of water, will be one of the world's best. Douglas Daft, who will head the construction of the bigger and better World of Coke museum, promises that the aquarium will not out do the museum. As for Atlantic Station, it's already be praised as one of the best urban developments.

As business leaders, these men have been successful because they have fulfilled their promises. This will continue in the Atlanta developments. As the city itself continues to grow, it will continue to produce generous philanthropists in the mod of Marcus, his fellow Home Depot Founder Arthur Blank, and their predecessors like Coca-Cola CEO Robert Woodruff. The benefits it will reap from these generous individuals will drive the Atlanta's future.