The 'Ellis Island Of The South' Hides In A Georgia Suburb Home To The Most Diverse Square Mile In America

Curried fish heads, chicken shawarma freshly carved from a spit, spice-filled dumplings that descend from the Himalayas. Sounds like a recipe for a great day in one of New York's most diverse neighborhoods. But in fact, it's in Clarkston, Georgia, a bedroom community about half an hour outside the heart of Atlanta.

These varied international dishes are all contained in what many locals have identified as the "most diverse square mile in America." Welcome to the "Ellis Island of the South," as many call it. Clarkston is home to about 14,700 people. The town's high school has boasted a population of students from more than 50 countries for more than 20 years. It's estimated that 60 languages are spoken in Clarkston, and that about 50 percent of the population was born somewhere other than the United States. The restaurants serving the aforementioned meals — pan-Asian fare at PS-Asian Restaurant, Middle Eastern grub at Merhaba Shawarma, and Nepali dishes at Kathmandu Kitchen and Grill — are all contained in this small but mighty city. In fact, the whole city is composed of only 1.79 square miles.

Since the 1990s, the state of Georgia has welcomed more than 37,000 refugees. According to Today, most of those people have passed through Clarkston. The most common ancestry in town is still African American, but Ethiopian, Burmese, Congolese, Nepalese, and Afghan all significantly contribute to the numbers.

Why have so many people from around the world landed in the tiny city? As a designated refugee resettlement area for half a century, local organizations that find homes for refugees have sprouted up in Clarkston. The appeal also stems from the fact that transport to Atlanta via public transit is easy — at just 12 miles from the city's downtown, Clarkston is served by multiple bus routes that connect to trains to Atlanta. It also doesn't hurt that rent is lower than the national average by 34%.

Because it's so friendly to new Americans, many have stayed, not just treating Clarkston as a stop on their journey but as a permanent home. As one Ethiopian-born man named Hukun Abdulla told The Bitter Southerner, "We don't go anywhere. We think this is America. That's it." Refugee resettlement in the U.S. has slowed since 2019's drastic program cuts, though, so many of the people you'll meet have been in Clarkston since before that time. 

The people of Clarkston are younger than Georgia's average by more than a decade. The median age of Clarkston residents is 26.6 years old, in comparison to the state's 37.4. That's partly because there are campuses for two institutions of higher learning in the city, Georgia Piedmont Technical College and Georgia State University Perimeter College.

The youthful city unites under the Friday night lights at the James R. Hallford Stadium, which holds more than Clarkston's population with bleacher seating for 15,000 souls. All DeKalb County high school football teams use the stadium for home games, so in-season, there's practically always a game to catch. Don't have much school spirit? You can still play outdoors at Milam Park or birdwatch at Friendship Forest Wildlife Sanctuary.

Most folks arrive at the diverse little city of Clarkston via the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), which is just 25 minutes away by car. Once you get into town, try one of the plethora of international restaurants or sip some java at Refuge Coffee. There, the baristas who prepare your coffee, tea, or smoothie are refugees receiving on-the-job training and support with acclimating to their adopted home. Either way, it's a delicious entry point into how immigration enriches all our lives.