Atlanta had a phenomenal BBS scene in the 80s, in part because the 404 area code was flat rate for all local calls and covered a large (at least 25 miles, probably more) radius around Atlanta proper.

When I moved to the SF Bay Area in 1991 I couldn’t figure out why the BBS scene in tech mecca sucked so badly. Then I got my first phone bill and discovered out here local calls were metered for anything over a few miles away…