Examples of Industrial Re-use: Atlanta

[simms3]

MEMORIAL DRIVE/ORMEWOOD PARK

A&P Lofts



LOTS of new industrial looking lofts like this all over the place…





Not far from Grant Park, which is the next HOT neighborhood in Atlanta (now is the time to buy).







MARTA







Oakland Cemetery



I liked this wall…don’t ask.







Not the same building as seen before with the giant peach and Air Tran on top (there are several of these things throughout the city):

[simms3]

GLENWOOD PARK

New Urbanism at its best (minus being too far from a rail stop, but convenient bus service).  Once again, developed by Green Street Properties, recently purchased by Jamestown, the German fund based in Atlanta.  Only a couple years old, but selling well.  I took pics because it is near so many lofts/warehouse districts and I thought I would have fun taking pictures of different things…warehouses are now done, prepare to be bombarded with other sights of Atlanta.

Glenwood Park is in Ormewood Park, which is north of Grant Park, which is next to Inman Park, which is not too far from Candler Park, which is near Cabbagetown























And that is how Atlanta is developing now.  So much for the epitome of sprawl…

[simms3]

thanks for the photos, simms.

I used to live here.  Its the old Seed Factory building.  I lived on the 4th floor, and it was just an amazing space.

Very cool!  Didn't know you lived in Atlanta!

Sure did.  I was a consultant for a coffeeroaster in Virginia Highlands, and created a chain of smart bars (it was the 90s) for the old Beat Motel. and a couple of other clubs.  Most of our friends hung out in cabbagetown when it was still very very rough arts warehouses.

In the picture you can see my old apartment. Its on the top floor with the balcony.  Bill Hallman lived one floor beneath us, and we would always pass him in the morning with racks of new designs on the way his shop.  Lots and lots of art openings downstairs in the gallery space. 

The gate was originally covered with astroturf and rolled back automatically for residents.

We would hang out on the balcony with a telescope.   Lots and lots of fun, actually.

I was part of the old Slacker scene and hung out at MJQ back when it was still at the ponce de leon hotel.  There and Eatz.

I liked living in Atlanta, to a certain extent.  But it actually not my favorite US city.

MJQ is still cool, don't worry.  It's underground now on Ponce near the Sears Building, coincidentally under a rehabbed warehouse (but not as much of an underground scene...).  The Ponce de Leon Hotel is one of my favorite buildings, still slightly shoddy, but people live there now.  The Georgia Terrace across the street is something you wouldn't even believe, though.  It is owned by Lincoln Properties now, and they have really made it into an unbelievable asset to the city (and Livingston is a great restaurant).  The Fox across the street is still  active, but is flanked by Publik and Churchill Grounds, so that area is still alive and well (and there are actually a few underground in all senses of the word clubs around there).

Very cool about Bill Hallman, definitely a big name in Atlanta fashion/retail now.

And I don't know when you lived in Atlanta, but I suspect it has been quite a long time.  I arrived literally 5 years ago almost to the day, and it is night and day between then and now.  The city was actually kind of sleepy still then, but has really picked up in a way I can't describe.  Virginia Highlands has as high of rents as Phipps Plaza now and small houses are wayyy out of reach of the middle class or creative class buyer.  Still one of the best bar scenes and restaurant scenes in the city (that won't ever change).  Inman Park is the new Va-Hi, but will be unaffordable in a couple of years, and then it will be Grant Park and East Lake and Kirkwood/Cabbagetown.  All of these places are already larger and well ahead of Springfield, but in Atlanta terms they are still "gentrifying".  Midtown is like a little boomtown - 2 more towers are about to break ground this year, in the recession, adding 610 units.  The only scene that has "suffered" is the gay scene, which is still strong of course since it is Atlanta, but is moving north from Midtown into Ansley Park and Morningside Heights.  Backstreet and Wetbar are closed.  Also, everyone in Midtown just mixes together now, which I actually prefer (and to me that is either a sign of the times or a sign that Atlanta is just a more diverse, accepting, cosmopolitan city.

Buckhead Village is no longer the nightlife hub of the South, as it is a sea of concrete, rebar, and tower cranes (and a few boutiques like the Atlanta Hermes).  That whole scene turned real violent in the early 2000s due to some city corruption.  Buckhead Village was kind of replaced with the area behind the theater there where the split is (that area is filled with bars and clubs, galleries, and boutiques, and restaurants).  So I guess it all evens out.

An area that is picking up, however, is East Point in south Atlanta.  That area is surprising even me.  I'm sure that would be a shocker to you, as you may remember all of the projects throughout the city.  Well, Atlanta has done what Chicago has done and destroyed most of the projects.  They just demo'd the Roosevelt Towers, which I think was the first Section 8 in the country (they had to do it at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday and the noise even from 2 miles away echoed so loud on the buildings I thought a bomb went off).  They deconstructed floor by floor the Centennial Towers this year.  Lots of the towers on the south, southeast, and west end of downtown are now gone, too.  Overall, much safer city.  Still gritty, though

So, you may not recognize the city anymore.  The suburbs, except for the town of Roswell, still suck, but are much larger clusterfucks than they probably were when you were there (they were poorly planned to begin with, and now they have only quadrupled the amount of people in the same amount of space with the same poor planning...and NO road improvements!).

[simms3]

Physically, I like Boston the best.  Its a well planned, compact, walkable city filled with great architecture, and all the elements.  Hills, Water, Rock, a brilliant built environment and a modern sensibility.  It helps that the culture of the city is so full of educated people. The average age of the city's resident is 30 and it has a vibrant thoughtful feel that drives the culture forward without destroying its history or heritage.

But, culturally, and from the viewpoint of cities that exploit community potential, Seattle and SanFrancisco are my top choices.  I would choose to live in either over any city on the East Coast.

Seattle lags behind San Francisco in terms of public transit (and many public amenities) but it makes up for it with its superior quality of life.  Everything seems possible in Seattle, and for me the lessened presence of the Sun is a definite plus.  Its a much healthier, ordered city compared to its souther cousin, and the culture is totally based on enjoying very simple things.  It is a pretty unpretentious city and I very much appreciate that on a personal level. 

San Francisco is the most exciting civic environment in the country.  The architecture, history and openmindedness of the city is mind blowing (and expanding) and its built environment, public amenities and intellectual environment make it the superior city of the west coast.  But it can be awfully rigid and offputting for southerners.  I hated living there until the minute I left it.  Then I realized that it was one of the best  places on earth.

And I didnt mean to say that I don't like Atlanta.  I do.  But I really love several of the other cities.  After the three that I listed, I would have to say, Chicago, New York, Charleston, Minneapolis, Santa Barbara, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, and DC would follow closely behind.

What about you Lake?

Atlanta is a pretentious city, though.  No denying that.  Actually, it's probably as pretentious as a city gets (but so are Boston and Chicago, not so much New York or Philly, and definitely not typically Midwestern cities).  Never been to the west coast.  If I can enjoy East Coast cities and Atlanta (and I HATE Dallas, never been elsewhere in Texas), then I am sure it couldn't be easier to enjoy life and love west coast cities.  Is that why people move west? 

[simms3]

And because I created this thread…and I got to dust my camera off, literally, I get to post random non-related pictures, too. 

I caught a flash mob interpretive dance on some street corners a block from my place last evening around 7:30-8:30, so I grabbed my camera and took some shots…and anyone still care to tell me how to post video?













































The Atlanta Zoo, in Grant Park (this was yesterday when it was 95 degrees out…)



Cyclorama, in Grant Park.

\

Good bye:

[simms3]

I was actually doing a hella lot of business in Atlanta around 99 to 2001.  My business associate there lived out in Dunwoody, it was a guy that was well known in Atlanta for a while:  Michael Molen and a company called Sanswire.  I was doing international negotiation for the company, and helped develop a municipal model of wireless internet deployment for them.  We actually brought the concept here to Jacksonville, and were pursuing it with JEA before the Feds stepped in with regulation prohibiting energy companies from deploying information services.

At that time I was hanging out mostly in the west (?) end....At a place called The Fountainhead, near hamburger mary's  Loved that place, chocolate martinis and all.

I returned to MJQ in the underground location, and rather liked the new space, especially when they kept the VIP rooms visually hidden from the rest of the club.  (although a bit more oxygen would have been appreciated), and still like it.  But nothing will be as cool as when it was the tiny microclub at the basement of the Ponce, in my opinion.

Atlanta has some pretty marvelous spaces, and I think Jacksonville would be well served to follow many of the examples provided by the city.  Its awesome to have you posting so much visual information, because it proves that point in a way no essay can provide.

Its a very very cool service, and its a visual essay that isnt really found anywhere else on the web.

Thanks, I appreciate it.  Whenever I post pictures of Jax online I am always prepared to undergo a lack of interest or even negative attention, whether or not it is deserved (I don't mean on Jax specific websites like this where everyone enjoys the pictures, but public forums with a wider audience), and Atlanta also to a similar degree is so hated on.  It's a city that is hard to get because a) people can be pretentious and less than friendly (there is still *some* southern hospitality, lol), b) it's very easy to be in the wrong area and get the wrong impression, c) it's so easy to hate since it spent 2 decades being the poster child of sprawl along with LA, and d) it's so difficult to navigate and explore because it is hilly, has dense tree coverage, and unless you're with someone familiar with Atlanta you don't know where to go.  It's a city that is like a combo of Chicago's core development pattern (albeit 50 years behind), Pittsburgh's hidden neighborhoods that are cool but nobody knows about, and DC's suburban nodes, and it doesn't yet have an identity.

It's getting to be impossible for me to find time to take pics nowadays, even of new cities I haven't been to or taken pictures of.  Props to Lake and those involved with MetroJax who always find time to take great pictures for the urban studies.

[thelakelander]

And I didnt mean to say that I don't like Atlanta.  I do.  But I really love several of the other cities.  After the three that I listed, I would have to say, Chicago, New York, Charleston, Minneapolis, Santa Barbara, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, and DC would follow closely behind.

What about you Lake?

I'm a sucker for coastal or river cities that are compact at a pedestrian scale level as well as being architectural and cultural diverse.  DC would probably be my favorite but places like Miami, Chicago, Charleston, Boston, etc. are right there on that list.  Overall, I don't really loathe any cities since I can find something that appeals to me in most.  For example, as far as Atlanta goes, I like it culturally but I'm not to excited about it at the pedestrian scale.  Nevertheless, it is impressive to see the amount of infill that has taken place since the late 80s/early 90s.

[thelakelander]

Thanks, I appreciate it.  Whenever I post pictures of Jax online I am always prepared to undergo a lack of interest or even negative attention, whether or not it is deserved (I don't mean on Jax specific websites like this where everyone enjoys the pictures, but public forums with a wider audience), and Atlanta also to a similar degree is so hated on.  It's a city that is hard to get because a) people can be pretentious and less than friendly (there is still *some* southern hospitality, lol), b) it's very easy to be in the wrong area and get the wrong impression, c) it's so easy to hate since it spent 2 decades being the poster child of sprawl along with LA, and d) it's so difficult to navigate and explore because it is hilly, has dense tree coverage, and unless you're with someone familiar with Atlanta you don't know where to go.  It's a city that is like a combo of Chicago's core development pattern (albeit 50 years behind), Pittsburgh's hidden neighborhoods that are cool but nobody knows about, and DC's suburban nodes, and it doesn't yet have an identity.

It's getting to be impossible for me to find time to take pics nowadays, even of new cities I haven't been to or taken pictures of.  Props to Lake and those involved with MetroJax who always find time to take great pictures for the urban studies.

Thanks.  I seriously don't know where I find the time myself.  As for the Atlanta hate on larger urban forums, I think its a mixture of jealousy, anger and the fact that its not as historically dense as typical Midwestern and Northeastern cities.  Most of that comes from those from or living in those areas and its directed to nearly every city south of the Mason Dixon line, excluding DC, Baltimore and Richmond.  Don't worry or get offended, just keep posting.

[Ocklawaha]

If The Lakelander EVER goes to Portland, Oregon, we've lost him forever...

OCKLAWAHA

[simms3]

Just wanted to see what it would look like to blur some of the larger warehouses in Atlanta (in various districts) together.




























I couldn't help myself, sorry