Elements of Urbanism: Buckhead & Midtown Atlanta
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/599829367_T3ptj-M.jpg)
Midtown Atlanta is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, situated between the commercial and financial district of Downtown to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-dec-elements-of-urbanism-buckhead-midtown-atlanta
Oh look! Covered bus shelters, entrenched and mostly-logical mass-transit system, loads of high-rises and 'scrapers, huge convention center! I have absolutely *no* idea what Jax can be "learning from" Atlanta! ::)
But seriously, great article and great shots. Well done as always!
Will a new mayor make a difference for Jax? Pardon any ignorance.
Jacksonville has GOT to get the THREE (3) homeless shelters from off of the main entrance to the downtown area, Union Street! This is no shot against the homeless, but against the city planners...PEACE.
BigBlackRod....Agree
But on a negative note, don't you hate all those utility wires? .....everywhere......
What, no mention of the top-end perimeter? No mention of the Gallaria area? All considered Atlanta, and with their own high rises as well. Charlotte can only dream of getting to the business of Atlanta.
I'm seeing Jacksonville's future right before my very eyes by looking @ these photos!
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 24, 2009, 12:13:39 PM
What, no mention of the top-end perimeter? No mention of the Gallaria area? All considered Atlanta, and with their own high rises as well. Charlotte can only dream of getting to the business of Atlanta.
probably not since its an article about Midtown and Buckhead!
Midtown gained a phenominal number of residential units during the last boom.
The Carter project in Buckhead has halted construction.
As a Jacksonville native who has lived in Atlanta for decades, I must point out that Atlanta does not have,
a. The Saint Johns
b. The Atlantic
Also, Merry Christmas to all!
Pretty ironic, that upscale, big business "Midtown" used to be the "10th Street" area where all the hippies hung out, back in the day. An area of bars (some featuring women who wore little clothing), head shops, with clothing stores and book shops serving that clientele, and so on.
Anyway, nice looking area.
Atlanta also has water quality issues. Cross connection protection is just now starting to take hold. Jax has been doing it for 25 years.
THey didn't mention the old factory that was converted to city offices. THey had a satilite offices there for building department. They also didn't mention all the flack about the Atlantic station when they were building it. Brownfield in Atlanta isn't so spectactular since it is what they have left.
I like the Virginia Highlands area better. Although we did go to church in Buckhead.
Quote from: billy on December 24, 2009, 02:24:03 PM
As a Jacksonville native who has lived in Atlanta for decades, I must point out that Atlanta does not have,
a. The Saint Johns
b. The Atlantic
Very true. We just have to get around to figuring out how to best benefit from these natural assets. To bad we can't import Charlotte or Atlanta's leadership to town for two full terms. It would be pretty interesting to see what they could due with the Atlantic and St. Johns River in play.
That Target store in Buckhead is two story. It has entrances to the parking garage on both levels. It is connected to the parking garage and shares it with the other stores. Inside there is a special escallator for the shoping carts.
Any body that wants Jacksonville to turn into Atlanta should move to Atlanta.
Im surprised you didn't get robbed taking the pictures.
Buckhead is a dump
I was robbed there.
Just because YOU had a bad experience there doesn't mean it is a dump. You can get robbed anywhere nowadays.
Jax is well on its way to turning into the next conglomeration of Marietta, Sandy Springs, Jonesboro, Snellville, etc. In other words our current growth patterns makes us resemble an Atlanta with a river and beach but without MARTA and Atlanta's densifying urban core or a smaller consolidated version of Detroit with less DT revitalization success and better weather.
We should be trying to become a better Jacksonville that is a sustainable community built on our history and natural features. Unfortunately, most of our actions the last few decades show that we are fine having an identity of being an Anyplace USA sunbelt sprawler.
Lake, thanks again for the tour.
I have to parrot Eva Gabor in Green Acres, "...but give me Park Avenue!". Many of these scenes seem too antiseptic looking and make me long for "older" looking cities of the north.
I understand its hard to pick up vibes from pictures, but a few shots reminded me of your recent Arlington, VA tour, just on a far bigger scale. I certainly would not wish this exact outcome on Jax. That's not to say I don't want many of Atlanta's amenities and that Atlanta doesn't have some nice areas, but I am not enthralled with the apparent coldness of some of the streets and high rises' architecture and lack of personality. I rue the day we replace our sadly lost historic structures with one glass fortress and solid wall after another. These pictures should serve as motivation to preserve what little we have left as it appears to be all but irreplaceable in this day and age.
Maybe I am too much of a "traditionalist" but I sure love old architecture a lot more.
Also, Lake, how consistent is the presence of street level retail in these areas? Can you take care of everyday needs within walking distance? Didn't see any streetcars either. Do buses do the trick here? I know they have Marta but that's for suburban travel, right?
Both are served by MARTA, however there are plans for a streetcar system. As for how they feel at street level, density drops off drastically the farther you move away from Peachtree Street. As for walkability, Arlington, VA is more pedestrian friendly. You could get away with not having a car in Midtown but Buckhead still has some filling up to do.
You can visit Virginia Highlands, Candler, Grant and Inman Park, East Atlanta, and Decatur/Oakhurst
for a feel of the older neighborhoods.
I just cant understand,city with 5 million people...and empty streets.Looks like ghost town.Where are the people?
Nevermind,one person is hidden behind sign. :-)
That explains.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/599828827_HJJJx-M.jpg)
Quote from: Bostech on December 25, 2009, 07:13:29 PM
I just cant understand,city with 5 million people...and empty streets.Looks like ghost town.Where are the people?
This goes to some of my comments about just how pedestrian and user friendly these "environments" really are. Would the streets of New York, bad weather aside, ever look this desolate in daylight hours on an apparently otherwise nice day?
NYC does look desolated in bad weather. :-)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/eqv3vo.jpg)
Quote from: Bostech on December 25, 2009, 07:13:29 PM
I just cant understand,city with 5 million people...and empty streets.Looks like ghost town.Where are the people?
Gee its not that hard to figure out. Judging by the absence of cars as well as people, I'm guessing that these were taken on a Sunday morning. Not that it ever gets to bustling in Midtown but it's somewhere between bustling and desolate.
And hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. Though the Blueprint Midtown has been remarkably successful in attracting new development since it was adopted in 1997, its still very much in its early stages of being realized. Right now there are still too many "gaps" in the urban fabric and the recession has certainly had a negative impact. As someone pointed out earlier, it wasn't that long ago that Midtown was a place known for its "colorful" people, prostitutes, and drug dealers.
As for Buckhead, its too far gone with suburban style development to ever be truly walkable except for the area known as the village.
Blueprint Midtown
(http://www.midtownalliance.org/Documents/EX_SUM.pdf (http://www.midtownalliance.org/Documents/EX_SUM.pdf))
Its a still city with 5 million people.I lived in Europe in several cities with population of 200-500K and city streets always had people at any given time.
In US,beside NYC which is bustling 24/7 most cities Ive been are same way.But NYC is too expensive and living spaces are too small and pricey.
In rest of USA,after 6PM there is barely anyone downtown,most people spend time in car and very few out walking.Suburban lifestyle everywhere you go.
Its just not matter of having some streets with urban lifestyle or lined up bars,it is lifestyle choice,and most Americans,like or not,prefer suburbs and car culture.
I said it long time ago,I dont think that will ever change unless some natural disaster or maybe lack of oil FORCES people to live in urban environments like NYC.
Not to mention there are many corporations and politicians who would not like to see people living in urban centers,since makes them less money,just like here in Jax.
Most politicians are not supportive of urban living because lobbyist want them to work for corporations interest not peoples interest.
The images were taken on a Sunday morning. Atlanta is also not a city with 5 million residents. That's the metropolitan number and that number is spread out across a large area of NW Georgia.
I lived in Atlanta during their boom, specifically in Buckhead. Here are my thoughts.
Buckhead is a vertical suburb, defined by single use buildings with gated access. It is one of many edge cities in Metro Atlanta, where from afar, it looks like a city, but from up close, it's really just private high-rises centered around a mall. (And it's far from a dump: I make a lot of money and I was "middle class" in Buckhead.)
The part of Midtown that's most interesting is the part not shown in these pictures, and that the preserved, pre-war two-story apartment blocks that line Piedmont Park. While Midtown's scrapers are more mixed-use than those in Buckhead, it's an area you drive to and park to walk around, versus an area you walk to. Still, it's a start!
Atlantic Station, the mixed-use development you photographed, is a mixed bag of success and failure. On the one hand, it's a mixed-use development in Atlanta. On the other, it's more of a glorified mall built over a huge parking deck. And, fugly. Also, can you really have a mixed-use development anchored by an IKEA? Having several thousand cars pile into that lot for stylish, cheap furniture and housewares doesn't exactly make Atlantic Station a great place to walk.
Speaking of, Atlanta IS parking decks. They love them.
Those empty street pictures would be true any day and any time of the week. Atlanta drives.
Those utility poles are everywhere and are ugly.
QuoteI understand its hard to pick up vibes from pictures, but a few shots reminded me of your recent Arlington, VA tour, just on a far bigger scale. I certainly would not wish this exact outcome on Jax. That's not to say I don't want many of Atlanta's amenities and that Atlanta doesn't have some nice areas, but I am not enthralled with the apparent coldness of some of the streets and high rises' architecture and lack of personality. I rue the day we replace our sadly lost historic structures with one glass fortress and solid wall after another. These pictures should serve as motivation to preserve what little we have left as it appears to be all but irreplaceable in this day and age.
To be fair to Arlington, the 1950s-era strip-mall construction replaced with "soulless" development is not really the same as what they've done in Atlanta, which is to replace actual historical buildings with "soulless" development. In addition, Arlington is filled with street life. You should be so lucky to have "soulless" development actually attract "souls" to Jacksonville. Arlington is a massive success, a model for the country in many ways. It may not appeal to you
architecturally, but it should appeal to you as a New Urbanist.
QuoteYou could get away with not having a car in Midtown but Buckhead still has some filling up to do.
No, you really can't. But the fabric for that moment is certainly being sewn.
QuoteThe images were taken on a Sunday morning. Atlanta is also not a city with 5 million residents. That's the metropolitan number and that number is spread out across a large area of NW Georgia.
It has a remarkably low population density. I was astonished at how spread out it is there.
However, Metro Atlanta does have a lot going for it, including:
1. A educated, upwardly mobile population.
2. Lots of diversity (a land-bound island of diversity in the South, y'all.)
3. Great food at every price point, and of a large variety. Fatlanta, indeed. I gained a ton of weight there.
4. Inexpensive to live. My one regret in moving from Atlanta to DC was the astronomical cost increase to live here. I paid $950 a month to rent a 1 bedroom with den on the 32nd floor of a Buckhead highrise. I currently pay $2600 a month to rent a 1 bedroom with "desk nook" English Basement apartment in Georgetown. My quality of urban life is much better here in DC...but I'm not certain if it's THAT much better to warrant the price, and while I could have moved into cheaper digs, I wanted the equivalent of the Buckhead lifestyle in DC, much like I wanted the equivalent of the Boca Raton lifestyle when I moved to Atlanta's Buckhead.
5. Best art museum outside of New York, and that includes DC's National Gallery of Art.
6. Lots of places to find work.
7. Atlanta's quite pretty, actually.
8. Best weather I've ever lived in. 8 months of 70-degree weather, three months of hot...and one month of not-really-cold.
9. Outside of 7-11, whatever store you like to shop at, Atlanta pretty much has it.
10. Piedmont Park. Is. Awesome.
All in all, not a bad place to live. It's not a really URBAN place to live. It's not a place to turn in the car and buy a bike. It's not a place to remotely think about using mass transit as a viable alternative to the car. But, you get a lot of bang for your buck in Metro Atlanta. I totally understand its popularity, and partook of its charms for a few years myself!
To put things in perspective, Jacksonville's urban area is denser than Atlanta's.
Quote from: Bostech on December 26, 2009, 09:58:17 PM
Its a still city with 5 million people.I lived in Europe in several cities with population of 200-500K and city streets always had people at any given time.
In US,beside NYC which is bustling 24/7 most cities Ive been are same way.But NYC is too expensive and living spaces are too small and pricey.
In rest of USA,after 6PM there is barely anyone downtown,most people spend time in car and very few out walking.Suburban lifestyle everywhere you go.
Its just not matter of having some streets with urban lifestyle or lined up bars,it is lifestyle choice,and most Americans,like or not,prefer suburbs and car culture.
I said it long time ago,I dont think that will ever change unless some natural disaster or maybe lack of oil FORCES people to live in urban environments like NYC.
Not to mention there are many corporations and politicians who would not like to see people living in urban centers,since makes them less money,just like here in Jax.
Most politicians are not supportive of urban living because lobbyist want them to work for corporations interest not peoples interest.
Well we're not talking about any given time. We're talking specifically Sunday morning. Every city I've ever been in, including those in Europe were quiet on Sunday morning.
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 24, 2009, 12:13:39 PM
What, no mention of the top-end perimeter? No mention of the Gallaria area? All considered Atlanta, and with their own high rises as well. Charlotte can only dream of getting to the business of Atlanta.
What does Charlotte have to do with this? We're concerned with being the best Charlotte we can be, and we're doing one hell of a job with that. And right now, we're not concerned with developing edge cities that rival our CBD in terms of office space, corporate relocations, amenities, etc. and I hope it stays that way for a long time.
QuoteWhat does Charlotte have to do with this? We're concerned with being the best Charlotte we can be, and we're doing one hell of a job with that. And right now, we're not concerned with developing edge cities that rival our CBD in terms of office space, corporate relocations, amenities, etc. and I hope it stays that way for a long time.
I love the idea of "being the best Charlotte we can be." Jacksonville should focus on that.
However, Charlotte is related to and indebted to Atlanta in many ways. By fostering a low-tax, low-overhead climate for business, while providing a great standard of living for not a lot of money, Charlotte is certainly playing by the Atlanta playbook. Moreover, Atlantans are quite aware that Charlotte, Memphis and Nashville have been growing along lines that The Big Peach pioneered and are starting to view those metropolii as
rival cities, rather than
complimentary cities. And you have to give Atlanta props; they certainly play to win, even if I don't agree with the way in which they approach the game (I'm just liberal enough to want to pay some taxes for...you know, services and education for the well-being of the whole.)
Finally, edge cities aren't really developed...and Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, DC, Boston, Philly, etc. didn't exactly go out of their way to create the edge cities. Nobody really thought that the Perimeter Mall north of Atlanta would attract a bunch of office towers. Nobody really imagined that Tysons Corner and Tysons II in Virginia would be ringed by office towers, so much so that it's the largest agglomeration of office space in the DC area. Charlotte benefits from learning from past mistakes made in larger, more developed cities like Atlanta in this regard. However, most of the cities with edge cities are actively trying to redevelop them into something more, something pedestrian-friendly, and something lasting and tangible. In DC, there are examples of successes here (Silver Springs, Bethesda, Arlington's Crystal City,) and works-in-progress (Tyson's Corner.)
To use Atlanta as an example, they arte trying to unify and connect the regions, the "edge cities" inside the perimeter, as well as transform "Perimeter Center" into a "fake downtown." When they succeed (and I have little doubt that a metropolis as dynamic as Atlanta won't succeed,) Atlanta will have several, viable "downtowns," much like DC does at present, which will make them all the more competitive.
Charlotte is part of the story because a great deal of the tale of Charlotte's success involves looking at Atlanta, and how that region essentially created, invented...the New South.
A Jacksonville native, and current resident who lived in Atlanta for 7 years, working in one of the buildings in these photos and living in another, I can tell you the one thing Atlanta does offer is parking decks, and better land use for parking deck/retail combos that fit lots of retail and people and cars into smaller intown areas.
Jacksonville has a lot more natural beauty to work with, the beaches, the river, and older neighborhoods like Springfield that if they were ever restored would put the Poncy/Virginia Highlands to shame.
Jacksonville will never be Atlanta, and shouldn't try, it could be better, the one thing I miss there is progressive growth oriented Government. The things we should emulate from Atlanta are a government that doesn't favor development in some neighborhoods over others, an attitude that you focus on the business to be done, and the rest will follow, and zoning (well, at least prior to shutting down the midtown 24-hour nightspots) that encourages areas that are less desirable to use bars/restraunts/adult venues/etc to create environments that attract people.
People forget that midtown and Techwood were once ghettos far worse than anything we have in Jacksonville, and it took a progression of forward thinking minority groups transforming the area two decades to create the clean, yuppie oriented neighborhood you see today, before that Peachtree/10th/Ponce were a lot of all night gay bars, tranny hustlers, drug dealers, and seedy dive bars. It's cleaned up now, but it's roots are not in redevlopment plans, clean family fun and "upscale" shopping, and it was still largely that way less than 10 years ago.
Great post GideonGlib. I lived in Midtown a yr with a total of 8yrs altogether in the ATL. When I moved back to Jax in 03 I was excited with all the new developments, super bowl on the way, new court house, etc, etc. But I soon realized where I was and why I left. Atlanta has changed and wow has it grown since I left. If given the chance I would move back in a heart beat. With our current leadership and the mentality of this area I feel we will see more of the same, pocket parks for the homeless to roam and boaring architecture, that's if anything is built here.
It's funny, even back in 2003 Midtown was largely a gay ghetto, now, with the 17th Street Developments, Backstreet being torn down to placate yuppie condo owners, and development everywhere it's funny to me how the demographics have changed, and while the neighborhood is still diverse it is increasingly younger, whiter, and more homogenized.
I don't really see that as an all bad thing, because now similar revitalizations are well underway, spearheaded by a lot of the same folks who were early pioneers of Midtown, in the WestEnd, East Atlanta, Kirkwood, etc... neighborhoods are being refreshed, diversified, cleaned up and becoming more vibrant.
It's interesting to me that Jacksonville has been slower to see those same trends, and that Riverside wasn't abandoned to the yuppies 10 years ago by the gay/artist/hipster/urban pioneer folks beating a path to Springfield, and that the developers have yet to descend onto Brooklyn with it's excellent access to the interstate AND the core city with a mixed use residential/retail plan. Can you imagine how great it would be to see an Ikea right off the new Forrest Street/I-95 exit, surrounded by a Target, a Whole Foods/Trader Joe's extending down to Riverside Avenue, and all surrounded by townhouses and condo's with an only partially obscured river view being serviced by a skyway stop that connected the area with downtown and san marco? One decent development like that would make Jacksonville forget the "Town Center" and flock into the urban core.
It's sad that developers and the city can't work together on a vision like that to replace the historic structures that were town down in Brooklyn to make way for the new interstate access and road work.
Y'all do realize that Buckhead was once a suburb of Atlanta.
don't tell Stephen that!
QuoteAtlanta has changed and wow has it grown since I left. If given the chance I would move back in a heart beat. With our current leadership and the mentality of this area I feel we will see more of the same, pocket parks for the homeless to roam and boaring architecture, that's if anything is built here.
Keith - You are right dead on. If it were not for the friends my wife has made, since she left ATL for JAX, she would pull me back to ATL in a heartbeat. But as much as we would like growth in Jax, albeit more controlled than ATL, the folks in Atlanta have a real mess of a downtown, with little to no life after 5, other than tourists. I went to GT there and spent 5 years there after graduation and worked at Coke and GP downtown for a few years. As much as ATL tried to grow downtown, Midtown and Buckhead seemed to pull people further north. The developments on Peachtree from I-85 to GA 400 are incredible, I did not believe it when I saw it last week.
ATL also has a multi-billion dollar water system/pipe infrastructure project going on, police equipment failures, Fire and Rescue issues, as well as counties and cities who want to pull out of being part of the city due to paying for services they feel are unfair in their areas. Jax has little to none of that. We are so much further ahead, albeit backward in some cases, but we are not having to pay the piper for years of overdevelopment downtown without the infrastructure to support it. ATL will survive, but its residents are being taxed to death to support the new lifestyle.
Well I will agree with you there. I don't miss the taxes nor the traffic, but its amazing has fast that place has grown.
Does anyone think our butler area could become like midtown (financial-type district).
No, I don't. Our version of "Midtown" would be the Southbank or Brooklyn/Riverside Ave.
Quote from: thelakelander on January 03, 2010, 07:29:00 PM
No, I don't. Our version of "Midtown" would be the Southbank or Brooklyn/Riverside Ave.
Isn't that considered part of downtown? It seems that with the beach building upwards, downtown already with tall buildings, butler area (ADT, citi, etc) would be the middle of town. Just my $0.02
well some call the Butler area midtown (check the townhomes west of Southside)...but when comparing Atlanta's "northern downtown", Lake is right using the Southbank or Brooklyn areas
I consider Atlanta's Midtown to be about the same thing as Miami's Brickell or Detroit's New Center. Its an extension of DT. JTB is too far away from DT to be considered a "Midtown" and too spread out to be considered a "financial district." The JTB corridor could turn out to be something like Buckhead but it would take a couple of decades and massives changes to the comp plan to pull it off. In other words, I would not hold my breath.
Quote from: coredumped on January 03, 2010, 09:31:11 PM
Quote from: thelakelander on January 03, 2010, 07:29:00 PM
No, I don't. Our version of "Midtown" would be the Southbank or Brooklyn/Riverside Ave.
Isn't that considered part of downtown? It seems that with the beach building upwards, downtown already with tall buildings, butler area (ADT, citi, etc) would be the middle of town. Just my $0.02
Or the middle of the Southside. Although Brooklyn and the Southbank are included in the CBD's boundaries, historically they are independent areas and have similar development patterns to an Atlanta's Midtown or a Miami's Brickell. JTB is more like Tampa's Westshore, Orlando's Heathrow or Atlanta's Cumberland/Galleria area. A suburban edge city.
Distance-wise, where would Midtown be in the same relation to downtown Jax as it is to DT ATL? In each direction.
Springfield to the North, the Southbank to the South. Midtown is separated from DT Atlanta by I-75/85.
Quote from: thelakelander on January 03, 2010, 07:29:00 PM
No, I don't. Our version of "Midtown" would be the Southbank or Brooklyn/Riverside Ave.
Or Beaver street between the railroad and I-95. MidTown had some industry in it too and run down housing.
I believe (could be wrong) that the boundaries of midtown were North Avenue, 14th Street
Monroe or Charles Allen (sic) and 75/85.
Buckhead was supposed to be defined by Peachtree, Piedmont and Lindbergh but the implied boundaries expanded outwards so people could claim the label.
correct...downtown and midtown Atlanta are adjacent...North Avenue basically serves as the northern boundary of downtown.
Hi. Longtime lurker. First time poster. I have had family in Jacksonville for the last 20 years so I like to know what is going on. As a 17-year resident of Atlanta, I felt I need to chime in.
First, yes Downtown and Midtown are adjacent. Downtown is officially 2-mi x 2-mi and is bounded by I-20 (south), Boulevard/Monroe Dr (east), North Ave (north) and Northside Dr (west). Midtown is the 2-mi x 2-mi square just north - North Ave (south), Boulevard/Monroe Dr (east), Pershing Point/Brookwood Split (north) and Northside Dr (west). Buckhead is essentially everything north of the Brookwood Split (75/85 split at 17th St), east of I-75 and north of I-85) - a big, big area.
Essentially, think of Atlanta like Manhattan. Manhattan has Downtown (Lower Manh.), Midtown and Uptown (Upper East and West sides). Atlanta has Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead (our uptown). Atlanta is probably one of the few cities (like New York) that has multiple CBDs within the city limits proper.
As to the poster who said that "downtown (Atlanta) is a mess." I have to defend Atlanta on this one. Yes downtown still struggles with life after 5p, but it has come a long way in this past decade. I question how long ago that poster was last living and working in Atlanta. There are more restaurants in downtown than there have been in the almost two decades I have lived here and probably longer than that that increasingly attract not just workers and tourists, but residents like me.
Just last month, my wife and I went downtown on a Saturday night to eat dinner, go to the aquarium and look at the lights in Centennial Park. The place was packed. We had to wait for a table at Legal Seafoods (on a night with no conventions, big events in town). The ice skating rink at the park had a long wait to get on the ice. The whole scene would have been unheard of 15 years ago. So downtown still has further to go and has its problems (some of which are similar to Jax's), but it has come a long way since I have been here.
I was so curious if analysis had been done on the two neighborhoods in Atl I was primarily in this weekend on MJ and was not disappointed. The difference between Buckhead and Midtown could not have been more stark.
I was staying in Buckhead because it was cheaper, and was intensely disappointed by the design. The incoherent street layout, long driveways and auto/parking garage-centric main entrances reminded me much more of Deerwood/Town Center than an urban core. A perfect example that density and transit on their own are not sufficient ingredients for creating vibrant urban neighborhoods.
Midtown on the other hand, seemed like a very very promising neighborhood, with an easy to navigate grid system and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes. As a first time visitor to Atlanta without a local guide, getting around Midtown both in car and on foot was entirely painless. Getting anywhere in Buckhead, regardless of transportation mode, would have been impossible without GPS (even with it, I drove by my hotel 3 times before turning down the right driveway).
I thought it worth bringing up again since these design and development results are for all intents and purposes set in stone. For better or worse, Atlanta is stuck with Buckhead as a "vertical suburb", whereas Midtown has the potential to be an easily accessible CBD or even a livable, walkable and vibrant urban neighborhood. Above all, we can't fixate on density, or fixed-rail, or a convention center, or eliminating the visibly homeless as a magic bullet. (re)Building sustainable, desirable neighborhoods takes a degree of coordination and vision that has to be maintained over the long-term, something this city seems to have struggled with. But with all the potential and history Jacksonville has, I'm optimistic.
I too lived in Midtown during the early 80's. The slogan was "much ado about Midtown". When I looked around, it was very much like a run-down springfield and not all that much 'adoing'. Yeah, it does look like it's been cleaned up and developed, but jeez, I hope we don't emulate the big city thinking that we need downtown IKEA's, and Starbucks, or any other national/international company to say we've made it. Those big companies are big because they pay their workers squat. That seems to be the current model of American capitalism.
I'd much rather see greater development emulate the king and park street areas. Local business hire locally and spend their money locally. I think about that every time I get an hankering for Red Lobster. Sure their cheezy biscuits are the bomb, but isn't my money being spent better at St. Johns Seafood? When I think of desirable urban areas, two or three or four come to mind...dupont circle, south beach, san francisco, southsiide Pittsburgh, and Greenwich Village in NY. My dream, would be that Jax grows its own entrepreneur class and opens hundreds of business, not owned by large corporations, but rather by my neighbors down the street. Yeah, Jacksonville is the cat's meow in terms of the raw materials it has to work with...river, weather, beaches, etc. and I'd hate to see that sacrificed or overlooked by some entity that just only sees Jacksonville as a viable market to suck money out of the area, or hire hundreds at $8/hr. Sky scrapers? We probably have enough sorry to say. I've read it before and I agree, that's not the kind of development we should be seeking at this time. Fact, nothing in downtown D.C. is over 12 stories high and yet, no one would argue they need a sky scraper to denote their success.