What's the story on all the empty city blocks in College Park? (Atlanta: apartment, how much)

[southernc]

Last week I was exploring College Park. I like the downtown area. But nearby, especially west of downtown, I saw street after street (Columbia Ave, etc.) where there clearly used to be neighborhoods full of houses. The driveways were still there, but the empty lots were completely overgrown with trees.

Does anyone know the story about what happened to these neighborhoods in College Park? When did this happen, and why?

[tikigod311]

Just a guess, but it may have something to do with the runways. I know there are programs where if the decibel level is too high, the airport has to install insulated windows and sound proof the house.

I know the planes can be pretty loud right there in CP. Standing outside the MARTA station the planes are very low. Possibly these properties were too close to even soundproof so the airport bought them out and razed them. If you follow the paths of the runways in both directions, it is clear that those properties were the closer than any others. It was likely too loud to fix.

[HayateWind]

Hartsfield-Jackson generally affects the neighborhoods that lie to its east and west the most. The entire area of Mountain Park was literally wiped off the map due to the construction of the midfield terminal complex in the early 80's.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by HayateWind

Hartsfield-Jackson generally affects the neighborhoods that lie to its east and west the most. The entire area of Mountain Park was literally wiped off the map due to the construction of the midfield terminal complex in the early 80's.

I know this sounds nitpicky, but for the record, the town that got wiped off the map was Mountain View. You can see Stone Mountain from that area, thus the name. Mountain Park is a small incorporated town in far north Fulton on the Cherokee line, completely surrounded by Roswell.

The midfield terminal expansion also rerouted the section of 85 from 285 up to the Virginia Avenue area to the west quite a distance. The old route ran close to where the current terminal is today.. This took several blocks off the map of College Park. The current population of just under 14,000 is almost half of its population in the 60s and 70s as airport expansion and noise abatement programs have taken up large chunks of the city.

[cwkimbro]

I also know FAA programs in recent years have been doing alot to buy up residential property in the immediate flight paths of runways. I'm not sure how much that played a part....

You can see similar trends near Dekalb-Peachtree.

Newer airports require larger residential buffers.

I'm also curious...

I know over the years Atlanta and the airport had to strikes a couple of deals with College Park to keep growing... Does anyone know if at any point deals were made to help buy out affected homeowners? (form the city/airport... not FAA)

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I also know FAA programs in recent years have been doing alot to buy up residential property in the immediate flight paths of runways. I'm not sure how much that played a part....

You can see similar trends near Dekalb-Peachtree.

Newer airports require larger residential buffers.

I'm also curious...

I know over the years Atlanta and the airport had to strikes a couple of deals with College Park to keep growing... Does anyone know if at any point deals were made to help buy out affected homeowners? (form the city/airport... not FAA)

If you want to see this in major practice, check out Heritage Creek by the Louisville, KY Airport. This was an entire neighborhood bought by the FAA/airport and razed. Only a few homes still remain, but it's mostly just a street grid with grass in between.

[berkeleylake]

I haven't been in that particular area of College Park in a few years now, but would have guessed airport expansion.

In the coming years, I think the airport will continue to gobble up land around it continuing to adversely affecting residential and commercial areas of College Park, East Point, Riverdale and Hapeville.

[ATLTJL]

In the coming years, I think the airport will continue to gobble up land around it continuing to adversely affecting residential and commercial areas of College Park, East Point, Riverdale and Hapeville.

Probably right.

That's why the smart money is pretty much staying out of these areas.

[emcee squared]

As other have said, probably a combination of FAA rules/airport expansion.

If you use Google Earth, the historical imagery goes back to around 1993. More houses and a few apartment blocks were in the area, but a majority of the buildings were demolished before then.

[cwkimbro]

I figured this picture was appropriate. This is a aerial view of Atlanta's old terminal, before the built the new (current) one further south and west. It was built pretty close to over those homes to the left.

Atlanta Airport - 1969 aerial photo