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I thought this was an interesting article to share from Creative Loafing, which discusses the history, troubles, and planned fixes for Peachtree Street.
"It symbolized the highest and best real estate values in the city and identified Atlanta. It was our source of identity."...but "Today, Peachtree is a 'once-remarkable street that's nearly lost all its character,' says Neill Herring"
I agree and disagree with this. Yes, a lot of the history on Peachtree is gone, but some still remains (see Georgia Terrace, Fox Theatre, etc.). I think that the new high-rises, restaurants, and storefronts are creating a more walkable midtown, and creating a new "identity" for Atlanta along its most famous thoroughfare - arguably one that has a more sterilized feel, but that tourists would probably feel more comfortable in when visiting a new city. That said, I have an out of town visitor who we took to a restaurant around 12th and Peachtree, and the sidewalk life was dead. There are tons of new condos, apartments, etc. that most of us on here praise for bringing thousands of new residents to midtown Atlanta, but last night at least, people were nowhere to be seen. My visitor made the comment, "Isn't this like your central area, your core area, where are all the people?" I didn't really know how to answer that comment, because I always go to that area on weekends or during business hours, and there always seemed to be a good amount of pedestrian activity. But at 7:30PM on a weekday night, it was absolutely dead. So, I am asking all of you who are interested in urban development, where are all the people? The condos are there, the apartments are there, the restaurants and businesses are there, but the pedestrian life seems to be completely lacking. Why do you think this is, and how can this be fixed?
Great article! I think the beauty of Peachtree is that it represents ALL of Atlanta at one point: the rich, homeless, jailed, urban, Gen Y'ers. If you want to look at it that way. Some people thing the street should be gleaming like going through Buckhead or parts of Midtown the entire lenght of the street and it's just not going to be like that. The only thing I would get rid of is the P'tree/Pine Shelter.
Other than that I would focus on making the P'tree from Garnett MARTA to Five Points MARTA more residentially friendly. From Five Points to Auburn including Underground I would try to make that something that not only draws people from outside of the city but locals too (ie including the locals from the southern part of P'tree proposed residential to people in the burb couties). I personally thought a casino, a REAL casino like Vegas at Underground would have been a big draw for out of towners and locals a like and definitely brought a vibrancy back to that area. In a sense that is all Underground was before; an area that locals came to but also a tourist attraction for those not from ATL.
There are some areas of P'tree that are decent like from Auburn to Civic Center MARTA area and the Midtown Mile. I think the main focus should be on the areas around those portions of P'tree. Like the article was talking about especially in downtown with the decks there are those dead zones. I think a lot of the decks should be torn down and mixed use mid to high rise replacing them and around Midtown build the same on the empty lots. With that said keep most of the shops along P'tree and that will have folks walking from 2 or 3 blocks away to the main strip versus trying to build EVERYTHING right on P'tree and nothing if you go over a block or 2.
Finally, slowing down traffic buy reducing lanes and making transit the main priority, especially along the downtown/Midtown portion of P'tree will prompt more people to get out their cars and use the service, which will force them to do some walking along and around P'tree. At this time MARTA is REDUCING service (planned) on the #110 along that portion.
Some people are just going to have to accept that some portions of P'tree aren't going to be gleaming new but as long as they are vibrant it will be good. Just making sure there is security/Police also along all portions will be great too for out of towners and the suburbanites who are "scared" of downtown.
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The thing about Atlanta is that the linear nature of the core is what creates situations like you experienced. Unlike a lot of cities, the office towers aren't all confined to one place in a district. They intermix (especially in Midtown) among the residential districts too. There are spots that have a higher concentration of office towers than residential towers. 12th and Peachtree just so happens to be one of those spots.
During the day, there are a lot more people walking about in that specific area because they work there. In the evening it dies down considerably because those same people have gone home. For local residents, there are but just a few reasons (at the moment) to be there after 6pm. Mainly just higher end restaurants that do not lend themselves to pedestrian activity. I mean, how many people would be walking from Arts Center to eat at Oceanaire or STK? To go shopping at CB2? Not many. Oddly enough though, pedestrian activity picks way back up on late at night Thursday through Sunday because of the clubs on Crescent.
The interesting thing is though is that if you go just 5 blocks south, the area around 8th and Peachtree is always busy with a lot of pedestrian activity at night. It's the exact opposite of what happens a few blocks north because the buildings in that area are mainly residential. The same thing occurs and all over of the city. A few blocks south of 8th street the activity stops until you get to North Ave or go west to 5th street. If you go east, things die down again at Juniper and then pick up again at 10th and Piedmont, then die down again and pick back up again at Highland and Monroe, then again at highland and Virginia. The activity is there at night, you just need to know where to be in order to see it.
The odd thing though is that this is no where near specific to Atlanta. Every city has it's area that are bustling during the day and quiet at night. Take SoHo in Manhattan. During the day it's crammed full of people. As soon as the shops close down though, it's a ghost town.
Perhaps what throws people off about Atlanta is that we do not have a single massive area for all evening entertainment. We don't have a Vegas Strip or Times Square or South Beach. Rather we have pockets of activity all of over the city. Eventually, Midtown may turn in to one of these destinations but in the interim I don't think we lose anything by not having one. A night out in Virginia-Highland is completely different than a night out in EAV or on the Westside or in Castleberry Hill or wherever else. It's kind of like choose your own adventure.
I agree with most of what you said except this sentence
"Finally, slowing down traffic buy reducing lanes and making transit the main priority, especially along the downtown/Midtown portion of P'tree will prompt more people to get out their cars and use the service, which will force them to do some walking along and around P'tree."
If we're in DC or NYC where everyone is using mass transit - closing down Times Square makes sense. If you reduce lanes/slow traffic anywhere in Atlanta - it will be instantly a "place to avoid." No one wants to wait 20 minutes in traffic just to go to an average coffee shop etc.
Some people are just going to have to accept that some portions of P'tree aren't going to be gleaming new but as long as they are vibrant it will be good. Just making sure there is security/Police also along all portions will be great too for out of towners and the suburbanites who are "scared" of downtown.
Yes, I agree with this. There is no reason for P-tree to be gleaming new, especially in the downtown area where there is more history. There are lots of vibrant cities that are far from gleaming new. I will say, downtown has a huge police presence. I ride down Peachtree from work on my bicycle everyday and there are always tons of police and those Downtown Ambassador guys around, so hopefully that continues to improve perception of safety. Peachtree does need to become more vibrant though. Like I said, last night at 7:30, it was dead. There are plenty of things to do, so I'm not sure why it's so dead, especially with the huge amount of residents right there.
The odd thing though is that this is no where near specific to Atlanta. Every city has it's area that are bustling during the day and quiet at night. Take SoHo in Manhattan. During the day it's crammed full of people. As soon as the shops close down though, it's a ghost town.
Perhaps what throws people off about Atlanta is that we do not have a single massive area for all evening entertainment. We don't have a Vegas Strip or Times Square or South Beach. Rather we have pockets of activity all of over the city. Eventually, Midtown may turn in to one of these destinations but in the interim I don't think we lose anything by not having one. A night out in Virginia-Highland is completely different than a night out in EAV or on the Westside or in Castleberry Hill or wherever else. It's kind of like choose your own adventure.
I completely agree with this, and I think you are right about residential versus business, etc. However, at 12th and Peachtree there are a lot of condos, as well as hotels. I just feel like there should be more people out over there. It seems to me there is more of the mix you describe as what is needed - maybe there should be less upscale restaurants, and more affordable places, or even a movie theatre, to draw more of a crowd out. You are 100% correct though about other cities having the same "problem". There are def. areas of NYC that become ghost towns at night (see downtown Manhattan/Wall st area). However, NYC is viewed as vibrant, because there are lots of other areas in the core district that aren't dead, and they span for much more than a couple blocks. They also have other neighborhoods in the outer boroughs like we have other neighborhoods outside the core district that are very vibrant, but the "core" remains vibrant among residents and tourists alike. Now, I'm one of those people who hates when people compare NYC to Atlanta, so I'm not going to do that anymore because they are completely different places, but I think Atlanta does need larger vibrant sections. Personally, I want to walk more than 4 or 5 blocks in our midtown area before it goes dead again. I want to have visitors come and see that Atlanta has the walkable areas that it has, and that people use them, rather than having to say, "well, if we were here at this time, it would be more crowded". I guess I gave the tour backwards - we walked around Inman Park during business hours, and it was empty, and we walked around midtown after business hours, and it was empty. Both are usually very vibrant areas at the times I go, which I guess are the "peak" times.
Yes, I agree with this. There is no reason for P-tree to be gleaming new, especially in the downtown area where there is more history. There are lots of vibrant cities that are far from gleaming new. I will say, downtown has a huge police presence. I ride down Peachtree from work on my bicycle everyday and there are always tons of police and those Downtown Ambassador guys around, so hopefully that continues to improve perception of safety. Peachtree does need to become more vibrant though. Like I said, last night at 7:30, it was dead. There are plenty of things to do, so I'm not sure why it's so dead, especially with the huge amount of residents right there.
As they continue to build more apartments this will change. I would not say it is dead, it a big improvement from what that area used to be but things will continue to improve. Hopefully at least 600 people will move into those two new apartment buildings this year which would help increase foot traffic in Midtown
As they continue to build more apartments this will change. I would not say it is dead, it a big improvement from what that area used to be but things will continue to improve. Hopefully at least 600 people will move into those two new apartment buildings this year which would help increase foot traffic in Midtown
You're right, maybe dead is too hard. Maybe it's pulse just needs to quicken, and become more consistent I do love showing off what we have here in Atlanta to visitors, the vibrant neighborhoods are it's best attribute. I just hope to see our core continue to core, and build and maintain a vibrancy that we see in pictures from before white flight. We're on our way, it just really hit me last night to see how much more we have to go.
I agree with most of what you said except this sentence
"Finally, slowing down traffic buy reducing lanes and making transit the main priority, especially along the downtown/Midtown portion of P'tree will prompt more people to get out their cars and use the service, which will force them to do some walking along and around P'tree."
If we're in DC or NYC where everyone is using mass transit - closing down Times Square makes sense. If you reduce lanes/slow traffic anywhere in Atlanta - it will be instantly a "place to avoid." No one wants to wait 20 minutes in traffic just to go to an average coffee shop etc.
That actually makes sense. I mean this is still a car town so I can see how doing that would make that happen. There's a balance between the two though, where ATL can slow and limit traffic but not to the point that it would become a "place to avoid." Now if we could find that balance ....
That actually makes sense. I mean this is still a car town so I can see how doing that would make that happen. There's a balance between the two though, where ATL can slow and limit traffic but not to the point that it would become a "place to avoid." Now if we could find that balance ....
There are many effective methods of traffic calming.
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I do love showing off what we have here in Atlanta to visitors, the vibrant neighborhoods are it's best attribute. I just hope to see our core continue to core, and build and maintain a vibrancy that we see in pictures from before white flight. We're on our way, it just really hit me last night to see how much more we have to go.
