Reed to announce Underground Atlanta's redevelopment tomorrow (Update (2014, waterparks)

[thebigATL]

Reed to announce Underground Atlanta's redevelopment tomorrow (Update) | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

CAN'T WAIT TILL TOMORROW!!!

[aries4118]

What y'all think it's gonna be?

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by aries4118

What y'all think it's gonna be?

The world's largest strip club...

[paris-on-ponce]

Cobb County bought it. Tim Lee's moving Underground Atlanta across the river.

[gtcorndog]

Underground goes through this every decade and continues to be a waste. I have no faith the latest redevelopment will do anything to make this place worth visiting... Unless you want bootleg DVDs and knockoff handbags.

[Ant131531]

Let's be honest: It's not the development itself moreso than the "element" that exists around it. Redevelopment will be nice, but until you eliminate the real problem, bandaid fixes don't solve much of anything.

[Dkeating]

I'm optimistic about this development, because of two other things: (1) the increased interest in Downtown living among younger people; and (2) GSU's change to more of a residential school.

[AnsleyPark]

I hope that a renewed UA will prompt the city to clean up the Five Points area.

[onemanarmy]

Yes, the problem with the past developments are they were geared around making Underground an entertainment zone, instead of an actual neighborhood. It's hard to have a pure entertainment zone, unless your entire economy is dedicated to it, see New Orleans & Vegas. This seems like the first development to turn Five Points into a neighborhood, because people who live in the area actually care about it's upkeep.

[AtlantaIsHot]

Originally Posted by onemanarmy

Yes, the problem with the past developments are they were geared around making Underground an entertainment zone, instead of an actual neighborhood. It's hard to have a pure entertainment zone, unless your entire economy is dedicated to it, see New Orleans & Vegas. This seems like the first development to turn Five Points into a neighborhood, because people who live in the area actually care about it's upkeep.

This I am in accordance with. Underground Atlanta has always fascinated me due to how it came into being. It is arguably the most interesting part of Atlanta. Those preserved fronts are amazing. I've always thought that it was at it's best in the past when it was Atlanta's Bourbon Street. If residential growth comes to downtown, UA will revive without much help. I can understand Atlanta's leaders having problems doing something with it because it's HARD to think of what could work there. The problem with some of the ideas others have had in making it a "neighborhood" or an "artist colony" is that the historical buildings may be changed or otherwise destroyed for all practical purposes. I still think that they should be preserved as they were when they existed the first time. I used to think it should be a "time capsule" of Atlanta's rail history and days gone by. Somewhat similar to Williamsburg, Va.'s "living museum" of colonial America. I felt like a railroad "show" living museum would of been a good idea. However, it's hard to pull that off without looking somewhat tacky. Williamsburg was nice in the past, but now it's a full-blown tourist trap all around it with waterparks and "colonial" motels. Still, the idea of a Publix in there doesn't really do it justice to me. It's hard getting something to work without being kitschy. This is one of Atlanta's final chances to preserve a significant part of it's past. It's hard to come up with something that preserves the essence of it, moves it forward, and makes people WANT to go there. I'm not sure the answer has arrived yet, but I will say that the best parts of cities are what grows organically, not what is "made." Just my two cents as a future Atlanta area resident.