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I took a little driving tour of Bankhead Courts before it was demolished because I wanted to see what it was really like.
You shouldn't discourage people from experience all kinds of areas to see how people live. Bankhead Courts was infamous, and I wanted to see what it looked like. I also like urban decay and abandoned buildings, and you could say, "you shouldn't trespass on abandoned property, that's illegal!"
Yep, sure is, but it's still fun to explore! I also went to Greenbriar Mall because I wanted to see what it was like. I don't see any problem with exploring your city, I like to know all about Atlanta.
Incidentally, I think I had quite an interesting take on Bankhead Courts. I thought Bankhead Highway was pretty dilapidated, but upon seeing the housing project, my first thought was, "I've lived in apartments that looked WAAAAAYYYYYY worse than these!!!!" Of course, I don't know what they looked like on the inside.
My morning advice came from a physician friend. He told me that Bankhead Courts had all kinds of resources including an on-site library and some area where he gave free health screenings. He was the one who told me to visit during the morning. He said around 2 or 3pm, people start coming out, and you have a lot of people just sort of walking around, not doing anything, with no particular place to be. Maybe selling drugs, maybe just bored, but his advice was its best to be around when those folks aren't.
I took a little driving tour of Bankhead Courts before it was demolished because I wanted to see what it was really like.
You shouldn't discourage people from experience all kinds of areas to see how people live. Bankhead Courts was infamous, and I wanted to see what it looked like. I also like urban decay and abandoned buildings, and you could say, "you shouldn't trespass on abandoned property, that's illegal!"
Yep, sure is, but it's still fun to explore! I also went to Greenbriar Mall because I wanted to see what it was like. I don't see any problem with exploring your city, I like to know all about Atlanta.
Incidentally, I think I had quite an interesting take on Bankhead Courts. I thought Bankhead Highway was pretty dilapidated, but upon seeing the housing project, my first thought was, "I've lived in apartments that looked WAAAAAYYYYYY worse than these!!!!" Of course, I don't know what they looked like on the inside.
My morning advice came from a physician friend. He told me that Bankhead Courts had all kinds of resources including an on-site library and some area where he gave free health screenings. He was the one who told me to visit during the morning. He said around 2 or 3pm, people start coming out, and you have a lot of people just sort of walking around, not doing anything, with no particular place to be. Maybe selling drugs, maybe just bored, but his advice was its best to be around when those folks aren't.
That's my hood experience!
I don't discourage people from driving through wherever they want to drive through. But just driving through something doesn't tell you what it is "really like." IMO
As stated, I have been in Bankhead Courts many times. Housing projects in Atlanta were not as bad as people think they were overall. People think they will get killed there all the time because they rile themselves up in fear in regards to other people's POV who have no experience with those areas.
I have experience in all the areas mentioned in the OP, but people dismiss what I say quite often.
I also don't understand the lure of wanting to visit these areas thinking they are so different than regular American life. IMO that is indicative of prejudicial thoughts in regards to thinking other humans are inferior to you just because of their class or race.
Public housing for the most part were and still are filled with decent, nice people who just happen to be poor. A large amount of Bankhead Court's population was elderly. They had very nice gardens. The apartments were nice. Contrary to what people think, public housing has very high standards in regards to liveability, much moreso than privately managed "affordable housing" communities. There was a lot of money invested into Bankhead and Herndon and all of the former AHA locations starting in the early 1990s. Most of them and even the current locations still there (there are elderly public housing buildings still in Atlanta) are much nicer than most apartment communities, which is why I feel that people's "curiosity" is very much misguided in this regard.
I will state that Hollywood was a dangerous community IMO. And I find it odd that people don't speak of Hollywood like they do Bankhead or Herndon or even Bowen Homes. I think it is because Hollywood was not the focus of music videos and too many people base their views of places on entertainers and not in reality. We had to have armed police officers as security at Hollywood due to a high level of crime in that community. It was the most dangerous location in our portfolio and Bankhead and Herndon activity was nothing compared to what went on at Hollywood.
Point being is that the lure you hear of in entertainment about particular neighborhoods or public housing locations is usually 95% false. You will not get shot out just because you drive through the bluff. Practically no one will pay you any attention.
Bankhead did have a library and a medical clinic. So did Bowen Homes and a couple other public housing locations. People forget that these communities were first created to provide decent, non-slum housing for poor people. They did fulfill their mission for the most part and that is why many former residents have fond memories of living in those locations. I have fond memories of our residents and I get kind of POd when so many people view these people as foreign creatures and chose to think that they are horrible people when 95% of them are not and I'm sure there are just as many bad people in your mid to upper income communities versus in lower income communities. They just are more secretive about what they are doing.
I'm talking just driving through ghetto areas like Bankhead, English Avenue and Vine City (The Bluff), East Lake Meadows. I'm very curious about these areas since Atlanta hoods are a bit famous in a way . I'm not going get out of my car. Is this too dangerous of an idea?
Not dangerous, but you could visit a poorer neighborhood through volunteering and maybe make things a tiny bit better--You will get a closer look, be with folks that know the area, and possibly help out a little. You could mentor/tutor a child, or plant trees (as far as I know, Trees Atlanta volunteers plant trees in every neighborhood in the city--you can call and ask if they have plans to plant in any neigborhood you are interested in).
residinghere, you've made some good points, but I think you've misinterpreted the question.
I totally get your main point, which is that people in the projects are just perfectly normal, nice people like everybody else. So don't dehumanize them by driving through and gawking at them.
However, that is your own personal baggage. The OP said nothing about looking at people like he was in a zoo. He simply wants to experience this side of life.
I suspect if someone came in here and was constantly assuming these areas were horrible crime dens, the sentiment would be, "Stop talking about what you know nothing about. Why don't you actually visit these areas to see what they are really like?"
So now that someone is actually expressing interest in doing just that, the sentiment is don't come treat these people like they are on display.
I'm all for exploring areas of town, seeing how people live, and talking to people. I think we should cut the OP a break and assume that he is simply interested in discovering what these parts of town are really like, not the common conception of them.
Shouldn't that intellectual curiosity be encouraged?
residinghere, you've made some good points, but I think you've misinterpreted the question.
I totally get your main point, which is that people in the projects are just perfectly normal, nice people like everybody else. So don't dehumanize them by driving through and gawking at them.
However, that is your own personal baggage. The OP said nothing about looking at people like he was in a zoo. He simply wants to experience this side of life.
I suspect if someone came in here and was constantly assuming these areas were horrible crime dens, the sentiment would be, "Stop talking about what you know nothing about. Why don't you actually visit these areas to see what they are really like?"
So now that someone is actually expressing interest in doing just that, the sentiment is don't come treat these people like they are on display.
I'm all for exploring areas of town, seeing how people live, and talking to people. I think we should cut the OP a break and assume that he is simply interested in discovering what these parts of town are really like, not the common conception of them.
Shouldn't that intellectual curiosity be encouraged?
What makes you think I have any baggage? Seems to me you got defensive about my statements, which is understandable. I don't have any baggage about any of the areas I know. I am not curious about any neighborhood or community in metro Atlanta. I am not afraid of any neighborhood in Atlanta either. So I don't have any baggage or reason to be upset. I'm just making observations based upon the comments posted and the OP's initial post.
Also, I also didn't say anything negative toward the OP. The OP and yourself mentioned how "dangerous" these places were and that they had a "reputation." Advice was asked about whether or not someone should visit these places.
I was providing advice, first being that no one is going to shoot at you or pay you much attention if you drive through any neighborhood in Atlanta. That people should not base their perceptions on a neighborhood or a group of people on movies, TV shows, or music videos. Most of the content on "screens" is fictional and is not representative of real life.
You stated information in regards to Bankhead. You wanted to "experience" Bankhead so you drove through that community after everyone had moved. I stated you did not experience Bankhead because you never went there when people were there by your admission. I told you the apartments were nice apartments. They did have a school and library. A large amount of residents were elderly and many of them had beautiful flower gardens. A majority of those residents were nice people.
I even stated that it is odd that so many are fascinated by ghettos and public housing due to media. IMO that is indicative of the media's and popular culture's grip on the populace, whereas we see images and automatically assume they are true without critical thought. I stated that Bankhead and Bowen and Herndon and other housing projects have a horrible reputation, when by all accounts they were not as bad as lesser known housing projects, like Hollywood that I rarely see mentioned in this forum. Hollywood was a dangerous community. The most dangerous one that I have "experienced" in Atlanta.
I advised you and the OP that if you really want to "experience" a place, especially a neighborhood or community in Atlanta, you should volunteer to help clean up neighborhoods or in another capacity. There are many community groups in Vine City and English Avenue especially. They also have festivals and community events. If it hasn't occurred already, you should look up the "Festival of Lights" which is an annual even that occurs in English Avenue, usually in October. They have a parade and a lot of residents are there and you can fulfill you curiosity by walking around with community members and getting a true feel for the neighborhood and the people there.
In April they have cleanup days for Earth Day. You can contact the Bellwood Boys and Girls Club and see about tutoring kids there or helping with afters chool programs. Ga Tech students volunteer there with after school STEM programs. They have an annual Christmas party where they always need people to help.
Get a real experience instead of driving and looking and being afraid and spreading fanciful stories.
Sure. What about going to the bluff late at night. Go talk to the dudes standing on the corner and tell them that you are here to take over their trap and you will see some first hand action
Sure. What about going to the bluff late at night. Go talk to the dudes standing on the corner and tell them that you are here to take over their trap and you will see some first hand action
LOL. If someone wants to go up to someone standing on a corner in any neighborhood and make threats they will see some action.
If you are exploring ghetto black neighborhoods with the intent of it being an "adventure" then IMO that is indicative of gawking at negroes.
I explored various parts of Atlanta primarily due to finding routes through the metro that I could take that had less traffic than the freeways when I had to drive all over the metro for work.
One of the first things I learned when I would be going from Cobb County to downtown Atlanta was that driving down Marietta to Bankhead to Brawley to MLK would get me to one of our offices much quicker than going down northside drive.
One of the craziest things to me about this whole conversation is the fact that the majority of people have probably already driven through "the Bluff." If you've gone down Simpson St/Joseph E. Boone, you have driven through it. If you have driven down 78 to Northside Drive, you have already driven through it. If you have driven down Ashby/Joseph E. Lowery to Marietta St, then you have driven through it.
Also, as was posed to another member, I highly doubt anyone jumped on your car or shot at you. As stated, I lived in English Avenue every day for 7 years. I have tenants right now in that house and I was never shot at or attacked and the house has never been broken into either. If it is such a shot filled, criminally minded neighborhood, then how did I live there nearly a decade without anything happening to me.
I also personally know practically all the white people who live in the neighborhood. Other than being harrassed by police, they also have had few bad experiences. The neighborhood is actually pretty quiet. A relative who had to stay with me for about 6 months was shocked at how quiet it was due to the rumors she heard about it being unsafe. She said it was much quieter than her own suburban neighborhood.
No, it's not an "adventure." I grew up in this town and simply like to stay informed.
And no, no one has ever shot at me or jumped on my car. That hasn't crossed my mind. If you still lived on English Avenue and invited us over for dinner, I'd have no hesitation about accepting.
Why not. You can always educate and open your mind to all types of areas and people. Go for it yourself and see for yourself.
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