One of most blighted streets in the city? What next? (Atlanta: apartment complexes, homes)

[equinox63]

Along Chappell Road from Hollowell (Bankhead) to around Boone (Simpson), there are large swaths of incredibly dilapidated apartment buildings and homes. I thought they were abandoned until I saw that people lived in small sections of them. It's probably the worst I've seen in Atlanta in recent times.

What do you see happening to these areas in the foreseeable future?

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7667...8i6656!6m1!1e1

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7640...8i6656!6m1!1e1

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7652...8i6656!6m1!1e1

[primaltech]

Gentrification, eventually, maybe. But it will take a few decades. The Beltline and MARTA rehabilitation and such will be a part of that. First, English Avenue will start to change, just because of its in-town location. Then Bankhead, then Grove Park.

Or, maybe that whole strip won't change and it will always be the 'hood.

[arjay57]

The two Atlantas.

One of them is getting $6.5 billion in streetcars and billions more in corporate welfare for high performance computing centers, retractable roof football stadiums and $6,000 a month apartment towers.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The two Atlantas.

One of them is getting $6.5 billion in streetcars and billions more in corporate welfare for high performance computing centers, retractable roof football stadiums and $6,000 a month apartment towers.

Yeah, because one of them is where people actually want to live and won't be shot by a thug.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by Forhall

Yeah, because one of them is where people actually want to live and won't be shot by a thug.

Bankhead isn't dangerous. If you think Bankhead is dangerous I'd hope you never step foot in East Cleveland or South Chicago, or parts of New Jersey.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Bankhead isn't dangerous. If you think Bankhead is dangerous I'd hope you never step foot in East Cleveland or South Chicago, or parts of New Jersey.

I used to live in New York and lived in New Jersey for a year during a job transfer. I didn't step foot in certain parts of NJ - Paterson, parts of Newark were horrible. I also think Bank head is dangerous. Unsure of your point? There are dangerous areas everywhere.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by Forhall

Yeah, because one of them is where people actually want to live and won't be shot by a thug.

Truth be told, people thought the same thing about O4W, Kirkwood, East Lake, Summerhill, etc. some years ago... Techwood Homes is now Atlantic Station. Do you remember what was there before White Provisions? Or the Edgewood Shopping Center, or the Eastside Trail?

It wasn't pretty...

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Gentrification, eventually, maybe. But it will take a few decades. The Beltline and MARTA rehabilitation and such will be a part of that. First, English Avenue will start to change, just because of its in-town location. Then Bankhead, then Grove Park.

Or, maybe that whole strip won't change and it will always be the 'hood.

You think acres and acres of empty, boarded up apartment complexes will just sit there forever? All it takes is a millionaire/billionaire to buy them all up and make them something desirable. After all, this area is literally a stone's throw from the Bellwood Quarry.

Bellwood Quarry Will Eventually Be Atlanta

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by equinox63

You think acres and acres of empty, boarded up apartment complexes will just sit there forever? All it takes is a millionaire/billionaire to buy them all up and make them something desirable. After all, this area is literally a stone's throw from the Bellwood Quarry.

Bellwood Quarry Will Eventually Be Atlanta

If they ever do this it will be beautiful, but people won't feel comfortable going to it unless they gentrify those neighborhoods quite a bit.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The two Atlantas.

One of them is getting $6.5 billion in streetcars and billions more in corporate welfare for high performance computing centers, retractable roof football stadiums and $6,000 a month apartment towers.

These streets, specifically, are .33 to .5 miles from the BeltLine Light Rail. They are .6 miles away from Bankhead, and thus the Crosstown Midtown Streetcar / Light Rail Line. They are .3 miles from a planned frequent bus route. That's from this past MARTA referendum.

From the Atlanta TSPLOST, North Ave is set to get a Greenway makeover with traffic calming, green stormwater infrastructure, street trees, wayfinding, and bicycle infrastructure. Chappell Rd itself is set to get resurfacing, sidewalk installation and repair, street trees, granite curbing, ADA compliant crosswalks and ramps, and lighting. Oh, also the BeltLine right of way is quite close by.

From the Renew Atlanta bonds, Joseph E. Boone is getting complete street improvements including milling, repaving, and restriping to include bicycle lanes as well as sidewalk and pedestrian safety improvements.

Then there's the Proctor Creek Greenway, and the Westside Reservoir projects, which are rather massive undertakings of their own, and are within a mile from the area.


Therefore...

This area IS getting part of that massive transportation investment. It IS getting streetcars and light rail in the area, as well as a decent pile of other projects.

This IS the part of Atlanta getting that 'corporate welfare', as you love to frame it. Funny, it doesn't much look like a high-performance computing center, nor $6000 a month apartment tower part of town, though I don't see why those parts shouldn't ALSO get some high-capacity transit funding.

Who knows, though, maybe with everything planned, it might be a dense, vibrant, and urban neighborhood again, rather than the blight it mostly is right now.