How has Atlanta changed in the last few years? (Buckhead: prices, bus)

[evannole]

Back to the original topic:

-Development around O4W has been really transformational. Ponce City Market has continued to evolve and improve even in the last year. I was down there today and liked it even more than I did on my last visit.

-The Westside is really starting to heat up as well. It will be interesting to see what happens now that Bacchanalia and the main branch of Star Provisions have moved over to Ellsworth Industrial Blvd. Hopefully the move helps that area; meanwhile I think that Westside Provisions will fill the void left by their departure just fine.

-Avalon in Alpharetta is worth a visit. Yes, at the end of the day, it's a high-end outdoor mall surrounded by high-end residential development, but it's very well done. Good landscaping and pretty interesting architecture, particularly on some of the houses. And both the shopping and food are pretty good.

-The Battery Atlanta and SunTrust Park are, without a doubt, the right way to develop a new ballpark. The site has been quite vibrant every time I have been down there, and I still haven't found the time to go on a game night. People can (and will) argue until they're blue in the face about the way the project was pushed through, the lack of rail transit and the public funding that went to build the stadium portion, but that aside, it's a very well-done development and stadium and the fact that there's something going on there all the time, rather than just 81 days a year, is just smart.

-This one comes more from personal experience, but Marietta Square and the surrounding downtown area have been completely revitalized and transformed just in the last three or four years. High quality dining options abound, including Spring, which was just named one of the 50 best new restaurants in the country by Bon Appétit. Spring Review | Bon Appetit There's always something happening here and the vibe, with a mix of young and old, hip and traditional, makes it really fun. We were up there tonight for the First Friday Art Walk and it was absolutely crawling with people. It's definitely considerably more vibrant than when we moved here three years ago, and completely different from the 2000s, when I would never even think to come up here.

-The area around the airport has really started to turn around; I think the Porsche development has been helpful, and there's quite a bit more in the pipeline. Downtown Hapeville is a lot more interesting than it once was.

-Further afield, Downtown Woodstock is really quite impressive. Small, but very well done. A large chunk of it was built pretty much from scratch, and they did it right and integrated it well with what was already there.

Well, that's my two cents, anyways...

[jsvh]

Ah, yes, you left in 2013. You missed out on a lot of controversy surrounding the Braves leaving the city! You should go see the nice outdoor mall next to the stadium but then search this forum on the Braves Cobb relocation and you will find lots on it. Needless to say, I am in the camp of the other true Atlantans that are no long able to support the Braves

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

With your argument, you can live a car-free lifestyle in Nashville, Boise, or Dubuque. Uber and Instacart exist everywhere (or almost everywhere....I don't know the penetration, exactly, but you could tout the no-car lifestyle just about anywhere using your logic).

TONS of people live a "car-free lifestyle" in Savannah ... just saying

[Newsboy]

Adding to my earlier post about the film and TV industry ...

AMC has outright purchased Raleigh Atlanta Studios where "The Walking Dead" is filmed

AMC buys ‘The Walking Dead’ studio for $8.25 million | Radio & TV Talk

And two more film and TV production studios have been announced for Fayette County, which is already home to Pinewood Atlanta Studios -- the largest purpose-built film studio in North America, and the most modern all-digital film studio in the world.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Ah, yes, you left in 2013. You missed out on a lot of controversy surrounding the Braves leaving the city! You should go see the nice outdoor mall next to the stadium but then search this forum on the Braves Cobb relocation and you will find lots on it. Needless to say, I am in the camp of the other true Atlantans that are no long able to support the Braves

Me too.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

too many transplants...

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

too many transplants...

...Which is a challenge that every prosperous large major metropolitan region along the nation's southern tier is dealing with from Washington D.C. to Charlotte to Nashville to Atlanta to Florida to Texas to Phoenix to Southern California.

If you live in a city/metro that is considered to be very economically viable in a region of the nation with warmer weather, you are going to be dealing with tons of transplants who move there for improved economic/financial opportunities and milder weather.

If one has to choose, I guess that it is better to have the challenge of having too many people wanting to move to our city instead of having the challenge of having too many people wanting to leave our city because of a lack of opportunity.

[Bythewayof]

I was looking at Zillow and My WORD!!! The changes and the prices. A small home in the O4W for over $500K!?! Just looking over the Atlanta area map for a 3b2ba sfh and seeing prices of $300K+ in areas that when I was there were deemed too ghetto and such is mind blowing.

I just read an article about the braves moving and how GSU is using turner field for it's football. I still don't understand the reasoning for moving, and why Marietta? I can imagine the move will bring a lot of change to the area. I used to work in Cobb County and I felt like it was a wonderful area because while there still was traffic, it didn't feel as bad as areas off i-85.

I've noticed the Georgia Peach sign after numerous TV shows and movies. It is amazing how much of a film hub it has become. In fact I was talking with a friend and who was considering moving to LA to get into the biz and mentioned how he should also consider Atlanta because of the opportunities.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Bythewayof

I was looking at Zillow and My WORD!!! The changes and the prices. A small home in the O4W for over $500K!?! Just looking over the Atlanta area map for a 3b2ba sfh and seeing prices of $300K+ in areas that when I was there were deemed too ghetto and such is mind blowing.

Yep. Old Fourth Ward has really transformed in the last several years. You really would not recognize it.

Originally Posted by Bythewayof

I just read an article about the braves moving and how GSU is using turner field for it's football. I still don't understand the reasoning for moving, and why Marietta? I can imagine the move will bring a lot of change to the area. I used to work in Cobb County and I felt like it was a wonderful area because while there still was traffic, it didn't feel as bad as areas off i-85.

Think their stated reason is something to the effect of they wanted to be "closer to their fans" (which of course is insulting if you were a fan that lived on the south side, east side, or in the city) or they wanted to "create a better game-day expirence" and they often cite "The Battery" (The neighboring outdoor mall they built) as a key benefit. Of course the day they left the area around Turner Field started getting redeveloped on a much larger scale than "The Battery". There also were a lot of implication from the Braves and their fans about how terrible in-town Atlanta is as they tried to list the reasons. Of course really the $400M tax handout from Cobb is the driving factor of the move. But there are multiple threads dozens of pages long on this that you should go read instead of rehashing here.

[Sualpine]

Increased prices, no MARTA expansion, still no bright lights district. So, nothing positive.