Is Little 5 Points a real bohemian neighborhood or just a tourist trap? (Atlanta: homes, neighborhoods)

[watchmanonthewall]

Little 5 Points has a "come visit us" tourist video on youtube and some of the local businesses look like Florida souvenir shops. What do you say; yes, it's a haven for artists, etc... or no, it's corporate America at its worst?

[WilliamM]

Real bohemian neighborhood or tourist trap?

How about: both.

[atlantagreg30127]

It's a couple of blocks of bong shops and body-pierced modern hippies. Nothing more, nothing less. Interesting place to visit and eat out in, but I'd hardly say it qualifies as a "real" bohemian neighborhood (on a large scale, anyway) OR a tourist destination.

[LuluBelle25]

I'll go with both. It has some pretty good stuff to offer...as far as food, entertainment, sights, but it's not a bohemian neighborhood...more like expensive and I don't know about the tourist part..because my boyfriend and his family travel to Atlanta during the summers for vacation and they knew nothing about L5P until I showed them the area. Other people I've talked to from out of town don't really know it exists.

[atlantamoi]

Never thought of it as a tourist spot, but I could be wrong.

[south-to-west]

It's definitely not a tourist trap.

Think Greenwich Village--grungy, granola scene surrounded by very expensive homes.

[goozer]

I think L5P is a "bohemian" neighborhood, but like many "bohemian" neighborhoods nationwide, it attracts a fair amount of tourists who want to revel in the bohemian-ness of it all. Whether that makes it a tourist trap, I don't know. Take any of the world's great mystical temples (e.g., Angkor Wat in Cambodia or Borobudur in Indonesia), and any day of the year there will be HUNDREDS of tourists from all over the world snapping photos. It kind of takes away from the spirtuality of the whole experience. But without the tourists, the place itself is still legit. L5P is kind of like that, but on a much smaller scale.

[JPD]

Little Five Points is little more than a shopping destination these days. It's neither bohemian nor touristy. The "tourists" it attracts are mostly teens from the outer suburbs.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

It's definitely not a tourist trap.

Think Greenwich Village--grungy, granola scene surrounded by very expensive homes.

Ditto that.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by JPD

Little Five Points is little more than a shopping destination these days. It's neither bohemian nor touristy. The "tourists" it attracts are mostly teens from the outer suburbs.

You discount the effect of Freedom Park and the nearby homes and walkability. Certainly that makes it more than a shopping destination. It actually gives it new urbanist qualities. And true new urbanism is always significantly more than a shopping destination.