Southeast Atlanta neighbourhoods— Chosewood Park, Benteen Park, Boulevard Heights, etc. (Roswell: buying a house, neighborhoods)

[bryantm3]

i went down there tonight, taking Boulevard all the way past Grant Park across the BeltLine and going down to McDonough, which I took back up to University to I-75. There is something about this part of town that feels so removed from the rest of town, the land is really flat and you feel like you're way out in the country. It was pretty in a way—but one thing that kind of turned me off was that I drove by a group of kids and one of them happened to say "HEY MAN, F--K YOU" when we passed. okay, i'm not going to lie i thought it was very funny. but still it seemed a large part of town down there is seemingly abandoned, not a lot of stuff going on. it's a shame because the countryside is actually very pretty. and i saw the federal penitentiary for the first time— believe it or not it actually looks pretty nice especially for a jail. i thought it was some kind of federal building, it has a sort of beaux-arts theme to it.


anyone familiar with this part of town?

[bryantm3]

oh, and whatever the hell this is:

Google Maps

needs to go. i looked on google maps and it is apparently not even used, it's some kind of huge concrete parking lot that seems to be there for no reason at all. it's about a mile long and is above street level creating quite an eyesore.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

oh, and whatever the hell this is:

Google Maps

needs to go. i looked on google maps and it is apparently not even used, it's some kind of huge concrete parking lot that seems to be there for no reason at all. it's about a mile long and is above street level creating quite an eyesore.

That was the GM Lakewood plant, a stalwart on the Atlanta manufacturing scene for decades. Thousands of Atlantans worked there and it was a key economic driver on the south side.

I'm sure the property is available to anyone who wants to redevelop it.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i went down there tonight, taking Boulevard all the way past Grant Park across the BeltLine and going down to McDonough, which I took back up to University to I-75. There is something about this part of town that feels so removed from the rest of town, the land is really flat and you feel like you're way out in the country. It was pretty in a way—but one thing that kind of turned me off was that I drove by a group of kids and one of them happened to say "HEY MAN, F--K YOU" when we passed. okay, i'm not going to lie i thought it was very funny. but still it seemed a large part of town down there is seemingly abandoned, not a lot of stuff going on. it's a shame because the countryside is actually very pretty. and i saw the federal penitentiary for the first time— believe it or not it actually looks pretty nice especially for a jail. i thought it was some kind of federal building, it has a sort of beaux-arts theme to it.


anyone familiar with this part of town?

Just had to say that that is pretty funny! I see why you laughed!

I have been over there before but not that familiar with it except it is near the drive in movie theater and we looked into buying a house in Chosewood years ago but didn't because it is further from downtown than where we currently live and we wanted to drastically decrease commuting time. It seemed like a quiet area and I know there is a park in the Chosewood Park area, but that is it.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That was the GM Lakewood plant, a stalwart on the Atlanta manufacturing scene for decades. Thousands of Atlantans worked there and it was a key economic driver on the south side.

I'm sure the property is available to anyone who wants to redevelop it.

yeah, that was the only thing i didn't like. i did like the graffiti on the walls, but it seems a shame that all that land is being used for an abandoned giant concrete platform.

[Mal93]

I spent my toddler years near there ... sort of a no-man's land cut off by the penitentiary, landfill, connector, 166, 285/675 and the multiple county/city borders which converge there down to the Conley area. A lot of the forested/farm area there became industrial areas, truck stops, transit companies, railroads, etc. moving freight from the massive post office (open 24-7 for years), airport, Ford Plant, GM Lakewood, etc. On top of all that blight (and I saw it first hand, that's what it was!), you also had the projects that were developed there--the first in the country. So like many other south atlanta old neighborhoods, those areas that had been in steady decline it seems since the 70s took a turn for the worse in the late 80s-90s. The "Ted" also cut off some of these areas from Grant Park,which began to become more "gentrified"(although Grant Park still retains some "edge" in places, its nothing like it used to be!).

An interesting "old Atlanta" historical site near there is the old Atlanta Prison Farm, where prisoners actually raised crops and animals. Zoo animals were also buried on the grounds (including Willie B). The buildings are fairly ruined, but there have been several guided treks by urban explorers over the years. There is a small movement to have the city reclaim these hundreds of acres of potential greenspace/parkspace:
http://www.atlantaprisonfarm.com/

this is a blog (I have no connection to this person, just found it while googling images) which has some really nice images of the recent state of several features of the farm compound:
phreakmonkey.com » Blog Archive » Atlanta Prison Farm

I always found the alternative medicine history of the Lakewood Heights village area fascinating, and despite rough times, many beautiful homes and a walkable town center/community spirit have survived. Lakewood has made a few headlines with its studios and the short-lived idea to relocate the zoo there-- I'm giving away my age when I say I barely remember the old speedway that used to be there!

If you drive down McDonough and follow Jonesboro Rd, you will drive past this area as well as several old farmhouse type homes you'd expect to see around Rome or Roswell. Southview Cemetery is beautiful and is the last resting place of many historic Atlantans (MLK Jr & Dr. Benjamin Mays were originally interred here, and the "Buffalo Soldier). The non-perpetual care section goes back towards the railroad tracks and as children we walked up the tracks to explore and learn about the history there. The Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve & Southside Park are also two expansive greenspaces that bely the the former industrialization that caused this little part of SE ATL all but forgotten to those who don't live in the surrounding area. Unfortunately there are still several blighted areas of old homes in need of restoration, and the ancient singlewide trailer parks that are barely much more than rusted heaps but crammed with kids and families.

The penitentiary is a formidable, yet beautiful building! When we were "bad" my parents would drive past it and "threaten" to drop us off there. I still get chills just looking at those tall walls lining Constitution Rd. One of my elementary school friend's dad worked there during the Cuban detainee prison riots/fire in the 80s...very scary for a kid, looking up at the sky glowing with fire for days on end.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by Mal93

An interesting "old Atlanta" historical site near there is the old Atlanta Prison Farm, where prisoners actually raised crops and animals. Zoo animals were also buried on the grounds (including Willie B). The buildings are fairly ruined, but there have been several guided treks by urban explorers over the years. There is a small movement to have the city reclaim these hundreds of acres of potential greenspace/parkspace:
http://www.atlantaprisonfarm.com/

this is a blog (I have no connection to this person, just found it while googling images) which has some really nice images of the recent state of several features of the farm compound:
phreakmonkey.com » Blog Archive » Atlanta Prison Farm

I've done some hiking over there and it is pretty cool. Burned-out prison buildings and powerlines aside, there are ~500 acres of undeveloped land -- enough for soccer fields, hiking trails, pool/recreation areas, even a stable and riding trails. I really hope someone gets the city and the county together to work something out. There would be some cleanup involved because the city used it for a dumping ground for a while, but it could be really beautiful.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Mal93

An interesting "old Atlanta" historical site near there is the old Atlanta Prison Farm, where prisoners actually raised crops and animals. Zoo animals were also buried on the grounds (including Willie B). The buildings are fairly ruined, but there have been several guided treks by urban explorers over the years.

Thanks for an excellent post, Mal93.

[waronxmas]

Excellent post Mal93!

You hit the nail on the head: Southeast Atlanta is so different than the rest of the city because it was a huge industrial center that pretty much went belly up over the last half century. I remember as a kid if you drove up Lee Street, factories lined the entire street on the east side of the train tracks all the way from the train yard in East Point (near Ft. McPherson) north to Downtown.

Almost all of that is gone now and most of what remains are empty fields, old burnt out factories, concrete slabs where factories used to be, and the occasional still operating facility every mile or so. The gutting picked up in the 70s and 80s and coincided with the mass relocation of White residents on the Southside to points OTP.

Basically it's exactly what happened to the rustbelt cities, just on a much smaller scale.

I am pretty bullish about the resurgence of the area once the Beltline gets started. You really can't beat the proximity the center city from area of the city.

[Nast]

We drove down to this area yesterday on our tour of the Living Walls project (as an aside - the mural on the remaining GM wall pictured above was great; definitely worth checking out as it seems the controversy around it means it may not last for too long) and it was really the first time I had spent any time driving down there. It does seem like there is a lot of opportunity down there over the next 10-15 years or so.

When driving south on Boulevard, you can see a large colorful complex of buildings on up the hill on the left hand side, about a block or two before hitting McDonough Blvd. We drove over by it out of curiosity (I'll admit that when we initially drove past it looked like it might have been a huge Mexican restaurant) and it turned out to be an Asian (Vietnamese, maybe?) complex or temple grounds. I tried to find some information on it but haven't been able to find anything. Anyone know what it is?