WHY is the Westside getting so much development or will get so much? (Atlanta: neighborhoods, theater)

[Mal93]

Originally Posted by WestsideATLCindy

Being that my neighborhood identifies itself as being "Westside" and "NW Atlanta", and it was built in 1896, before your neighborhood was, I reckon we can refer to ourselves as Westside, TOO .

Just as an FYI, West End was settled in the 1830s; became part of Atlanta in 1894. The area where I live was settled in the 1840s (there's still the remnants of the 1840s Wilson House not far from my neighborhood). This same family lent their name to Wilson Ave now known as 14th st in Midtown.

Having said that, I love Whittier Mill (I pass through sometimes in my commute between the Westside /Cascade/Peyton Rd area up through Bolton en route to Vinings). But I am somewhat terrified of the huge petro tanks...what a shame to plonk those down right behind such cute houses! I used to do restoration work at Hollywood Cemetery in the 90s & 2000s and love the topography of the NW side of the city. Wish they'd finally tear down the last of the abandoned projects left to rot.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

That's cool you can disagree with everything I said "Westside Cindy", but to be honest I am right though and you are wrong.


I was raised on the westside, and I literally know most of NW and SW like the back of my hand. I'm from the Chappell Rd Section of Simpson, and I am old enough to remember when Simpson was no where near as bad as it is now. I used to catch the train and go hang out in the West End and Adamsville as a kid. I had an aunt that lived on Perry Blvd across from the old Archer High School. I have cousins that used to hustle and hang out in Hollywood Courts, Perry Homes and Bowen Homes. My best friend got murdered not even a month after we both graduated HS in the Mango Circle area. I even lived in SW down in Oakland City for a few years and I lived off of BE Mays Dr for about a year. One of my other best friends is from the Tucson Park section of Ben Hill, and I spent a good bit of time down there too. So like I said, I pretty much have the whole NW and SW covered, and the Westside is and always has been Bolton Rd to Campbellton Rd North to South and Downtown to Adamsville East to West. Just because you moved over there 10 years ago does not change that fact. Hell I'm a 80's baby and people were calling it the Westside for generations before I was even born.

Man, someone has their panties in a bunch.

Your definition of "Westside" covers damn near 1/4 the inside of the perimeter, yet you ridicule someone from 300 feet outside your border as delusional. Bolton Road is the border of Whittier Mill Village, and Whittier Mill is pretty much the only neighborhood on the west side, south of the river, inside the perimeter. Makes no sense to exclude it.

Also, your definition of "downtown to Adamsville" as the east to west borders makes no sense. Where does it end on the northeast side where Bolton ends? Marietta Blvd? DeFoors? The river and I-75? What does "Adamsville" mean as a west border. It's a speck in the mass you call Westside. If you're going to be so adamant about who is and who isn't "Westside" that you devolve into ridicule, then you need to be much more clear in your border definition. I honestly have no idea if where I live falls into your definition of Westside, because your eastern border doesn't exist.

Lastly, "Westside" is far too broad of an area to say "I'm from the Westside". There's no problem breaking it down as Riverside, Bolton, West Midtown, Knight Park, Bankhead, West End, etc. My area of "somewhere on the west, north of some place, but maybe too far east of over there" is a very different locale than Westview.

So be more clear, and refrain from the insults.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

Lastly, "Westside" is far too broad of an area to say "I'm from the Westside". There's no problem breaking it down as Riverside, Bolton, West Midtown, Knight Park, Bankhead, West End, etc. My area of "somewhere on the west, north of some place, but maybe too far east of over there" is a very different locale than Westview.

So be more clear, and refrain from the insults.

This. Exactly this.


And West Midtown should be a designated neighborhood. It is not official yet...

...but should be based on these boundaries:

//www.city-data.com/forum/16892176-post1.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/16893550-post4.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/16906852-post7.html


See Brother Bryantm3's Map below (you will need to scroll in) to see a fairly accurate outline/boundary of West Midtown:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=https...84399&t=m&z=11

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

But it's funny because "Westside Cindy" lives in Whittier Mill Village which is really nice actually, but its a new development.

thanks for the rep... but you're wrong about WMV. i mean it used to be kind of sketchy, but it's been there since the 1800s. they have added a lot of apartments and stuff though, but the original village on parrott avenue dates back pretty far.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by aries4118

This. Exactly this.


And West Midtown should be a designated neighborhood. It is not official yet...

...but should be based on these boundaries:

//www.city-data.com/forum/16892176-post1.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/16893550-post4.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/16906852-post7.html


See Brother Bryantm3's Map below (you will need to scroll in) to see a fairly accurate outline/boundary of West Midtown:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=https...84399&t=m&z=11

thanks for the link! but yeah, i'm with oldschoolchevy. it's cool to call it "west midtown", that makes sense... but for the folks calling it 'westside', that's basically stealing the name from another part of town.

about florida heights, yeah, i've been out there a couple of times on MARTA and i've driven through also. they get frequent mentions in the blotter, but to me it actually seems very nice and quiet. large parts of the westside and southside of atlanta ITP are like that, white people are too scared (racist) to go there so not much new development has happened there, it's like going back 30-40 years, it's actually kind of nice. some parts of the westside of course are pretty scary but the MLK corridor and down in east point where my dad grew up is almost like living in a small town, it's quieter than a lot of the suburbs.

[Psykomonkee]

Why the Westside?

Easy... Lots of underdeveloped space with high potential being so close to the city center, and relatively cheaper when compared to the much more developed East and North sides.

Just taking a quick look at Vine City, English Avenue, Bankhead, Simpson Avenue, all the way out to Vinings, there are LOTS of areas covered in open, empty and grass grown over lots. Lots of old, unused buildings and even some unused open plots of land like a closed landfill and such... LOTS of space to work on the West side.

I'm seriously hoping they don't screw it up by building it up to look just like the cookie-cutter suburban neighborhoods around Atlanta, but instead build it to have a specific to Atlanta, signature feel/design... Imagine neighborhoods built a lot like the neighborhoods in Savannah with green squares with fountains all around the area... Though that can't be an Atlanta specific thing, it still IS a Georgia thing.
And someone needs to start some sort of Atlanta specific style of Architecture to be used for many newly built homes in Atlanta.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

If Midtown ATL is going to be an urban neighborhood on par with some of the greatest urban neighborhoods in the nation, parking should be very expensive and hard to come by. Traffic should move slow and pedestrians should take precedence. We are dealing with a mentality shift that will need to take place for Midtown to take it's place next to other great urban neighborhoods at full build out.

I just hope the density and transit fans realize where they are heading. These poor folks have no elbow room at all.


Beijing Subway, Line 13, morning rush hour - just a little crowded - YouTube

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

thanks for the link! but yeah, i'm with oldschoolchevy. it's cool to call it "west midtown", that makes sense... but for the folks calling it 'westside', that's basically stealing the name from another part of town.

about florida heights, yeah, i've been out there a couple of times on MARTA and i've driven through also. they get frequent mentions in the blotter, but to me it actually seems very nice and quiet. large parts of the westside and southside of atlanta ITP are like that, white people are too scared (racist) to go there so not much new development has happened there, it's like going back 30-40 years, it's actually kind of nice. some parts of the westside of course are pretty scary but the MLK corridor and down in east point where my dad grew up is almost like living in a small town, it's quieter than a lot of the suburbs.

Um, I'm with you as well...

I don't think people should be calling West Midtown "Westside."

[WestsideATLCindy]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

thanks for the rep... but you're wrong about WMV. i mean it used to be kind of sketchy, but it's been there since the 1800s. they have added a lot of apartments and stuff though, but the original village on parrott avenue dates back pretty far.

For the record...There are NO apartments in WMV, and every street in WMV still has the original homes on it. The entire Village, as far as homes go, is still intact. From Bolton Road to the River, WMV is the same. Some homes were moved in the 1950's to other land in the Village, giving those homes larger lots (and the homes they were moved away from got a larger lot) but the homes were just moved a block or two to a different spot in the village. The Park is where the old Cotton Mills were, and we kept two of the Mill Ruins for historic value. Come see us. WMV never got sketchy, either. It remained owner occupied with very, very few rentals ever. Now there were some residents who got older and maybe did not have pristine homes and yards, but the neighborhood never "gentrified" because it never fell. It has always been working class owner occupants since the Mill started selling the homes to the workers. Within the borders of WMV the housing stock is almost exactly like what it was in 1930. The first homes were built around 1896, the "new" homes were built around 1925. Little has changed since except the aforementioned homes being moved from one lot to another in the 50's (they were moved to what used to be the WMV Baseball Field), and the creation of the Park where the Mills were.

[WestsideATLCindy]

Oh and as far as what we call it around here...personally I describe WMV as being as far NW as you can go in Atlanta and not fall into the River. We are Atlanta's Upper West Side. Some call it just the West Side, Westside, NW Atlanta...I do feel like anything near that Howell Mill/Huff Road area is West Midtown. That is what I call it. But I can see West Side or Westside working as well as a catch-all phrase for the general greater area. But I also see the point of other posters who say that traditionally, those monikers referred to other areas, so it seems silly to them that now other parts of town are called that. But things do evolve and change. If 5,000 people are referring to our area as the "West Side" now, guess what...that is what it will be known as, over time. Many areas of our city and country used to be called one thing, they are now known as another. It is not like we just started calling ourselves Ansley Park. I mean...we are on the west side of the city! The upper west side. We are about as UP, on the WEST side, as you can be. It's not like we are a wheel calling ourselves a bucket. "Where do you live?" "Well, it is on the West Side of the City, West of Howell Mill, and then you go towards...."