Does Atlanta Have the worst big city downtown in the South? (Decatur: obgyn, lawyers)

[LovelySummer]

So I think we can all agree that whoever raised Chicago in this thread was nuts bc there is absolutely no comparison.

Back to reality.

I proposed one idea for improving the city (getting ppl to keep up their yards intown) but that was shot down. It's hard to look world-class when the "premiere" neighborhoods have yards and home facades that look unkempt. So that is a start. Bringing single family homes to downtown could be another approach to infusing money and bringing up the downtown. I like what was done at Atlantic Station but higher end would be even nicer for downtown. A couple of really nice neighborhoods downtown would dress up the appearance a bit. I'm not talking little craftsman and bungalow houses like you see in Va-Hi o r Inman. I'm talking large, palatial beauties with large green lawns that are raked (lol). Another suggestion I made is for city governmt to stop running Atlanta and suburbs like it is a backwoods country bumpkin town and clean up all of the empty or overrun lots that are eyesores. When I moved to Atlanta, it just looked so country to me. Streets without sidewalks in some places, shacks down the street from beautiful victorians, empty lots, residential mixed with commercial. It was like anything goes. That is so country. The govt has to do better than that. Grant Park has a ton of empty lots that are overrun, for example. They are also in Candler, all over East Atlanta, Mechanicsville, etc. Every intown neighborhood should be as picturesque as City of Atlanta Druid Hills and West Buckhead. There should be a drive to get people to think about and pull their homes together. That would bring up the entire inner city of Atlanta.

[Pemgin]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

A couple of really nice neighborhoods downtown would dress up the appearance a bit. I'm not talking little craftsman and bungalow houses like you see in Va-Hi o r Inman. I'm talking large, palatial beauties with large green lawns that are raked (lol).

That's what Buckhead is for. Having this in the middle of the densest district of the city is a terrible idea.

[OuiOui]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

So I think we can all agree that whoever raised Chicago in this thread was nuts bc there is absolutely no comparison.

I proposed one idea for improving the city (getting ppl to keep up their yards intown) but that was shot down. It's hard to look world-class when the "premiere" neighborhoods have yards and home facades that look unkempt. So that is a start. Bringing single family homes to downtown could be another approach to infusing money and bringing up the downtown. I like what was done at Atlantic Station but higher end would be even nicer for downtown. A couple of really nice neighborhoods downtown would dress up the appearance a bit. I'm not talking little craftsman and bungalow houses like you see in Va-Hi o r Inman. I'm talking large, palatial beauties with large green lawns that are raked (lol). Another suggestion I made is for city governmt to stop running Atlanta and suburbs like it is a backwoods country bumpkin town and clean up all of the empty or overrun lots that are eyesores. Grant Park has a ton of these. They are in Candler all over East Atlanta, Mechanicsville, etc. Every intown neighborhood should be as picturesque as City of Atlanta Druid Hills and West Buckhead

I'm curious, where do you propose building large, palatial single family homes in downtown? Not opposed to the idea, just not sure where they could even go.

On a similar note, I think attention should definitely be given to residential neighborhoods that are in close proximity to downtown, especially towards the West. (East of downtown already has a lot of new development w/ O4W revival & such)

The historic neighborhoods West of downtown have sooo much potential!! If only the city could get rid of all the slum lords/absentee landlords. And I would love for those areas to remain accessible to working/middle class residents.

One of the issues with downtown has always been that the surrounding areas are in disrepair. But I do believe better days are ahead, esp with the redevelopment of Turner/Summerhill in the works.

[LovelySummer]

Part of the Turner Field/Summerhill area or some of the unused area near the King Center? The streets across from the Courthouse area near Underground?

Originally Posted by OuiOui

I'm curious, where do you propose building large, palatial single family homes in downtown? Not opposed to the idea, just not sure where they could even go.

On a similar note, I think attention should definitely be given to residential neighborhoods that are in close proximity to downtown, especially towards the West. (East of downtown already has a lot of new development w/ O4W revival & such)

The historic neighborhoods West of downtown have sooo much potential!! If only the city could get rid of all the slum lords/absentee landlords. And I would love for those areas to remain accessible to working/middle class residents.

One of the issues with downtown has always been that the surrounding areas are in disrepair. But I do believe better days are ahead, esp with the redevelopment of Turner/Summerhill in the works.

[LovelySummer]

Buckhead is really far from downtown, actually. So far that I don't think it's really considered as related to downtown.

Originally Posted by Pemgin

That's what Buckhead is for. Having this in the middle of the densest district of the city is a terrible idea.

[Ant131531]

You become a world class city by having a dense, walkable urban core where single family homes and yards don't mean anything. Let's be honest. Tourists aren't going to those neighborhoods. They are in the downtown area or the dense northern neighborhoods of Chicago.

[Pemgin]

...Exactly. Atlanta already has a district for palatial homes with huge lawns. Why would Atlanta put something like this downtown? Why would any city put that in its downtown? Huge sprawling homes belong in a suburb, not a CBD. Putting something like that in would wreck the infrastructure and pretty much ruin downtown's chance to become a dense, walkable neighborhood with vibrant streetlife.

[LovelySummer]

That idea is unrelated to Chicago. The idea being if you want to have downtown front and center, bring in ppl with lots of money to live there. The idea is that ppl in govt will suddenly begin to care about developing downtown. It will become an "it" place much like Buckhead. Once city govt begins to truly value downtown, they will build it up and make it similar to other premiere downtowns in the country. Maybe I'm way off on this one. I don't know.

Originally Posted by Ant131531

You become a world class city by having a dense, walkable urban core where single family homes and yards don't mean anything. Let's be honest. Tourists aren't going to those neighborhoods. They are in the downtown area or the dense northern neighborhoods of Chicago.

[Pemgin]

I wholeheartedly agree that Atlanta should do a better job of code enforcement, however.

[LovelySummer]

Not really. I'm envisioning a couple of neighborhoods on the edge of downtown, not in the middle of it. The new properties being renovated in Harlem are examples of really expensive homes on the edge of a downtown. They don't take away from the rest of Manhattan. Maybe 2 million dollar brownstones, then? Would that make you happier? Same concept and many many downtowns have this type of single family housing. The yards would not be as sprawling but they woukd definitely be well-manicured. It also lends to the high-density concept. I say 2mil bc you want ppl that the city govt is going to want to bend over backwards for in terms of developmt. Sometimes it seems only ppl with money get any attn in our country.

Originally Posted by Pemgin

...Exactly. Atlanta already has a district for palatial homes with huge lawns. Why would Atlanta put something like this downtown? Why would any city put that in its downtown? Huge sprawling homes belong in a suburb, not a CBD. Putting something like that in would wreck the infrastructure and pretty much ruin downtown's chance to become a dense, walkable neighborhood with vibrant streetlife.