Exploring the OTP Mess that is Olde Towne Morrow-Curbed Atlanta (East Point: 2015, lease)

[demonta4]

Exploring the OTP Mess that is Olde Towne Morrow - Epic Fails - Curbed Atlanta

About 12 miles south of downtown Atlanta, in the Clayton County city of Morrow, a botched development called Olde Towne Morrow is festering — equal parts Wild West movie set, Recession-era development boondoggle and zombie apocalypse. Visible from Interstate 75, the commercial development opened in late 2009, only to shutter the next year after a series of problems emerged and one of its governmental champions was indicted. The Suburban City blog recently happened upon Olde Towne Morrow by accident while test-riding one of MARTA's new Clayton bus routes in the area. Next to withering Southlake Mall, a fading covered bridge and boardwalk led the writer to "what looked like a deserted town" with abandoned storefronts and neglected, old houses, which had been ceremoniously trucked in from towns across Georgia. Also spotted: signs that wildlife such as deer could be reclaiming the land, and bloody windowsills (literally) on a pretty Victorian. Someone had at least stopped by recently to cut the grass.

http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs..._7740831_n.jpg

[magnetar]

Not sure if its failure had more to do with the new construction looking like the quality of something you'd see in a high school musical production or the fact that they tried to build their city's downtown on an empty lot on the outskirts of a dead mall. Either way, it's sad to imagine what's probably going to happen to all of the historic homes they moved there; I hope some of them can be saved and moved again, perhaps this time to a real town.

[Clayton white guy]

The City of Morrow IS a REAL town. As a former 30 year plus resident of Morrow I can honestly say that Morrow has done more is the area of city services and amenities than ANY other municipality I can think of. Maybe Old Towne Morrow was a bad idea, but it was for all the right reasons. Morrow has numerous other amenities: the pathway trail system for bicycles and pedestrians, Clayton State University, Reynolds Nature Preserve, responsive city government and police/ fire services, numerous cute and well maintained mid-century neighborhoods, close proximity to Downtown Atlanta, and the list goes on and on. Even the much derided SouthLake Mall stated here is mostly leased, which is more than you can say for MANY malls in the metro, even those with a more favorable, wealthier demographics. I challenge any city data poster to take a drive around the City of Morrow, you will probably like what you see.

[hautemomma]

Does Curbed ever write anything positive about anything OTP?

[evannole]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

Does Curbed ever write anything positive about anything OTP?

Rarely. And the headline itself is unnecessarily pejorative, by calling it an "OTP Mess." I don't think I've ever seen a headline on there that has touted the "ITP Mess that is ..." well, anything. There are certainly plenty of messes all around, but being ITP or OTP has nothing to do with them being messes, in most cases.

[Tryska]

They've actually done pretty good by East Point and College Park, which is a nice change of pace from the usual negative comments we get down here.

East Point Abode Makes Case for Moving to the South Side - On the Market - Curbed Atlanta

Although to be fair - most of East Point and College Park are ITP, so maybe that's why it's favorable. lol

[demonta4]

Oh yeah, Southlake mall is 90% occupied(100 when Chime Solutions comes) so it is very far from dead.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Oh yeah, Southlake mall is 90% occupied(100 when Chime Solutions comes) so it is very far from dead.

I thought that comment sounded a little off...I haven't been to Southlake lately, but I didn't think it had gone downhill THAT much.

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

The City of Morrow IS a REAL town. As a former 30 year plus resident of Morrow I can honestly say that Morrow has done more is the area of city services and amenities than ANY other municipality I can think of. Maybe Old Towne Morrow was a bad idea, but it was for all the right reasons. Morrow has numerous other amenities: the pathway trail system for bicycles and pedestrians, Clayton State University, Reynolds Nature Preserve, responsive city government and police/ fire services, numerous cute and well maintained mid-century neighborhoods, close proximity to Downtown Atlanta, and the list goes on and on. Even the much derided SouthLake Mall stated here is mostly leased, which is more than you can say for MANY malls in the metro, even those with a more favorable, wealthier demographics. I challenge any city data poster to take a drive around the City of Morrow, you will probably like what you see.

Nobody said that Morrow isn't a real town. Olde Towne Morrowe is not a real town. It's a field between an interstate, a swamp, and an old mall. It's not an insult to the actual city of Morrow to say that Olde Towne is horribly fake. Maybe the historic homes can be moved elsewhere, into parts of the city where other people actually live.

[JoeTarheel]

I think someone just said that Southlake is not a dead mall.