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Hello. I am probably dating myself very much, but I just got back from visiting Atlanta for the first time since 1970. I grew up there, and when I left, Five Points was the CENTER of the whole region. It was great! It was clean, vibrant, and truly the place to be. And Underground had just opened up. It was also extremely safe.
Fast forward to 2008. On the way to Florida, we decided to check out my old stomping grounds. I am amazed at how terrible Five Points is. I would describe it as a step below a ghetto. It was disgusting. I broke down in tears, and I know it has been a while, but what in the heck happened to Five Points??? Maybe some fellow baby boomers who have lived in Atlanta since the time Five Points was happening, please fill me in.
I know cities change, but this has to be one of the most drastic changes I have ever seen. Please, explain.
It was kind of like watching a scene from "Beyond Thunderdome", wasn't it?
I moved to Atlanta in 1984 and Five Points had alread started it's decline at that point, but shortly after it really did slightly re-emerge when the once closed Underground Atlanta reopened - I think it was around 1986 or so. For a while at least, it drew tons of suburbanites and tourists from all over and was thriving. That wasn't long lived though, and within a few years, the bums, street preachers, and other stuff starting moving back in, as well as to a point into Underground, and it started to shrivel up. Surprised it's still open to be honest.
Then the Olympics. Five Points once again briefly was cleaned up, the bums scared off, a few new statues and a huge fountain put in. Olympics over - poof - they're all back. Now Woodruff Park is a slumber party for vagrants and crack heads.
For the record though, the city has somewhat quietly decided to let Five Points die. Once the Aquarium was built they pretty much decided to "steer" the tourists into that area with Centennial Park and away from Five Points. As more stuff opens in that area, you'll see less good (if any) happening at Five Points. That is, until some folks put on their brain caps and elect a good set of city leaders and a Mayor that'll do something about it.
I think the bright hope for that area is Georgia State's growth and the increase in on campus housing there. That will spill over toward Five Points. The government area around city hall and the capitol, the emergence of Castleberry Hill to the south, the growth around Centennial Olympic Park, there are so many good things happening on every side, that sooner or later Five Points will have to come back up. But the city has to do something about vagrants, I agree.
To your original question of what happened, I think the death of the downtown Rich's was the proverbial stake in the heart of Five Points. From then on, downtown was never a place to go shopping, it was Lenox/Phipps or one of the suburban malls.
I remember as a kid the magic of going to the downtown Rich's, playing on escalators, riding the pink pig, the thrill of a sky bridge over a major street, going around and around in the exit at the parking deck, it was like living with the Jetson's, lol.
When I came back to Atlanta as a young adult in the late 80s, it had changed but was still a destination as underground had made a comeback. Rich's had fallen on hard times, it was no longer THE place to go like it was when I was a small kid in the late 60s/early 70s. I agree that the area bounced back with the Olympics, but it has gotten worse ever since. The wold of Coke leaving to Centennial Park doomed underground -- if it wasn't doomed already.
But like I said in the previous post, I think GSU and its resurgence is the best hope for this area.
I guess if that many years had elapsed since I had seen it, I would be shocked as well. But living in the area and watching it gradually decline, it just becomes another sad but not surprising part of the ebb and flow that all cities seem to go thru.
Don't worry. A Waffle House is opening at Underground. Everything will be ok.
It'll be interesting to see what GSU will do next. Obviously, they deserve credit for almost all of the improvements in the Five Points/Wooruff Park/Fairlie-Poplar area. Carl Patton, as president of GSU since the early '90s, made dowtown revitalization/urban planning a top priority. Unfortunately, Patton has retired and is only remaining in his job until his successor is hired. Hopefully GSU can find a replacement with a similar interest in improving not just the school, but the surrounding area. So far, they have not had any luck finding a suitable replacement.
I moved to Atlanta in 1984 and Five Points had alread started it's decline at that point, but shortly after it really did slightly re-emerge when the once closed Underground Atlanta reopened - I think it was around 1986 or so. For a while at least, it drew tons of suburbanites and tourists from all over and was thriving. That wasn't long lived though, and within a few years, the bums, street preachers, and other stuff starting moving back in, as well as to a point into Underground, and it started to shrivel up. Surprised it's still open to be honest.
My recollection is similar, given I moved to Atlanta the first time in 1982 and was here until just after the Olympics was announced in the early 90's. We used to go to underground in the late 80's and eat and listen to music at Dante's and grab a frozen drink or ten at Fat Tuesday.
The blame for the current condition rests with the politicians and ultimately with the voters. If people in Atlanta wanted it cleaned up...it would be. Just look at the community involvement concerning the closing of the fire house in the West End area. People protested, they spoke at the city council, and they button holed politicians to make their opinions heard. If people felt as strongly about the conditions around Five Points, they'd do something. I think it's safe to say that most people just don't care, and the politicians, who've shown they can clean it up if/when they want to, do nothing. We get the government we deserve.
I moved to Atlanta in 1984 and Five Points had alread started it's decline at that point, but shortly after it really did slightly re-emerge when the once closed Underground Atlanta reopened - I think it was around 1986 or so. For a while at least, it drew tons of suburbanites and tourists from all over and was thriving.
I'm pretty sure Underground Atlanta re-opened in 1988 -- I was working for an ad agency in the Hurt Building at the time, and I was only there from August of 1987 to the spring of 1989.
As others have said, the best hope for that part of downtown is continued re-development by Georgia State University. But there's only so much the university can do. At some point, there will have to be other businesses that decide to locate in the area, perhaps because of the proximity to GSU. I suppose it's also possible that people will begin to look to live in the area if gas prices stay high, but that would require redevelopment of a lot of old buildings, and the real estate and construction industries are in tough shape and not really able to invest in such things right now.
Maybe we can talk the Chinese into buying Five Points. I'd much rather see a small "Chinatown" there than what's there now.
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