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Both Atlanta and Houston's downtowns are dumps, sorry its the truth. All the growth right now is centered in Midtown Atlanta. I haven't lived in Houston and dont keep up with the development there, but when I visited, DT Houston was a ghost town. It didn't have the blight and homeless that Atlanta had, but it was just...abandoned. Felt very empty. Downtown Atlanta is terrible. Even with one of the biggest universities in the country, GSU there, it still felt desolate and dilapidated. Nobody is on the streets after 5 except maybe a lone college student walking or homeless.
A world class city like Atlanta's downtown doesnt even have a grocery store lmao.
Dowtown LA is a dump too but its easily the best of the group. ATL/Houston downtown dont have an LA Live, the population, the foot traffic, Little Tokyo/Chinatown, Walt Disney Hall, etc of DTLA. Once they clean up Skid Row (if they ever do) DTLA will take off.
Neither are in the ranks of Downtown Chicago or Lower Manhattan, which are both the benchmarks for downtowns/city cores.
Downtown Los Angeles beats both Atlanta and Houston easily.
Why? Because as others have mentioned, LA has a CITY population of almost 4 million, whereas Houston has 2.4 million, and Atlanta a distant 500,000 in the city limits.
Los Angeles is really in a different league than these other 2 cities.
But, comparing these 3, it goes--
1 Los Angeles
pretty big gap
2 Atlanta - getting better slowly but surely
3 Houston - still needs a lot of work to do to become a vibrant day and night district
Both Atlanta and Houston's downtowns are dumps, sorry its the truth. All the growth right now is centered in Midtown Atlanta. I haven't lived in Houston and dont keep up with the development there, but when I visited, DT Houston was a ghost town. It didn't have the blight and homeless that Atlanta had, but it was just...abandoned. Felt very empty. Downtown Atlanta is terrible. Even with one of the biggest universities in the country, GSU there, it still felt desolate and dilapidated. Nobody is on the streets after 5 except maybe a lone college student walking or homeless.
A world class city like Atlanta's downtown doesnt even have a grocery store lmao.
Dowtown LA is a dump too but its easily the best of the group. ATL/Houston downtown dont have an LA Live, the population, the foot traffic, Little Tokyo/Chinatown, Walt Disney Hall, etc of DTLA. Once they clean up Skid Row (if they ever do) DTLA will take off.
Neither are in the ranks of Downtown Chicago or Lower Manhattan, which are both the benchmarks for downtowns/city cores.
This is extremely harsh re: Downtown Atlanta, and I strongly disagree. Could it be better? Absolutely, and several billion dollars are being spent to ensure that it will be.
This is extremely harsh re: Downtown Atlanta, and I strongly disagree. Could it be better? Absolutely, and several billion dollars are being spent to ensure that it will be.
Nah man, I agree I was a lil harsh, but downtown Atlanta isn't a destination for a reason. It has lots of blight and there's not much of a reason to go there.
It's true billions are being invested there. I'll believe when I see it tho when it comes to downtown's revitalization. They've been trying to revive downtown for years now. Hopefully this time change actually comes. I like the road diet they did with peachtree, thats a start.
Downtown Los Angeles beats both Atlanta and Houston easily.
Why? Because as others have mentioned, LA has a CITY population of almost 4 million, whereas Houston has 2.4 million, and Atlanta a distant 500,000 in the city limits.
Downtowns are more a function of employment markets, tourism markets, commute systems, and so on. Basically metros. Core city populations aren't a big factor.
LA is 2 or 3 times the size of the other two. That does matter.
Nah man, I agree I was a lil harsh, but downtown Atlanta isn't a destination for a reason. It has lots of blight and there's not much of a reason to go there.
It's true billions are being invested there. I'll believe when I see it tho when it comes to downtown's revitalization. They've been trying to revive downtown for years now. Hopefully this time change actually comes. I like the road diet they did with peachtree, thats a start.
Georgia Aquarium, Civil Rights Museum, Coca Cola Museum, College Football Hall of Fame, the big Ferris Wheel, CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park, etc, downtown is one of the most touristy spots in Atlanta. On weekends it's full of people. On weekdays there are mostly students and business people. Underground Atlanta used to be popular but that was a long time ago.
https://goo.gl/maps/TAHXk8VxzELWXgFJ7 Fairlie Poplar is one of the densest areas in the southeast, a lot of historical buildings. The flatiron building in Fairlie Poplar actually predates the one in New York by 5 years. After Centennial Yards goes up, you're gonna have an area that's very lively in between State Farm Arena and Mercedes Benz Stadium, it's going to be a destination spot. https://centennialyards.com/
Georgia Aquarium, Civil Rights Museum, Coca Cola Museum, College Football Hall of Fame, the big Ferris Wheel, CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park, etc, downtown is one of the most touristy spots in Atlanta. On weekends it's full of people. On weekdays there are mostly students and business people. Underground Atlanta used to be popular but that was a long time ago.
https://goo.gl/maps/TAHXk8VxzELWXgFJ7 Fairlie Poplar is one of the densest areas in the southeast, a lot of historical buildings. The flatiron building in Fairlie Poplar actually predates the one in New York by 5 years. After Centennial Yards goes up, you're gonna have an area that's very lively in between State Farm Arena and Mercedes Benz Stadium, it's going to be a destination spot. https://centennialyards.com/
The GA Aquarium is defintely a draw, agree with you on that. The Ferris Wheel is trash, if you want a view of dilapidated buldings, parking garages, and surface vacant lots, get on it lol. The museums are cool but you seen it once, you don't need to come back there again. And Centennial Olympic Park is cool but I don't see alot of people on it. On the weekends its full of people??? Lol hell no. Downtown for the most part is still a ghost town. These attractions are cool, but most can be covered in 1 to 2 days. What after? What DT Atlanta needs is to focus on reviving the streetscape. Make it an attractive place to live. Why is there no grocery store in the core of one of the largest cities in America? But back to the topic, none of these attractions compare to DTLA.
And I doubt Centennial Yards is going to make DT a destination spot. Looks like Atlantic Station, but downtown, MEH. I'll believe when I see it...
The GA Aquarium is defintely a draw, agree with you on that. The Ferris Wheel is trash, if you want a view of dilapidated buldings, parking garages, and surface vacant lots, get on it lol. The museums are cool but you seen it once, you don't need to come back there again. And Centennial Olympic Park is cool but I don't see alot of people on it. On the weekends its full of people??? Lol hell no. Downtown for the most part is still a ghost town. These attractions are cool, but most can be covered in 1 to 2 days. What after? What DT Atlanta needs is to focus on reviving the streetscape. Make it an attractive place to live. Why is there no grocery store in the core of one of the largest cities in America? But back to the topic, none of these attractions compare to DTLA.
And I doubt Centennial Yards is going to make DT a destination spot. Looks like Atlantic Station, but downtown, MEH. I'll believe when I see it...
Centennial Yards isn't the only DT investment being done. You also have the Underground redevelopment and the South Downtown redevelopment. This isn't even mentioning all the smaller developments going on in Castleberry Hill and SoNo that will (probably by 2030) create the largest expanse of walkable neighborhoods in the south.
Centennial Yards isn't the only DT investment being done. You also have the Underground redevelopment and the South Downtown redevelopment. This isn't even mentioning all the smaller developments going on in Castleberry Hill and SoNo that will (probably by 2030) create the largest expanse of walkable neighborhoods in the south.
You sure are an optimist...they've been saying they will redevelop Underground for years, still crickets to this day. I guess tho, I have yet to see much of an improvement to downtown throughout the years, again, I will believe it when I see it. I have the same feelings towards MARTA, they've been doing "sTuDiEs" and "rEpOrTs" for years now, don't really care about any MARTA news until I see shovels hit the ground and the results.
Downtown Atlanta manages to put a lot of its biggest activity generators on skybridge systems, with poor street interaction and lots of parking garages. It's unfortunate.
I don't find it terribly busy either, though Midtown has some fairly active pockets.
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