What was Atlanta like in the 1980s? (Dunwoody, Duluth: apartment, mover)

[prwfromnc]

I live in NC and I'm familiar with what is going in Charlotte in terms of the growth and the challenges going on in that city? A lot of people say that it resembles Atlanta of the '80s! My first trip to Atlanta was in 1986 when I was 13 years old and I was impressed with it then, but it was nothing compared to what it looks like today, it is constantly changing! I'm posing this question to those who lived through its growth period in the 1980s to get a glimpse of what it was like back then! How did the newcomers who moved to Atlanta view the city back then, did they say it was boring, too conservative, nothing to do, were there a lot of negative views about Atlanta from the people who moved there back then? I know that when I go on the Charlotte boards, I see a lot of those comments on there! I just want to get a picture of what Atlanta was actually like back then just to see if it's somewhat similar to what is going on in Charlotte right now!

[SW30303]

Though I was too young in the 70s anyway to have much of any memory of any city for that matter, but in my opinion and somewhat limited memory, Atlanta in the 80s resembled itself from just a decade earlier from my own recollections. Check out an older AJC article called "That '70s City" with 70s era photos submitted by various readers.

I grew up in different Atlanta suburbs today which would look nothing like they did back then due to all the major growth. Most of the major skyscrapers we have today are less than 20 years old and have tended to be built in going northward Midtown-Buckhead-Dunwoody area.

The Atlanta I knew in the 80s was definitely provincial, where as the Atlanta most of us know for at least the last 10-15 years has been transformed more into an International City, in large part due to several factors. I mention 2 here: large metropolitan population growth with its new residents coming from everywhere and the Atlanta airport being a major transportation hub.

[TakeAhike]

Gwinnett started to grow in the 80's.

'The population is approximately one-million and growing. Gwinnett county has been one of the most rapidly growing counties in the United States through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s when the population grew from 72,349 in 1970 to 700,794 in 2004. Though the growth has slowed overall, there are still many rapidly growing areas throughout the county and a great deal of economic development. Many of Gwinnett’s historic old towns have been aggressively pursuing renovation and revitalization projects surrounding their historic roots.'

Snellville and Lilburn became up and coming suburbs.
Gwinnett Place Mall opened in Duluth--previously a rural area.
Long Description:
When it first opened in 1980, its original anchors were Rich's, Davison's and Sears. In 1986, Mervyn's joined the mall and Davison's was changed over to Macy's. Further anchor shuffling occurred in 1993 and 1995 when Parisian joined the mall and Mervyn's left the mall, respectively. JCPenney took over the Mervyn's spot the following year. In these aspects, the mall developed on a very similar fashion as Town Center Mall on the northwest side of Atlanta, and were in many ways sister malls. However, one of the distinct features about Gwinnett Place Mall is the Macy's (former Rich's), which features an exterior almost entirely covered in mirrorglass.

Spaghetti Junction ---I85/I285 was completed in the mid 80's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Moreland_Interchange
'The interchange currently handles approximately 300,000 vehicles each day. It has 14 bridges, the highest rising 90 feet (27.432 m), running from Northcrest Road to I-85 South. The newer interchange replaced an older cloverleaf interchange dating back to 1958 and was constructed between 1983 and 1987 as part of the Freeing the Freeways program to relieve congestion on Atlanta-area interstates.[2]'

There was redevelopment taking place in Decatur and other intown areas.

MARTA was beginning to be utilized.

^^^^
Georgia During the 1980s
For most of the 1980s, two men led the state of
Georgia—George Busbee and Joe Frank Harris. Both
took office on plans for economic development and
educational improvements, and both leaders delivered
on their commitments to the voters.
George Busbee
Serving as Georgia’s governor from 1975
through 1983, George Busbee had promised Georgians
a businesslike approach to government and
improvements in education. Busbee, a native of
Vienna, focused on bringing new industries to the
state. Each year from 1978 through 1983, Busbee brought over $1 billion in
new and expanded industrial development to Georgia. Many of his economic
expansions were the result of his efforts to have foreign companies invest in
Georgia. Under his leadership, international facilities in the state jumped from
350 in 1978 to 1,255 in 1988. That expansion continued in the 1990s. Today,
Georgia is known as a global business center. There are over 1,600 internationally
owned facilities in Georgia, representing 39 different countries.
Over 53 nations have consular,
trade, or chamber of commerce offices
in Georgia, and there are 10 international
banks based in the state.
Busbee is also credited with expanding
the Department of Industry
and Trade and for opening state
information offices in Canada, Europe,
and the Far East.

[SEAandATL]

I moved to Atlanta in 1984 right when I started elementary school. One thing I can remember is that in '87 the One Atlantic Center (then known as the IBM Building), was the first skyscraper completed in Midtown (unless you count the BellSouth Building, now AT&T Wireless HQ). Before that, the Westin Peachtree really stood out as the tallest building in Atlanta (or is the GP building taller?)

Back then, the Hartsfield Airport was already big, and was the hub for Delta and Eastern. There were only 4 concourses (A-D), and one thing I remember in particular was the people mover (now Plane Train) having a robotic voice like the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica.

In the 80's, Atlanta pretty had the same freeways it has now (just less lanes and no HOV lane), only the 400 ended at I-285 from the north. MARTA also did not yet have the North Line (Red Line), so we had to go to Lenox Station.

I lived in Cobb County so that area was seeing a lot of development. From the time I moved there to the late 80's, I saw a lot of new strip malls, office parks, and apartment/condo complexes being built.

Its amazing to think that even back then, I always thought it was a big city, but seeing what it has grown into now, looking back Atlanta was a much smaller city in comparison. It was more like Charlotte or Nashville back then.

[ATLnSAV]

I agree with the other posters in that during the 1980s Atlanta VERY MUCH felt like Nashville or Charlotte feels today. But it was still a BIG major league city for the times -- Atlanta had probably 2.5 million people in the mid-80s (the 1990 census was 2.8) but that was still on par with the other leading Sunbelt cities -- Miami, Houston and DFW. I remember going on a mission trip to AZ in 1982 and we drove through DFW and thought it was HUGE but in reality it only had a few hundred thousand people more than ATL.

Many things happened during the decade of the 80s in Atlanta that propelled the city into national prominence and convinced those of us who lived there that it was evolving into a very exciting place to live and work -- a "city of dreams" if you will. Among them: Home Depot and CNN were founded and rapidly expanded; the airport became the world's biggest and 2nd-busiest to Chicago; both the freeways and MARTA were expanded to essentially what they are today; several major regional malls opened; Gwinnett and Cobb counties both BOOMED; and in 1988 Atlanta hosted the Democratic National Convention -- easily the single biggest event to ever take place in ATL up to that time. In the 1980s the Olympics were an impossibility -- nobody aside from Billy Payne dared dream something so ridiculous. And yet there was this definite "can-do" attitude about the place that whatever ATL set out to do it could accomplish. "Live the dream."

One exception to the comments above -- I graduated from high school in 1984, growing up in a town about 20 miles outside of the city that at the time was 100 percent rural. I remember going to our Sr Prom in Midtown and being made fun of by the locals who called us "hicks" and such. It's funny now b/c today the area I grew up in is totally urban and one of the most upscale suburbs of the metro! The other thing worth noting about that era: Atlanta had a REAL REPUTATION for debauchery and vice. Bars were open 24 hours. Hustlers and drug dealers dominated Midtown. There were (and still are LOL) strip clubs and sex shops on every corner. A popular saying at the time was "I'm not black, I'm not gay but I live in Atlanta anyway" !!! As black or gay or wild as ATL seems today, it was MUCH moreso in the 1980s.

[Newsboy]

Another thing that defined Atlanta in the early 1980s was the Atlanta Child Murders. It was really a scary time.

Atlanta murders of 1979-1981 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Atlanta Child Murders

[bgNCATL]

From What I remember, Atlanta still felt bigger than current day Charlotte back in the 80's. I think the 70's Atlanta is a better comparison.

[memberX]

I remember in the 1980's when Paulding and Douglas counties were not even in Atlanta's sphere of influence. My father's side of the family is from Douglasville is it was a sleepy little town up until the late 1990's. No mall. Tiny movie theater. Little traffic.

In a way, it was better, but things change. But the changes to Paulding and Douglas have been drastic. It's sad in a way.

As for the city of Atlanta, as a kid I didn't drive in the 1980's, but I remember my parents complaining about the traffic even back then. Now they have moved out of Georgia and never venture into the city of Atlanta anymore. They just visit relatives in west Georgia.

[raridee]

The good ol days! I can still remember strolling up Peachtree with a beer brownbagged. I doubt if you can do that now. Hotspots back then were the Agora ballroom, the place on paces, aunt charlies and the limelight. Mellow Mushroom, varsity and the old Krispy Kreme. Always found a beau from Georgia tech when football season came. And believe me when I tell you, you did not dare jaywalk across Peachtree, even back then. And a special first date was always at peachtree towers for a peach dacquiri. Don't regret a thing!

[DTL3000]

The Braves sucked but they had Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, Glen Hubbard, and Bob Horner. The Falcons were just as bad.