forget "times square south"— peachtree and forsyth is where it's at! (Atlanta: loans, neighborhood)

[bryantm3]

i know they are planning on building a big video wall at 285 marietta street on the other side of centennial olympic park, but quite honestly, i've always thought the intersection of peachtree and forsyth has much more of a potential to be a vibrant core of atlanta. i know five points is the traditional center, but really, this has got potential, doesn't it?

Google Maps

Google Maps

Google Maps

believe it or not, it was like this at one time. here it is in 1961:




what we need to do is revitalize this area as part of atlanta's front door, first by redesigning the first and second floors of many of the buildings surrounding the area— the worst offenders are probably the library and the georgia pacific building. they need to have storefronts and street interaction— restaurants, coffee shops, you name it. secondly, how about putting that video screen on the big blank wall of the residence inn?

this area has a lot of potential and it really wouldn't take all that much to realize it.

[StAubin]

That's Margaret Mitchell Square. If I'm not mistaken it used to be known as the times square of the south.

[CollegeStudentinAtl]

Its not like that anymore

[JPD]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

believe it or not, it was like this at one time. here it is in 1961:

As you probably know, that "loans" place in the middle of the photo was torn down and turned into a small park with a fountain. That park needs to be rebuilt. It's pretty dismal in it's current condition.

I agree that this intersection has tons of potential.

[ChefRamsey]

Peachtree street used to be so beautiful.

[arjay57]

One thing you don't see in old photos of downtown Atlanta is a bunch of bums hanging out.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

One thing you don't see in old photos of downtown Atlanta is a bunch of bums hanging out.

That's because the majority of them were locked in institutions. That's what the 'golden age' of America did with the unwanted, lock them away and throw away the key. Perfect example is Rose Kennedy!

[ATL Urbanist]

Originally Posted by arjay57

One thing you don't see in old photos of downtown Atlanta is a bunch of bums hanging out.

One thing you also don't see is trees. I'm always struck by the complete lack of greenery when I see these (otherwise beautiful) photos of this stretch of downtown from decades ago. The trees that have been planted on the sidewalks here really add a lot.

RE: "bums," if you want to see fewer homeless men downtown, you'll need to come up with a plan for fixing the strange situation we have where, according to an AJC article last year, the only 5 shelters that serve single homeless men (instead of families or women with children) in the entire metro are all located in downtown Atlanta.

I'm sure this made sense at some point in the past when there were housing projects downtown and people were making the sad slide from poverty to homelessness. But the projects are gone now and there's no good reason to concentrate all those shelters for single men in this one small part of the metro, particularly when poverty has stretched throughout the area and is no longer an inner-city problem alone.

I agree with the OP about the lack of ground-level retail being a problem. That's the worst thing about the GP building. There actually used to be a folk art museum -- a branch of the High -- at the bottom of the GP building. I miss that.

But to be fair, most of the other buildings at this intersection do have restaurants or something at the bottom.

I'm an odd man out regarding the library building. I actually like the design of it. But it's in dire need of some kind of update with the plaza in front. It isn't very inviting and that piece of sculpture there now just gives vagrants a great place to linger behind.

In the end, nothing will revitalize this area more than bringing in more residents. More local customers for businesses (instead of uneven convention, office worker and GSU student traffic) will build stronger and more desirable businesses. And more residents to embrace the place as their neighborhood will create a stronger base of people who care enough to ensure that it stays livable and inviting. It's a chicken and egg conundrum, I know, because you need to make an appealing place to draw residents. But that should be the main focus for central downtown going forward -- not just more tourist draws and event spaces.

[MathmanMathman]

That area had the Lowe's Grand and Paramount if I remember correctly. And the Roxy was just further up the street. Now it just has the Rialto. The area just lacks drawing power it once had.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

That's because the majority of them were locked in institutions. That's what the 'golden age' of America did with the unwanted, lock them away and throw away the key. Perfect example is Rose Kennedy!

That's a valid point, cq, although I don't think that's the the only difference.

It used to be that hanging out on downtown streets and hassling people was just unacceptable. I also think the community tended to more engaged with people who were down on their luck. They were not necessarily pariahs who had to be shunted away to somewhere else.