Explain to me what happened to Doraville (Buford Highway)? (Atlanta: apartment complexes, how much)

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by kasuga888

Pretty much the same as it was 10 years ago, except the 99 Ranch shopping center pretty much got wiped out. I remembered that entire parking lot used to be packed the entire weekend in the early 2000s.

Since Sweet Hut has opened though I would say it's back to being bustling, if not more since it stays open to 2 am.

[kasuga888]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Since Sweet Hut has opened though I would say it's back to being bustling, if not more since it stays open to 2 am.

Yeah, i think sweet hut saved the shopping center from being completely dead. But there use to be litterally no space to park on the weekends. I think they had a shuttle service to another parking lot back in the days. However, I do agree that SH has given life to the shopping center. THey refurbish their part really well. It should of been something that happen sooner ti give some "night life" to the asian folks that just wanted to hang out.

The whole shopping center is kinda old/dirty/poorly designed. Maybe some investors can do something with it... karaoke, night club, bar??

[ATLTJL]

Sorry, that part of Buford Highway has always been dumpy.

The Asians have always been south of 285 in Chamblee, but the stretch of Buford Highway from 285 up to Jimmy Carter and beyond has pretty much always been about what it is today. There were a few more "normal" businesses there, like you'd see the occasional dentist office, etc. that you don't really see at all today, but those were holdouts from when it was decent, I guess maybe in the 70s or 80s. Now even the last holdouts are gone, but it does look like a few decent things are starting to pop in, like White Windmill.

There used to be a pretty fun music venue there called the International Ballroom. I'm not sure what it was before they had concerts there, but it was just a big open space. I like that they still have an actual porno theater around there, behind Shooter's Alley....even though one time I ventured in there with a friend and it was too sad and disgusting for even me, someone who seeks out the sad and disgusting.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I like that they still have an actual porno theater around there, behind Shooter's Alley....even though one time I ventured in there with a friend and it was too sad and disgusting for even me, someone who seeks out the sad and disgusting.

Woah, you are way braver than me. I have tried to dare, bribe, shame people in to going in to that place but never had any takers...including myself. Creepiest place in this entire city, if not the the South itself.

[ATLTJL]

Just FYI, you're not missing anything.

You pay the guy $10 or whatever it is, and you get open admission for a certain amount of time, like 6 hours or something. It's 2 theaters that are completely disgusting with rust all over the ceiling tiles that occasionally drip water. Then they literally ripped out 2 or 3 seats, got some cheap shelving from Target, and stuck a DVD projector on top of the shelves. The best part is, there's a regular household extension cord running to the DVD player. Literally anybody who feels like being a party pooper can just pull the plug. And the projector isn't even high enough, so every time someone walks in front of it, they actually block the projection as they walk by.

I'm not sure what all goes on, but I did see a few people that seemed to be pulling "Pee-Wee Hermans" in the theater, but it's dark so you can't really tell. Then some totally disgusting ex-hippie couple with long gray ponytails, both the man and the woman, walked in and sat down and like a swarm of flies on a piece of poop, a bunch of gross single dudes all started swarming around them. I have no idea what they were doing.

I was only there because I wanted to experience real porn on film, I thought it would be like that scene from Taxi Driver where Robert De Niro takes Cybil Shepherd to the porn theater. But it's not anything like that, it's more like the world's nastiest porno booth that you share with every sicko on earth. I think they actually sold Cokes and popcorn and stuff at the front, but I don't remember exactly. Cliche as it sounds, I recall the floor being exceptionally sticky (this was many years ago). I did have a friend with me, I doubt I would ever get the nerve to enter alone.

As someone who's been a bunch of insane places, I don't think I've ever wanted to get out of anywhere so quickly in my life. It was nothing like I was expecting and I'm amazed it's still there.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Just FYI, you're not missing anything.

You pay the guy $10 or whatever it is, and you get open admission for a certain amount of time, like 6 hours or something. It's 2 theaters that are completely disgusting with rust all over the ceiling tiles that occasionally drip water. Then they literally ripped out 2 or 3 seats, got some cheap shelving from Target, and stuck a DVD projector on top of the shelves. The best part is, there's a regular household extension cord running to the DVD player. Literally anybody who feels like being a party pooper can just pull the plug. And the projector isn't even high enough, so every time someone walks in front of it, they actually block the projection as they walk by.

I'm not sure what all goes on, but I did see a few people that seemed to be pulling "Pee-Wee Hermans" in the theater, but it's dark so you can't really tell. Then some totally disgusting ex-hippie couple with long gray ponytails, both the man and the woman, walked in and sat down and like a swarm of flies on a piece of poop, a bunch of gross single dudes all started swarming around them. I have no idea what they were doing.

I was only there because I wanted to experience real porn on film, I thought it would be like that scene from Taxi Driver where Robert De Niro takes Cybil Shepherd to the porn theater. But it's not anything like that, it's more like the world's nastiest porno booth that you share with every sicko on earth. I think they actually sold Cokes and popcorn and stuff at the front, but I don't remember exactly. Cliche as it sounds, I recall the floor being exceptionally sticky (this was many years ago). I did have a friend with me, I doubt I would ever get the nerve to enter alone.

As someone who's been a bunch of insane places, I don't think I've ever wanted to get out of anywhere so quickly in my life. It was nothing like I was expecting and I'm amazed it's still there.

hahaha where the hell is this place??

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

Koreans have been coming to Atlanta in numbers since at least the 1970s. In my elementary school 1977-1983 in the ATL, our demographic was 45% black, 45% white, 8% Korean, 2% other. There was a Korean ESL teacher at our school 2x a week. . .I am sure the numbers may have exploded in the last ten years, but their history in the ATL is much longer.

They more than doubled in population from 2000 to 2010 alone.

Most of what is happening in Gwinnett is the influx of Koreans, not inside movement of.

[Mal93]

Wow ATLTJL that sounds like the one time out of pure curiosity I decided to find out what was inside the old Buckhead cinema (at the Roswell Rd/Ptree split, later a police precinct). It was $6 for however long you wanted to stay.. As a college age female I got in free but my bf had to pay. There were probably 4 older men inside probably peewee'ing. But the weird thing was the movie film was SO ancient (clearly 70s/80s), it was half scorched and so out of focus you only saw fuzzy pink or yellow blobs. The best part was the music was completely deteriorated too, so it was more like some avant guard noise concert than porn. The floor was also sticky/disgusting and About 3 mins after we sat down all the guys in the audience sat next to us. So we quickly left!

But returning to the thread, I miss the glory days of ranch market and the little gift shops hidden in the back! I literally got into 2 separate fender benders in that parking lot in the same month, but neither party could speak the other party's language other than shrugging and giving thumbs up to walk away. We once bought a live turtle there...I was horrified as the lady flipped it on its back, weighed it, slapped a barcode and rang him up. We let him live in an aquarium at our feld ave apt for years and he's still hanging out 15 years later at a friends small pond near sweetwater(fenced).

Buford Hwy underwent a lot of changed in the 90s ... gran Familia (sp?-- the conglomerate of 5 gangs) ran a lot of folks out of there and the GM plant closing also took its toll. But there are still some gems holding court there, like Chef Liu, El Rey del Taco, panahar, and the various bakeries/butcher shops. A lot of places have shuttered their doors or moved up 85 though. It seems most of my fave Pho places from the 80s are gone. And even the flea mkt is not as crazy as it used to be, with its underground busses to Mexico, questionable parkinglot car sales, pot leaf- Mary- AK- Mexican flag silk shirts, botanicas, and narco corrido CDs.

[Dov Jacobson]

No question that the wealthier Koreans (and some Chinese) turned their attention to Duluth. Upscale restaurants (Pung Mei, Seoul Gardens, made the jump from BuHi to Pleasant Hill,) But frankly, a restaurant that stands out as a gem in 30340 may be an also-ran in 30096. Pung Mei was a palace on Buford Highway. It is lost in the big boxes now. (Still great food.)

Meanwhile the infill in Doraville is more interesting as fresh waves of immigration struggle through the region: Malaysian, Peruvian, Indonesian, Halall, Eastern European. Even the 'high concept' restaurants that enliven Pleasant Hill are starting to spring up on Buford Highway. Try the Sweet Hut -- or go to China Kabob to participate in an exciting experiment that they could not afford to risk in Duluth. (Doraville, unlike Duluth, has a few dumps that serve cheap Chinese food with menus in Spanish.)

Be adventurous. Be wary Buford Highway has more diversity than ever -- in ethnicity - and in quality.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Just FYI, you're not missing anything.

You pay the guy $10 or whatever it is, and you get open admission for a certain amount of time, like 6 hours or something. It's 2 theaters that are completely disgusting with rust all over the ceiling tiles that occasionally drip water. Then they literally ripped out 2 or 3 seats, got some cheap shelving from Target, and stuck a DVD projector on top of the shelves. The best part is, there's a regular household extension cord running to the DVD player. Literally anybody who feels like being a party pooper can just pull the plug. And the projector isn't even high enough, so every time someone walks in front of it, they actually block the projection as they walk by.

I'm not sure what all goes on, but I did see a few people that seemed to be pulling "Pee-Wee Hermans" in the theater, but it's dark so you can't really tell. Then some totally disgusting ex-hippie couple with long gray ponytails, both the man and the woman, walked in and sat down and like a swarm of flies on a piece of poop, a bunch of gross single dudes all started swarming around them. I have no idea what they were doing.

I was only there because I wanted to experience real porn on film, I thought it would be like that scene from Taxi Driver where Robert De Niro takes Cybil Shepherd to the porn theater. But it's not anything like that, it's more like the world's nastiest porno booth that you share with every sicko on earth. I think they actually sold Cokes and popcorn and stuff at the front, but I don't remember exactly. Cliche as it sounds, I recall the floor being exceptionally sticky (this was many years ago). I did have a friend with me, I doubt I would ever get the nerve to enter alone.

As someone who's been a bunch of insane places, I don't think I've ever wanted to get out of anywhere so quickly in my life. It was nothing like I was expecting and I'm amazed it's still there.

Seriously, I thought that place had been shut down by Dekalb Vice?!