Is Midtown the new downtown Atlanta?? (Buckhead: real estate, condos, hotel) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

bernsee · 08-22-2009, 03:38 PM

It seems like all the new development is going on in Midtown with new condos, retail and restaurants opening up. Also, a lot going on in Buckhead with new condos, restaurants and the Streets of Buckhead opening next year. Downtown (Five Points/Peachtree Center) appears to be a lost cause at this point other then the museums/aquarium at Centennial Park. Downtown is an incredibly depressing place, with lots of trash and homeless and there seems to be no will by the city to want to clean it up. It's an embarrassment. I can't even go to a bookstore downtown or a movie downtown. In many downtowns across the country, you can do this, even in cities across the South. Going 'downtown' these days is like going to the inner city.

johnatl · 08-22-2009, 03:59 PM

You sell Downtown quite short, but yes - Midtown IS the new Downtown for all practical purposes.

I personally consider Peachtree & 14th to be the new "Main & Main."

johnnyboy2008 · 08-22-2009, 04:18 PM

yes, downtown is dead

johnatl · 08-22-2009, 04:23 PM

^No, it's not. Its role in the grand scheme of things has - and will continue - to change.

If you think Downtown is dead, you need to travel around the country a little.

aries4118 · 08-22-2009, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnatl

^No, it's not. Its role in the grand scheme of things has - and will continue - to change.

If you think Downtown is dead, you need to travel around the country a little.

Right on, J...

It's amazing how so many spell "doom" for many parts of Atlanta so quickly.

Downtown is not dead...at all. Anyone who knows Atlanta at all knows that Atlanta constantly evolves. During this era, Midtown and Buckhead are developing more rapidly. However, as those areas "saturate," I foresee Downtown evolving and developing once again.

There is an urban transformation happening in Intown Atlanta right now--this time, the development, the evolution is just not following the patterns of the past.

As for Downtown...look more closely (hint: Ga. State, Capitol Gateway, Castleberry Hill, Centennial Hill, the planned Multi-Modal, etc.)...a change is taking place. People and developers will catch on more and more...and the change will happen more rapidly. We will all begin to see the strategic and infrastructural advantage Downtown has...and the rest will be history (a new one at that).

waronxmas · 08-22-2009, 05:31 PM

For the City of Atlanta, the idea of a "Downtown" is irrelevant due to the way this city was "developed".

johnnyboy2008 · 08-22-2009, 05:38 PM

I was not referring to midtown.

All the major businesses have left downtown. The only things left is CNN center which can't move and some cheesy tourist attractions.
That 191 peachtree tower was 95% vacant cause nobody wanted to be harassed by all the winos so the owner dumped it at a huge loss and the new owner, cousins, is giving space away for nothing.

The only people who like downtown by the five points station are the winos and the real estate guys who are promoting the area and trying to get some sucker to buy a condo in the middle of hell.

johnnyboy2008 · 08-22-2009, 05:52 PM

PS, they have been trying for 40 years to revitalize downtown but it has never worked. They said the exact same things when they built cnn center in 1975. It was supposed to be the center piece of a new downtown but it was a total flop. Face it, people don't want to live where you have hundreds of homeless crackheads and winos harassing you all day and night.

bernsee · 08-22-2009, 05:58 PM

The AJC won't even stay downtown, moving to the Perimeter next year. Not exactly a vote of confidence in downtown. If they won't stay, who will? If it weren't for the Georgia State students, downtown would be a ghost town during the week. It's depressing to watch. It's basically the police and ambassadors watching the homeless all day long, making sure they don't get out of line. There is some life by Allen Plaza, where Mellow Mushroom and The W hotel is, but the Au Bon Pain closed down, much to my disappointment, and I just don't know if the development there is sustainable.

waronxmas · 08-22-2009, 06:11 PM

Ok, y'all need to calm down. Downtown isn't dying. It could be better, but it's better now than it has been for a long time.

As for the AJC, their troubles have nothing to do with the location of their offices and all to do with the fact that newspapers are a dying medium. Just look at San Francisco, they're on the verge of having no daily newspaper. Is San Francisco dying?