Downtown Atlanta is: ???

[ATLMidcity]

If you had to compare downtown Atlanta with other similar-sized cities (peer cities) how would you rate the downtown area (not including midtown).

Choose one of the group of words that you believe best describe downtown today.

[jayden]

Now? In 2022?

Dated, uninviting, lifeless outside of office hours and major events, but hopeful.

[robertjhajek]

Dead but promising

[RATBOYKEV]

GSU has made "east" downtown vibrant most times of day/night and most days of the week which has been an amazing transformation over the past 5-10 years.

Overall, Downtown is an exceptionally large neighborhood that is built to be lifeless most of the time since it serves office workers and tourists, but the new residential pockets should be among the most vibrant in the city!

[Labtec]

It's quite vibrant on weekdays with students around Fairlie Poplar. Centennial Olympic Park area usually has a lot of people and tourists on the weekends. The rest of downtown can be vibrant depending on events. I will say an option not listed: Potential, an area that can be a wonderful place with the right decisions. Centennial yards bringing in people and residents, supermarkets, etc.

[ATLMidcity]

It looks like downtown is clearly a tossup for experiencing urban living in Atlanta.
With 20 votes (so far) this subdistrict has garnished 45% positive reviews and 55% negative reviews. So, it appears downtown has some serious work to do to overcome its negative image.

Keep voting.

[ATLMidcity]

This poll was an attempt to capture the essence of downtown.

Here's what stands out:
4 of the characterizations cancel each other out with 4.17% and 29.17%, each.
2 of the characterizations reveal the true feelings about downtown.

Scary, desolate, ramshackle and embarrassing. 6 25.00%
Thriving, radiant, enticing - pulse of the city. 2 8.33%

All I know is in the near future downtown will be the PULSE OF THE CITY.

[smArTaLlone]

This seems the best place for this...

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by smArTaLlone

This seems the best place for this...

Cool map. It's missing some projects.

41 Marietta is being converted to a few hundred units right now.

The muses block (enter block between Walton and Forsyth) is rental existing.

The Constitution building residential is also going to happen. They're just waiting for Centennial Yards to get further along to justify the rehab costs.

[thegoatman]

Trash. Seattle is much smaller than Atlanta and has a much superior downtown. Philly, Miami, and Boston are similar sizes and are much more vibrant than downtown Atlanta. It's decrepit, filled with homeless, dilapidated buildings, and barren.

[atlantaguy]

Originally Posted by thegoatman

Trash. Seattle is much smaller than Atlanta and has a much superior downtown. Philly, Miami, and Boston are similar sizes and are much more vibrant than downtown Atlanta. It's decrepit, filled with homeless, dilapidated buildings, and barren.

Well, bless your heart.

[bryantm3]

It depends on where you are downtown. Castleberry Hill has gotten to where it's bustling almost every night. It's no surprise the Centennial Yards people are targeting their first developments to close the gap between that neighborhood and downtown.

Right now, if you go east of there towards the Capitol, it seems like the only residents are homeless. I wish we could do better in the CoA to put some extra rungs on the bottom of the economic ladder-- as many of you know, single room occupant hotels and street vending was largely banned in the 70s. If you are on the street these days, you are just too poor to even participate. Many try, offer to wash windshields, etc. And because of covid and the impending recession, homelessness has gone up significantly since 2020 and will likely continue to rise.

I was disturbed to learn recently that one police officer's solution to this problem was to steal all the tents and belongings during the day when those living there were out trying to scrounge up something to eat. Even the police who are compassionate, have got enough on their hands and can't help. The city needs to do more to help. There are plenty of things that need to be done around the city that aren't being done for those that are able. For those that are disabled, we need housing and healthcare.

Luckie-Marietta going east towards Peachtree Center is lively, but no midtown. Need more than tourist attractions to make this area work. A lot of new development along Ivan Allen is slowly bringing some life to this area.

GSU and Grady are pretty much it for the east side of downtown, for better or for worse. But the Edgewood/Auburn avenue on the other side of the connector is, like Castleberry Hill, gotten to where it's vibrant almost all of the time.

Similarly, there is a lot of new development on Memorial and Dekalb Avenue, and on Capitol Avenue going south, but the connector and all the infrastucture around it seems to be a barrier to that development reaching into Downtown.

It seems like there's a lot happening on the edges, just outside of downtown, but not a whole lot in the neighborhood itself. I don't know why this is.

[Libertarian]

The above comment is reality. Maybe let's not overanalyze and compare with other cities. It is what it is.