Making Downtown Small Town

Recently, CNN published an article on "6 Reasons To Love Atlanta." In this article, they had a section describing Atlanta as a "city of small towns," and then, they detailed some of our city's most special and unique neighborhoods. In this section, they also pointed out another blatant fact: the lack of strong community and belonging in Downtown Atlanta. While our downtown lacks the heavy density and boisterousness of other Central Business Districts across North America, underneath its tired facade, a small town from another time still exists. I believe Central Atlanta Progress can recapture the spirit that built and created the big city of Atlanta through building on a new kind of concept: the one that Downtown is a small town.

Broad Street in Downtown Atlanta

When you look across our entire metro, you will find small towns and little municipalities splattered across the ten counties that make up our region. And it doesn't matter if you live in an edge city such as Woodstock or in the urban core like in Midtown, each city and neighborhood shares a strong community bond and tight culture that is characteristic of the small towns CNN refers to except at the heart of the region in Downtown. Downtown does have a community and culture, but not one that is going to attract others to come live, work, and play there. But luckily, this is something that can be fixed by city planners and developers, and something that will instigate innovation from the people who chose to inhabit Downtown.

 

A Fairlie-Poplar Street Ripe for Redevelopment

So, one way to build a small town feel in Downtown is to create the "small town" which is actually easy since one already exists! The Fairlie-Poplar neighborhood houses Atlanta's old CBD and is registered as a National Register Historic District. Its quaint tree-lined streets and architecturally-significant buildings serve as a hidden treasure underneath the towering skyscrapers that surrounds the neighborhood. The neighborhood has been partially redeveloped on the east side where there are a few Georgia State academic buildings, housing, and the redeveloped Broad Street. But on the west side, Fairlie-Poplar remains a relative dormant district with parking garages taking the place of what could be office space, residential buildings, shops, and restaurants. The city can make this neighborhood an Atlanta hot spot for both millennials and families by firstly making it more friendly to people. By closing off some small streets and alleys to cars, and making them only accessible to pedestrians, bikers, and streetcars, the city can create a sense of shared place. Also, by opening up and creating more street front property, the city can attract both small businesses looking for a trendy place to set up shop as well as big-name businesses interested in getting a share of the economic booms from redeveloped urban cores. Finally, by redeveloping the parking garages and surface lots of West Fairlie-Poplar into new businesses and homes, the city can reconnect the Luckie-Marietta district home to the award-winning Centennial Olympic Park with the rest of Downtown through what would be the newly-bustling Fairlie-Poplar district.

Georgia State in Downtown

Another way Central Atlanta Progress can build up Downtown is by creating a university town. Recently, Georgia State has been quickly buying up and redeveloping a lot of land in Downtown Atlanta. Under the direction of President Mark Becker, Georgia State is determined to create a more residential university-like campus. But due to its location next to Atlanta's CBD, this is a hard task to accomplish for GSU. For city government, the benefits of having a large university at the hands of its biggest employers would be abundant. The city could reoccupy all of its Downtown skyscrapers with businesses interested in benefiting from young, educated, cheaper employees. Georgia State would attract more students interested in getting work-place experience with so many top-tier companies right at its door step, and the city would benefit because more people and more businesses means more tax revenue and less vacant lots. Partnering with Georgia State to create what would be the first-ever American university town in a downtown will help rebuild Downtown by setting a fuse to the area with creativity, innovation, education, and business.

Also, by looking and following the example of their partner to the north, Downtown can become the center they desire to be. Redeveloping its parks, adding green space, adding more streetfronts, extending sidewalks, and making the area have a sense of togetherness and place, Midtown has been able to create itself as a hip place for people to move and live in. Whether in Atlantic Station, Crescent Street, or Piedmont Park, Midtown has created itself into a place people want to be. Its re-creation and hip lifestyle has made Midtown the small town 20-somethings move to in order to escape the suburbs they grew up in. Downtown can do the same by investing in its image and its actual streets.

Downtown Atlanta: Ready for a Facelift for the People? 

Finally, I believe Central Atlanta Progress can reinvigorate Downtown as a small town with culture, activity, and life by doing something rare now-a-days: by going to the people. Atlantans know what they want. People are willing to drive over an hour to be in the places they like. (For instance, I have suburban friends who now choose to drive 40 minutes to go Atlantic Station to shop and hang out over the Mall of Georgia every time!) By going public and letting the people remodel the city they call home, Atlanta city government has a sure-fire way to build the ideal community. Its time to let us in, and let Atlantans choose what they want instead of trying to build what you think we want! By letting the citizens reclaim Downtown, Downtown will become the best small town of all. It will become the citizens' treasured small town in the city of small towns.