West Midtown, also known as Westside, [1] is a colloquial area, comprising many historical neighborhoods located in Atlanta, Georgia. Once largely industrial, West Midtown is now the location of urban lofts, art galleries, live music venues, retail and restaurants. [2] [3]
West Midtown is directly west of Midtown Atlanta, hence that name. The name for the area is a matter of debate. [4] The name "West Midtown" is used by the neighbors' association in Home Park, the largest constituent neighborhood, [5] the West Midtown Business Association, [6] and Westside Provisions, a privately run commercial district. [7] The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau uses West Midtown and defines the Westside as consisting of West Midtown and Atlantic Station. [8]
Only "Westside" or "The Westside" is used by the Not for Tourists guide. [9]
Creative Loafing has used both "West Midtown" and "Westside", [10] but now uses "Westside" in its official neighborhood guide. [11] The West Midtown Design District uses both terms. [12] Google Maps does not mark the area with a neighborhood name. [13]
The borders of West Midtown are not defined officially by the city, as it encompasses several neighborhoods spread over multiple NPUs. Generally, though, West Midtown is bordered to the east by Northside Drive and Georgia Tech, to the north by Buckhead, to the west by Marietta Boulevard and Marietta Road, and to the south by Hollowell Parkway. However, other sources define a larger area including parts of English Avenue and Bankhead, including the West Midtown Design District and The West Midtown Business Alliance. [14] [15]
Neighborhoods usually included within West Midtown are:
Historic districts within West Midtown are:
Westside Provisions occupies buildings that include a former meat packing plant and is home to a large Room & Board furniture store, as well as Atlanta's second Anthropologie. [16] [17] [18] The district includes Atlanta's two top Zagat-rated restaurants, Bacchanalia and the Quinones Room, [19] as well as Ormsby's, a popular restaurant and bar featuring bocce ball courts. It also includes a gourmet market with sections for produce, cheese, and a bakery, additional restaurants, and high end home furnishings and apparel shops. The district is said to have "put West Midtown on the map." [20] [21]
Much of Atlanta's industrial and Civil War history occurred in the area now known as West Midtown. [22] Several buildings still in use today are located next to the historic Norfolk Southern rail lines General Sherman used when he invaded Atlanta in 1864. In 1881, the International Cotton Exposition was held at the north end of the corridor, for which the Exposition Cotton Mills were built. Mule-pulled trolleys brought workers starting in 1882, and these became electrified in 1894. [23]
The Huff House, which stood on Huff Road, was the oldest house standing in the city when it was demolished in 1954.
Blandtown, located along Huff Road, was one of the first black settlements around Atlanta after the Civil War. The community went into decline in the 1950s, such that by the 1990s, the once-residential neighborhood was rezoned to strictly industrial usage. [24]
The Marietta Street corridor continued as an industrial and warehouse area, though starting in the 1960s, the commercial strip along Marietta Street suffered with suburbanization. In the 1990s, several adaptive reuse projects were initiated (Hasting's Seed Company, The Carriage Works, King Plow Arts Center, and the Allied Warehouse), signaling the renaissance of the area. [25] [26] [27]
Once a largely abandoned industrial area, West Midtown has seen large amounts of gentrification and infill, with an eclectic mix of new lofts, restaurants, shops, art galleries, salons and professional firms. The loft-style industrial feel of the neighborhood has been retained, as most of the new developments are restorations of once-neglected factories or warehouses that date back to the 1880s. [28] West Midtown has become a popular location for the offices of high-tech companies seeking the open floor plans and loft office space, including the Atlanta offices of Facebook, located at Brickworks. [29] [30]
West Midtown is a popular stop for food lovers due to the fact that some of Atlanta's trendiest high-end restaurants are located in the district. [31] [32] Many of West Midtown's dining establishments have garnered national attention and favor with local foodies such as Bacchanalia, Abattoir, Miller Union, Bocado, and The Optimist, chef Ford Fry's seafood restaurant. [33] In 2012, the Atlanta Food Truck Park opened in West Midtown at Howell Mill Road's intersection with I-75.
West Midtown's retail options, which includes Sid Mashburn, Ann Mashburn, Toscano & Sons Italian Market, Room & Board, Whipstitch Fabrics, Redefined Home, The Gear Revival, Anthropologie, Hop City Craft Beer and Wine, Wired and Fired, Lululemon Athletica, Verde Home and Free People, make the area a regional shopping destination. Huff Road forms a ribbon of wholesale and retail home furnishings stores in addition to residential complexes and restaurants.
West Midtown has an arts scene that rivals Midtown, Atlanta's premier arts district. However, unlike Midtown, which is focused more on classical art, West Midtown is home to an "ad hoc group of contemporary art galleries that have styled themselves as a more intellectual alternative." Prominent art galleries include Saltworks Gallery, which shows works by both local and international artists; the Sandler Hudson Gallery, which has represented contemporary artists since 1989; the Emily Amy Gallery, known for emerging artists from across the country; and the Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, known for fine art photography with regular rotating exhibitions. These art galleries sponsor a monthly art walk through the neighborhood known as the West Side Arts District Art Walk. [34] the 3rd Saturday of every month. [35]
West Midtown is home to three arts centers: the Goat Farm Arts Center, the Westside Cultural Arts Center and the King Plow Arts Center. Located in the neighborhood is the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, a non-collecting contemporary art museum. [36]
West Midtown is home to live music venues and drinking establishments. Terminal West, a 7,000-square foot music venue, is located in the King Plow Arts Center, a 100-year-old iron and steel foundry. The venue, which includes an outdoor roof deck overlooking historic train tracks, was recently chosen by Creative Loafing as Best New Music Venue for 2012. The Goat Farm Arts Center hosts music concerts. West Midtown is home to popular nightlife destinations, especially Ormsby's, a bar and restaurant featuring bocce ball courts, and Northside Tavern, a self-described "dive bar" that offers live Blues performances. [16]
Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business groups. However, the commercial core of the area is anchored by a series of high-rise office buildings, condominiums, hotels, and high-end retail along Peachtree Street between North Avenue and 17th Street. Midtown, situated between Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north, is the second-largest business district in Metro Atlanta. In 2011, Midtown had a resident population of 41,681 and a business population of 81,418.
The Atlanta BeltLine is a 22 miles (35 km) open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect neighborhoods and communities historically divided and marginalized by infrastructure, improve transportation, add green space, promote redevelopment, create and preserve affordable housing, and showcase arts and culture. The project is in varying stages of development, with several mainline and spur trails complete and others in an unpaved, but hikeable, state. Since the passage of the More MARTA sales tax in 2016, construction of the light rail streetcar system is overseen by MARTA in close partnership with Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.
Home Park is a neighborhood of Atlanta in Georgia, US. It is bordered on the south by Georgia Tech, on the west by the railroad yards adjacent to Marietta Street and Brady Avenue, on the north by 16th Street at Atlantic Station, and on the east by Techwood Drive at I-75/85.
Virginia–Highland is an affluent neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, founded in the early 20th century as a streetcar suburb. It is named after the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue, the heart of its trendy retail district at the center of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is famous for its bungalows and other historic houses from the 1910s to the 1930s. It has become a destination for people across Atlanta with its eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as for the Summerfest festival, annual Tour of Homes and other events.
Cabbagetown is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, abutting historic Oakland Cemetery. It includes the Cabbagetown District, a historic district listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Bankhead is a train station in Atlanta, Georgia, the western terminus of the Green Line in the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. Bankhead station is located in the Grove Park Neighborhood due to a recent neighborhood expansion. This station primarily serves the neighborhoods of Grove Park, Bankhead, West Lake, Howell Station, and other Westside residents. Bankhead Station provides connecting bus service to Donald Lee Hollowell Highway, Maddox Park, and the future Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry; which will be the largest park in the city of Atlanta
The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an intown neighborhood on the eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site.
Streetcars originally operated in Atlanta downtown and into the surrounding areas from 1871 until the final line's closure in 1949.
Marietta Street Artery is an officially defined neighborhood of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, part of the West Midtown area of Atlanta, also known as the "Westside."
The King Plow Arts Center is a commercial, performing, and visual arts center located on Marietta Street in the Marietta Street Artery district of West Midtown, Atlanta. King Plow is the largest center of its kind in the city. King Plow is also a popular music venue for concerts and live music shows in Atlanta.
English Avenue and Vine City are two adjacent and closely linked neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Together the neighborhoods make up neighborhood planning unit L. The two neighborhoods are frequently cited together in reference to shared problems and to shared redevelopment schemes and revitalization plans.
The Goat Farm Arts Center is a visual and performing arts center located in West Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia. The center is housed in a 19th-century complex of industrial buildings and contains the studio space of over 300 artists. Goat Farm hosts music concerts, traditional and experimental theatrical performances, film screenings, contemporary dance performances, art exhibitions, artist residency programs, and professional ballet and contemporary dance classes. It is also home to resident performance companies gloATL, Saiah Theater, and The Collective Project.
Westside Provisions is a mixed use neighborhood located in the West Midtown area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
The King Plow/Railroad Historic District is a proposed historic district in Midtown West, Atlanta, Georgia. Creation of the district was approved at the state level in 2001 but it has not yet received national certification.
The arts in Atlanta are well-represented, with a prominent presence in music, fine art, and theater.
Gentrification of Atlanta's inner-city neighborhoods began in the 1970s, and it has continued, at varying levels of intensity, into the present. Many factors have contributed to the city's gentrification. A major increase in gentrification that occurred in the last years of the 20th century has been attributed to the 1996 Summer Olympics. However, during the 2000s, Atlanta underwent a profound transformation demographically, physically, and culturally. Suburbanization, rising prices, a booming economy, and new migrants decreased the city’s black percentage from a high of 67% in 1990 to 54% in 2010. From 2000 to 2010, Atlanta gained 22,763 white residents, 5,142 Asian residents, and 3,095 Hispanic residents, while the city’s black population decreased by 31,678. Much of the city’s demographic change during the decade was driven by young, college-educated professionals: from 2000 to 2009, the three-mile radius surrounding Downtown Atlanta gained 9,722 residents aged 25 to 34 holding at least a four-year degree, an increase of 61%. Between the mid-1990s and 2010, stimulated by funding from the HOPE VI program, Atlanta demolished nearly all of its public housing, a total of 17,000 units and about 10% of all housing units in the city. In 2005, the $2.8 billion BeltLine project was adopted, with the stated goals of converting a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop that surrounds the central city into an art-filled multi-use trail and increasing the city’s park space by 40%. Lastly, Atlanta’s cultural offerings expanded during the 2000s: the High Museum of Art doubled in size; the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award; and numerous art galleries were established on the once-industrial Westside.
Alex Brewer, also known as HENSE, is an American contemporary artist, best known for his dynamic, vivid and colorful abstract paintings and monumental wall pieces. He has been active since the 1990s. In 2002 he began accepting commissions for artwork and over the course of the last decade has established a solid reputation as a commissioned artist, having appeared in several solo and group shows.
Westside in Atlanta may mean:
Midtown West is a 12-acre commercial development in West Midtown, Atlanta. It consists of historic warehouse space renovated for use as restaurants, other hospitality and offices. It includes the Brickworks building at the intersection of Howell Mill Rd. and Marietta St.
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