Revisiting Atlanta Georgia and changes over twenty years away

It has been over twenty years since I left Atlanta and so much has changed during that time.  The Atlanta that I knew growing up can hardly be found anymore.  Much of the buildings that were icons of the sixties and seventies are now gone, replaced by some bland and faceless building or space.

A few icons remain, The Varsity on North Avenue

Polaris restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta,

and the Peachtree Plaza hotel, but many are no longer all over town. 

Some of the more familiar that I grew up with living originally in downtown Atlanta in area near Georgia Tech and North Avenue called Techwood are gone now.  Much of this area was demolished and rebuilt during the building phases for the Olympic Village prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.  We lived just down the street from what are now Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Aquarium.

Icon buildings along the then four lane freeway were the Noland and the Wilson Jones building with the famous “Fly Delta Jets” sign on its roof.  That neon sign with its red glow above my bedroom window for as long as I can remember was a soothing nighttime fall asleep Zen like condition in my youth.

Both are gone now as the freeway was expanded multiple times to accommodate the growing population of Atlanta and the vehicles going through town or into downtown businesses. I had a paper route where I delivered papers to many downtown office buildings before I went to school each morning. Many of those buildings are gone making way for newer more modern buildings. 

Driving around North Avenue where the historic Fox theater is located, thankfully still there as it was one of my early jobs being an usher at the Fox and Lowes theaters back when you learned where every seat was in the theater and actually took people down the aisle and sat them down to watch the films. All the old historic buildings of Pershing Point in midtown have been torn down for progress of this city. It seems a shame to tear down these beautiful architectural buildings to make way for “something different”.

Going north on Peachtree Street at 7^th Street a new type of motor hotel called The Atlanta Cabana Motel was built in 1958. It was Atlanta’s version of Fontainebleau Miami. As things changed in midtown over the years so did the Cabana changing owners and razed in 2002 for a new 28 story residence tower called the Spire. A little known fact was Doris Day was a part owner in the late 60’s and 70’s.

Peachtree and 10^th Street area was a Hippie neighborhood in the 60’s and 70’s, the home of Margaret Mitchell who wrote “Gone with the Wind”. 

Her house was an eyesore for many years finally restored and placed on the National Historic Registry in 1997. 

This area was in constant change from the 60's to the 80’s when the gay movement changed this area of town. It had gotten pretty run down but with people revitalizing the Piedmont Park and Ansley neighborhoods while many high rise buildings were built many of which were residential. 

During the 60’s we moved out to north east Atlanta in the area around North Druid Hills and Brookhaven.  The Lenox Square Mall which at the time was a large open air mall with concrete forms and spires crossing from one side to the other was a totally different look for a mall. Actually I think it was one of the first multi-store type malls in the south.

There were places for people to perform for those shopping, several restaurants for those living in North Atlanta and who could forget the Lenox Square Gulf Station with its iconic spaceship look it was a great unique building in its time which is now gone.

Much has changed, population has grown three fold in twenty years and now it is a solid mixture of businesses, malls, apartments, condos, and strip malls from Gainesville to the north to Jonesboro to the south.  It has grown exponentially over the years. The metro Atlanta area consisted of five counties in 1995 when I left with a population of approximately 1.7 million people and has grown to 29 counties with over 5.3 million in 2010 census now making up a huge area.  Traffic has always been an issue for me and the major reason I left many years ago.  Orange barrels on I-285 and every other interstate around Atlanta was the joke when I left.  There have been many improvements in the highway system including toll lanes for moving “swiftly” along or high density vehicle lanes are common now.  Traffic is still bad, the area downtown when I was young had four lanes (2 in each direction) which is now I think at least 10 each way with no more room for expansion through the downtown corridor.

Atlanta is still a beautiful city, just not the beautiful city I remember from the seventies.  As it has grown over the years one of my questions back then was who/how many to change all the light bulbs in the street lights along Atlanta’s roadways?  Now it must take a small army of people as you fly into Atlanta you can see the lights from several hundred miles out when landing.

It is still hot here but for some reason more manageable than it was when working in the heat every day. Much has changed; the skyline is different now as it has grown but one constant even with all the influx of people from other places (mainly the northern states) is the Southern people and our heritage.  The traditions are alive and well here which is refreshing.  

During the time in Alaska people would often comment about my mannerisms and sayings which I always carried my heritage within my soul over the years.  Opening a car door or shop door for others is so much a part of me.  The friendly banter with people in the service industry is something I take pride in.  Our ways may not be understood by those whose mama and daddy did not teach the traditions of our southern heritage but they are an important part of my life.

As I continue to stay in the Atlanta area there are other places I would like to revisit and write my perspectives on and witness the changes over my absence.  The South is strong and its ideals ingrained in our being.  We will do fine and always have.  The south is, in our day and age, a cultural, industrial and economic power.  Cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Charleston (one of the busiest ports in the country), Jacksonville, Mobile, and Montgomery are all cities of industrial and cultural importance.

The old adage, “The south shall rise again”, is often misunderstood but its message is clear . . . The South has risen from the ashes of the Civil War and now play a major part in this nations business, political, and cultural sense with our genteel way about us.

Good day,

Ice