Owner-occupied — now I know what this means
I have nothing against renters, and I understand that buying and rehabbing properties is a way to make money and also a means by which a neighborhood can have a new life.
But this house in my neighborhood tells a different story.
It’s a story of someone — I’ll leave his name out of it — buying a house in Grant Park in 2001 and NOT fixing it up. And then renting it to people who sat on the porch all night, carrying on and occasionally chasing after the dog rather loudly.
House in so-so shape = tenants who aren’t going to pay top dollar and hence probably don’t require the landlord to mow the lawn, maintain the property, etc.
I think the photos make this house look better than it is — probably because it does have potential. But the front and back yards are completely overgrown (see below); the netting is ripped from the screened-in porch you see in the photo; the paint is peeling; and there’s a note on the window warning trespassers to go away (too late; three air-conditioning units were stolen).
The tenants who carried on eventually moved on. And the house sat empty. It’s been empty for at least a year. And at first, that was good. I mean, there were no more disputes with drunk girls who thought nothing of yelling in the middle of the street at 4 a.m. on a Monday night.
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RIP Just Loaf’n in Grant Park
I always hate to see retail vacancies, particularly a restaurant such as Just Loaf’n on Boulevard that offered something different.
A notice posted a few weeks back on the Cajun restaurant’s front door seemed to indicate problems with leased equipment. Without doing any reporting (caveat), I surmised that the equipment leasing company may have filed for bankruptcy, making its leased equipment collateral. But that’s purely conjecture on my part.
Just Loaf’n was one of the few bright commercial spots on that stretch of Boulevard, which is such an important North-South thoroughfare and yet seems neglected in so many spots.
Less than a half-mile from Just Loaf’n sits the empty spot that Zocalo, occupied until about a year ago. There’s a sign in the window that says a new restaurant is coming, but we’ll see. Commercial real estate folks have said there’s just not enough foot traffic there to sustain a lunch spot.
(As an aside, I personally think the spot is ripe for a Chinese restaurant, with eat-in and take-out options).
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Bulldozer on Boulevard at Urban Gardener and other GP happenings
Is someone answering my prayers?
I’m not sure. In fact, I’m going to be really bloggy and just post this photo of dirt moving and bulldozers and activity at the vacant Urban Gardener property on Boulevard near I-20, without being able to share any details.
UPDATE: See comments for details on new garden center slated for the spot.
I’m looking through council agendas right now, but I have to say, the city council appears to post a wealth of documents online without making the information easy to navigate.
Or, I’m a tool.
Anyway, it’s such an important property in Grant Park that I am thrilled to see any movement there at all.
I spoke with someone at the Urban Gardener when the shop moved to East Atlanta, and the woman said the drought did them in. It’s a large property, and as you may know, the Urban Gardener folks had fittingly outfitted it with a ton of flora and fauna.
Boulevard is such a key thoroughfare on the east side of the city, and yet design-wise, it blows. Like so many streets and intersections in Atlanta, it’s just allowed to be ugly, even though for the most part it has good sidewalks, and is a natural conduit between Grant Park, Cabbagetown and development on Memorial.
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Cityscape: Friday roundup
Spent some quality time last week in this plaza, which is outside a Starbucks and across from Woodruff Park.
Ah Decatur….looking at this picture, where I see people outside walking, biking and enjoying lunch even on a very hot day, I know why Decaturites are like a cult. They’re livin’ the life!
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Boulevard crosswalk, part two
Wow, this blogging thing appears to work!
District 1 Councilwoman Carla Smith called me this morning at 9 a.m. to follow up on my request for a crosswalk on Boulevard at I-20 in Grant Park.
She said that intersection is actually owned by the D.O.T., so it’s going to take more than a smile to obtain the crosswalk, but I would say we have officially started the process!
As I said yesterday, it would be helpful to install walk/don’t walk signs that provided a dedicated period of time for walkers to cross through the intersection. Right now, the walk/don’t walk signs at that intersection give you about three seconds to cross before they begin to flash, and cars are permitted in the intersection throughout that time.
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Crosswalk on Boulevard
I would like the city to add an official crosswalk on Boulevard at the intersection of 1-20 in Grant Park.
I would like a walk/don’t walk sign that gives you more than three seconds to cross the street (no embellishment there; the current sign goes from the white ‘walk’ symbol to the flashing orange ‘don’t walk’ symbol after about three seconds).
And I would like the city to add the soundtrack that goes with a good crosswalk — the little beeping noise and the automated guy saying something like, “It’s now safe to cross the street,” which signals to drivers to stay out of the intersection.
I know I am a bit crazy about walking, but there are other people who cross there, too. If you live in the eastern part of Grant Park, it’s logical that you would want to walk up Boulevard, crossing over I-20, to reach Oakland Cemetery, Cabbagetown, the two buslines that run along Memorial Drive and other destinations.
So I called District 1 Councilwoman Carla Smith. I started with her because a city official told me councilpeople can help out with this type of request. She has not returned my call yet, but I will let you know how it goes.
Anyone else have any experience with this?
One less vacancy in Grant Park
I’m not looking to make this blog Grant Park Central (ahem!) but I want to mention that a bike shop is moving into a vacant spot on Woodward Ave. between the Cabbagetown Clay Works and Stone Soup Kitchen.
I love it when vacancies are filled, particularly in long-established retail corridors. The infrastructure is already there and another business, if done right, can only help the other businesses.
It’s especially vital in neighborhoods like Grant Park with grandfathered-in rows of retail shops that enhance the neighborhood’s homey feel, but typically cannot expand.
Now how about the vacancy on Boulevard two doors down from Solstice? That’s not a good location for something?
A word about the new bike store: according to its Web site, No Brakes “provides Atlanta’s urban cyclist with a relaxed environment where you can feel comfortable whether you’ve been riding for years or are just getting started.” It sells custom built wheels, original apparel and accessories.
It will leave a quirky, home-grown business community on Rogers St. in Kirkwood for the new spot in Grant Park. Store opens July 10.
Cityscape
Intersection of Boulevard and Memorial, SE Atlanta
Simple question: would you want to walk here?
The photo shows the intersection of Boulevard and Memorial Drive in Grant Park from what might be described as the worst vantage point.
It’s an abandoned lot that holds the remains of a mechanic’s service station (out of the shot).
I don’t want to get into the politics or the economics of why this lot remains undeveloped (I understand it has something to do with underground gas wells that remain from its days as a service station).
I just want to ask my fellow citizens: would you want to walk here? Would you want to pose for photos here? If there were a bench, would you stop and sit?
The answer is no. And I could have shown thousands of different intersections around Atlanta and found the same response.
And that’s a problem.
Next door to the lot is one of the best restaurants in Atlanta, Agave, and across the street is an absolute gem: Oakland Cemetery. I wouldn’t mind buying a condo in the Oakland Park building you see in the photo, but not if I had to look at that empty lot!
Want to see something nice? Here’s a shot of Carroll Street in Cabbagetown that’s just two blocks away from the intersection above.
Carroll Street in Cabbagetown
Community Garden in Grant Park
Community garden, Woodward Ave., Grant Park
See this oasis of tranquility, organic beauty and smart growth?
If you can read, you already know it’s a new community garden in Grant Park. But did you know it’s one of three new community gardens in the immediate Grant Park area?
What’s smart about this?
It takes vacant or underused land and gives it purpose. That’s good news for the owner, the renter and a bunch of innocent bystanders I’ll call “the community at large.”
One of the other new community gardens in Southeast Atlanta is at WonderRoot, the non-profit arts space on Memorial Drive. For more information, take a look at WonderRoot’s site where you’ll learn the group is all about inspiring “positive social change.”
Our new website!
