Malling Atlantic Station
Atlantic Station’s official opening may be later this week, but one thing is already clear; this is not primarily about urban improvement, it’s about money, pure and simple.
First, lets talk about some of what they did right. Having people live on the property is great. There are apartments, business, retail, and restaurants. It’s truly mixed use and should be pretty lively all the time. That’s the good part. They’ve also set space aside for MAACC to promote culture in the city, there is a supermarket, and plenty of parking.
There are sidewalks and security. There is even an outdoor stage for some community performances.
There is still a lot of left to do. First, they will celebrate their grand opening with less than full capacity. Lots of restaurants and shops have not yet been built. Underground Atlanta has already made this mistake twice. It’s a common Atlanta ploy. Rather than showing the city what Atlantic Station is, the presenters will be showing what it can be. Atlantans are getting all too accustomed to ‘It’s going to be great!’
There are also some basic structural problems. There are no water fountains. Crosswalks do not alert drivers that they Must Yield to pedestrians, and it’s not easy to find your way into the garages. Also architecturally, if you like the Mall of Georgia, you’re going to love this! Nothing daring or imaginative. Nothing revolutionary. Just a mall masquerading as in-town neighborhood with roads such as 17 & 1/2 street.
Just as with any mall, the chains rule the roost. Moes, Z Gallery, Old Navy, Limited, Gap, and California Pizza Kitchen all invaded. There are very few one of a kind stores. Even the movie theater is a national chain. You’d have though they could have at least recruited Lefonte. Bookstore? No. Concert Hall? No. Live theater? No. MARTA shelters? No. I am glad there is a department store, but it does not even have a bar or restaurant!
So what should those who support a smart, well urbanized Atlanta do? First, treat it like any other mall. It’s new, it will be popular for a while, but a mall’s a mall and in this one, you get wet when it rains. Second, don’t mistake Atlantic Station for downtown. It isn’t. There are no real civic or cultural facilities, and I’ll bet if someone tries to preach the gospel or chess hustle, they will be arrested and kicked to the curb. Third, ask about things you’d think any in town neighborhood would have, such as a library. Fourth, when you need mall type stuff or if you live in that neighborhood, shop there.
Atlantic Station is not perfect and needs improvement, but it sure beats the heck out of Town Center…
October 17th, 2005 at 10:04 am
Certainly I will agree that AS is essentially a mall - until downtown or midtown proper is able to emulate the retail environment of AS, it may very well develop into an assumed downtown. As - “I’m going downtown for a movie or to shop”, though I would imagine that comment would be made by a suburbanite, it still holds some truth.
Civic designated property is the foundation of a downtown, but in a civicless society, where corporate identity has replaced alliegence, it is becoming irrevelant.
Nonetheless - I did have a good time last Sunday, walking OUTSIDE by the stores & watching a film & even surprisingly having a good time at the sports bar. It will become a nice weekend MARTA / bike trip for my wife & I, just as nearby Edgewood is already.
But still, I would request two things from my fellow asslantans - 1) let’s not forget Little Five Points or Virginia Highlands, these places that have been fun weekend getaways for decades. But I think it’s understandable that if you want to buy jeans or shirts that don’t have the word ‘fuck’ on them, or you want to see a film with no more than 10 ‘fuck’ spoken - then AS & Edgewood are the place to go. Which I am eternally grateful for not having to go up to Buckhead anymore.
The number 2) would be - try MARTA. Seriously, I know it’s easy to drive there, but you would be surprised how much it makes you appreciate / criticize your built environment. Take a bus, ride a bike, walk to your nearby MARTA station, spend the money on tokens that would likely pay for gas to get to AS & it’s a short distance from Arts Center or take the shuttle there. I assure you, there are other intown residents that take MARTA on the weekend. It won’t be just you & poor people & suburbanites going to the Airport.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
My wife and I have spent some time over there, since we live in the development’s Art Foundry condos, and this weekend, I just stared in amazement at the surface parking spaces. They vaunt an impressive 3,000-5,000-space deck just below the retail district, and then put ~50 public parking spaces right on street level??!?
What’s the purpose of those anyway! To invent itself as a pedestrian destination, and then create an SUV logjam on the surface streets from day one where 800 cars will compete for 50 always-full spaces is idiotic. They should have designated those spaces for store owners and/or handicapped parking only, instead directing all traffic into the district immediately down into the cavernous deck below. Even with the limited traffic this weekend, there were already dozens of cars cruisin’ to try to find that elusive parking space! The surface streets going through the district should be for dropping off passengers at the shops, period. It reminds me of The Forum up in Norcross, with cars ambling around in circles trying to find parking spaces amidst the outdoor shops, all the while making it a very pedestrian-unfriendly environment. I hope Atlantic Station figures this out quickly.
October 17th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
Your comments about the lack of civic space & problems with pedestrian-friendliness at Atlantic Station might be right on.
The reason that chain stores “rule the roost” is that smaller businesses can’t afford brand new retail space. This will probably change over the years.
Personally, I think that a modern movie theater run by a big company is exactly what midtown needs. The Landmark cinema on Monroe is more of an art theater, and really not a great place to watch new releases from mainstream studios. A lot of people drive all the way to Chamblee from Midtown right now to go to the movies because all of the in-town theaters are so pathetic. This new theater is a great thing for them!
October 18th, 2005 at 9:35 am
Garrett - this may be something you still disagree with, but it has become accepted design form to include street-side parking. This provides a buffer between the pedestrian & the street in addition it does slow traffic down.
October 20th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
the AJC said they’re going to charge for parking at Atlantic Station. it seems pretty ridiculous when you can to go lenox or perimeter and consume until you burst at the same chain stores and then cap it off with the same barbecue chicken pizza from CPK. and to get to lenox and perimeter, you can actually take MARTA pretty much to the front door.
October 21st, 2005 at 8:59 am
Parking is free for the first 2 hours & if you go to Regal it is free for 4 hours. A free shuttle is only minutes from Arts Center station, besides the walk is closer than Phipps is to Lenox, which isn’t too bad.
I think the message regarding ‘free’ parking should be forced more in Atlanta. Parking is never ‘free’.
October 21st, 2005 at 12:35 pm
Just to clarify: In addition to the free parking for the first 2 hours, the parking rates are only in effect from 6am til 7:30pm on weekdays, and probably done this way to discourage commuter and overnight parking. Your average evening or weekend shopper that drives really won’t be affected by the charges.
December 27th, 2005 at 11:26 am
I’ve followed, and to some extent been involved in, the evolution of Atlantic Station for more than five years. I hear many complaints and don’t disagree. My biggest disappointment is the architecture — starting with the 17th street bridge itself. This was an opportunity that clearly got away from Jacoby.
However, the perfect urban neighborhood can’t be affordably built in Atlanta. It can only evolve as the population and infrastructure do. Rents must help pay the debt on almost $1 billion, including the $40 million it cost to clean the site up. Reality — Mom and pop shops and artsy theaters don’t get this done.
As a proud, SUV driving suburbanite, I had to laugh when I saw that the development would accomodate parking for 30,000 cars. LIkely, most of those cars will have Cobb and Gwinnett plates on them.
Dream what you will, Jacoby did as pretty good job of converting 100+ acres of blight into something that might work economically — in the reality of inadequate public tranportation, poor schools and a dearth of local middle class families that really make an economy run.
All in all, Atlantic Station beats the hell out of what was there. It had to be a compromise to work. That’s reality. I wish it well, but I’ll take the Forum — it doesn’t charge to park and the stores are nicer.