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Silly Atlantic Station….
They have one the Second Largest Parking Deck in the United States (only the Mall of America is Bigger), and yet they won’t let their vendors validate parking… 
This is just silly.  Yes.  You get two hours free.  How nice.  Yes.  It’s free after 7:00 ish.  How nice.  Go for a late lunch and the deck is empty.  It’s a wasteland.  Spend too long at lunch however, and you’ll have to pay for it.  If you’re already spending $40 for lunch at Strip, the fact that they can’t validate your parking for however long you’re going to be there is adding insult to injury. 
Having the shuttle is a good thing, however, until there is a train stop there, let the vendors validate. 

The Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts wants you.  If you’re not familiar with ACPA, they are a vital organization in Atlanta.  They provide patrons with the Atlantix booths, sell gift certificates and run one of the most popular websites to let people know what’s going on in the arts. 
For performers, they coordinate a unified audition for all the companies in town and help provide emergency medical funding.  For producing organizations, they do a lot.  They sell the half price ticket,s help market the theaters, lobby community organizations, and help provide event insurance and accounting assistance. 
Now they have both opportunities and issues to face.  The next three months are a major cash crunch… It takes employees to run both the Lenox and Underground booths and they need the cash to pay the folks.
What they have are marketing opportunities galore.  Atlantix does not have a primary sponsor, nor does the organization itself.  They are ripe for a really good marketing partnership.  If your company wants to partner with a non-governmental organization that works metro-wide to strengthen the arts, get in touch!
If you’re patron, make a donation or use the Atlantix service!  Either way, you’ll help keep the booths open and people going to shows.

Libby’s is closing.  For those who don’t know, Libby’s is a Cabaret.  In fact, it’s the only free standing cabaret in Atlanta.  Libby’s is well run, reasonably priced for what they were providing, and a great outlet for singers who really focus on the song.  Losing Libby’s hurts our community. 
Why?  It kept singers and musicians employed and making a living in Atlanta and it was one one reason that some stayed in Atlanta rather than moving to L.A.  Second, it was a great training ground and mentoring opportunity for younger song stylists to work with more experienced ones.  Third, it helped our image.  New York has a thriving cabaret scene as does Chicago, SF, and LA.  It’s the mark of a true city. 
It also means that the next generation will have fewer chances to learn about the Cabaret form and what makes it attractive. 
Libby kept the club going for six years and will close after her New Years show this year.  A smart downtown Real Estate Mogul  would offer her some affordable space and have his development associated with the well heeled clients that support Libby’s. 
In the mean time, if you like standards and hearing the in an intimate setting, get to Libby’s before she’s gone. 

Atlanta and Fairlie Poplar has suffered a big loss.  Icon Bar and Bistro has gone out of business.  Losing Icon is sad on at least three fronts.
First, Icon was the first new long running upscale restaurant the neighborhood had seen in a long time.  The food was good, the service was friendly, and it was a step up from Ted’s, Sidebar or Landmark.  It was key to keeping the professional set downtown for dinner.  It was nouvelle cuisine with a soul food sensibility, but was a much better value than Justin’s.  The neighborhood will be less friendly without it.
Second, the restaurant was locally owned and operated.  It was a strong upscale African American owned restaurant in a city where African Americans often look ‘upscale places of our own’.  The Morehouse Alumni Association used it as a happy hour location for their members. 
Third, it was a venue for live Jazz downtown.  There are not enough.  With the Jazz Loft twice gone (that space is becoming Agatha’s ) live jazz opportunities are hard to come by.  Icon gave the sophisticated music fan a chance and several groups a place to play. 
Hopefully, some smart restaurantuer will grab the space quickly and put something new and fresh in there.  In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if BED-Atlanta
can pick up some of Icon’s traffic and make a go of it on Marietta street. 

Did you know that Atlanta has a Museum of Contemporary Art?  MOCA is currently spread out between a midtown location and a downtown location.  They should consolidate.  MOCA needs it’s own building in Fairlie Poplar.  A free standing museum in that area would both boost the museum, help the neighborhood continue to bloom, and strengthen downtown.  It would also bring attention to some of the galleries that are already in the area and help facilitate the a change in people’s perceptions. 
How would a building be funded?  Well, we know there is at least $32 million that won’t be going to celebrate stock cars that is available as seed money for such a project.  Matching fund can be found and Kia, who has announced they are building a new plant in Georgia, can begin their corporate citizenship by helping to create such a project. 
Those redeveloping the Wyncoff Hotel might also consider helping to fund the project as a decent art museum with in walking distance will make their hotel more attractive! 
If we’re not going to be the Red Neck Mecca, we should be the cultural Mecca of the South East and a full museum of contemporary art would go a long way toward that. 

What is the Fur Bus doing in Virginia Highlands?  The Fur Bus was a Buckhead fixture, but now, pub crawls and the bus are appearing all to often in the Highlands.  Virginia Highlands is changing and not necessarily for the better.  First, chain stores are creeping in and pushing out anchors such as 20th Century Antiques.   The CD store that  used to be there and long supported local artists has already gone bust.  Instead, we get Chicos. 
Now, crowds who don’t know what they’re doing are hurting the nightlife.  You cannot imagine the frustration of the locals at an Irish pub when no one knows ‘The Wild Rover’ but the Fur Bus crowd insists on hearing ‘Rocky Top’… again.  So too with Blind Willies.  Much of the client base there now thinks that 12 bar refers not to the music but to the number of times they’ll be getting drinks.   It’s unlikely a jazz club would survive.  Even worse, it’s getting harder
Why is this happening?  First, there are fewer nightclubs in Central Buckhead and there is a backlash against the all out party atmosphere that used to run the place.  That’s sent the dancers to midtown and the drinkers to the Highlands. 
What can be done?  A few things.  First, Owners can make sure that the locals get well treated.  Make sure they get good service and that your employees tell the difference.  Second, make sure that the visitors have to obey the same rules as everyone else.  Lastly, if there are going to be large groups, let them buy the place out.  Proprietors can make more money, groups will feel as though their getting something special, and then the locals can go somewhere else that night, rather than finding somewhere else to go. 

The first attempt at walking Atlanta wasn’t so successful, as our tour guide has had an emergency situation come up. This is a last minute cancellation, I know, so I hope any of you who may have planned to join us see this in time.

For our second attempt, we’re already planning to do a West End to Midtown walk next Saturday, February 4. Again, we’ll start at 9:00.

Update: You can find my photos from the walk here!

A few of us folks will be taking a walk this Saturday morning. All you who somehow enjoy exercising early in the morning are invited to join me, Ryan, and others at the West End MARTA Station at 9:00 a.m. From there, we will walk to the Arts Center station via Ralph David Abernathy/Georgia Avenue, Grant Park, Boulevard/Monroe Drive, Piedmont Park, and Peachtree Street.

You could say we’re crazy, but it’s only about eight miles. Any of you who don’t want to go the whole route can easily get back on MARTA at nearly any point in the walk.

The Short of It
What: Walking Atlanta
Where: Start @ MARTA West End Station | End @ MARTA Arts Center Station
When: Saturday, January 28, 2006
Why: For its own sake

We hope to see you there!

Update: See new entry above.

Nordstrom has moved into Phipps and the results are beginning to churn.  First, traffic at Phipps is up.  More people are spending more money.  This has put pressure in other stores and Nieman Marcus is among those really feeling the pressure.
Though they have wanted to expand their Lenox location for a couple of years, the pressure has really mounted recently.  They will be moving about 100 or so feet into the corridor where shops such as the Sharper Image once had their spaces.  This is forcing those long time tenants to seek a new shingle.
Sharper Image and the Metropolitan Museum of Art store are, ironically, moving to Phipps as a result. Other stores are relocating in Lenox, but one important element is leaving Buckhead altogether.
Brasserie Le Cose has been part of the Lenox Square environment for over 10 years, but will now move to more urban space near the Aquarium. 
This is just another indicator that downtown has some potential.  The question is whether it will be met!  Ruth’s Chris and Icon both are options for attraction visitors as is McCormick and Schmick.  The Brasserie starts to widen the options even more.  Now, other arts and culture attractions need to fill in the space as well as some more night life.  Then downtown might really be swinging. All because Nordstrom went into Phipps.

With the Annual Celebration of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King completed, it’s time to breath life back into the King Center.  It would be a horrible shame to let the resource decay any further. 
First, let’s recognize where we are.  The King Center itself need $11.3 Million in repairs, but that’s the least of the problems.  The true problem is that the King Center is not effective.  The board and family are split over how to proceed.  One group, including two of Dr. King’s Children and Andrew Young want to sell the King Center to the United States Government while another group including Dr. King’s two other children wish to hold on to the Center.
Which direction they go should be determined by what they really want to accomplish. 
If the goal is to keep the historical record in tact, to educate people about the life and accomplishments of Dr. King, and to provide an archive for scholars, then the National Park Service and the National Archives should take over the center.  They will keep the building up, provide a historical record, help people from all over continue to build a body of scholarship about Dr. King, and encourage visitors to the site.  They will absolutely preserve the legacy of  non-violent social change.
What they will NOT do is actively ferment non-violent social change.  If actually creating change is the goal, then the center should remain independent of the government and get new leadership in.  Right now, Adbusters (whether you agree with them or not)  is a more effective vehicle for social change. 

This country does need social change.  We need courageous leaders who will non-violently engage the government about equality in education and other issues.  The King Center has not lived up to it’s potential in these matters.  It’s training programs have not lead to effective non-violent leadership either here or in other troubled parts of the world.  They have not been effective in reducing racial tensions in cities such as Cincinnati.  They have not incorporated new technologies to improve their techniques and to harness the power they provide to move masses of people.
They need to assemble a coalition of brilliant and imaginative people who are highly motivated to address the issues Dr. King cared about but we haven’t solved.  They need help from the Carter Center, former State Department officials, gang intervention specialists, negotiators, and entrepreneurs. 
Non-violent Social change can still be effective and the King Center should still be it’s home.  Either that or a new center needs to be created and the King Center should effectively work along the lines of a Presidential Library .