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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. 

Atlanta’s Libraries are under utilized resources.  Libraries remain vital in keeping information and knowledge accessible to everyone but they provide another vital service, they can serve as a rallying and gathering point.
The Los Angeles Public Libraries’ Central branch is a gem.  Its collections are substantial, its architecture a great blend of old and new, and the city uses the space to advance civic culture. The L.A.P.L. has three art galleries, a restaurant, several substantial meeting rooms and a theater!  They even help finance their operations with a thriving gift shop.  The New York, Chicago, and Boston public libraries engage in similar developement.
It’s time that the Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library straightened itself out and became the cultural landmark it needs to be.
First lets recognize what it already has going for it.  Did you know that The Atlanta Public Library is the one building in Atlanta designed by a Bauhaus Architect?  Marcel Breuer took his design for the Whitney Museum in New York and reworked it for APL.  This leads to the second point… The building already has one  art gallery and could easily be converted to include another.  Right now the gallery often focuses on student shows, but the library could easily work with the High Museum to return the folk art and photography galleries downtown.  
Additionally, the library should hire the Bold American Food Company to restart the restaurant.  At one time Delectables was the best value in downtown food and it was right in the middle of the library.
Lastly, the library needs to be the meeting place for the literary minded in Atlanta.  “Between the Lines”, WABE’s author interview program, should tape episodes before a live audience there each week.  The Authors could then donate signed copies of their books to raise money and become part of the librariy’s collection.
What it will take is some vision and cooperation, something sorely lacking in the library in recent years.  It will also take an effort to spruce up and clean the place.
Most importantly, however, the staff needs to re-magine what libraries do and librarians should do to make the place come to life.  As long as the staff is fighting and not focusing on treating its visitors as honored guests, it will be hard to move forward. 

Atlanta is increasingly a hockey town.  Last weekend, there were 16,000 plus folks at the Thrashers game and straight up I-85 another 10,000 plus at the Gladiators game.  That’s 1% of the 5 county Metro area at a hockey game on a given night.  More than were at Georgia and Georgia Tech’s basketball games. 
However, we have not done much to incorporate this into our image as a city.  We should do that in two ways.  First, we should apply to host the frozen four.  If the Superbowl is afraid to come back here because it might be cold, lets get fans who appreciate the chance to put on a sweater when the game is done. 
The second thing we need is a citywide tournament in hockey among the metro colleges.  Just as Boston has the Beanpot hockey tournament, we need the Varsity Cup.  Get Georgia, Emory,  Kennesaw State, Oglethorpe, Morehouse,  Georgia Tech, and others to compete.  They play a round robin on Friday and Saturday with a game for third and a game for first on Sunday.  The winning team gets Varsity chili dogs which they get to eat right there on the ice after they shake hands! 
A citywide hockey tournament would have a number of benefits.  First, because no local team is a division one NCAA hockey program, all the colleges can compete.  How often do all the city’s schools compete in one tournament?  This will get people excited about their colleges, increase interest in the higher education community, and prove you don’t need athletic scholarships to have fun intercollegiate athletic competition.  It’s also a great chance to reach out to High School students across the community. 
It would also be a boost for the city.  Hold the event at Philips arena, charge $15 for an all day pass (or $30 for all 3 days), and build a winter festival around it.  Students would come downtown, families would come downtown, and it be a great chance for everyone to celebrate the city’s new favorite sport! There could be a student artist market, local bands, food, and tie ins to the Thrashers and Gladiators.  Now all we need is the Varsity as the sponsor.