First Draft of Built Environment Analysis:

The Sweet Auburn district has been a significant part of Atlantean history since its construction. People such as Martin Luther King Jr. have walked that those streets and some of the structures in there are of high importance in telling the story of Civil Rights and class differences in this city. At one point, there was worry that this district would be demolished and completely rebuilt, with new structures, amenities, and restaurants scattered along the street. With so much of our history being destroyed everyday as new homes are being built to accommodate sprawl, many people are now investing to make sure that we don’t lose any more history than we already have. The source may not be the longest, but it gives a good basic summation of the Sweet Auburn district and introduces some of the major players that are investing in the area. Even though there is not a whole lot of information presented, which may be considered a weakness, there are a lot of leads that can be looked into to further discuss this topic.

This source is not an article, but an image of the recent construction of the streetcar system in Atlanta. The streetcar was introduced in 2014, and it traverses 2.7 miles of Atlanta, including into the Sweet Auburn district. This image in and of itself does not provide much evidence or information, but it does give an idea as to how the city is changing and how new technologies are mixing with older areas of the city. Due to this source being an image, there is not necessarily any weaknesses with it. It gives a detailed layout of the route through Atlanta. However, this source was ultimately chosen because, in some of the other entries, there is a discussion of how the streetcar has influenced and, in some people’s mind, taken a toll on the historically important area. This piece makes it easier to imagine where exactly this construction took place, and if living in the city, you can see first hand what stores and buildings were affected, whether economically or physically, by this recent addition to the area.

To fully understand the changes and advancements that have occurred on Auburn Avenue, it is helpful to see through the eyes of someone who has been there since the beginning. It is clear to see that things have changed on Auburn, but what exactly happened? As Smith and Grinberg discuss, businesses have moved in, but that doesn’t help the deteriorating buildings that line the streets. A wave of revitalization is taking place, but it can only happen so fast. Without the aid of the public, locations that are of significant cultural and historic value may be lost forever. One important connection to make is by looking back at the Atlanta Streetcar map, detailing the path that it takes each day. The Streetcar goes along roads with plenty of opportunities for tourism and visitation, but for that to happen, serious reconstruction needs to occur to make the buildings safe for visitors.

Auburn Avenue has not quite had the revitalization that many people thought it would have. This source provides a very interesting and detailed description of the ways in which companies and businesses are trying to renovate and help the Auburn district survive. Many other sources, such as “After decades of neglect, glimmers of hope for Sweet Auburn,” give a brief description, but here we get a wider block of information.  To fully understand the environment, it is necessary to understand that there are people in the area that don’t want structures of such historic significance to be destroyed to make way for apartments or the like. This shows that; for something to survive, there has to be someone willing to fight for it. Auburn Avenue has a future that is unsure. Even though it is one of the most significant historical streets in Atlanta, there is a possibility that it will be razed and rebuilt to more modern standards. If this happens, it prevents future generations from being able to see and experience history first-hand.

When thinking of Auburn Avenue, it is important to take into consideration the buildings that have been around for years, and the implications and impact that they have had. One of these key landmarks of the area is the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Originally founded in 1885, it originally had an extremely small congregation and no structure to meet in. However, over the years, it has risen to a nationally known church due to it being ministered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most prolific civil rights activists in history. While strolling along Auburn Avenue, it is nearly impossible to miss Ebenezer. Even though this only gives a brief recounting of the history of the church, it presents it in a very nice fashion, providing the key details. Some of the strengths include the fact that there are many hyperlinks to other sites that can give more information on some of the information presented. However, it would be even better if there was more information about the church in modern times and why it is important to Auburn Avenue today. When looking at other sources, it is most clearly correlated to the article on Martin Luther King Jr., as this gives some insight as to where he came from and how he got to be such a well-known figure.

Of all of the sources presented, this is by far the longest. However, this is the largest advantage to this piece. There is an extremely detailed explanation of not only the history of Auburn Avenue as one of the most important African-American communities, but also gives an explanation of why there is an urgent need for a revitalization of the area. This piece is relevant because it gives a very thorough analysis of the area, putting it into numerical form in a way that many different people can understand. From this source, it is possible to understand more about some of the edifices and areas that are being left in disrepair. These are seen everyday along the street, and there needs to be an injection of new life into the area. Of all the sources previously used, this is possibly the most comprehensive and most factual. One of the flaws, if it can be considered that, is in relation to the length. At 78 pages, there is quite a bit of information to go through. Because this source is so in-depth, there are several pieces that it can be looked at in relation to. A notable example is with the article in the beginning portion of this bibliography, After decades of neglect, glimmers of hope for Sweet Auburn. In that one, there was a brief description of who was working on the area, and some of the projects and ideas that are surrounding the area. This particular source provides more context and information that was brought forth in the first one.

This source is a somewhat opinionated piece that brings forth a discussion of the renovation of the Sweet Auburn area. As many of the other articles have discussed, mainly those found in the 1-3 section, there has been a debate going on as to what should be done with the auburn area. While this piece may not be the best, it provides an interesting look into some of the opinions of people in the area. There appears to be a lack of faith by some of the businesses that have been located on the street for years. While some people do not want the city to play a role in the renovations, it may be necessary to get the street back to where it was before. I chose this source because it presents a look into the mindset of some of the people that live in the area. This does not necessarily have a relation to the other sources, but it gives a personal glimpse into the people on the street instead of giving purely objective views.

These aspects of the post are information that is collected from the annotated bibliography notes. This can be useful information to include in the preceding drafts to discuss some of the important structures, how companies plan to reconstruct and work on them, and how this will affect the area as a whole. It is also important to note the ideas of some of the people that live and work in this area because the development of an area is important, but ultimately, the concerns of the people that rely on this area for life and money need to be heard and have the most power.

Some of this information will be cut out because this is just background information that may be used to introduce some of the ideas for the area. I will proceed to analyze the information to bring forth a better understanding, and there will be an incorporation of graphs and diagrams to show Auburn Avenue and how it looks today.

Some of the things that will be discussed are how the Streetcar has affected the area, how these renovations will affect the area, and why there is a need for the Auburn district to be re innovated.

The information presented is not necessarily in the order of the final product. Each of these discussions relates to an article that may be used for the final Analysis, and the order of information will be in a much more concise order.