Tagged: atlanta

MLK Memorial Marta Station

Past the Pencil Factory buildings, right across the street looms a large, ultilitarian-looking concrete building. Out front, there is a large metal sculpture that hides a massive staircase behind. The station is extremely large in nature, and the architecture looks like it was built in the 1950s. On the opposite end of the station is a large, colorful mural. At the time I went there was no one present (besides my roommate and myself). The emptiness and the dated look of the building contributed to a very eerie, abandoned feeling.

Walter’s

Walters Clothing is an Atlanta institution that's attracted celebrities -- and confrontation.
Sitting on the corner of Decatur Street and Ellis is a small store with a red and white striped dome on the exterior, sporting the name “Walter’s”. The store sits on campus, and has been a famous little spot in Atlanta for decades. In the window, you can see tacky tourist tshirts and an extremely extensive collection of shoes. The store inside is packed with clothing, shoes, and hats on every available surface. It has a very crowded, cramped feeling, but it makes it almost homey in a way. The mom and pop appeal of the store is one unique to the downtown region.

Decatur Street

Walking along a busy road in downtown Atlanta, you see and hear a lot of interesting things; mostly cars whizzing by, but here and there you find pockets of activity. Unlike most streets in the downtown area, Decatur Street is almost always active with plenty of new, clean buildings to gaze at. Even with the mass exodus of most of downtown’s businesses, Decatur Street has managed to stay alive and well as it has for over 100 years. As early as the turn of the century, this street was part of a relatively wealthy black neighborhood. Sincce then, the area has seen various ups and downs, and it is currently in one of its highs. Being one of the original seven streets in Terminus, Decatur runs throughout many neighborhoods in the downtown region. It’s most heavily congested area, though, runs through our very own Georgia State. Flanked by Classroom South, Willy’s, and the library on one side, and Urban Life, Langdale Hall, and Walter’s on the other. The street cuts directly through the heart of campus. Anywhere along this street near main campus, you can find flocks of students migrating from one end of campus to another. Even the pedestrian bridge overhead is packed with students moving between buildings. On the way to and from the Honors College, I pass over a very different part of Decatur Street as I walk down Hill Street to my apartment. I walk right past the Pencil Factory Shops and Flats, with Bada Bings bar directly across the street from me. While this area is becoming a cleaner, more residential area of the city, you can’t help but acknowledge the very distinct smell of homeless people as you walk past these shops. Right as you cross Decatur Street, there is a tunnel where you can find at least three or four homeless people laying on the ground at any given point. In the city’s efforts to repurpose abandoned parts of the city, the old Pencil Factory was converted into shops and apartments. Along the street on ground level, the storefronts are heavily populated with restaurants, bars, pubs, and grocery stores. As you walk past on weekend nights, the many bars and pubs are packed to capacity with people cheering on their teams and booing the refs. Other nights, the street is quieter, where you can find people sitting in any of the various restaurants, of which Bento Hut is my personal favorite. A little farther down the road in the opposite direction of campus, looms a massive concrete structure adorned with colorful paint on the sides of it. This part is the King Memorial MARTA Station. This section of Decatur Street is much quieter. I’ve passed by, both driving and walking at various times of day, and I have never seen anyone enter or exit the station. Overall, it is hard to come up with just a few ways to describe Decatur Street. Because of how much of the city it spreads across, each individual section of the famous street has its own environment, vibes, and characteristics. It truly is one of Atlanta’s treasures.

Pencil Factory Flats and Shops

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The old pencil factory on Decatur street has transformed into an active residential and commercial area. Shops and restaurants line the streetfronts, offering everything from Indian food to small boutiques. Located on top of these shops are five stories of apartments and flats, vacated by a lot of students and young adults. The renovation of the factory allowed for a once nearly abandoned area to become active once again.

Decatur Street Pedestrian Bridge

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A shot of Decatur Street as it passes through Georgia State University. The pedestrian bridge crosses over the busy street to allow students to get from class to class safely. Students can be found using the bridge at any given point of the day, given that it connects all the major classroom buildings to one another via the Plaza.

Decatur Street Sign

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This sign shows where Decatur Street and Peachtree Center Avenue intersect. This intersection is right in the middle of Georgia State University campus where thousands of students cross everyday. The street is often busy with both vehicle and foot traffic. Around the corner here are the Arts and Humanities building, Kell Hall, and Langdale Hall. Surprisingly, many people frequent these street that do not necessarily belong to the Georgia State community. Much of the vehicle traffic consists of people simply passing through the campus to or from work.

From Night School to Research University

Around the early 1900s, people in the United States were becoming more and more educated. With the demanding nature of the working class job, most Americans found it difficult to further their education. As a result the Georgia Institute of Technology decided to open a branch of its university in the downtown area as an evening school. The downtown sector very quickly became a popular college of choice for many Atlantans. To accomodate such a rapid increase in enrollment, the school had to undergo many renovations and relocations in order to increase its potential capacity. The unexpected success of the school forever changed the landscape and the built environment of downtown. Previously a place with a less than perfect reputation, the area was now an urban hub once again. Students of all ages roamed the streets as the night school transitioned in to a day school in the 1930s and 1940s. Increasing foot traffic led to a new influx of restaurants, shops, and bars in the nearby area, many of which were located on Broad Street, which is still a popular spot for students today. Noting its success, the Univeristy of Georgia bought the rights to claim this flourishing institution in 1952. This merger brought an entirely new range of programs and majors offered in the downtown campus. As a result of its vast success, the school eventually fought for its independence as a university. In 1969, the fought was won, and Georgia State officially became a soveriegn university.

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Photo Credit: http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/map1949.htm

Source 1: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/georgia-state-university

The Interactive Campus

The expansion of Georgia State throughout the city is clear when walking around the downtown sector. The open-style campus extends from MLK Jr. Drive, across from the capitol, all the way down to Broad Street, going as wide to Bell Street and Underground Atlanta on either side. Back in 1949, when the university was under the title of the University of Georgia, Atlanta Division, the school took up one small building between Decatur Street and Hurt Park. This building still stands today, known by current students and staff as Kell Hall.

From this small building, Georgia State has expanded outward in all directions. Classroom South and the Petit Science Center stand as the farthest points in the westward direction, the title of which will have to be given to Turner Field within the next year. Southward, across I-75 and I-85, lies the practice fields, making the border between Georgia State and the Grant Park neighborhood. The creation of the Aderhold Learning Center pushed the boundary northward to the corner of Luckie Street and Forsyth Street. And to the east, the University Commons housing ends the campus right before hitting the interstate. The entire campus encompasses about 518 acres of land, covering the majority of downtown. The inclusion of Aderhold into the campus has made the Fairlie-Poplar area a major part of campus. The historic district features a plethora of international foods where students often go for food between classes. The cobblestone streets add a quaint, historic element to the campus, and it also serves as a place that is filled with not only students, but Atlanta residents and businessmen alike.

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Photo Credit: http://www.atlantaphotos.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/G/P/GP_Fairlie_Poplar_District_01.jpg

Having such close proximity to larger businesses, especially Georgia Pacific, the downtown sector has not been completely dominated by student life. One of the best qualities about Georgia State is the inclusive campus style that allows for contact with everyday people, not just students, faculty, and staff. In this manor, Georgia State is able to accurately capture what life in the downtown sector is like. Many other urban campuses claim to offer this effect, but when they are closed off, such as Georgia Tech, there is not much room for interaction between all walks of life.

Lasting Effects on Downtown

Since around 2009, the Georgia State campus has extended its borders to include a larger part of the city. Instead of dominating the area, however, the university and the downtown area have a largely symbiotic relationship. The university has very clearly reshaped downtown , both physically and culturally. The extension of the campus into other parts of the city have brought exposure to working life, different cultures, and the historic nature of the city. Georgia State has also brought students further in the city, providing more small businesses and restaurants with a larger clientele. The physical effect on the city is obvious, shown in the form of the increasing presence of the Georgia State symbol emblazoned on streets, signs, and buildings. As a result, downtown has been rejuvenated, pushing back against the encroaching abandoned and decaying city. The presence of Georgia State’s renovations bring fresh, new buildings to downtown. Through the expansion of Georgia State, the rhetoric of the built environment of the downtown sector has changed from one of decay and demolition to one of prosperity and progressiveness.