Built Environment Description

For my external built environment, I chose Downtown, Atlanta. Over the course of the past two weeks, I have spent a few hours exploring and observing the downtown area. With an area as large and as broad as downtown, how could just one image or location properly depict the city? Thus, I collected digital records of various significant places that represent the area pretty well, such as the Atlanta Street Car, Centennial Olympic Park, Woodruff Park, the Jackson Street Bridge, and Octane Coffee. To get to Centennial, I took the Streetcar. When I first moved downtown, over the summer, I rode the streetcar almost every time that I went to the market or to the Centennial area because it was free and easy to access. The night that I went to observe Centennial, it was extremely cold outside, so I opted for taking the streetcar like I did over the summer. This time, however, I had to pay one dollar each way to get there. I personally did not mind paying the dollar because it saves me a two-mile walk. After realizing that the streetcar only takes cards, I was immediately off put by it. It lacked accessibility for the homeless people who use to spend a lot of time on the streetcar during the heat of summer. I felt sad for them when I thought about the fact that they would not be able to ride from point A to point B because many of them do not have debit cards with money on them and it was roughly 20 degrees outside. Each of the other places that I chose to record is public and open to people of all races, genders, and socioeconomic levels. That quality about them was important to me because I wanted to see downtown from the perspective of the average person. Anyone could have seen downtown like I did. Each place offers a sense of comfort and made me feel happy. The past couple of weeks have been particularly cold, so I was shocked to see the fountains at both Centennial and Woodruff parks still pouring with water. I expected them to be frozen and quiet. The bridge filled my heart with solace as I watched the buildings light up the city skyline. Cars zoomed by, some coming into the city and some departing. It was simply beautiful. As for Octane, it is a cute coffee shop that was full of light and busy people. There were people working, reading, studying, and conversing. My favorite aspect of the sites is there inviting nature and the diversity that they offer.

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