Midtown is the second largest business district in the city of Atlanta, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north. Midtown has a resident population of 30,000,[1] a workplace population of 68,000, a student population of 20,000. The district attracts about six million visitors annually. Midtown is known for its cultural attractions; institutions of higher education; noteworthy architecture; urban residential living; and nightlife.
The district is the center of the city's music and arts scene that includes the Fox Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, the High Museum of Art, the Museum of Design Atlanta, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Center for Puppetry Arts, and the 14th Street Playhouse. Midtown is also home to three well known institutions of higher education: Georgia Institute of Technology, John Marshall Law School, and the Atlanta division of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Midtown contains about one-third of the city's high-rises and some of Atlanta's most iconic buildings, such as the Bank of America Plaza, AT&T Midtown Center, Atlantic Center, 1180 Peachtree, and Promenade II. The district has been a primary area of residential growth in the city in the first decade of the 2000s, with new condominium units being built, new stores opening, and new residents moving into the area. Midtown contains a popular nightlife district located along Crescent Avenue.[1]
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The definition and meaning of "Midtown" has varied over time, expanding from an original concept of a small neighborhood "mid-way" between Downtown and Buckhead. Boundary definitions vary by the source. Midtown in many cases is a quasi-legal entity for zoning, law enforcement, and taxi purposes. It is defined by the City of Atlanta's NPU[2] to include:
The Midtown Alliance defines Midtown as a larger area or "District" of approximately four square miles that, in addition to the previously mentioned area, includes:
The southern half of midtown between 8th Street and North Ave was originally purchased by Richard Peters in 1848 to use the pine forest there for fuel for his downtown flour mill. Over the next 40 years Peters slowly subdivided sections of these land lots off for a gridded residential area and built his own home there on Peachtree at 4th Street. His son, Edward, built his home on the block bounded by North Avenue, Piedmont Avenue, Ponce de Leon Avenue and Myrtle Street. The home, now called Ivy Hall, was restored by the Savannah College of Art & Design in 2008 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5] After the Civil War, Peachtree between what is now 8th and 12th streets was still about a mile beyond the city limits at Pine Street.[6] A lawless shantytown arose known as "Tight Squeeze", supposedly because it was "a mighty tight squeeze getting through there with your life".[7]
Cross streets were built and residential development began around 1880. Piedmont Park was established with the Piedmont Exposition of 1887, followed by the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895, lending the area new prominence. Electric streetcar lines started or were extended in:[7]
In 1904 development on Ansley Park began, one of Atlanta's most prestigious neighborhoods both then and now.[7] By the 1920s Tenth and Peachtree had become the nexus of a significant shopping district for several blocks around.[8]
Midtown continued as an area of residential neighborhoods. The Downtown Connector freeway opened in the 1950s, and the blocks between Williams Street and Techwood Drive were demolished to make way for it.
In 1964, Ansley Mall opened north of Midtown and the Tenth Street shopping district went into decline. Peachtree Street between Eighth and Fourteenth became a center of hippie culture known as The Strip.[7] Colony Square, the first mixed-use development in the Southeast, was built between 1969 and 1973.
MARTA rail line opened in 1981-2. In the 1980s many older properties were torn down to make way for parking lots. Many demolished blocks remained empty for decades. However, the Midtown Historic District, the area to the east of Piedmont and south of Piedmont Park, remained residential throughout the period and to this day.
Gradually, larger-scale commercial and residential development took root in the north-south corridor along Peachtree and West Peachtree. The BellSouth Center (1982), now the AT&T Midtown Center was long the landmark skyscraper in the area. Development really took off after 1987, when One Atlantic Center was completed. The 2004 opening of the Seventeenth Street Bridge over the Downtown Connector has reconnected Midtown with the west side of the city and to the Atlantic Station mixed-use development, built on the former site of the Atlantic Steel company.
The first decade of the 2000s saw numerous high-rise condo buildings go into Midtown such as the Spire, Viewpoint and 1010 Midtown. In 2006, Mayor Shirley Franklin set in motion a plan to make the 14-block stretch of Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta (nicknamed "Midtown Mile") a street-level shopping destination envisioned to rival Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive.[9][10] Plans are now less ambitious, but still retail has taken hold on Peachtree again, notably upscale home furnishing stores such as Kartell and CB2. Midtown is also a hotspot for restaurants and nightlife in Atlanta.
In a 2011 Creative Loafing article claimed that:[11]
No part of the city has evolved more dramatically over the past two decades...Impersonal office buildings, imposing parking decks and cold asphalt arteries have given way to high-rise living and an explosion of street life...Where once there was a wasteland, now there are great restaurants, groceries, specialty shops, townhouses, lofts and ... people.
Formed in 1978, the Midtown Alliance is a group of volunteers, employees, and business and community members, that work towards improving the overall quality of life in Midtown, transforming it into an ideal place for people to actively live, work, and play. Activities of the Alliance include improving the neighborhood safety, developing area arts and education programs, and building community leaders. The master plan from the Alliance, called Blueprint Midtown, is credited with fueling the economic resurgence that has helped the once downtrodden Midtown area transform over the past number of years into a popular neighborhood.[12]
In the early 1980s, Midtown Atlanta was a blighted area mainly consisting of parking lots. By 1987, One Atlantic Center was built on the corner of West Peachtree Street and 14th Street, which kick-started the redevelopment of the area. Some contemporary buildings of note are:
Midtown's focal point is the expansive greenspace of Piedmont Park, which underwent a major expansion in 2011, with further expansion planned. The park is surrounded by the Midtown business district to its west, Ansley Park to its northwest, the BeltLine, Morningside, and Virginia Highland to its east, and the Midtown Historic District to its south. The Atlanta Botanical Garden adjoins the Park.
The BeltLine is a 22-mile (35 km) long trail circling the older neighborhoods of central Atlanta which will be developed in stages. Although it is still an unimproved dirt trail as of 2011, construction of the Eastside Trail has received funding, and will connect Piedmont Park (at the intersection of 10th and Monroe) to the Inman Park MARTA station at DeKalb Avenue.[15] The "Art on the BeltLine" project has resulted in the installation dozens of contemporary art pieces on the trail.
As Atlanta grew ever further outwards from its historic center after the Civil War, aided by the arrival of horsecar service in the 1880s, mansions lined prestigious Peachtree Street further and further northwards. The 1910 Encyclopædia Britannica listed Peachtree Street as one of the finest residential areas of the city, along with Ponce de Leon Circle (now Ponce de Leon Avenue), Washington Street, and Inman Park. After the advent of leafier suburbs such as Druid Hills, Peachtree went into gradual decline.
In the streets along the Peachtree Corridor, very little is left over of the area's original architecture including single-family homes and mansions. Some of the notable exceptions listed on the National Register of Historic Places include:
The Fox Theatre Historic District is located in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and consists of the following buildings:
The Midtown Historic District consists of most of Midtown east of Piedmont Avenue (between 10th Street and Ponce, and east to the BeltLine). It is noted for its bungalows and Queen Anne style houses.
Midtown Atlanta is a commercial district in its own right, containing 22,000,000 square feet (2,000,000 m2) of office space,[1] with 8,200,000 square feet (760,000 m2) of office space added to the area since 1997, with up to 3,800,000 square feet (350,000 m2) more planned.[16] Furthermore, Midtown is the home to the corporate headquarters such as Equifax,[17] EarthLink,[18] Invesco,[19] and The Coca-Cola Company,[20] as well as other corporations with a sizeable presence such as Norfolk Southern, Wachovia, PriceWaterhouseCoopers,[21] and AT&T, as a result of its purchase of BellSouth.[22] Google's Atlanta area office is in Midtown.[23] Hotels in Midtown include the Four Seasons, the W, Hotel Palomar, now Renaissance, and the Loews.
Major law firms such as King & Spalding[24] and Kilpatrick & Stockton[25] are also located in this district. Arcapita's Atlanta offices are in the district.[26] Jason's Deli's eastern regional office is in Midtown.[27]
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, once located Downtown at 104 Marietta Street NW prior to 2001, is now located in Midtown at 1000 Peachtree Street NE.[28]
Midtown is known by many residents as Atlanta's "Heart of the Arts." It is the home of the Fox Theatre, the Woodruff Arts Center, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Richard Meier- and Renzo Piano-designed High Museum of Art, as well as the Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Center for Puppetry Arts, and other arts and entertainment venues. Recently, the Woodruff Arts Center and its campus were expanded. Future additions will include a new Atlanta Symphony Center. The High has collobarted with major art museums to house temporary collections of masterpieces, most notably the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Across the street from the High is Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), the only museum in the Southeast devoted exclusively to the study and celebration of all things design. Midtown is also the home of the Atlanta campus of Savannah College of Art and Design, which is located in historic buildings throughout the district.
Midtown Atlanta is home to a vibrant cultural community, bringing together people from every walk of life. Midtown's Piedmont Park is a popular venue for cultural festivals in Atlanta. Every spring, when the native dogwoods are in bloom in Piedmont Park, is the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, an arts and crafts fair. Piedmont Park is also the finish line of the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on Independence Day. As ground-zero for Atlanta arts community, Midtown is home of the annual Atlanta Arts Festival, which brings artists from across the country to Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park is also the home of the Southeast's largest multicultural festival, Festival Peachtree Latino, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture with arts and crafts, family activities, sporting events, a parade, dance demonstrations, ethnic foods, and a live music stage featuring international performers from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Midtown is also the home of Atlanta's major music festival, Music Midtown, which was revived in 2011 after a five-year hiatus. At the corner of 8th Street and Spring Street, near the Midtown MARTA station, Midtown also hosts the Peachtree Music Festival, a one-day, two-stage music festival blending indie rock bands with electronic DJs. In the fall, the Atlanta Pride festival attracts the LGBT local and regional community while the week-long Out on Film gay film festival highlights films by, for and about the LGBT community.[29]
Midtown is known throughout Atlanta as an extremely popular, cosmopolitan, and vibrant area for nightlife. Many of the city's trendy restaurants and bars are located in Midtown. An estimated 52% of all of the city's nightclubs are located in Midtown. Some of the prominent bars and clubs include CosmoLava (Cosmopolitan Lounge and Lava), Opera, Primal, Leopard Lounge, Velvet Room, Door 44, Verve Lounge, Twisted Taco, Halo, Fox and Hound, Highland & Co. and many others. Midtown is also home to a large amount of the city's gay bars. Popular gay bars and clubs include Felix's, Blake's, Amsterdam, Swinging Richards, Heretic, Bulldog Bar, Jungle, New Order, Woofs, BJ Rooster's, Friends on Ponce and Burkhart's. Many celebrities have been spotted making an appearance at nightclubs in Midtown. These include Pamela Anderson, Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, Lauren Conrad, Mario Lopez, Audrina Partridge, Ludacris, T.I., Mindy Hall, Ciara, Pussycat Dolls, and Tiesto.[30][31]
Residents are zoned to schools in the Atlanta Public Schools.
In addition, the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology is located in the southwest corner of the district.
Midtown Atlanta is served by Atlanta's rail rapid transit system, MARTA, at the Civic Center, North Avenue, Midtown, and Arts Center MARTA Stations. MARTA operates significant bus service in the district, as well.[32] There is also a free shuttle between the Arts Center MARTA Station and Atlantic Station, as well as a free-to-the-public daytime shuttle between the Midtown MARTA station and Georgia Tech called the "Tech Trolley."[33]
The Consulate-General of Canada is located in the 100 Colony Square Building,[34] as is the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.[35] The Consulate-General of Israel to the Southeast is located in Uptown.[36] The Consulate-General of Switzerland in Atlanta is located in the Two Midtown Plaza building.[37] The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, representing the Republic of China, is located in the Atlantic Center Plaza.[38]
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