Bankhead, Atlanta

Bankhead
Atlanta, Georgia Neighborhood
Bankhead
Coordinates: 33°46′18″N 84°25′09″W / 33.77155°N 84.41918°W
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
  Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)

Bankhead is a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia located west of downtown Atlanta. It's surrounded by Grove Park to the west, Washington Park and Hunter Hills to the South, Midtown West to the East and Northeast (Hills Park, Knight Park, English Avenue and Blandtown). It is also flanked by Rockdale to the Northwest. At its center is MARTA's Bankhead station and the city's Maddox Park. The neighborhood schools are The B.E.S.T. Academy, Grove Park Elementary, A.D. Williams Elementary School, Carter G. Woodson Elementary School, Alfred Blalock Elementary School, and Frederick Douglass High School.

The neighborhood's name comes from the Bankhead Highway, a thoroughfare that has since been renamed the Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway (for a famed civil rights attorney who lived near Bankhead in the nearby affluent Historic Collier Heights neighborhood).

The boundaries of Bankhead are: Jefferson Street to the North (a few blocks North of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway), Joseph E. Boone Blvd to the South, Joseph E. Lowery Blvd to the East and Chappell Rd to the West. In the future, the Westside Park at the former Bellwood Quarry

Gentrification

Some revitalization has begun in the area with projects such as the English Avenue Yards, which houses an artist community consisting of approximately 20 studio spaces, the workshop for the Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Opera. In addition, new lofts are scheduled to be built by Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and Oliver Street, as well as a new Shell gas station that is currently under construction across the street.

Culture

Bankhead is also the former home to artists T.I.,[1][2] Young Dro,[3] P$C, Dem Franchize Boyz,[2] Unk, Shop Boyz, Shawty Lo, and D4L,[2]

The 1990s Bankhead Bounce dance, performed by Michael Jackson at the 1995 MTV Music Video Awards, was named after the neighborhood.[2]

See also

References

  1. Meadows-Ingram, Benjamin (August 2007), "Me, Myself and I", Vibe: 80–89, retrieved February 14, 2014
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hess, Mickey (2009). Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide. ABC-CLIO. p. 469. ISBN 9780313343216.
  3. Sarig, Roni (2007). Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306816475.