Explore Atlanta's Unique Neighborhoods

From quirky to corporate, tight-knit to trendy, Metro Atlanta is home to many unique communities. Some of the neighborhoods include Midtown and West End.

Radio reporting by Courtney Kueppers

In its beginning, the West End attracted wealthy settlers. By 1840, gold was found in Dahlonega, and wealthy settlers were building big homes in the West End. With the railroad, the settlement became less and less rural.

By the turn of the 20th century, some of Atlanta’s most distinguished citizens called the West End home.

But the Depression came and caused many people to abandon their intown residences.

By 1970, the West End was largely considered too far gone for urban renewal, because the cost to renovate the homes.

By the 1980s, the neighborhood was predominantly black.

Despite all the change that has happened in the neighborhood in the past few years, the neighbors remain committed to their diverse and inclusive community. Their ‘bulldog tenacity’ still rings true.

East Atlanta Village bleeds art, and many in the community would say that a small music venue, restaurant, and bar called The East Atlanta Restaurant and Lounge is the heart of it. But most people call it "The Earl."

When The Earl first opened in July 1999, there wasn’t much of a public art scene in EAV. A bakery, a grocery store, a diner — “old-school stuff,” as John Searson, The Earl’s co-owner, called it.

East Atlanta Village itself is a canvas for local mural and graffiti artists.

Some murals are political, and some are just surreal.

For artists like Fabian Williams, the work is a chance to provoke people to think deeper into societal issues.

“In Atlanta, people respect the truth when they hear it, even if it’s uncomfortable,” he said.

Peachtree Street had been zoned as commercial, residential options became boarding houses and the shops around 10th Street transitioned to appeal to the renters nearby.

In the 1950s, young people, including students from Atlanta College of Art, moved in following cheap rent, and the culture of Midtown shifted from elite to bohemian.

Then subcultures arose.

By the 1960s and ’70s, it was a hotbed for musical performances and organized events.

Following the Stonewall Riots of 1969, queer activists became more outspoken nationwide, and in Atlanta.

In 1971, the Georgia Gay Liberation Front held Atlanta’s first Gay Pride March, marching from Peachtree Street to Piedmont Park.

Atlanta’s Pride festival is one of the oldest and strongest in the U.S.

The community lies within cities that have rich diversity, such as Doraville, which has a population of 14.4% Asian and 55.3% Hispanic or Latino, according to a 2017 estimate by the American Community Survey.

Inside Plaza Fiesta, local merchants sell an array of goods ranging from ornate Quinceañera dresses to Mexican Chicharrones snacks. The shopping complex along Buford Highway attracts millions of visitors a year.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, word of mouth attracted families emigrating.

By 2013, the population on Buford Highway was composed of: 48.7% Hispanic, 33.5% White, 11.9% African-American, and 4.1% Asian.

Buford Highway follows a nationwide trend of immigrant entrepreneurialism. More than 50% of companies were founded by immigrants from 1996 to 2011, according to Inc. magazine.

The neighborhood's tagline "Everyone is welcome" is evident with people from all walks of life browsing the vast inventory at Junkman's Daughter or posing for photographs in front of vibrant murals.

Hipsters and anarchists mesh with budding musicians and artists, as well as tourists, travelers, and teens from Atlanta's suburbs in this unique enclave of independently owned businesses.

What might surprise these visitors is just how stable Little Five Points has been as an eclectic alternative business district in Atlanta for more than four decades.

While Little Five Points is known for its counterculture vibe, there is an amazing and stunning stability over time. Today it still fulfills residents' everyday needs in the same way it did in 1923.

You can eat, shop, go to the post office, get your groceries, see a theater production, get a loan, clean your teeth, align your back, and visit the doctor.

Summerhill, which was founded by African Americans during Reconstruction, is one of the oldest predominantly black neighborhoods in the city.

The boundaries of the community today once housed two neighborhoods: Summerhill and the Southside, which was home to a large population of Jewish immigrants.

By 1970, less than half of the businesses on Georgia Avenue were still open, according to historian Marni Davis. By the ’80s, Summerhill had mainly fallen into urban decay, due to disinvestment.

If you didn’t know better, being in Summerhill feels remarkably like life in a small town. The streets are narrow, and there aren’t many high rises.

The neighborhood will soon be home to a new demographic of residents and potential customers, such as GSU students, for the newly opened eateries.

The fabric of the neighborhood shifted as tenants replaced homeowners. Apartment buildings often replaced many of the destroyed single-family homes. Commercial buildings popped up.

The neighborhood was booming by the time Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929, and so was the rest of Atlanta.

While the city’s original success had come from its railroads, Atlanta was becoming a thriving business center thanks to the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce “Forward Atlanta” campaign.

In 1926, Sears, Roebuck & Co. had chosen Atlanta for its southeastern hub, which is now Ponce City Market.

Today, the Old Fourth Ward is on its way up again. Vacant historic buildings are being repurposed. You can see modern influences as you browse the food stalls at the historic Sweet Auburn Curb Market.

With the financial help of Samuel M. Inman, a wealthy cotton merchant, Joel Hurt started buying up plots of land in 1880s. This would become Atlanta’s first planned residential suburb: Inman Park.

Atlanta demolished 554 homes by 1971 to prepare for Interstate 485. Neighborhoods banded together and committed to improving the residential areas and fighting off the road.

Inman Park residents even adopted a symbol: a butterfly that embodies Inman Park’s renaissance, with the outline of a face looking to the left: the past and the right: the future.

Today, Inman Park is known for its cafes, its restaurants, and its access to the BeltLine. The Victorian homes are still standing and meticulously taken care of.

Cabbagetown’s physical borders of Oakland Cemetery and the railroads alongside the streets of DeKalb and Decatur also contribute to the neighborhood’s small-town feel.

Jacob Elsas started the Fulton Cotton Spinning Co. in 1881, which later became the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill in 1889. The mill specialized in making cotton and paper bags.

In 1978, the mill closed its doors after Fulton Industries, Inc. was sold to Allied Products Corp. However, the culture that Cabbagetown was founded on continues.

Soon after Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill closed, newcomers, such as artists and musicians, started moving into the neighborhood because of its affordable housing.