Cityscape

We live in a great city. Originally built in the middle of nowhere, it was burned to the ground, rebuilt into the epicenter of the Southeast, hit hard by the recent recession, and is now growing once again. Business leaders will say this is because of our massive airport or the many Fortune 500 companies headquartered here, which is partly true. But while it's easy to credit the big names, more often it's the efforts of the little guys that are truly making a difference in building a better city: The oddballs and mysterious characters who make superhero outfits and patrol neighborhood streets. The new parks and greenspaces that are forming around us thanks to committed residents. The communities we're all trying to improve because we can't imagine ever leaving them. And the elected officials fighting the good fight Downtown. (Yes, they exist.)

In the last year we've celebrated a stray cat along the Atlanta Beltline, taken over the streets in the name of a young teen who died hundreds of miles away, invested in a more bike-friendly city, and seen a baseball player who had seemingly given up hope go on to become a living legend. Too often we focus on the ills of our fair city. But there is much more good in Atlanta than there is bad and that deserves recognition.

— Thomas Wheatley

Best New Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Archives » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Cityscape » Critics Pick

The Atlanta Beltline

Naysayers who wrote off Ryan Gravel's Georgia Tech graduate student thesis as a pipe dream and a loop to nowhere could not have predicted the excitement the project would create. Or the effects it's had on neighborhoods where trails and parks have already been built. The nationally recognized 22-milemore...

Naysayers who wrote off Ryan Gravel's Georgia Tech graduate student thesis as a pipe dream and a loop to nowhere could not have predicted the excitement the project would create. Or the effects it's had on neighborhoods where trails and parks have already been built. The nationally recognized 22-mile loop of parks, trails, and transit has a long way to go but is constantly evolving - boosters say even once it's completely built, it will never really be "finished" - and is changing the city for the better. less...

Best Street Character BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Archives » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Cityscape » Critics Pick

Bicycle Shorts Man

Long Dong Silver. Ponce de Le-Dong. Compression Shorts Man. Willie Terry is known by many names. For years, the street character has stood at the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Briarcliff Road in his revealing tight shorts, cane in hand, smile on his face, waving at passersby. Not much is known aboutmore...

Long Dong Silver. Ponce de Le-Dong. Compression Shorts Man. Willie Terry is known by many names. For years, the street character has stood at the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Briarcliff Road in his revealing tight shorts, cane in hand, smile on his face, waving at passersby. Not much is known about his life, but the lifelong Atlantan who no one really knows is someone nearly everyone knows. Thank you. less...

Best Book Event BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Archives » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Cityscape » Critics Pick

Decatur Book Festival

We'd venture to guess that the organizers behind the Decatur Book Festival want to make it impossible for you not to like them. Whether you like young adult books or cookbooks or political nonfiction or experimental poetry or novels, you will find at least some small sliver of programming devoted tomore...

We'd venture to guess that the organizers behind the Decatur Book Festival want to make it impossible for you not to like them. Whether you like young adult books or cookbooks or political nonfiction or experimental poetry or novels, you will find at least some small sliver of programming devoted to your tastes. (Don't like books? They have pretty good corn dogs, too.) That's what makes this annual Labor Day weekend event the biggest and most popular book event of the year, every year. "Every Labor Day weekend. Downtown Decatur, E. Ponce de Leon Avenue and Church Street. less...