'It's A Little Like Add Water, Instant Neighborhood'

...so says one resident of Atlanta's Inman Park neighborhood, which has gone from deserted industrial buildings to dense, urban community in four years.

1 minute read

August 30, 2008, 11:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"After decades of population decline, the city of Atlanta is growing again. As it does, infill developments like the one along the lower reaches of North Highland are proliferating.

Demand for intown housing is growing as more people seek an urban lifestyle where they can walk to shops and restaurants and avoid long commutes. With little vacant land available inside the Perimeter, developers are snapping up warehouses, factories and other industrial properties and converting them to housing and retail.

The godfather of infill projects, of course, is Atlantic Station, a mini-city built on the ashes of a massive steel plant near Midtown.

But smaller nodes are taking shape across the area. Hot spots include industrial stretches along DeKalb Avenue and Memorial Drive east of downtown and the Huff Road corridor in northwest Atlanta. Atlanta's Beltline project, which aims to redevelop aging rail corridors into a loop of transit, trails and parks, is expected to spark similar development."

Friday, August 29, 2008 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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