Midtown Atlanta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midtown Atlanta is a district in Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial district of Downtown to the south and the affluent residential and nightlife district of Buckhead to the north. It is bounded by Monroe Drive on the East, I-85 and I-75 to the North, Northside Drive to the West, and North Avenue (west of the Downtown Connector) and Ralph McGill Blvd to the south.

Midtown is "Atlanta's Heart of the Arts." It is the home of the Fox Theatre, Henry W. Grady High School, the Woodruff Arts Center, the Richard Meierand Renzo Piano -designed High Museum of Art, as well as the Atlanta Ballet Company, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and other arts and entertainment venues. Recently, the Woodruff Arts Center and its campus have been expanded. Future additions will include a new Atlanta Symphony Hall designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The High is currently collaborating with the Louvre to house a temporary collection of masterpieces from the Paris museum. As well as being a major arts and entertainment enclave, Midtown Atlanta is home to a vibrant cultural community.

Midtown is composed of busy thoroughfares, including Atlanta's famous Peachtree Street, lined by high-rise condos and four-star hotels alongside skyscrapers that are home to corporate headquarters and busy shopping areas. It is also home to quiet residential neighborhoods populated by Victorian, American Four-Square, early-20th-century bungalow-style homes, and bed-and-breakfast inns. Midtown's focal point is the expansive green space of Piedmont Park. The Atlanta Botanical Garden adjoins the Park.

The area where Piedmont Avenue intersects Tenth Street is the locus of Atlanta's thriving gay and lesbian population, many of whom work and live in the midtown area.

Atlanta has its own multicultural flavor in its variety of restaurants, most of which are situated on Peachtree Street and spread out in a fashion characteristic of the rest of the city. On Juniper Street north of Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta boasts its own signature "restaurant row" district, with upscale gathering places and bustling nightclubs.

Midtown Atlanta is currently a fast-growing community with appreciating land and property values, as land is a precious commodity in this urban area. As residents begin to return to the city following decades of suburban retreat from the downtown core, Midtown Atlanta offers an attractive mix of amenities and attractions, as well as proximity to downtown offices and destinations. The recent construction and opening of the Seventeenth St. Bridge over the Downtown Connector has reconnected Midtown with the west-side of the city. It connects Midtown to a new multi-billion dollar mixed-use development, called Atlantic Station, on the former site of the Atlantic Steel company, which is the site of new housing, office, and retail space.

Midtown Atlanta is served by Atlanta's underground rapid rail system, MARTA, at the Midtown Marta train station. There is also a daytime shuttle between the Midtown MARTA station and Georgia Tech called the "Tech Trolley."

[edit] Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the Atlanta Public Schools.

• Morningside Elementary School
• Inman Middle School
• Henry W. Grady High School

In addition, the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology is located in the southwest corner of the district.

[edit] External links

• Midtown Alliance
• Midtown Mile
• Midtown Neighbors Association
• Midtown Ponce Security Alliance A neighborhood-based nonprofit organization addressing crime issues
• Piedmont Park Conservancy
• Atlanta Botanical Garden
• Woodruff Arts Center
• Alliance Theatre Atlanta's major regional theatre company
• The Fabulous Fox Theatre Historic theater
• The High Museum of Art
• The Atlanta Ballet
• The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Technology Square of Midtown
• GT Parking & Transportation: Midtown Trolley
• Momocon Annual free admission anime/gaming/comics convention held in Midtown Atlanta