Monday, August 01, 2011

Ruin Porn In Atlanta

There is a lot of Detroit in Atlanta, and I'm not talking about Rust Belt Chic. The splendor of urban blight marks every city. The difference is the dominant image projected to the world. Shrinking Atlanta:

“Abandoned schools, abandoned homes, abandoned hospitals,” said Mr. Arend, 28, who participates in monthly forays into the city’s less-known relics. “I’m a fan of mental institutions, because they’re creepy.”

This city is a gift to urban explorers like Mr. Arend, a bandanna-wearing 6-foot-5 college student whose cellphone’s ring tone is a spooky sci-fi theme. Beneath the kudzu, lost in the sprawl, Atlanta has some of the country’s oldest, best preserved and eeriest deserted sites — magnets for thrill-seekers and amateur photographers.

A symbol of the resurgent South, Atlanta has done a good job of hiding its warts. The hard truth about the city is a decade or more of decline. The population boom that dominates the headlines is regional. Given a 1970 baseline, the city proper is hemorrhaging people.

The result are neighborhoods overwhelmed with vacant buildings. Atlanta is rotten at the core. The greenfields are giving way to brownfields. Much of the Sun Belt is heading in this direction as the migration economy continues to crumble.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The City of Atlanta and ITP (inside the I-285 perimeter) neighborhoods are gaining people and steadily gentrifying. The last mayoral election brought this to the forefront. Sure, Atlanta has its share of blight, crime, unemployment, etc. -- like most every city on the planet -- but you paint an inaccurate picture.

Jim Russell said...

I could bring other statistics to the table that support the picture I paint. I can also paint a pretty picture of any Rust Belt city using the same approach you do for Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

The AJC just started a series on Atlanta and where it stands now, how to get its groove back etc

http://www.ajc.com/news/AtlantaForward/atlanta-forward-990955.html

-JoeP

Jim Russell said...

JoeP,

Thanks for the reference. Seems the topic and introspection are timely.