Where is Atlanta's Westside?
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Data: Axios reader survey; Map: Jared Whalen/Axios
Atlanta is filled with puzzles wrapped in an enigma, scattered, smothered and covered in a mystery. One such puzzle: Where is Atlanta's Westside, truly?
Driving the news: We asked you to draw Atlanta’s neighborhoods. The result?
- The sketches of Buckhead, Midtown and West End jibe more or less with the city's official neighborhood map.
- Sminings, like we said earlier, is a state of mind.
Yes, but: Our eyes darted to the Westside, one of the city's most nebulous communities. Most of y'all consider it to be roughly English Avenue and Vine City.
Why it matters: Neighborhood and community names — and who decides them — speak volumes about the importance of history and balance of power in a city.
- And people love endlessly arguing about Atlanta esoterica.
Details: The Westside isn't one of Atlanta's more than 240 official neighborhoods. And it can mean several different places, all of which are undefined.
- There's the literal west side of Atlanta, which like Buckhead is a collection of neighborhoods. The area stretches from Northside Drive to Whittier Mill Village and I-285 and has long been home to predominantly Black communities.
- Or the bougie-tastic, fast-growing area north of North Avenue that's home to shopping, mixed-use districts and restaurants (and includes parts of neighborhoods like Home Park, Blandtown, Loring Heights, and English Avenue).
Yes, and: Then there's West Midtown, which has taken hold as the area has gentrified.
- Don't forget the Upper Westside, which is a more recent rebranding of the neighboring communities.
Of note: West Midtown, according to local writer King Williams, could be traced to the mid-to-late-1990s when the Brickworks complex at Howell Mill Road and West Marietta Street led to the redevelopment of the former warehouse and industrial area.
💭 Thomas' thought bubble: Neighborhoods and their names are part of a city's history, and too often they're renamed or rebranded by developers, companies or other powerful interests.
- See: Nolita and SoHa in New York, National Landing in Crystal City, Va., and East Cut in San Francisco.
The bottom line: If you want to show real civic cred and impress (or annoy) party guests, download the city map and start learning the actual neighborhoods of East Douglasville.
- I mean Atlanta's Westside.
Keep playing the game and help refine the Westside’s boundaries