{"id":494,"date":"2014-03-05T16:42:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T16:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/?p=494"},"modified":"2014-04-27T21:46:50","modified_gmt":"2014-04-27T21:46:50","slug":"the-new-fourth-ward-efforts-are-underway-to-revitalize-a-stretch-of-the-historic-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/2014\/03\/05\/the-new-fourth-ward-efforts-are-underway-to-revitalize-a-stretch-of-the-historic-district\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Fourth Ward: Efforts are underway to revitalize a stretch of the historic district"},"content":{"rendered":"

The historic Old Fourth Ward sits at an intersection of two opposite Atlantas, hipster and foodie haven Inman Park and commercial and largely forgotten Downtown. \u00a0Once the home of the civil rights movement, the neighborhood is now home to the largest collection of Section 8 housing (government subsidized, low income), and the biggest concentration of poverty in the Southeast.\u00a0 And right next door is Ponce City Market, the largest adaptive reuse project in the city\u2019s history and one of the World\u2019s Coolest Tourist Attractions according to Travel and Leisure Magazine<\/i><\/a>. \u00a0Boulevard\u2014a stretch of road that runs through the center of the Old Fourth Ward\u2014best embodies this dichotomy.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall launched an ambitious initiative to revitalize the area.\u00a0 Hall started the \u201cYear of Boulevard\u201d<\/a> project to reduce crime, provide job-training opportunities, and reform education.\u00a0 The overarching goal of the program is to prevent the traditional gentrification that has happened in so many parts of Atlanta, in other words, to develop the neighborhood without forcing out its original citizens.<\/p>\n

Initially Hall\u2019s plans were met with skepticism, as talk of fixing up the neighborhood has been common in local political rhetoric for years. \u00a0\u00a0But \u201cYo Boulevard!\u201d as the project was nicknamed by TedX Atlanta members, turned out to be quite successful<\/a>\u2014successful enough to warrant \u201cMo\u2019 Boulevard,\u201d a continuation of the campaign in 2013, and even a third phase<\/a>, which started in January 2014.<\/p>\n

Since the start of Yo Boulevard! crime in the area has decreased by 14 percent, largely thanks to a new Atlanta Police Department precinct.\u00a0 The Atlanta Hawks Foundation gave $50,000 to the project to rebuild basketball courts and summer camps were started alongside programs to aid senior citizens. \u00a0Wingate Companies, the owner of Boulevard\u2019s government subsidized hosing complex the Village of Bedford Pines, has contributed to each of Yo Boulevard!\u2019s initiatives in addition to making improvements to their own facilities.<\/p>\n

These social programs have developed alongside many structural improvements as well. \u00a0The Historic Fourth Ward Park, which sits just a few blocks from Boulevard, is connected to the Eastside trail of the Atlanta <\/ins>BeltLine, the city\u2019s largest sustainable urban redevelopment program.\u00a0 And right next door to Boulevard, Ponce City Market, former home to City Hall East and future home to 330,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 475,000 square feet of office and residential space, has garnered international attention. \u00a0<\/i>The Living Walls project has transformed the facades of many of the neighborhood\u2019s dilapidated buildings and the first loop of Atlanta\u2019s highly anticipated streetcar<\/a> that will run directly through the Old Fourth Ward is scheduled to be finished this year.<\/p>\n

Since 2012, new restaurants, bars and apartments have continued to spring up throughout the neighborhood signaling the end of area\u2019s affordability.\u00a0 Curbed Atlanta<\/a> recently reported a 1,600 square-foot 1920s bungalow closer to Edgewood Avenue than Ponce City Market is selling for over $400,000.<\/p>\n

This gentrification along with Yo Boulevard!\u2019s effort to prevent the traditional gentrification that forces out the neighborhood\u2019s original citizens has created an area as diverse as the city itself.\u00a0 And for that reason it is a must visit for college students.\u00a0 Get a taste of the city\u2019s less-polished side at the bars on Edgewood Avenue and marvel at the vision of Ponce City Market.\u00a0 But to understand the city these places call home take a historic tour of Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s home and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached.\u00a0 <\/ins><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The historic Old Fourth Ward sits at an intersection of two opposite Atlantas, hipster and foodie haven Inman Park and commercial and largely forgotten Downtown. \u00a0Once the home of the civil rights movement, the neighborhood is now home to the largest collection of Section 8 housing (government subsidized, low income), and the biggest concentration of … Continue reading The New Fourth Ward: Efforts are underway to revitalize a stretch of the historic district<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1711,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-downtown-and-old-fourth-ward","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1711"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/emoryatlanta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}