West Midtown, also known as Westside, is a colloquial area, comprising many historical neighborhoods located in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Once largely industrial, West Midtown is now the location of urban

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

s, art galleries, live music venues, retail and restaurants.

Nomenclature

West Midtown is directly west of

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

, hence that name. However, the name for the area is a matter of debate. The name "West Midtown" is used by the neighbors' association in

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

, the largest constituent neighborhood, the West Midtown Business Association, and Westside Provisions, a privately run commercial district. The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau uses West Midtown and defines the Westside as consisting of West Midtown and

Atlantic Station Atlantic Station is a neighborhood on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States comprising a retail district, office space, condominiums, townhomes and apartment buildings. First planned in the mid-1990s and officially op ...

. Only "Westside" or "The Westside" is used by the ''Not for Tourists'' guide. ''

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of a monthly arts and culture newspaper/magazine. The company publishes a 60,000 circulation monthly publication which is distributed to in-town locations and neighborhoods on the first Thursday of ...

'' has used both "West Midtown" and "Westside", but now uses "Westside" in its official neighborhood guide. The West Midtown Design District uses both terms. Google Maps does not mark the area with a neighborhood name.

Geography

The borders of West Midtown are not defined officially by the city, as it encompasses several neighborhoods spread over multiple NPUs. Generally, though, West Midtown is bordered to the east by

Northside Drive Northside Drive is a road in Atlanta which begins on Whitehall Street in Castleberry Hill just north of Interstate 20 in Georgia, Interstate 20 (I-20), and ends by abruptly turning right near the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Sprin ...

and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, to the north by Buckhead, to the west by Marietta Boulevard and Marietta Road, and to the south by Hollowell Parkway. However, other sources define a larger area including parts of English Avenue and Bankhead, including the West Midtown Design District and The West Midtown Business Alliance.

Neighborhoods and historic districts

Neighborhoods usually included within West Midtown are: * The western center of Martin Luther King BLVD adjacent to Clark Atlanta University and Marta's Ashby Station *

Adair Park Adair Park is a residential neighborhood located southwest of downtown Atlanta. It has the form of a left curly bracket, bordered by the MARTA north–south rail line on the northwest, the BeltLine trail on the southwest and Metropolitan Parkway ...

Berkeley Park Berkeley Park may refer to: * Berkeley Park, Atlanta, a neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia * Berkeley Park (Portland, Oregon), a public park in Portland, Oregon {{disambiguation, geo ...

* Blandtown * The portion of English Avenue and around

King Plow Arts Center The King Plow Arts Center is a commercial, performing, and visual arts center located on Marietta Street in the Marietta Street Artery district of West Midtown, Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state ...

* The western portion of

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

* Knight Park/Howell Station * Loring Heights * Midtown West *

Marietta Street Artery Marietta Street Artery (formerly designated as "Bellwood") is an officially defined neighborhood of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, part of the West Midtown area of Atlanta, also known as the "Westside." The neighborhood consists of Marietta Stree ...

Underwood Hills Underwood Hills is a neighborhood in Buckhead Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History The neighborhood was founded in 1902, when it was dubbed Northside Park, but construction in the area, in what at that point was the edge of the city, didn't pi ...

* Westside Provisions * Bolton * Hills Park * Riverside Historic districts within West Midtown are: *

Howell Interlocking Historic District Howell Interlocking Historic District is the area in West Midtown, Atlanta where four railroad lines converge. It is adjacent to the Marietta Street Artery neighborhood, an area rich in industrial history, as an original industrial district bui ...

(railyards) *

King Plow/Railroad Historic District The King Plow/Railroad Historic District is a proposed historic district in Midtown West, Atlanta, Georgia. Creation of the district was approved at the state level in 2001 but it has not yet received national certification. The district would con ...

(proposed; includes the

and the Midtown West and Westside Provisions commercial districts) *

Means Street Historic District The Means Street Historic District in the Marietta Street Artery district of Atlanta consists of historic, mostly 19th and early 20th century warehouse and industrial buildings now converted to office space along one block of Means St. between ...

Southern Railway North Avenue Yards Historic District The Southern Railway North Avenue Yards, now repurposed as the NorthYards business park, is located just west of the railway line northwest from downtown Atlanta, south of the Marietta Street Artery Marietta Street Artery (formerly designated as ...

(now NorthYards business park) Westside Provisions occupies buildings that include a former meat packing plant and is home to a large

Room & Board Room & Board is an American modern furniture and home furnishings retailer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company was founded by John Gabbert as a subsidiary of his parents' furniture store company, Gabberts, of which he served as presid ...

furniture store, as well as Atlanta's second

Anthropologie Anthropologie is an American clothing retailer with approximately 200 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the UK that offers an assortment of clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decoration, beauty products, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of ...

. The district includes Atlanta's two top Zagat-rated restaurants, Bacchanalia and the Quinones Room, as well as Ormsby's, a popular restaurant and bar featuring bocce ball courts. It also includes a gourmet market with sections for produce, cheese, and a bakery, additional restaurants, and high end home furnishings and apparel shops. The district is said to have "put West Midtown on the map."

History

Much of Atlanta's industrial and

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

history occurred in the area now known as West Midtown. Several buildings still in use today are located next to the historic Norfolk Southern rail lines

General Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

used when he invaded Atlanta in 1864. In 1881, the

International Cotton Exposition International Cotton Exposition (I.C.E.) was a world's fair held in Atlanta, Georgia, from October 4 to December 31 of 1881. The location was along the Western & Atlantic Railroad tracks near the present-day King Plow Arts Center development in t ...

was held at the north end of the corridor, for which the Exposition Cotton Mills were built.

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

-pulled trolleys brought workers starting in 1882, and these became

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in 1894. The

Huff House The Huff House was for decades the oldest house in the city of Atlanta. It was located at the northeast corner of Huff Road and Ellsworth Industrial Avenue. at 1133 Huff Road NW (old numbering, 70 Huff Road NW) in Blandtown, part of what is today ...

, which stood on Huff Road, was the oldest house standing in the city when it was demolished in 1954. Blandtown, located along Huff Road, was one of the first black settlements around Atlanta after the Civil War. The community went into decline in the 1950s, such that by the 1990s, the once-residential neighborhood was rezoned to strictly industrial usage. The Marietta Street corridor continued as an industrial and warehouse area, though starting in the 1960s, the commercial strip along Marietta Street suffered with

suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...

. In the 1990s, several

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

projects were initiated (Hasting's Seed Company, The Carriage Works,

, and the Allied Warehouse), signaling the renaissance of the area.

Economy

Engineer's Bookstore, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA

Once a largely abandoned industrial area, West Midtown has seen large amounts of

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

and infill, with an eclectic mix of new lofts, restaurants, shops, art galleries, salons and professional firms. However, the loft-style industrial feel of the neighborhood has been retained, as most of the new developments are restorations of once-neglected factories or warehouses that date back to the 1880s. West Midtown has also become a popular location for the offices of high-tech companies seeking the open floor plans and loft office space, including the Atlanta offices of Facebook, located at Brickworks. West Midtown is a popular stop for food lovers due to the fact that some of Atlanta's trendiest high-end restaurants are located in the district. Many of West Midtown's dining establishments have garnered national attention and favor with local foodies such as Bacchanalia, Abattoir, Miller Union, Bocado, and The Optimist, chef Ford Fry's seafood restaurant. In 2012, the Atlanta Food Truck Park opened in West Midtown at Howell Mill Road's intersection with I-75. West Midtown's retail options, which includes Sid Mashburn, Ann Mashburn, Toscano & Sons Italian Market,

, Whipstitch Fabrics, Redefined Home
The Gear Revival

, Hop City Craft Beer and Wine, Wired and Fired, Lululemon Athletica, Verde Home and

Free People Free People is an American bohemian apparel and lifestyle retail company that sells women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, intimates, and swimwear. It also has a beauty and wellness category, which includes products such as cosmetics, skin, an ...

, make the area a regional shopping destination. Huff Road forms a ribbon of wholesale and retail home furnishings stores in addition to residential complexes and restaurants.

Arts and culture

West Midtown has an arts scene that rivals Midtown, Atlanta's premier arts district. However, unlike Midtown, which is focused more on classical art, West Midtown is home to an "ad hoc group of contemporary art galleries that have styled themselves as a more intellectual alternative." Prominent art galleries include Saltworks Gallery, which shows works by both local and international artists; the Sandler Hudson Gallery, which has represented contemporary artists since 1989; the Emily Amy Gallery, known for emerging artists from across the country; and the Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, known for fine art photography with regular rotating exhibitions. These art galleries sponsor a monthly art walk through the neighborhood known as the West Side Arts District Art Walk. the 3rd Saturday of every month. West Midtown is also home to three arts centers: the

Goat Farm Arts Center The Goat Farm Arts Center is a visual and performing arts center located in West Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia. The center is housed in a 19th-century complex of industrial buildings and contains the studio space of over 300 artists. Goat Farm hosts mu ...

, th
Westside Cultural Arts Center
and the

. Also located within the neighborhood is the

Atlanta Contemporary Art Center Atlanta Contemporary is a non-profit, non-collecting institution located in the West Midtown district of Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most ...

, a non-collecting contemporary art museum. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center 2

West Midtown is also home to live music venues and drinking establishments. Terminal West, a 7,000-square foot music venue, is located in the

, a 100-year-old iron and steel foundry. The venue, which includes an outdoor roof deck overlooking historic train tracks, was recently chosen by Creative Loafing as Best New Music Venue for 2012. The

also hosts music concerts. West Midtown is also home to popular nightlife destinations, especially Ormsby's, a bar and restaurant featuring bocce ball courts, and Northside Tavern, a self-described "dive bar" that offers live

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

performances. Lucile Avenue Bridge

References

{{coord, 33.785917, -84.411222, display=title Neighborhoods in Atlanta Restaurant districts and streets in the United States Arts districts