Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood 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 populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

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 ...

. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business groups. However, the commercial core of the area is anchored by a series of high-rise office buildings, condominiums, hotels, and high-end retail along

Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road ...

between North Avenue and 17th Street. Midtown, situated between

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

to the south and

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...

to the north, is the second-largest business district in

Metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and th ...

. In 2011, Midtown had a resident population of 41,681 and a business population of 81,418."Midtown Demographics", ''Midtown Alliance'' site, published 1/24/2013
/ref> Midtown has the highest density of art and cultural institutions in the Southeast, notably including the Fox Theatre,

Woodruff Arts Center Woodruff Arts Center is a visual and performing arts center located in Atlanta, Georgia. The center houses three not-for-profit arts divisions on one campus. Opened in 1968, the Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlant ...

, the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, the

Center for Puppetry Arts The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, is the United States' largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The center focuses on three areas: performance, education and museum. It is one of the few puppet museums in the ...

, the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing ...

, and the

Museum of Design Atlanta Located at 1315 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, "MODA is the only museum in the Southeast devoted exclusively to the study and celebration of all things design." Overview The Museum examines how design affects people's dai ...

. Midtown attracts more than 6 million visitors annually,Midtown Alliance, ''Midtown Market Report, 2007''
. Retrieved June 3, 2009. mostly in connection with large annual events such as the

Atlanta Dogwood Festival The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is an arts and crafts festival held each spring at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia, established in 1933. Originally held for nine days across two weekends and the weekdays between, it is now held only one weekend dur ...

Atlanta Pride Atlanta Pride, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender ( LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia ( United States). Established in 1971, it is one of ...

Music Midtown Music Midtown is a large music festival that was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, annually from 1994 to 2005, and—after a six-year hiatus—returned in 2011. During its original run, the festival ran for one weekend each year. The even ...

, and Georgia Tech athletic games. Since the 1990s, Midtown has also been a primary area for high-density development due to the area's mass transit options, urban street grid, and desirability.

Geography and nomenclature

The definition and meaning of "Midtown" has varied over time, expanding from an original concept of a small neighborhood midway between Downtown and Buckhead. Boundary definitions vary by the source. In many cases, Midtown is a quasi-legal entity for zoning, law enforcement, and tax purposes. It is defined by the City of Atlanta to include the business district along Peachtree Street as well as

Historic Midtown The Midtown Historic District in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. It is roughly contiguous with what the Midtown Alliance organization calls the "Midtown Nei ...

, the residential area east of Piedmont Avenue and to the south of Piedmont Park. The Midtown Alliance defines a larger, "Greater Midtown" area of approximately four square miles. This includes the area within the city's definition, but splitting it into the sub-areas Midtown Core and Midtown Garden District, i.e.

. It also includes the neighborhoods of

Ansley Park Ansley Park is an intown residential district in Atlanta, Georgia, located just east of Midtown and west of Piedmont Park. When developed in 1905-1908, it was the first Atlanta suburban neighborhood designed for automobiles, featuring wide, win ...

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood. The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cor ...

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 ...

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.Loring Heights. The area has gone by other names in the past. An 1897 source refers to the area as North Atlanta, which would later be the name of today's city of Brookhaven. The 1897 "North Atlanta" encompassed (roughly) most of today's Midtown,

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 ...

, and English Avenue. Sources from the 1950s and early 1960s refer to the area as "Uptown Atlanta," a moniker which would later be applied instead to Buckhead following its annexation.

History

The southern half of Midtown between 8th Street and North Ave was originally purchased by Richard Peters in 1848 to use the pine forest there for fuel for his downtown flour mill. Over the next 40 years, Peters slowly subdivided sections of these land lots off for a gridded residential area and built his own home there on Peachtree at 4th Street. His son, Edward, built his home on the block bounded by North Avenue, Piedmont Avenue, Ponce de Leon Avenue, and Myrtle Street. The home, now called Ivy Hall, was restored by the

Savannah College of Art & Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Uni ...

in 2008 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the

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 polici ...

, Peachtree between what is now 8th and 12th streets was still about a mile beyond the city limits, which ended at Pine Street. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

a shantytown named Tight Squeeze developed at Peachtree at what is now 10th Street. It was infamous for vagrancy, desperation, robberies of merchants transiting the settlement. As Atlanta grew ever further outwards from its historic center, mansions were constructed along Peachtree Street and the area around 10th was known as Blooming Hill. Cross streets were built and residential development began around 1880. Piedmont Park was established with the Piedmont Exposition of 1887, followed by the

Cotton States and International Exposition The Cotton States and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in 1895. The exposition was designed "to foster trade between southern states and South American nations as well as to show the products a ...

of 1895, lending the area new prominence. Electric streetcar lines extended along Piedmont Avenue by 1895 and along Peachtree Street (to Brookwood) by 1900.Tommy H. Jones, "Margaret Mitchell House: Historical Context"
/ref> In 1904, development on

began. By the 1920s, Tenth and Peachtree had become the nexus of a significant shopping district for the surrounding neighborhood. The 1910 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' listed Peachtree Street in Midtown as one of the finest residential areas of the city, along with Ponce de Leon Circle (now Ponce de Leon Avenue), Washington Street, and

Inman Park Inman Park is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, and its first planned suburb. It was named for Samuel M. Inman. History Today's neighborhood of Inman Park includes areas that were originally designated * Inman Park ...

. The

Downtown Connector In Downtown Atlanta, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (pronounced "seventy-five eighty-five") is the concurrent section of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/ Langford Parkway interchange, ...

freeway opened in the 1950s, and the blocks between Williams Street and Techwood Drive were demolished to make way for it. In 1959

Lenox Square Lenox Square is a shopping mall in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. With 198 tenants and of gross leasable area, it is the third-largest mall in Georgia. The mall is currently owned and managed by Simon Property Group, and is consid ...

and in 1964, Ansley Mall opened, and the Tenth Street shopping district went into decline. By the late 1960s, Peachtree Street between Eighth and Fourteenth Streets had become a center of hippie culture known as

The Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

The Strip
Large-scale commercial development began with

Colony Square Colony Square is a mixed-use development and sub-district in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, located on Peachtree Street in between 14th and 15th Streets. The oldest high-rise development in Midtown, the sub-district was built between 1969 and 1975, wit ...

, the first

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to ...

in the Southeast, which was built between 1969 and 1973. The

MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) : István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river ...

subway line opened in 1981. In the 1980s, many older properties were demolished, some remaining vacant for decades. High-density commercial and residential development took root in the north–south corridor along Peachtree and West Peachtree. The BellSouth Center (1982), now the AT&T Midtown Center, was long the landmark skyscraper in the area. However, commercial development escalated after 1987, when

One Atlantic Center One Atlantic Center, also known as IBM Tower, is a skyscraper located in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. It is the third tallest building in Atlanta. History It is the third-tallest in Atlanta, reaching a height of with 50 stories of office space wi ...

was completed. Corner_of_Glendale_Terrace_and_8th_street,_Atlanta,_GA

The 2000s decade saw the construction of numerous high-rise condo buildings in Midtown, such as the

Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

, Viewpoint, and

1010 Midtown 1010 Midtown is a 35-story, skyscraper in Atlanta, Georgia with 425 condominiums atop of retail and dining space. The structure is part of the 12th & Midtown development, situated on approximately on the block between 11th and 12th streets in ...

. In 2006, then-Mayor

Shirley Franklin Shirley Clarke Franklin (born May 10, 1945) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 58th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2002 to 2010. She currently serves as a member on the board of directors for both Delta ...

set in motion a plan to make the 14-block stretch of

a street-level shopping destination. The 2004 opening of the Seventeenth Street Bridge over the

reconnected Midtown with the west side of the city and to the

mixed-use development, which was built on the former site of the Atlantic Steel company. The Midtown Alliance, a group of volunteers, employees, and business and community members, was formed in 1978 in order to work towards improving the overall quality of life in Midtown and transform it into an ideal place for people to actively live, work, and play. Activities of the Alliance include improving the neighborhood safety, developing area arts and education programs, and building community leaders. The master plan from the Alliance, called Blueprint Midtown, is credited with fueling the economic resurgence that has helped the once downtrodden Midtown area transform over the past number of years into a popular neighborhood. In a 2011 ''

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 ...

'' article claimed that:

No part of the city has evolved more dramatically over the past two decades ... Impersonal office buildings, imposing parking decks and cold asphalt arteries have given way to high-rise living and an explosion of street life ... Where once there was a wasteland, now there are great restaurants, groceries, specialty shops, townhouses, lofts and ... people.

Architecture and historic districts

In the early 1980s, Midtown Atlanta was a blighted area mainly consisting of parking lots. By 1987,

was built on the corner of West Peachtree Street and 14th Street, which kick-started the redevelopment of the area. Some contemporary buildings of note are: *

Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...

and

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (2 ...

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

1100 Peachtree 1100 Peachtree Street is one of the prominent buildings of Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. Ownership and usage The 28-story, building is currently owned by Manulife Financial. It was previously partly owned and largely occupied by telecommunication ...

1180 Peachtree 1180 Peachtree, commonly known as the Symphony Tower, is a 41-story skyscraper located at 1180 Peachtree Street in the Midtown district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Rising to a height of approximately , the building includes office and ...

* AT&T Midtown Center *

Four Seasons Hotel Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.D ...

Promenade II Promenade (formerly Promenade II) is a tall skyscraper in Midtown Atlanta. It has 40 stories of office space and its construction was completed in 1990. It is currently the seventh-tallest skyscraper in Atlanta. Set just off Peachtree Stree ...

ViewPoint Viewpoint may refer to: * Scenic viewpoint, a high place where people can gather to view scenery In computing * Viewpoint model, a computer science technique for making complex systems more comprehensible to human engineers * Viewpoint Corporat ...

In the area surrounding

, very little of the original architecture was preserved. Some of the notable exceptions listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

include the Margaret Mitchell House,

Rhodes Hall Rhodes Memorial Hall, commonly known as Rhodes Hall, is an historic house located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was built as the home of furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes, proprietor of Atlanta-based Rhodes Furniture. The Romanes ...

, Edward C. Peters House, and the

Academy of Medicine Academy of Medicine or Academy of Surgery may refer to: Asia Israel * Jerusalem Academy of Medicine Malaysia * Academy of Medicine of Malaysia Singapore *Academy of Medicine, Singapore Europe Austria * Josephinian Military Academy of Surgery * ...

. Historic districts include the Fox Theatre Historic District and

; both are listed on the

. The Fox Theatre Historic District comprises the Fox Theatre (Oliver Vinour et al., 1929),

William Lee Stoddart William Lee Stoddart (1868–1940) was an architect who designed urban hotels in the Eastern United States. Although he was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, most of his commissions were in the South. He maintained offices in Atlanta and New York C ...

Georgian Terrace Hotel The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta, part of the Fox Theatre Historic District, was designed by architect William Lee Stoddart in a Beaux-Arts style that was intended to evoke the architecture of Paris. Construction commenced on July ...

(1911), Stoddart's

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

Ponce de Leon Apartments (1913), and the Cox-Carlton Hotel (1925). Historic Midtown, which includes most of Midtown east of Piedmont Avenue, is noted for its

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

s and Queen Anne style houses.

Parks and recreation

Midtown's focal point is the expansive greenspace of

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentlema ...

, which underwent a major expansion in 2011. The park is surrounded by the Midtown business district to its west, Ansley Park to its northwest, the

BeltLine The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect nei ...

, Morningside, and Virginia Highland to its east, and the Midtown Historic District to its south. The Atlanta Botanical Garden adjoins the Park. The

is a trail circling the older neighborhoods of central Atlanta which will be developed in stages. The BeltLine Eastside Trail connects Piedmont Park (at the intersection of 10th and Monroe) to the

station at DeKalb Avenue. Th
"Art on the BeltLine"
project has resulted in the installation of several contemporary art pieces on the trail.

Economy

Midtown Atlanta is a commercial district in its own right, containing of office space, with of office space added to the area since 1997, with up to more planned. Furthermore, Midtown is home to many corporate headquarters, such as

Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and TransUnion (together known as the "Big Th ...

EarthLink EarthLink is an American Internet service provider. It went public on NASDAQ in January 1997. Much of the company's growth was via acquisition; by 2000, ''The New York Times'' described Earthlink as the "second largest Internet service provider ...

Invesco Invesco Ltd. is an American independent investment management company that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional branch offices in 20 countries. Its common stock is a constituent of the S&P 500 and trades on the New York stock exc ...

, and

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups ...

, as well as other corporations with a sizeable presence such as

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

PriceWaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

, and AT&T Inc. Carter's, Inc. had its headquarters in Midtown but moved to

in 2013.Sams, Douglas.
Carter's moving HQ to Phipps Tower
" ''

Atlanta Business Chronicle The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition. History The ''Atlanta Busine ...

''. December 14, 2012. Updated on December 17, 2013. Retrieved on May 23, 2013. Regional offices for companies such as

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

Arcapita Arcapita founded in 1997, is an asset management firm. Headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, Arcapita also operates from its offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. The firm serves a group of investors in th ...

, and Jason's Deli are located in Midtown. Major law firms such as

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

and Kilpatrick & Stockton are also located in Midtown. In April 2019, the largest

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A ...

in the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the south ...

opened in Midtown. Midtown is also home to a share of Atlanta's diplomatic missions. The Consulate-General of Canada is located in 100 Colony Square Building, as is the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. The Consulate-General of Switzerland in Atlanta is located in the Two Midtown Plaza building. The

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a ''de facto'' e ...

, representing the Republic of China, is located in the Atlantic Center Plaza. The Consulate-General of Israel to the Southeast is also located in Midtown. From 1995 to 2002, the Consulate-General of Japan in Atlanta was in Colony Square before moving to Buckhead.Greer, Richard. "Unionists protest at Japanese consulate." '' The Atlanta Journal and Constitution''. Friday June 23, 1995. Business p. 3H.

Retail

Immediately adjacent to Midtown on the southeast side along the BeltLine are the large Ponce City Market lifestyle center in the former Sears building, Midtown Promenade power center with

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

and other big box stores, and Midtown Place community shopping center with a

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Californi ...

and cinema multiplex.

a large regional mall and lifestyle center, and the community-size Ansley Mall are adjacent to Midtown's north end. Some retail shops are located along Peachtree Street but the area has not been a major shopping destination since the 1960s and a boulevard of upscale shops envisioned in 2006 never came to establish itself.burgeoning restaurant scene
buoyed by lunch crowds from employees of the surrounding businesses.

Arts and culture

Midtown is known by many residents as Atlanta's "Heart of the Arts". It is the home of th
Ferst Center for Arts
Fox Theatre, the

, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the

- and

-designed

, as well as the Atlanta Ballet,

, and other arts and entertainment venues. Recently, the

and its campus were expanded. Future additions will include a new

Atlanta Symphony Center Symphony Center was a proposed concert hall in Atlanta, Georgia that would have been the new home of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The site for the new structure was to be in Midtown on 14th Street just south of the current Symphony Hall in th ...

. The High has collaborated with major art museums to house temporary collections of masterpieces, most notably the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Across the street from the High is Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), the only

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

in the Southeast devoted exclusively to the study and celebration of all things design. Midtown is also the home of the Atlanta campus of

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Uni ...

, which is located in historic buildings throughout the district. Museum oF Design Atlanta

Midtown's Piedmont Park is a popular venue for cultural festivals in Atlanta. Every spring, when the native dogwoods are in bloom in Piedmont Park, is the

, an arts and crafts fair. Piedmont Park is also the finish line of the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

. As ground-zero for Atlanta arts community, Midtown is home of the annual Atlanta Arts Festival, which brings artists from across the country to Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park is also the home of the Southeast's largest multicultural festival,

Festival Peachtree Latino Festival Peachtree Latino is an ethnic festival held annually Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The festival, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture, is the largest multicultural event in the entire Southeast. The festival features arts and cra ...

, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture with arts and crafts, family activities, sporting events, a parade, dance demonstrations, ethnic foods, and a live music stage featuring international performers from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Midtown is also the home of Atlanta's major music festival,

, which was revived in 2011 after a five-year hiatus. At the corner of 8th Street and Spring Street, near the Midtown MARTA station, Midtown also hosts the Peachtree Music Festival, a one-day, two-stage music festival blending

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

bands with electronic DJs. In the fall, the

festival attracts the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

local and regional community while the week-long Out on Film gay film festival highlights films by, for, and about the LGBT community.

Education

Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center

Residents are zoned to schools in the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending a ...

.
Springdale Park Elementary School
* Inman Middle School * Midtown High School In addition, the campuses of

Georgia Institute of Technology 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 ...

, John Marshall Law School, and the Atlanta division of the

are located in Midtown.

Transportation

Midtown Atlanta is served by Atlanta's rail rapid transit system,

, at the North Avenue, Midtown, and Arts Center MARTA Stations. MARTA operates significant bus service in the district, as well. There is also a free shuttle between the Arts Center MARTA Station and Atlantic Station, as well as a free-to-the-public daytime shuttle between the Midtown MARTA station and

called the "Tech Trolley".

Midtown Ecodistrict

Ecodistricts are being implemented in leading cities around the world and Midtown has just completed a process to create

's first ecodistrict. The Midtown Ecodistrict was created in 2012 as a platform for the community to collaborate on initiatives that results in improved environmental and economic performance. The program focuses on measurement on sustainability methods throughout the company. Green operational practices in the areas of energy, water, transportation and waste were implemented in an effort to make Midtown one of the most livable, vibrant and sustainable districts in the country. In 2014, Midtown Alliance (who created the ecodistrict) decided to highlight business and buildings in Midtown that have made a significant commitment to green practices. This district is heavily urbanized (

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...

s, shops,

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s). Midtown also serves cyclists and pedestrians with 5 miles of bike lanes. The restaurants established in Midtown are recycling and composting at least 95% . 50 recycling cans have been installed.

References

External links

Midtown Atlanta
information/marketing site by Midtown Alliance
Midtown Neighbors Association
residential neighborhood association

{{American gay villages Neighborhoods in Atlanta Arts districts Gay villages in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic districts in Atlanta Populated places established in 1880 1880 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Bungalow architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Edge cities in the Atlanta metropolitan area

Geography and nomenclature

History

Architecture and historic districts

Parks and recreation

Economy

Retail

Arts and culture

Education

Transportation

Midtown Ecodistrict

See also

References

External links