Cityscape
The past year hasn’t been awful. Meteors didn’t pummel the 17th Street bridge to dust. Locusts didn’t swarm the samosa tray at Your DeKalb Farmers Market. Mounted Mongol invaders didn’t sack Grant Park and eat Mei Lan. Yet.
But a spike in crime, a dip in the housing market, careless missteps by police and city leaders, and, well, Michael Vick have turned our civic mood ring from blue to gray.
What better time, then, to seek solace by reflecting on some of the things old and new, trendy and timeless, that we love about our town — whether it’s the diversity of Buford Highway or the charm of our distinctive intown neighborhoods.
Maddening though it can be sometimes (witness the last session of the General Assembly), Atlanta is a profoundly interesting place to live. In a generation, it’s morphed from a provincial podunk to a behemoth of international business and a cultural mecca.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a hipster in an ironic tee, a scenester clubbing in designer duds, a company foot soldier producing stacks of TPS reports or a refugee fleeing an African war zone. Atlanta has a job for you, a place to live and a bar for you to hang out with your friends.
— Andisheh Nouraee
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Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
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Best Hair Salon BOA Award Winner
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Best Hair Salon BOA Award Winner
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Best Place for Fashion Bargains BOA Award Winner
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BOA Award Winner
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BOA Award Winner
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BOA Award Winner
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Categories No Longer in Use BOA Award Winner
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Best Local Blog/Zine BOA Award Winner
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Best Local Blogger BOA Award Winner
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Best Local Blogger BOA Award Winner
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Best Morning Drive-Time Radio Show BOA Award Winner
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Best Neighborhood Festival BOA Award Winner
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Best Contribution to Atlanta’s Urban Design BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Just when it seemed Atlanta was as likely to issue free personal jet packs to every resident as it was to make progress on THE BELTLINE, the city worked behind the scenes to team with a group of private investors to buy the proposed 22-mile loop’s northeast quadrant from Gwinnett developer Wayne Mason, who tried but failed to get approval for two huge condo towers on the Beltline overlooking Piedmont Park. Few details are known, but it appears Atlanta will get its transit right-of-way and parks, developers will get to put swank homes and retail on some of the city’s most desirable land, and Mason will make an eight-figure profit just for sitting on the land for three years.
less...Best OTP Park BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
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Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
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Best Festivals BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
The Inman Park Festival parade is best-known as home turf for the incredibly entertaining Kelly’s Seed and Feed Marching Abominable Band. The quirky Pride Parade in Midtown is Atlanta’s most honest celebration of freedom. We love them both. But Atlanta’s most original, entertaining and downright bizarre street march is the LITTLE FIVE POINTS HALLOWEEN PARADE. Where else does a 7-foot-penis swagger by a wholesome family in broad daylight, or a snarling, bare-chested madman gnaw on his bone and lunge at the crowd only to have his collar jerked by his masterful mistress?
less...Best Person You Hate to Love BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
We might just prefer to have fresh bamboo shoots driven under our fingernails than be forced to read another story about MEI LAN, the baby panda. After the wall-to-wall press coverage, the billboards, the nightly gushing and cooing by local TV anchors, the ads for panda posters in the AJC and the frickin’ panda cam, for God’s sake, we’re sick of hearing about the little beast. But, um, have you been over to the zoo to check her out? She’s actually pretty adorable in person, lounging on her log or playing with her mother. We don’t need to read any more about Mei Lan. Can we just take her home instead?
800 Cherokee Ave. 404-624-5600. www.zooatlanta.org
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Best Person You Love to Hate BOA Award Winner
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Best Spot to Commune with Nature/Best Park BOA Award Winner
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Best Spot to Commune with Nature/Best Park BOA Award Winner
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Best place to ride your bike BOA Award Winner
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Best Rock Station BOA Award Winner
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Best Rock Station BOA Award Winner
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner
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Best Street Character BOA Award Winner
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Best Street Character BOA Award Winner
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Best Tourist Trap BOA Award Winner
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After a charmed debut year when it welcomed (and collected admission charges from) more than 3 million visitors, the GEORGIA AQUARIUM has experienced a bit of a sophomore slump. This year, two of its largest animals, whale sharks Ralph and Norton, went belly-up. The deaths drew scrutiny to the aquarium’s animal-care practices, as well as prompted questions about the wisdom of bringing enormous ocean creatures to Atlanta just for our viewing pleasure. Despite those setbacks, the Home Depot Memorial Fish Tank is and will likely remain the city’s finest tourist attraction. Its size, breathtaking visual presentation and novelty make it a no-brainer for entertaining out-of-town guests. It’s our Disneyland.
225 Baker St. 404-581-4000. www.georgiaaquarium.org
Best Tourist Trap BOA Award Winner
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Best UnderRated Thing About Atlanta BOA Award Winner
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Best Urban/ Contemporary Station BOA Award Winner
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