Author Archives: Midtown Alliance

By Ronald “Jay” Parker, Midtown Alliance Green Team Member When I joined the Midtown Alliance team in late 2021, it took me 90 minutes to get to work. I relied solely on public transportation, catching the bus to the Lindbergh MARTA Station because the bus route that served the closest train station to my home […]

By Shayne Wheeler, Sr. Pastor, North Avenue Presbyterian Church and Trevor Atkins, Volunteer, Feet on the Street Ministries To live in Midtown is to love Midtown. As the second-fastest growing neighborhood in the country for new apartments, it is an exciting place of diverse people who are woven into a wonderfully beautiful tapestry. North Avenue […]

By Ellie Hensley, Editor and Producer at Midtown Alliance New year, new things to experience at street-level in Midtown.  Over the past several decades, we’ve seen the district transform into a thriving place. With guidance from the City of Atlanta and the help of our partners, we’ve worked to build an exceptional urban experience through […]

By Karl Smith-Davids, Senior Project Manager, Project and Urban Design at Midtown Alliance  Developers are still betting on Midtown Atlanta.  Since 2010, 57 new buildings have been delivered in the 1.2 square miles that is the Midtown Improvement District. Despite available parcels decreasing and the high price of land, momentum to build continues unabated. A […]

By Kevin Box, Artist at Box Studio LLC Note: Kevin Box’s Conversation Peace was installed at 10th and Peachtree Streets on November 11, 2021. It is the latest in Midtown Alliance’s series of temporary public art installations to occupy this corner. Midtown is home to more than 40 public art installations in a 1.2 square […]

By Lauren Radman, Project Manager, Urban Design and Placemaking at Midtown Alliance Take a walk down West Peachtree Street today, and you might notice that the number of public artworks visible is multiplying nearly as fast as new towers along the corridor. This is due in part to Midtown’s six artists in residence, who have […]

By Angie Clawson, Director of Communications, Center for the Visually Impaired For nearly 60 years, the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI) has been providing rehabilitation services for people who are blind and visually impaired in metro Atlanta and Georgia. It’s no coincidence that our Atlanta-based nonprofit is headquartered in Midtown. With its street grid […]

By Brian Carr, Director of Marketing and Communications, Midtown Alliance As we continue our work on the ground every day in Midtown, we see continued momentum and positive signs pointing toward recovery. Developers and companies are continuing to bet on Midtown’s future.  Development growth continues, with 17 major projects currently under construction in a 1.2 […]

By Dan Hourigan, Director of Transportation and Sustainability, Midtown Alliance  This week, Midtown Alliance is starting construction on improvements to a historic block of Midtown, transforming a handful of on-street parking spaces into a small public plaza and creating wider sidewalks. At the corner of Peachtree Street and Peachtree Place, nestled against the historic Commercial […]

By Chantelle Rytter, Lantern Parade Artist and Parliament of Owls Founder Fun is seriously important to our well-being. Coming together as a flock of owls and flying and dancing down the streets of Midtown all dressed in black and white, being weird and elegant together, is ridiculous fun. We have a common calling to delight […]

By Ginny Kennedy, Director of Urban Design at Midtown Alliance A Fiat Panda half-devoured by translucent stone has anchored the corner of 10th and Peachtree Streets for nearly four years. The giant sculpture known as Autoeater will soon be revving its way out of the city. Some will be sad to see it go, while […]

By Ellie Hensley, Editor and Producer, Midtown Alliance Midtown is known as Atlanta’s “Heart of the Arts,” boasting the largest concentration of arts and cultural institutions in the Southeast. For more than a year, these venues have been working to adapt to public health challenges, which necessitated moving their programming to a virtual format. Some […]

By Ellie Hensley, Editor and Producer, Midtown Alliance Momentum in Midtown continues to grow stronger each day as more of us return to what we’ve been missing. Activities like shopping for gifts and browsing in a store. Eating a meal or grabbing drinks at a new restaurant or an old favorite. Sitting down in the […]

By Emily Russell, Founding Member and Managing Director, Whole World Improv Theatre When your mission is to bring people together through joy and laughter, but you are separated from your audience and artists by a global pandemic, what does a little non-profit comedy theater do? Improvise! Whole World Improv Theatre, in the heart of Midtown […]

By Shoccara Marcus, Artist-in Residence at Cousins Properties’ Promenade I describe myself as a dancer first, and a photographer second. I fulfill love of both crafts with dance photography. I get a joy out of putting dancers in different environments and creating a dialogue with the line, shape, and form of the body in relation […]

By Marcus Neville, Director of Public Safety and Operations, Midtown Alliance When the Midtown Improvement District was formed 21 years ago, the first imperative was for people to feel safe. At the time, Midtown was pretty disinvested, vice and prostitution were active and not a lot of positive things were happening after dark. We stood […]

By Ellie Hensley, Midtown Alliance Editor and Producer After a long year of isolation and social distancing, pandemic recovery is just beginning to pick up some momentum. With the combination of spring weather and the steadily increasing availability of vaccines, it’s feeling more and more like we could be entering the late stages of this […]

By Dan Hourigan, Director of Transportation and Sustainability, Midtown Alliance It’s unanimous!  Everyone is dissatisfied (for differing reasons) with what is happening at Atlanta’s curbs.  Drivers are frustrated when the delivery truck is blocking a travel lane; people on bikes fume about the frequency of vehicles parked in bike lanes; and the lack of consistent […]

By Ginny Kennedy, Midtown Alliance Director of Urban Design There is no one with a more unique perspective on Midtown’s evolution along the Peachtree corridor than the Sabine Woman. Don’t know her? Let me introduce you. Originally commissioned in 1968 by Jim Cushman to stand in front of his new mixed-use development at 100 Colony […]

BY KEVIN GREEN, MIDTOWN ALLIANCE PRESIDENT AND CEO It’s a wrap. 2020 was a year for the history books. It was also a year of discovery as we learned how dependent we are on each other and found new ways to support one another. Midtown residents on balconies every night celebrating our healthcare heroes, thousands […]