By Nancy Leighton
The new Alexan EAV apartment building on Metropolitan Avenue is now complete and read for leasing. Other new buildings in the Glenwood/I-20/Memorial Drive corridor will soon be finished and ready for occupancy. These new buildings will provide hundreds of new housing units to our community. We all will be getting a great many new neighbors.
Many of these people will want to live here because they like living in an area with an established small town atmosphere and its own commercial zone. They are going to be the type of people who like to live close to downtown near cultural and social events. They won’t want to spend hours tied up in traffic on the freeways driving to the suburbs. Many will be young adults freshly starting out in their careers. They are going to walk many places, ride bicycles, and take MARTA. They will like walking to a restaurant for dinner and a drink and be able to walk home again. They are going to be an asset and recourse in this community. Many will fit into our neighborhood associations and enjoy the activities already in place.
It’s not going to be just young people coming here. Grandparents are going to be attracted to the area. It will help them see their grandchildren more often. In the case where their children want grandma and grandpa to provide childcare, it will be quick and convenient for those parents to get off I-20 and drop off the little ones. The grandparents will be able to have some bonding time walking the children to the library, looking over the books and listening to story time. They can walk to one of the area parks together. They can stop at Park Pets and pet the kitty, stop in at the fire station to look at the fire engine, or stop at Joe’s café for a short “eating at a restaurant” lesson.
Parents of high school age children are going to want to live here where their children can walk to high school. The high school which was first built over three decades ago could for the first time become the center of the community. For all this time the building has been isolated in and old industrial zone surrounded by declining and deteriorating saw mills and concrete works. Now Maynard Jackson High School has been remodeled and enlarged. The School’s Principal, Stephanie Johnson, has been named Atlanta Schools Principal of the Year. This will be a point for parents to consider when relocating. Parents might also be attracted to the new commercial and existing fast food establishments in the area as a good place for their teenagers to get jobs within walking distance of home.
These new people moving in are going to be nice neighbors and deserve to receive a warm welcome into this community.
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