Neighborhoods

Well, one thing you conclude watching the PR extravaganza that is "Atlanta: A Visual Postcard," is that everyone had really long attention spans back in the day. Who'd sit through fifteen minutes of chamber of commerce fluff today? Yeah, I thought so.

At some point, I suppose, it will stop being a surprise that movie folks ask Atlanta to stand in for so many other places. Odd enough that Woodruff Park was a facsimile of seventies-era NYC complete with overflowing garbage cans and yellow cabs for Anchorman 2. But today, while strolling around our neighborhood, my husband and I came across a crew hard at work constructing a faux Rhode Island streetscape on a long-vacant lot at the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Pearl Street in Cabbagetown, about the most quintessentially Southern pocket of Atlanta you could hope for.

"It's stuff like this that reminds me why I love Atlanta," remarked a friend. "Where else do you have a parade where everyone can just join in?" Indeed, Saturday night's Lantern Parade—the kickoff to Art on the Atlanta BeltLine 2013—embodied the best of intown Atlanta's charming eccentricity and warm hospitality.

It was more than intuition that drew a Norcross police officer to an extended-stay hotel. A computer program in her police cruiser had advised her to scope out that very hotel, at that very hour. When she arrived, she spotted a suspicious-looking man.

Walmart made retail history today by opening its smallest store ever. While a tiny Walmart—the store near Georgia Tech's campus is around 2,500 square feet—seems like an oxymoron, don’t let the size fool you.

Frank Mills’s home at 246 Main Street in the town of Toomsboro, forty miles east of Macon in Wilkinson County, is not for sale. This would not be particularly noteworthy if not for the fact that practically the entire town around this eighty-nine-year-old man is.

Good thing there were so many cops at hand for Monday’s meeting at Drew Charter School in East Lake: the parking lot was packed and more than a few drivers grew testy as they circled looking for spots.

About a month ago, my neighbor’s Jeep Cherokee was stolen. In the annals of city crime, this is hardly a noteworthy theft. Except that I live in a gated loft development with on-site security. And that said Jeep then was used in an attempted burglary; apparently such twin misdeeds—stealing SUVs and using them to haul off stolen stuff—are a trend this summer, according to the cops who responded to my neighbor's complaint. Also, I should mention it was the second time this particular Jeep has been swiped and that a couple months ago someone was carjacked at gunpoint in the same gated lot.

Three giant (as in building-sized) murals were installed in the King Historic District yesterday in the latest Living Walls effort to turn structures into canvasses. One such “canvas” is the former Henry’s Grill at 345 Auburn Avenue, where a small crowd turned out to watch an acclaimed muralist at work.

Sure, you might catch Fido dog-paddling in the backyard pool to cool off on a summer day, but you will rethink the concept of dogs-and-aquatics after watching the canine competitors in dock-diving competitions.