A week into Year of Boulevard II, a deadly shooting
After a year of stepped-up public safety, and just days after lowered crime rates were touted at the Year of Boulevard 2013 kickoff, last night's deadly shooting underscores the complexity of the area’s problems.
From drug market to dog park: the rebirth of Renaissance Park
The wooded pocket park with a picturesque downtown skyline view has been transformed into District 2’s latest amenity, an off-leash dog park with designated areas for small and large dogs—the first such facility in downtown Atlanta.
The walls of 375 Angier Avenue—finally—come tumbling down
Joshua and his army, as the Bible story goes, walked the perimeter of Jericho for seven days before its fortifications collapsed. Major C.J. Davis of the Atlanta Police Department’s code enforcement unit spent nine months navigating a maze of paperwork, hearings, meetings, and other red tape before the walls of an abandoned bungalow at 375 Angier Avenue came tumbling down.
Boulevard cleanup day
The Year of Boulevard initiative will be attempting to clean up the corridor more literally than figuratively on Saturday May 19, with a massive spring-cleaning effort organized by councilmember Kwanza Hall’s office.
Year of Boulevard: The Sequel
“Year of Boulevard: The Sequel” premiered Thursday evening at Tabernacle Baptist. The sanctuary was crowded—people even took spots in the front pews. Everyone had jostled upstairs after chatting and snacking in the basement fellowship hall. It felt like a weeknight service, if, that is, your congregation included Harry the Hawk, folks who dress up in anime costumes (more on that later), a cluster of politicos, and the Zone 6 police commander.
A million bucks for Boulevard street improvements?
Thanks to a recommendation from the Atlanta Regional Commission, Boulevard could see $1.25 million in pedestrian safety investment.
Cleanup day on Boulevard
As weed whackers thwacked yard-high grass and tangles of kudzu along the fence at Boulevard and Boulevard Place, they also disrupted a couple of anthills. The dislocated insects marched out across the sidewalk and over the feet and ankles of Reverend Joseph Crawford.
Year of Boulevard: Now a trilogy
“On this cool, cool, cold night, we feel the warmth of the love of those in the Fourth Ward,” said Fort Street United Methodist’s pastor Joseph Crawford as he delivered the benediction, thanking God for “the relationship we have with one another.”
Scene on Boulevard: MLK memorial service
On the forty-fourth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, a service was held in the sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic congregation where King, his father, and his grandfather all served as pastors. On this warm April evening in 2012, a fourth generation was represented by Bernice King, daughter of the civil rights leader, who took over as CEO of the King Center this January.
Kickoff Q&A with Kwanza Hall
In early February, a few weeks after the “Year of Boulevard” initiative was announced, I sat down with city councilman Kwanza Hall to talk about the project's launch. Hall, whose parents were civil rights leaders and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, spent much of his childhood in the area. A former member of the Atlanta Public Schools board, Hall has served on Atlanta City Council since 2006. He lives in the Old Fourth Ward and represents District 2, which includes Downtown, Sweet Auburn, Inman Park, the Old Fourth Ward, and Castleberry Hill. We met in the Starbucks at the Atlanta Medical, a few yards from the future site of the Zone 6 mini precinct.
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