Virginia-Highland | |
|---|---|
 Sign at Virginia Ave. and N. Highland Ave. | |
| Nickname: VaHi | |
 Virginia Highland location relative to downtown Atlanta | |
| Coordinates:33°46′56.64″N84°21′15.48″W / 33.7824000°N 84.3543000°W /33.7824000; -84.3543000 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia |
| County | Fulton County |
| City | City of Atlanta |
| Council District | 6 |
| NPU | F |
| Government | |
| • City Council | Alex Wan[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.95625 sq mi (2.4767 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 7,800 |
| • Density | 8,200/sq mi (3,100/km2) |
| Source: 2010 U.S. census figures as tabulated byWalkScore | |
| ZIP Code | 30306 |
| Website | Virginia Highland Civic Association |
Virginia Highland Historic District | |
| Location | bounded roughly by Amsterdam Ave., Rosedale Rd.,Ponce de Leon Avenue and theBeltLineEastside Trail,Atlanta, Georgia |
| Coordinates | 33°46′56.64″N84°21′15.48″W / 33.7824000°N 84.3543000°W /33.7824000; -84.3543000 |
| Area | 612 acres (248 ha) |
| Built | 1899-1955 |
| Architect | A. Ten Eyck Brown,G. Lloyd Preacher, Owens James Southwell, Leila Ross Wilburn |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/Craftsman |
| NRHP reference No. | 05000402[2] |
| Added to NRHP | May 10, 2005 |
Virginia–Highland (often nicknamed "VaHi")[3] is aneighborhood ofAtlanta, Georgia, founded in the early 20th century as astreetcar suburb. It is named after the intersection of Virginia Avenue andNorth Highland Avenue, the heart of its trendy retail district at the center of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is famous for its bungalows and other historic houses from the 1910s to the 1930s. It has become a destination for people across Atlanta with its eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as for theSummerfest festival, annualTour of Homes and other events.
In 2011, readers ofCreative Loafing voted Virginia–Highland "Best Overall Neighborhood."[4] In June 2011,Atlanta Magazine designated Virginia Highland "favorite neighborhood overall".[5] In 2012, readers ofCreative Loafing voted VaHi "Best Walkable Neighborhood".[6] In 2020,Southern Living editors named Virginia–Highland number 4 on their “The South’s Best Neighborhoods” list.[7]
Newspaper articles from the early 1920s refer to the "Virginia Highland" section of Atlanta with regard to the area around the intersection of Virginia and Highland avenues. Later in the 1920s, southeast of this intersection, the "Virginia Highlands" (with an "s") subdivision was built. However, neither term appeared again in the press until the 1970s.
During therevolt against the construction of the I-485 freeway through Morningside and what is now Virginia–Highland, a pro-highway group called themselves the "Highland–Virginia Civic Association", claiming to speak for the neighborhood. When Joe Drolet and other residents formed a group to oppose the highway in Fall 1971, they chose the name "Virginia–Highland Civic Association".[8] With the victory of the anti-highway forces, the Virginia–Highland name stuck and the press started to use it to refer to the entire neighborhood between Amsterdam, Ponce, Piedmont Park and Druid Hills.
Around Atlanta, "Virginia–Highland", "Virginia Highlands" and "the Highlands" are all commonly heard. However, "Virginia–Highland" is the official name of the neighborhood. The other terms are included in some business names, but are technically incorrect.
The term VaHi, imitating the New York style of naming neighborhoods (SoHo, TriBeCa), first was used in the Atlanta newspapers in 1998. It is now in common use as a shortened, playful form or inURLs of neighborhood media and organizations (examples are www.vahi.org).
The first record of settlement of the area that is now Virginia–Highland was in 1812, when William Zachry bought and built afarm on 202.5 acres (0.819 km2) of land there. In 1822, he sold his farm toRichard Copeland Todd (1792–1850). Todd's brother-in-lawHardy Ivy settled in 1832 in what is nowDowntown Atlanta and the road between their two farms came to be known as Todd Road (a portion of which still exists in Virginia–Highland).
In the 1880s,Georgia Railroad executiveRichard Peters andreal estatedeveloperGeorge Washington Adair organized theAtlanta Street Railway Company.[9] Their first project was theNine Mile Trolley, which started serving the area sometime between 1888 and 1890. At first, patrons used thisstreetcar line to visit "the countryside" outside the city, and the line stimulated later development in the area. Adair builthis home at 964 Rupley Drive (still standing and divided into upscaleapartments). The iconic curves in the street at the intersections of Virginia Ave. with N. Highland and Monroe are remnants of the trolley line, which required gentle curves. The Trolley Square Apartments (now "Virginia Highlands [sic] Apartments") near Virginia and Monroe were built on the site of trolley maintenance facilities.
The first land to be subdivided in what is now Virginia–Highland wasHighland Park in the 1890s, located on either side of Ponce de Leon Ave. between today's Barnett St. and N. Highland Ave. The majority of the houses and streets in Virginia–Highland were constructed between 1909 and 1926.[10] In 1916, theArc Light Controversy raged between neighbors on Adair Ave. and N. Highland Ave.
Some businesses opened around the intersection of Virginia and N. Highland starting in 1908, with many more opening starting in 1925. At the same time development started in the Atkins Park commercial district around St. Charles. Ave. and N. Highland, including the present-day Atkins Park Restaurant (1922), which reportedly got what is now Atlanta's oldestliquor license when it became a bar and restaurant in 1927. Between 1928 and 1930, the Howard Dry Cleaning Company and the Phelps Millard Grocery opened, anchoring the Amsterdam and N. Highland business district. TheSamuel N. Inman School, named after the nineteenth-centurycottonmerchant, was built in 1923. In 1924,fire station 19 was built on N. Highland at Los Angeles Ave.
Streetcar service to Virginia–Highland ended around 1947, along with all of the other trolley lines into and out of central Atlanta.
Virginia–Highland, like mostintown Atlanta neighborhoods, suffered decline starting in the 1960s as residentsmoved to thesuburbs. Less-affluent residents moved in, some single-family houses were turned into apartments, andcrime increased. Some businesses closed and were replaced by lower-rent tenants such aspawn shops. Others, such as Moe’s and Joe’s (which opened in 1947) and Atkins Park Restaurant, stayed open. Many buildings deteriorated.
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What could have been the death knell for the neighborhood sounded in the mid-1960s, when theGeorgia Department of Transportation proposed buildingInterstate 485 to connect what is nowFreedom Parkway through the neighborhood and to what is nowGeorgia 400 atInterstate 85. It would have included aninterchange at Virginia Avenue whereJohn Howell Memorial Park is today. Despite the I-485 proposal moving forward, a fewmiddle-class families began moving back into the neighborhood,renovating homes.
In Fall 1971, Joseph (Joe) Drolet and others founded the Virginia–Highland Civic Association (VHCA), whose mission was todefeat I-485,[11] and registered the association with the Georgia Secretary of State on August 22, 1972.[12] They along with residents ofStone Mountain,Inman Park, and Morningside finally defeated I-485, and became a political force to be reckoned with. The current Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) system is an outgrowth of these events. In 2009, the original north/south freeway (connecting 675 to 400) was again put on GDOT's to-do list, but this time running in atunnel underneath the neighborhoods, with buildings to ventexhaustfumes andsmog above ground.
Between 1972 and 1975,property values increased from 20 to 50 percent.Home ownership levels rose 20 percent. Atour of renovated homes started in 1972. The Georgia Department of Transportation began selling properties it had acquired for I-485, virtually all of them forinfill housing. The 3 acres (12,000 m2) of land on Virginia Avenue where 11 houses had been taken anddemolished to make way for a Virginia Avenue exit, however, was finally opened in 1988 as John Howell Memorial Park, in memory of Virginia–Highland resident and anti-freeway activistJohn Howell, who died from complications ofHIV in 1988.
In the early 1980s, Atkins Park restaurant was renovated. Meanwhile, Stuart Meddin bought and renovated the 1925 commercial block at North Highland and Virginia.
In 1988, the turn-of-the-century trolley barns on 5 acres (2.0 ha) on Virginia Avenue on the east side of the BeltLineEastside Trail (today's Virginia–Highland Apartments) were torn down despite the City Council and VHCA's attempts to save them. Although previously assuring local residents that he favored saving the historic structures, MayorAndrew Young then vetoed the resolution, and the Council's vote of 11-3 was not enough to override it. Young cited the discovery of asbestos in the buildings and other hazardous materials on the property.[13][14]
As the neighborhood continued to regentrify, property values increased rapidly; the shops and restaurants became progressively more upscale. Towards the end of the 1990s, the neighborhood-oriented character of the business districts gave way to businesses serving patrons from across greater Atlanta.[15] Virginia–Highland wrestled with traffic and parking issues. Apartments affordable to students became more difficult to find.
In 2000, a spat among organizers and a shakeup in the organizing committee made local headlines.[16] However, Summerfest did continue as usual in 2001 as one of Atlanta's highest profile neighborhood festivals.
In November 2006, theGeorgia Trust for Historic Preservation added Virginia–Highland to its list of "places in peril" due to an acceleration ofteardowns and infill projects by real estate developers and newcomers to the area. However, Virginia–Highland remains one of the mostarchitecturallyhistoric, distinct and vibrant neighborhoods in Atlanta.
Residents, through the VHCA, succeeded in getting the city council to pass zoning legislation prescribing development that fits the scale of the streets, rolling back loose zoning ordinances passed in the 1960s.[17][18] The new zoning also prescribes a maximum number of each type of establishment – restaurants, bars, retail and other types.
The zoning aims to preserve a vibrant mix of enterprises while keeping control noise, parking and traffic issues but also addresses specific problems which came up in 2005-2008:
In December 2008 the VHCA bought the land forNew Highland Park, a small 0.41 acres (0.17 ha) park at N. Highland and St. Charles.
In Autumn 2010, a rash of seven muggings occurred. These statistics were far lower than those of the 1980s, when the neighborhood was rougher, but the news shook up the neighborhood in 2010.[20] Partly in response, the local security patrol, FBAC, expanded patrol coverage to the entire neighborhood. Shortly thereafter, in November 2010, Charles Boyer was murdered during a mugging, for which the "Jack Boys" were indicted in Jan. 2011.[21] Police continued to step up patrols and since then Virginia–Highland has returned to its status as one of Atlanta's lower-crime neighborhoods.[22]
Currently the neighborhood is enjoying adjacent development projects including a new biking and walking trail along theBeltLineEastside Trail fromPiedmont Park toInman Park, as well as the redevelopedPonce City Market, the old Sears building, now a major multi-use development. Behind Ponce City Market isHistoric Fourth Ward Park, opened in 2011.
In July 2014, the Atlanta City Council accepted the Virginia–Highland Civic Association's master plan, as a result of which the plan becomes part of the City of Atlanta’s Comprehensive Development Plan.[23]
Virginia–Highland is bounded on the north by Amsterdam Avenue and the neighborhood ofMorningside, on the east by the Atlantacity limit/Briarcliff Road and theDruid Hills neighborhood, on the south byPonce de Leon Avenue and thePoncey–Highland neighborhood, and on the west by theBeltLineEastside Trail which is the border withPiedmont Park andMidtown.[24]
Within these boundaries isAtkins Park, a neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Atlanta recognizes Atkins Park as a separate neighborhood,[25] however, Atkins Park is a part of theVirginia–Highland Civic Association.
St. Charles-Greenwood had its own neighborhood association in the 1980s,[26] but was then absorbed into Virginia–Highland.
Virginia–Highland is one of many intown Atlanta neighborhoods characterized by commercial space of two sorts:
Such "streetcar corner" nodes are located at Virginia at North Highland — the neighborhood's namesake and main shopping and dining area, well known since the 1990s for its restaurants,[27] St. Charles at North Highland, Amsterdam at North Highland, and Virginia at Rosedale Drive.Amsterdam Walk, a shopping and entertainment complex built in what was originally part of the Campbell Coal Company warehouse. Ponce de Leon Place also has a concentration of warehouse space converted to commercial use.
Just across theBeltLineEastside Trail from the western border of Virginia–Highland are two majorstrip malls,Midtown Place and Midtown Promenade. Adjacent is the former Sears building, nowPonce City Market, with office, retail and residential space, and a gourmetfood hall.[28][29]
Virginia–Highland is best known for its oldest residences – theCraftsman bungalows that line the streets closest to which or on which the Nine Mile trolley ran: Virginia Avenue, North Highland Avenue, St. Charles Avenue, etc. Other architectural styles include English Vernacular Revival and Colonial Revival, and other house types include English Cottage andAmerican Foursquare.[30]
Besides thechurches noted below, some other landmarks of note are:
Virginia–Highland and Atkins Park are bothlisted on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), with Atkins Park having in addition the status ofhistoric overlay district which, unlike a NRHP listing by itself, actually provides for measures to enforce preservation. The VHCA is investigating the possibilities of designating Virginia–Highland a historic overlay district as well.[31]
Virginia–Highland is aneighborhood of Atlanta, which unlike in many other cities, are officially defined and organized and given specific areas of control. The Virginia–Highland Civic Association consists of a volunteer board and oversees matters controlled at the neighborhood level such as community festivals, community safety, beautification, and efforts to improve parks, sidewalks, etc. As noted above, theAtkins Park neighborhood, while having its own neighborhoods association, participates in the VaHi association much as if it were part of VaHi. Planning, building permits, etc. are controlled by theNeighborhood planning unit F, which also includesMorningside-Lenox Park,Piedmont Heights andLindridge-Martin Manor.
Virginia–Highland serves as a model for other neighborhoods of Atlanta in implementing a comprehensive range of safety measures:
Virginia–Highland borders:
Within the boundaries of Virginia–Highland are:
In 2014, residents cleaned up and beautified the unpaved alley between St. Charles Avenue and Ponce, and it is now known asMaiden Trail.[33]
Virginia–Highland has one of seven Atlanta "neighborhood arboreta", which are in fact walking routes of trees (identified by markers) in yards, sidewalk planting strips, and parks. A brochure maps out the route and the trees along each route, as well as educating visitors about the trees.[34]
On the first weekend in June, the Virginia–Highland Civic Association (VHCA) hosts the yearlyVirginia–Highland Summerfest arts and music festival, which also includes a popular road race,[35] and is one of the largest art festivals in theSoutheastern United States and one of Atlanta's most popular neighborhood festivals. VHCA also organizes the annualVirginia–Highland Tour of Homes in December. In May,A Taste of the Highlands in John Howell Park features samplings from favorite neighborhood restaurants and live music. Every March or April, theNorth Highland Mile (formerly Morningside Mile) race and block party takes place.[36][37][38][39][40]
Portions of the filmsLife as We Know It (the bakery portrayed was the real-life Belly General Store) andTrouble with the Curve (George's restaurant) were filmed in Virginia–Highland. Portions of the pilot for the"B.E.T." network'sBeing Mary Jane were filmed at780 N. Highland Ave. in April 2012.[41][42]
Virginia–Highland is home to a number of churches:
The Chabad Intown synagogue is located on Ponce de Leon Place.
The Virginia–Highlanderuv covers nearly all of Virginia–Highland as well as part of the Morningside-Lenox Park neighborhood up to E. Rock Springs Road/E. Morningside Drive.[43] The eruv is "marked off" by defining utility poles as "sides of the doorways" and the wires as the "lintels" (tops of doorways). Within its boundaries observant Jews are allowed to do certain things on the Sabbath that they would not normally be allowed to do outside the home, such as carry keys or food.[44]
The community is zoned toAtlanta Public Schools.
Zoned schools include:
Virginia–Highland is served by the following MARTA bus routes which also connect it to MARTA rail lines:
The neighborhood was long served bystreetcar line #15 which later became bus line #45.[45] Bus line 45 was discontinued in 2010.
Noted residents of Virginia–Highland, past and present, include:
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Neighborhood organizations and events
About Virginia–Highland
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