Suburban Office Parks

Ab0ve are pictures from my dentist's new office park. It's just off Ashford-Dunwoody near Perimeter Mall. As you can see, it looks nothing like an office park. To be honest, I thought I was in the wrong place at first. The buildings have an almost plantation home feel to them, and each of them house all different types of offices and businesses. My dentist is in one building, but others house insurance companies and other businesses. This office park clearly emulates the "sophisticated and prestigious architectural level" Muller writes about. The setting really does create a sort of escape from the busy street and mall activity a few miles away. The grass, trees, and architecture seem to blur the lines between work and home. I do not know how I would feel if I worked in one of these buildings. On the one hand, the environment feels inviting, secure, and comforting, but its strong resemblance to a suburban neighborhood of homes is almost a little creepy. As you can see above, the suburban fear of unwanted visitors is alive and well even in this office park.

Race and Suburbia

Small homes developed around larger "neighborhoods" in the Rome area, generally first populated by African Americans. This neighborhood is a few streets over from a more upper class community which developed around Shorter College in the 1920s and expanded in the 1950s and 60s.

Interestingly, or ironic, or planned (?) these homes are located on a street called "Division Street"

Shopping Mall a la Rome

The shopping mall is "The Center" of social gatherings in the Rome area. Built approximately 5 miles north of downtown, which is considered "very far out" in Rome terms. Design is same of the general suburban mall - anchor stores, food court, specialty shops and large parking lot. We do have a few trees. Outparcels have developed over time including big box stores (now bankrupt) dining - "upscale" drive thru and movie theater.

The name comes from Mount Berry Georgia, a community north of Rome, which consists primarily of Berry College.

Sun City Az

I thought some photos of Sun City Az would help in visualizing the article by Findlay. This is still a very active community and the concept has expanded into multiple communities. The population in 2000 was over 38,000 and the community has 11 golf courses, 7 recreation centers for swimming, bowling, billiards, woodshop, fitness center, mini golf and 130 different clubs; evidence of the "all inclusive" community.

For fun...the community is apparently populated with at least some very active retirees. The photos below are the Sun City Poms; a group of ladies aged 61 to 85 who perform in parades and other entertainment venues.

The "Sun City West Jazzy Poms" have defied stereotypes of aging by redefining an American institution ... the cheerleader or "pommie." An elderly cheerleader challenges our cultural attitudes that revere youthful good looks and our expectations that older people are, or ought to be, asexual or socially dormant. We do not naturally conjure up images of 60 to 85 year old cheerleaders- short skirted, legs kicking and synchronized. Yet with grace and energy the Jazzy Poms challenge our notions that the elderly are fearful of aging, fearful of appearing sexy, fearful. As one elderly cheerleader put it, "We have beautiful legs for women our age. We get whistles and propositions. People can't believe our energy. We are not old women. We don't look like old women and in fact we never looked better in our lives. When we are getting whistles we thrive on it. It's nice to have men pay attention to us." Sun City West Jazzy Poms defy aging by putting on the uniform and kicking away our outdated cultural attitudes toward the elderly. - Troy Aossey

The Progression of Business Locations in Atlanta

In the 1940s, a shift began in the location of businesses from urban downtowns to suburban areas. The creation of corporate campuses, corporate estates, and office parks changed the dynamics and aesthetics of the professional landscape and provided a new space for the working man or woman to work. According to Louise A. Mozingo, motivation for this change came from a variety of desires such as to separate management from industrial production, move corporations away from downtown, and civil defense. This relocation also provided a more serene environment as it was away from the dense concrete towers of downtown central business districts.

In Atlanta, the oldest business district is located off Peachtree Road around the Five Points area. What was once thriving, many of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century structures that once defined the economic epicenter of the South are now struggling with low occupancy rates.

Fig. 1. View from 34 Peachtree of Atlanta's original central business district.

Suburban office developments such as Northchase in Marietta, Georgia contributed to the lack of businesses in downtown Atlanta. Developments such as this one offered companies calmer surroundings and provided lush green landscapes virus the shades of just concrete and glass. It also provided a work area for those who were moving away from the city and into the suburbs.

Fig. 2 and 3. Northchase Office Park in Marietta.

Currently, companies are looking to mixed-use developments to locate in. Projects such as Terminus in Buckhead provide a live, work, play area that attracts businesses with their fresh approach, restaurants, shops, and amenities. Many of these developments are popping up in more attractive areas such as midtown and Buckhead since downtown Atlanta is full of crime and lacking in the number of businesses that are located there.

Fig. 4 and 5. Terminus development in Buckhead.

Specialty Malls in Gwinnett County

Seen above the the Santa Fe Mall in Duluth, GA off of I-85 at the Exit between Steve Reynolds BLVD and Pleasant Hill Road. The mall is a specialty mall in that it caters exclusively to Hispanics. Walking through the mall is very interesting because the whole mall is set up to look and feel like your in a downtown market of a South American country. Notice the two pictures. All the colors and design features of this mall have a Latin "flavor." Everything in this mall is written in Spanish. It seemed that almost every person in this mall was Spanish.

The pictures seen below are of the Assi Plaza strip mall located in Duluth, GA off of the Old Peachtree Rd. exit. This area is very interesting in that everything is Korean. This outdoor strip mall has almost every store imaginable: bars, grocery store, bank, dentist, pharmacy, clothing stores, etc. This area was obviously built in response to the growing Asian population in the Gwinnett county area. This plaza was built in 2005.

Post-War Mass Suburbs

Emory Woods Apartments were completed in 1949 and housed several World War II veterans. In speaking with the property manager, some of the original veterans still reside there today.

These garden apartments separate the pedestrian from the automobile, with parking spaces and carports along the curvilinear streets, not fronting each apartment.

Individual buildings are separated with sidewalks and large lawns, several of which still include period clothes drying lines.

Emory Woods was initially constructed as part of the overall Clairmont Heights neighborhood plan, including both the garden apartments and detached homes. Today, however, Clairmont Heights is comprised of single family homes and excludes Emory Woods, according to this 2006 aerial from the neighbood's website.

Developed in the 1950s, the Clairmont Heights neighborhood includes single-family brick ranch homes and cottages. Consistent with the post-war period, Clairmont Heights was designed with large lots and homes of similar design set back from the curving streets.

Also consistent with the period, deed restrictions existed to prevent working class families from moving in. According to the Clairmont Heights Civic Association website,

“There were “restrictions or covenants” placed on the properties that were in effect for about twenty years from the time of construction. Among those covenants are prohibitions against “noxious or offensive activity.” In addition, “no dwelling costing less than $10,000 shall be permitted on any lot in the tract.” More specifically, “No temporary house, small trailer or tent shall be erected on said property to be used for residential or church purposes, and no lot shall be used for schools or kindergartens.” That is, “Said property shall be used for single family residence purposes only.’” (retrieved October 22, 2009)

And note - there are no sidewalks here.

African American Mall?

If racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality were not immediately apparent in some of the newer African American residential developments, a look at an older, "African American" mall finds a different story. South DeKalb Mall had a mainstream anchor store (Macy's) along with a mix of "ethnic" shops. It was also apparent that not a lot of money was invested in this second-rate, separate and unequal shopping experience.

Yet even here, the results are mixed. A newer, larger mall (Stonecrest) in Lithonia (southeast DeKalb) has been built, partly in response to the wealthier African American suburbs that have been built in Southeast DeKalb. Yet south-central and southwest DeKalb remain areas that feel more like the "red-lined" districts of the past.

African American Suburb or Suburb that is Predominantly African American?

Unlike early African American suburbs, which in the period of segregation were developed for African Americans (and sometimes by African Americans), since the 1960s, suburban development has been more along economic lines. Nonetheless, whether high-end, low-end, or just middle-of-the-road, developers, real estate agents, and suburban shopping centers plan for development based on an area's surrounding demographics. Thus, a place such as Cascade Heights (southwest Atlanta) might feature upscale housing, but the area is predominantly African American.

Atlanta, of course, "the city too busy to hate," is almost rather unique in that its development of African American suburbs on the southwest (Fulton) and southeast (DeKalb) was encouraged, partly with the understanding from the "white" community that the north side would be predominantly Caucasian (i.e., Buckhead). Of course, this does not preclude wealthy football players and entertainers from living in Buckhead, but the upper-middle class African American community, i.e. those members who have had long-standing community ties, has often congregated in African American neighborhoods such as Collier Heights.

In the last two decades, there has been a few changing trends in the settlement patterns of whites and blacks in metro Atlanta. Increased traffic has encouraged a process of gentrification, whereby whites have moved closer-in, sometimes into the city. Meanwhile, African Americans are continuing to move out of the city and into suburban areas such as Clayton County (now majority African American) and DeKalb county (one of the largest majority-African American counties in America). Above, we see a recent suburban housing development in south DeKalb county, near Flat Shoals Road. Note the use of the front porch (evoking a traditional Southern style, more oriented to the street than the back yard) and American flag. Nothing really gives away this neighborhood as "African American." While there, at least one house was occupied by an Asian family (showing diversity). The street ended in a cul-de-sac (this limits through-traffic), while one side of the street had a sidewalk but the other didn't. Landscaping consisted mostly of new plantings, except for established trees behind the houses. Clearly, this development was a version of the "American dream" that happened to be predominantly African American, rather than an "African American" suburb.