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.
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.
Do you have any sense of in what respects (physically or otherwise) a project like Terminus is more suburban (however you define it) than comparable office buildings downtown (beside the fact that it's in Buckhead)? Do you think crime downtown is the real issue?
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