Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, 1st round: (8) West End vs. (9) Poncey-Highland

Josh Green

Tue, 12/17/2024 – 14:32

As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament is kicking off with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest. (Note: Seeding from 1 to 16 was determined by reader nominations this month—so no pitchforks, please.)

For each Round 1 contest, voting will be open for just 24 hours. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The eliminations begin now!

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(8) West End

Broader look at proposed mid-rise construction and a new through-street where Mall West End currently stands. Prusik Group/BRP Companies; One West End

First up in this grapplin’ match among stone-cold Atlanta classics is West End, which has notched a relatively seismic year as major development proposals go. The 800-pound gorilla in that room is, of course, the redevelopment of Mall West End. After three false starts, the mall’s extreme makeover appears to have finally found its footing (with city backing) to turn 12 acres of parking lots into about 900 units of mixed-income housing, 125,000 square feet of retail (with a grocery store), and much more, beginning as soon as next year.

Just around the corner, an eye-catching apartment proposal has emerged near West End’s MARTA stop, while a pickleball emporium and more is in the pipeline along a new (and needed) Beltline stretch now in planning. Bonus points to West End in ’24 for joyously welcoming Atlanta Streets Alive back to SW ATL—not once, but on three different occasions.

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(9) Poncey-Highland

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

A nominator named “SC” astutely described Poncey-Highland as follows for an earlier competition: “It’s a nice mix of the more residential, quiet Virginia-Highland with the youthful, almost cosmopolitan, Beltline-laced PCM area.” That made no mention of another new Chick-fil-A, but Poncey-Highland design standards have ensured the chicken empire’s latest standalone Ponce installation is as brick-clad and urban-friendly as they come.

Other neighborhood happenings in 2024 included the rebirth of historic 1920s Highland Inn into a mixed-use concept, Otto’s Apartment Hotel, where people can actually live (from around $1,200 per month). A block away (and much more expensive, but way larger), the sleekly modern Freedom Townhomes project finally delivered this year, filling an empty lot near a main commercial corridor. On the non-development front, bonus points to Poncey-Highland for supporting and completing a show-stopping art installation (and chill hangout spot) on a prominent corner.