For proof that Atlanta’s lost a little flavor since the Grunge Era, look no further than Return to Atlanta. From 1985 to 1992 blogger “Zeus” dedicated himself to photographing various sites around the inner city, and now he’s put together a great site that compares the old with the new. It’s like a more intimate version of Atlanta Time Machine. Circa 1992, the northeast corner of Waddell Street and Dekalb Avenue in Inman Park was home to the appropriately named “Urban Nirvana,” which served as the studio, gallery, and gardens of Christine Sibley. This funky jumble of psychedelic paint, machinery waste animals, and colorful flora looked like Martha Stewart on LSD, in a good way. Zeus laments that the same site is now occupied by some less than inspiring condos, and there’s no denying the contrast is a tad tragic. Having more grocery stores and less murders per capita is fine and dandy. But we’d take the offbeat, bohemian character of pre-Olympics Atlanta over a million expensive burger joints any day.
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