Digging Deep Into the Struggle to Reclaim Boulevard

You may recall that back in January, District 2 Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall declared 2012 to be "The Year of Boulevard," pledging to help the beleaguered street embrace a new, cleaned-up future and marshaling considerable resources toward his goal. Given the many positive things happening in the Old Fourth Ward- like the opening of BeltLine Parks, a mad dash by developers to build apartments in the area and Ponce City Market- Hall's declaration seemed prescient. But the crime spree in late February that left entrepreneur and neighborhood fixture Suhrid Das dead and the co-owner of Sugar Coated Radical robbed and terrified gave the "Year of Boulevard" an altogether different meaning. Atlanta Magazine's Rebecca Burns has an extraordinary piece in their April issue on Boulevard, tracing the origins of its current plight back through Atlanta history, echoing many of the same old themes that haunt the city in general. A must-read.

· A "Living Laboratory" Can Kwanza Hall's project transform intown Atlanta's most notorious street? [Atlanta Magazine]