Despite Resurgence, Vacancies Dot Atlanta Landscape

Look around: Atlanta's building surge involves more than glassy towers and mega retail projects. Intown neighborhoods are crackling with the thwack of hammers. Which makes it all the more cringe-worthy to see vacant homes rotting away. Today begins our "Vacancies" series, an attempt to artfully capture these decaying properties and provide a little background on them, as part of our ongoing Visual Journeys project. First stop: Funky little Cabbagetown, where fewer homes appear to be on the verge of toppling over than during the Recession doldrums.

Call it gentrification (bad) or blossoming (good), one thing's certain: vacant properties aren't doing anyone any favors. Creative Loafing floated novel (if quixotic) ideas as part of their Atlanta wishlist for 2014: "How about proposing a law that forces owners of abandoned homes to tear down or fix up the properties, something that could particularly help West Atlanta?" staffers enthused. "If they do neither, community nonprofits could take over the property and create a better use." This series will strive to attach visuals to those sorts of ideas and other efforts calling for a generally better city.
· More tantalizing Visual Journeys around ATL [Curbed Atlanta]
· Recent Cabbagetown coverage, discussion [Curbed]
[Photos: Christopher T. Martin, Curbed Atlanta]