Atlanta Streetcar opening dates are Lucy's football to Atlanta's Charlie Brown, but that hasn't squashed enthusiasm for a transit project that's been a decade in the making. Everything from hidden basements uncovered during construction to sheer bureaucratic confusion has pushed back the initial 2.7-mile streetcar loop's debut from its initial projection of last autumn. Nonetheless, anecdotal evidence keeps suggesting the streetcar is already a positive force and business magnet. John Portman and company cited the project as a key factor in their decision to buy and renovate the 27-story office tower at 230 Peachtree St., replete with a 200-key Hotel Indigo. (The streetcar will worm right by that tower.) But is it possible the streetcar's most transformative impact will happen in neighborhoods just east of downtown?
Left and right, home listings in the Old Fourth Ward are starting to make mention of the streetcar. With recent land acquisitions and large-scale construction projects near the streetcar route, Georgia State University seems bullish on the project's future. And Edgewood Avenue proprietors are chomping at the bit for the streetcar to deliver a fresh customer base. In an Atlanta magazine article about Edgewood Avenue's ongoing renaissance, Pizzeria Vesuvius and Music Room co-owner Keiran Neely goes so far as to say, "Edgewood Avenue has begun to explode based on the streetcar … It seems like every week there's a new restaurant or bar." And with the following nugget, Panbury's Double Crust Pies' founder Lauren Duxbury punches up the streetcar enthusiasm in the same article: "The Atlanta streetcar is going to change the cultural landscape of Downtown Atlanta, shift the mindset surrounding the places it will be stopping at, and has given Edgewood (Avenue) the momentum it needs to keep moving forward."
· Revitalization of Edgewood Ave. brings new restaurants, bars [Atlanta magazine]
· Recent Streetcar-related coverage, discussion [Curbed Atlanta]
· Charlie Brown, Lucy and the Football [YouTube]
Loading comments...