Open Thread: What exactly is ‘Westside’ Atlanta?

Unlike, say, the South Side of Chicago, where Leroy Brown famously scrapped, the Westside of Atlanta is a very broad and nebulous place. Or at least it’s beginning to seem that way.

As the Atlanta Beltline’s Westside Trail, which stretches pretty far south to Adair Park, was officially born a week ago, and one developer after the next touts “Westside” hipness as far north as Loring Heights, it’s becoming clear (or not clear) that the Westside moniker can be applied to basically anywhere west (or southwest) of Georgia Tech and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Further complicating matters, WSB-TV’s report this week, “Hipster’s guide to Atlanta’s Westside”, lumps Castleberry Hill and South Broad Street into the mix.

Wait—isn’t that South Downtown? And simply Castleberry Hill? Or does Castleberry have Westside cred, too?

With longstanding neighborhood names such as West End and Westview, neighborhoods southwest of the downtown core have naturally been considered part of Atlanta’s western flank forever. Makes sense.

But is a place like Whittier Mill Village—west of Buckhead’s southern reaches and Atlantic Station—also the Westside, even though it abuts the inner lanes of Interstate 285? That’d be very west if so.

Curbed Atlanta

Or does Whittier Mill fall within the jurisdiction of the freshly coined “Upper Westside,” described by Atlanta magazine as “the swath of north Atlanta west of I-75 inside I-285.” But just how far south does that “Upper” swath go?

Confused yet?

If so, you’re not alone.

Feel free to lend some logic—or point to any sort of official Westside boundary documentation—in the comments section for this installment of Open Threads. The matter could use some clarification.

• Open Thread: Buckhead’s party era officially died 10 years ago. What’s your wildest memory? [Curbed]