I apologize for the short notice, but I've suddenly come to realize it is almost October, and many of the outdoor events are coming to a close. Today from 12-1:30 is the last Lunch on Broad - a free outdoor music concert downtown in the historic Fairlie Poplar District. Packed mainly with Georgia State students and downtown office employees, the music typically focuses on jazz, R&B, reggae and soft rock. Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District organizes the event, with extra tables and chairs put out in the street to add ambiance and needed dining space. An urban experience, choose from a New York deli and pizzeria, "fast-food" thai and chinese, cafe sandwiches, burritos or Mediterranean food.
I appreciate the effort to bring some entertainment options to downtown, though maybe less hit or miss performances would be helpful. That, and more renewal in weekend activity. Many of the restaurants on weekends are closed and tourists seem to compose most of the population. I can't help but wonder if part of it has to do with how much of the original downtown area was torn down, new structures built, interrupting a more thriving and organically designed space.
Fortunately, the Fairlie Poplar District has been preserved and is on the National Register of Historic Places. As one of the older and more authentically urban parts of downtown, it includes the largest concentrated collection of commercial and office buildings in Atlanta from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For your trivia night, a scene from the movie "Love Potion No.9" was also filled in this area (if you look close you can see a MARTA bus in the background - dead give away). It was also marketed as "Atlanta's new modern fireproof business district" back in the day. A little cautious after the Civil War, were we? Something to think about, and perhaps find amusing, as you stroll the tree-lined streets.
Many people complain about downtown or avoid it, but what would make it a place worth visiting? What brings people in? Certainly it must not be MARTA per se, with its six downtown stops. But if you do decide to go to Lunch on Broad today, that is the way to go. Exit at the Five Points or Peachtree Center station and maybe do some exploring on your way.