Buckhead had an entertainment district that was wall to wall bars, nightclubs and very nice resturaunts. It was full of beautiful women, and high rollers. It was a safe place, maybe an occasional car break in but nothing violent. Friday and Saturday nights the place was packed, the rest of the week had very good crowds also, except Sunday night, it was dead. One bar owner decided to try to get business on Sunday by having “urban nights” where rap and hip hop were played and cognac was consumed in great quantities. Soon other bars did the same as they wanted Sunday business as well. The hoods slowly started coming regularly, not just Sunday. The original crowd slowly left for other areas as rape, muggings, stabbings and murder came to Buckhead. The neighborhoods around the bars are very exclusive, the Governors mansion is just a few blocks from the entertainment district. Crime became so bad that the Buckhead homeowners bought up all the land in the entertainment district and tore every building down. For one man’s brilliant idea to bring in thugs for Sunday business, the entire area was destroyed.
Actually developer Ben Carter bought up most of the Buckhead entertainment district. He tore it all down to build a new multi-use development containing high end residential, office and retail. When the economy stalled, he backed off so that area is literally a hole in the ground. Carter recognizes that in this current ecomic environment, Atlanta can’t support any more high priced condos and shops.
One man, actually. Ben Carter was the developer of the Mall of Georgia and his company owns most of the now vacant land in Buckhead. He was in the middle of developing a 'Rodeo Drive' for Atlanta when things crashed in 2008. The project has ben stalled since then. The total project was projected to be over 1 billion dollars but has shrunk in size and scope since. Hopefully they'll get the financing they are hoping for. Nothing more depressing than half built structures sitting idle for years.
Pretty good summary, from what I can tell.