AJC > Sandy Springs > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 31 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USRevisiting the issue: ‘Sex trade’ on Roswell Road
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I just spent about 20 minutes re-reading the comments posted on Mike King’s take on cleaning up the “sex tradeâ€? on Roswell Road and I have come to only one conclusion. That’s 20 minutes of my life that I won’t ever see again.
Having been in Sandy Springs since 1962, I wasn’t aware we had a “sex trade.â€? Indeed, I got so excited reading that we had a sex trade that I jumped in my car and went cruising the streets of town, looking for the sex trade. I mean, golly, when you start throwing terms like “sex tradeâ€? around it sounds like hundreds, dare I say, thousands are earning their living by merchandising good vibrations, if you catch my breeze.
Maybe you can, after all, put a price on love, or at least a rental fee. Well, campers, after going up and down Roswell Road for many hours, as well as every side street, with eyes wide open here’s what I found:
Two naked-lady nightclubs
Two bookstores that have movies showing people’s naughty parts
One establishment that some say offers men a “happy ending� at the end of a massage
Frankly, I was thinking bigger, you should pardon the expression. I was expecting to discover an avenue that resembles the one Jimmy Stewart found toward the end of “It’s a Wonderful Lifeâ€? where Bedford Falls has turned into Pottersville, rife with businesses catering to man’s coarser nature. Or maybe a stretch like Amsterdam where there are women of commercial virtue reclining in the store windows dressed in lime-green teddies and or worse (better?). Sadly, however, I went looking for an elephant and found a mouse.
So here’s what I can confirm about the retail sex business in Sandy Springs. Two nightclubs, two bookstores and one “spaâ€? so to speak. In the interest of disclosure, I have been in one of the clubs once (12 years ago) and one of the stores twice (the last time eight years ago), but never in the spa.
But here are a few things I know about the sex business here in our corner of God’s little acre. There must be enough local customers to keep these places in business or they would have gone away a long time ago. I don’t see out-of-state tour buses parked outside these establishments and you’re never going to convince me that scores of randy males from Snellville and Jonesboro are making a cross-town drive so they won’t be caught on a jolly-hunting expedition.
And here’s something else to mull over. As a reporter I worked in cities that did not have single strip club, dirty bookstore or seedy massage establishment. In those innocent little burgs I read enough police reports and sat in enough courtrooms to tell you that the moral climate in those places was no shining example of prudence.
Sexual shenanigans do not need strippers or XXX-rated movies to thrive. If you think people lack imagination, take a peek into the dark corner of their psyche.
Do I wish these places were gone? Sure do. I believe these businesses put back absolutely nothing positive into the community. And please don’t tell me that they pay taxes, which help us all. That makes paying your taxes sound like a cause for a medal and a parade.
Let’s elect our leaders and get down to some real issues first. Are we going to get taxed and how much? Where will our municipal services come from and how will we pay for it? Can we ease traffic? How do we best manage future growth? Is the Sandy Springs sex trade a burning issue? Not unless you go unprotected.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By ctate
October 31, 2005 11:41 AM | Link to this
Hooray for Mr Osterman, I agree with you whole heartedly. When I read about the sex trade on Roswell Road, the first thing I said, what part of Roswell Rd have I missed. There are more important issues to be dealt with.
By Justan
October 31, 2005 12:02 PM | Link to this
Jim, I enjoyed reading your article, which presented the facts logically.
By Homer
October 31, 2005 12:19 PM | Link to this
I want to go to one of them places, where are they in Rosell? What can I trade for sex?
By e
October 31, 2005 02:09 PM | Link to this
I agree with Jim plus the article is hilarious. I ride down Roswell rd everyday and I was wondering how long would it take before Fulton county actually noticed that the Insurrection next to the cleaners has more traffic then a Mcdonalds. And these people aren’t all just buying incense and toys.. However I also agree with the fact that instead of wasting energy on them, lets clean up these apt with Child offenders in them. I have a big hangup on this because I just left a complex that showed no concern that a child offender lives across from the playground. Sandy Springs is a great place to live especially once the city forces these slumlord apartment managers to clean up their act.
By Kevin Powell
November 1, 2005 09:26 AM | Link to this
I liked your article. One question: What are “peoples naughty parts”? Do you mean peoples genitalia? You sound like an 80 year old grandmother.
By gttim
November 1, 2005 11:51 AM | Link to this
“Dude, you cant count,” says the English major.
I would hate to see a major effort on the “sex trade” in Roswell. There are bigger problems that need solving before the Republican morality dog and pony show marches on these shops. I suggest trying to clean up all the apartments along Roswell Road and side streets where the drugs are sold and violence occurs.
By Scott
November 1, 2005 12:42 PM | Link to this
There is no sex trade to speak of on Roswell Road. I bet 90% of the day laborers that you see wind up working in Sandy Springs everyday too. All of these red herrings will be used however by the SS government to pass highly restrictive ordinances and to move on eminent domain so that the property that frontages Roswell Road can be moved into other hands. This is not cynicism, it is true. I double dare anybody to tell me that this has not already been discussed among the folks who moved for incorporation and the folks who are running for office in SS.
By Philip Herold
November 1, 2005 02:59 PM | Link to this
If I am correct, one of the stores and one of the strip clubs have larger wooden walls around them. If I was not ‘looking’ for one I’d pass by at a resprectable speed and never notice one. If we are worried about their moral influence, I’d mention that online Porn is hugely successful. Secondly, I doubt the business owners of these establishments located them there because people from Joneboro like to drive to NW Atlanta to shop. Just pass an ordinance that says a Sex Shop can not post anything other than a plain sign outside that says, “Adult Store”, in plain brown letters of 24 inches in height. Trust me, people who want to buy an adult item will know where the store is.
By td
November 2, 2005 08:50 AM | Link to this
Mad as Zell said: Shut ‘em down, lock up ‘em out and lets bring in some businesses that enhance our quality of life.
Those sex shops have enhanced my quality of life a couple of times, if you know what I’m saying.
If the stores have customers, then they should stay open. If they don’t, then they’ll close up on their own. Why do people always want to tell other people what they can and can’t do?
By T.C.
November 2, 2005 01:47 PM | Link to this
Enhance the quality of life? Are you serious? If we limited all commerce to businesses that “enhance the quality of life” how many businesses would we have? It’s my opinion that the Starbucks on Roswell rd. does NOTHING for my quality of life. Should it be shut down too?
By Dave
November 2, 2005 01:59 PM | Link to this
I’m glad to see folks looking at this in a reasonable light. I’m not a Sandy Springs resident, but I pass through several times a week. I noticed a couple shops on Roswell Road, but they’re mostly out of sight, unless one knows what to look for. I sincerely hope the Sandy Springs government doesn’t waste time on this. I worry that the people who are up in arms over this, also cling to the notion that people who like adult shops turn into pedophiles and/or rapists…it’s not the case.
By Lindsay
November 2, 2005 06:23 PM | Link to this
How dare you minimize the impact of pornography and prostitiution on society and the women who participate…rarely out of choice. Your jokes aren’t funny, Jim. Sorry you didn’t find your “elephant.”—A woman’s opinion…
By Mad as Zell
November 2, 2005 06:30 PM | Link to this
In Indianapolis, the mayor wasn’t allowed by the Supreme Court to close the sex shops so all that the city could do was restrict their hours of operation from 10 a.m. to midnight during the week and restrict them from opening on Sundays (which, by the way, underscores the importance of getting a more conservative Supreme Court that would leave these decisions to lawmakers and not JUDICIAL ACTIVISTS). Another good idea used in smaller cities and towns in Indiana is to restrict the operation of sex shops (bookstores, strip clubs and lingerie modeling shops) within 1,000 feet of any school, church, home or existing business. Once you draw a 1,000-foot perimeter around every school, church, home and existing business then there is effectively nowhere for a new adult-themed business to open. Indiana U.S. Senator Richard Lugar also tried years ago, in vain, to ban the operation of strip clubs and adult bookstores in the State of Indiana, but was of course thwarted by the Supreme liberals. If you want to drive these bastions of public filth out of business you can start by restricting their hours of operation from 10 a.m. to midnight which will cut their customers and their money so that it is no longer profitable to have a steady line of perverts coming through the neighborhood. No one is trying to tell anyone else what to do, were just trying to strengthen our communities and quality of life by not catering to the lowest common denominator.
By whos that
November 2, 2005 07:16 PM | Link to this
This sex trade is a problem on Roswell Rd. I happen to know for a fact that some of the apartments on Rosweel are rented by escort services for there girls to use with the clients and there should be spomething done to clean this problem up.
By A Frisky Femal
November 3, 2005 09:50 AM | Link to this
Well said!
Oh no! People are having sex! Oh no! Women are dancing almost naked! Oh no! There is a store that sells naughty stuff! Oh no! The world is coming to an end! Perhaps if people had more fun in the bedroom, they would not be so uptight. Oh noes! This is coming from a woman who is also a parent of 2. Gasp!
Let’s help make the apartments less slummy and better for those who don’t make as much as the rest of us, let’s take care of the day laborer issues, let’s figure out how this city is going to work, and let’s stop being prudish old snobs. Geesh people!
By Jessica
November 3, 2005 01:07 PM | Link to this
I couldn’t agree more!!!
Rather than focus on the “sex trade” why not look at the groups of Mexican workers lining the streets each morning soliciting for work or the same man who I passed day after day at the 285 off ramp begging for food and money.
The shops obviously are generating some form of profit for Sandy Springs, the others are not.
By buckaroo
November 3, 2005 02:54 PM | Link to this
The problem is NOT with the sex trade. The problem is lazy good for nothing government officials that will do nothing to clean up the city of illegal (undocumented?) workers, slum lords that don’t care who they rent to, and the panhandlers on the street. Only after we get people in office that care what happens in Sandy Springs will the situation get any better. The sex trade? The problem will solve itself when the root causes are taken care of.
By JohnS
November 4, 2005 06:22 AM | Link to this
I’ve lived in the Roswell Road area for 35 years. These establishments have not affected me in any way or form in all that time. Let them be. And to the person who says that they ‘know for a fact’ that escort girls are using apartments there, I can only ask..”How do YOU know?”.
By Patrick
November 4, 2005 08:48 AM | Link to this
Why do people always want to tell other people what they can and can’t do?
Seriously, Atlanta. How about an answer?
By Jimmy
November 4, 2005 09:01 AM | Link to this
I like sex shops. I am not a pedophile. I am not a pervert. I like to have a little fun with the missus once in a while, and I’ll thank you to widen your worldview slightly and not encompass me in your “lowest common denominator” comment, Mad as Zell. I find it amazing that people preach about strengthening communities in the same sentence as deriding other community members for their choice of PERFECTLY LEGAL recreation. Doesn’t Jesus teach you to live and let live, Mad as Zell? Or is that the part of the bible you flip past when finding your way to the “persecute all others who are not like me” section?
By Mark
November 4, 2005 09:17 AM | Link to this
All I know is that my brother in law went in seeking a legitimate massage at one of those establishments on Roswell Road last year, and he was offered much more than he was after!!
By leave_people_alone
November 4, 2005 12:36 PM | Link to this
Well I think sex shops are alot better than prostitutes walking their “beat” on a neighborhood corner. Sex shops and brothels at least place a perimeter and/ or closed door behind their “seediness”. Sex sells and sex is something we all like and enjoy doing. If I want to go and have a good sexual time then NO ONE on this earth should keep me from doing so. As long as kids are not being exploited then I think it should be fine. As long as the sign that advertises these establishment aren’t featuring naked women on them for all to see, specifically kids then it should not be a problem. I heard that in Seattle the mayor enacted a law that limits the number of strip clubs in the city. That is really crazy, because it still doesn’t limit the amount of sex trafficing in the city!! Atlanta is a great city that is known for alot, and ask anyone who knows anything about Atlanta they’ll mention the plethora is strip clubs here…GOTTA LOVE IT!!
By Kyle
November 4, 2005 05:27 PM | Link to this
One method used in other areas to remove objectionable businesses is quite simple. Publish the names of the business owners,their addresses and description of what takes place at the location. Also, do the same for the property owner and/or landloard. Their families do not want their names brought to the attention of the public.
By Brian
November 4, 2005 05:34 PM | Link to this
In response to the comments about apartments being rented out by escorts/escort services.
I will tell you something, I lived on Buford Hwy for a time because the rent was cheap and I was up to my eyeballs in debt from college. You know what finally motivated me to move? Escorts working out of our apartment buiding. How did I know? The flow of johns, and the fights, and the visits from cops and the women dressed in vinyl mini-skirts and knee-high boots. It isn’t a place for decent folks to live. If apartments are like that on Roswell Road, I don’t blame people for wanting it to get cleaned up. It is no way to live.
On the other hand, licensed businesses, at least, seem to be a lot more discreet and aren’t bringing it, literally, to your door step like the hookers in the apartment complexes.
By Cy
November 4, 2005 06:30 PM | Link to this
You seem to be miscounting. The problem with these “businesses” are not that they exist. It is that they sit beside the places where children see them. They are positioned next to bus stops, crosswalks, gas stations, and dry cleaners. This is a big part of the issue. If they were grouped together, on a side street, they would become out of sight and out of mind. I have to admit that I am one of the people who would love to see them completely removed; but, I am realistic and would settle for a zoning law.
Anyway, on the issue of the sex trades taking place in our apartment complexes. I am sure these are not quality businesses, and not doing anything remotely positive for our area nor our personal safety. I am sure these are not tax paying folks. These are the ones that if we are going to spend time and money to make it go away, this is where we have to start. Not only is what they are doing criminal but if they have fallen so short on their morals, there is no telling what else they are a part of or the types they will bring into the area.
By Tom Doniphon
November 4, 2005 11:02 PM | Link to this
There is a booming escort service trade on Roswell Road. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to discover it, either. Multiple websites brazenly list their wares & locations. So much for being skeptical and appalled at the “know for a fact” aspect. Join the 21st Century, grandpa, and you’ll discover a whole new world of information
By Mike
November 5, 2005 11:26 PM | Link to this
Nevada is the only state in the nation with legalized prostitution (in some counties) and the fewest sex crimes per capita. St. Thomas Aquinas called legalized prostitution “the sewer in the palace.” While the sewer may have been the least pleasant feature of the palace,removing it would leave on knee deep in waste.
Likewise, he argued, removing society’s outlet would cause more problems than it solved.
By Mike Olszewski
November 6, 2005 09:09 AM | Link to this
Ah, a voice of reason crying in the wilderness. Your argument is one I have been making for years. If these places didn’t have customers they would go away, well guess what, thet do have customers, so get over it and go look for something really important to do.
I’m glad to know there are at least two of us that see things this way.
I’d be awful curious to see how many responses you get that are favorable vs unfavorable. I’d bet big bucks on the outcome of that one.
Mike Olszewski Norcross
By Mark
November 6, 2005 01:24 PM | Link to this
EXCELLENT. I thought the same thing when I first read this. Sex ‘trade’? Give me a break. Leave it to AJC “journalists” to derive that headline…
By Robert
November 6, 2005 03:33 PM | Link to this
Some Atlanta citizens are so up tight when it comes to anything dealing with sex. It is their own backwards thinking that is not only holding Atlanta back but also preventing Atlanta from becoming a true international city.
Every other true international city (and most other cities) do have some sort of sex business - bookstores, video stores, prostitutes, massage parlors, and so on. The key for the city is to properly manage this sex trade and not to prohibit it. Prohibiting it only serves to drive this activity underground (it cannot be stopped) and also serves to make the city look stupid and backwards.
Atlanta does not have to promote the sex industry, but it does need to manage it properly.
By dave
November 7, 2005 07:02 AM | Link to this
We need more Nude Bars they are great for the economy and liberate the community from prudes and those who would repress human sexuality,