Capitol Updates

By j.t.

March 31, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this

Sure is!

Not so long ago, I was one of the patrons of the Buckhead nightlife. No more! All the thugs and cruising changed the once venerable area into Atlanta’s Ghetto North and bars allowing underage drinkers was part of the problem.

Let’s get Buckhead cleaned up again!

By Tommy

March 31, 2006 09:43 AM | Link to this

…..would this include the strip clubs that out state “lawmakers” frequent so often??? And by the way, the city of Atlanta has done enough already to f**k up the cities once vibrant nightlife… they should keep their grimey hands out of it…

By Jennifer

March 31, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this

Maybe I’m missing something but why is it only the city of Atlanta that will be affected? Why not all of Georgia?

By NotMyProblem

March 31, 2006 10:35 AM | Link to this

Anything done to improve Buckhead is an exercise in futility. As soon as it became ghettoed out, the real patrons who actually spent money there stopped going, and it became freaknik hell. Don’t bother trying to fix it up. It’s just like putting a dress and lipstick on a pig.

By Dan

March 31, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

Liquor violations is a somewhat nebulous term. What exactly does that mean and quite frankly either 1000 or 2500 is it really prohibiting anything or just a little way to get some money in the cofers.
There were just as many underage drinkers in buckhead before it becam “ghetto north” the downfall of buckhead was solely due to a change in clientle it had nothing to do with liquor laws one way or another

By 3WAY

March 31, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this

This is about as funny as the “no cruising” ordinance the city passed some years ago!

By Nathan Boggs

March 31, 2006 11:33 AM | Link to this

I did not know that Buckhead had become so ghetto. I have not been to ATL in a while. When did al this occur?

By ATLNative

March 31, 2006 11:49 AM | Link to this

Higher fines are a joke… I’ve worked at a Buckhead bar and have been a patron (even once an underage one) for 10 years. Dan hit the nail on the head… Buckhead’s problem is clientel, not underage drinking. Anyone ever noticed the problems that Virginia Highlands DOESN’T have?

…and just to head it off before someone pulls the race card: this has NOTHING to do with black vs. white. The little ghetto rural wannabe’s who pour in from outside of town are just as much to blame for perpetuating the decline of Buckhead.

FYI: The whole point the City of Atlanta is trying to make is that they only want people to go to Underground Atlanta, where they can contain and control everything into one little, boring, generic alley. Well, Ms. Mayor… WAKE UP. You’re not paying any attention to the socio-economic makeup that supports the Atlanta nightlife that USED to be vibrant, but still has a chance, if you keep your grimey nose out of it. Quit thinking the tourists and convention-goers are the ones that pump all this money into the nightlife. It’s us; the yuppie, college-educated, single, northside-living, young adults who support the Atlanta nightlife. We’re the ones who show up, every weekend, to hang with our own kind and Underground will NEVER be that gathering place.

By Jennifer

March 31, 2006 11:59 AM | Link to this

Most of the patrons in Buckhead seem to be from out of town. Dare I say they are the OTP’s? They are the ones driving the wrong way on the one way roads and causing accidents and/or getting killed. They are also the ones toting guns into the bars because someone might make fun of their plaid shirt and they would have to defend themselves against such talk.

You’re right, VA-HI doesn’t have the same issues because most of the people who go there aren’t there to cause trouble. They just want to have a good time.

Buckhead is the equivilant to PC Beach during Spring Break. It’s redneck haven anymore.

By NotMyProblem

March 31, 2006 01:05 PM | Link to this

Buckhead started going downhill several years ago, and has gotten progressivly worse. The clientele is definitely who’s to blame for it, and it doesn’t matter where they’re coming from (ITP or OTP), it’s now just overrun with thugs and wannabe gangstas with their ridiculous clothes and God-awful “music”. It’s freaknik, basically, and the increase in crimes and shootings down there are a direct result of the change of clientele. Used to be college age kids who wanted to have fun and blow off some steam. Now it’s a bunch of FUBU wearing criminals and thugs who want nothing but to cause trouble and ruin it for everyone else, which they have successfully accomplished. I agree that it’s comparable to Underground. Used to be a great place to go, now it’s just another part of town to avoid at all costs if you don’t feel like risking your own life.

By Dave

March 31, 2006 01:10 PM | Link to this

Let’s get real. Buckhead’s “thug” problem started in the late 90s, but took off after the Ray Lewis Super Bowl 2000 extravaganza. As a party scene, it’s not reversible. Just as many in the Buckhead Village crowd headed for Mid-town, which, if you remember, used to be solely the “alternative” side of town. That scene has changed for good as well.

Buckhead Village is now tearing down the bars and building high-rise condos. In time, that will change the area into a high-end district again, but this with a more Manhattan-ish feel. In other words, the glory days of the Buckhead party district will never return — and the increased alcohol fines were designed to completely shut down the bars, invalidate leases, and get the bulldozers to work sooner!

By ALTNative

March 31, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this

Dave, absolutely right… but they’re not going to get rid of every one. It’s that strip with Babylon, World Bar, Mako’s, & Uranus… those are the ones that need to go. The “E. Andrews Strip” isn’t going anywhere anytime soon… those places are actually still packed with college kids and newly graduated yuppies every weekend. It’s the only thing left that resembles “old Buckhead”.

By Debi Lowry

March 31, 2006 02:19 PM | Link to this

As a former Los Angeles resident and a supporter of the dying nightlife in Atlanta, fines are not a solution. Why does a city that wants to come to the big people’s table when it comes to being a player keep doing things to discourage growth of it’s nightlife? Club and restaurant owners see nothing but a growing number of obstacles to running a profitable business. They pay enough in fees and permits. Tax revenue from liquor sales could help with law inforcement staffing if the operating hours were extended to the entire metro area instead of just the Underground. Our city leaders better wake up and smell the coffee or our entire entertainment/tourism industry will be buried “underground.”

By go2guy

March 31, 2006 02:53 PM | Link to this

What exactly is playing the race card? Answer: a sublimical tactic now used to intimidate and/or defuse open discussion. Who came up with this term? Individuals who lack the mental capacity to develope original and creative thought, therefore reducing the possibility of difference making answers to age old questions.

Discrimination does exist in America!

Underage drinking is illegal, period! What difference does it make if his or her clothes are sagging! We(All Americans) have kids dying at our universities for the same reasons as they do in Buckhead! Discuss the entire issue. Not your race based prejudices! This is not a Texas Holdem tournament! This a forum for real intelligent discussion. This topic is about life and the bad decisions that teens make and adults foster! Especially the adults who think it can’t happen to their child.

By jdubb

March 31, 2006 03:16 PM | Link to this

I COULD BET THAT MOST OF YOU ARE “NOT” FROM ATLANTA. I AM, AND IT REALLY BOTHERS ME THAT PEOPLE MOVE HERE AND WANT TO CHANGE ATLANTA INTO THE BORING PLACES THAT THEY COME FROM.

THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE, RADICAL, ARROGANT, MORAL MAJORITY POLITICAL CLOUD THAT IS OVER OUR GREAT NATION AND THIS CITY, WILL HAVE TO COME TO AN END ONE DAY, AND THE SUN WILL COME OUT AGAIN. WE WILL REPAIR ALL OT THE SERIOUS MISTAKES AND POOR DECISIONS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE THE PAST 6 YEARS.

I SUPPORT THE MAYOR ON MANY FRONTS, BUT THIS IS ONE THAT I BELIEVE SHE HAS NOT DONE A GOOD JOB WITH. SHE SUCCUMBED TO THE POLITICAL AND CIVIC CONSERVATIVE PRESSURE. ATLANTA HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE I WAS BORN AND TO CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WE NEED TO BE A PROGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL CITY. WE WILL NOT BE THAT WITHOUT A “VIBRANT” NIGHT LIFE.

GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN BLACKS, WHITES, LATINO’S, ASAINS, GAY AND STRAIGHT, COULD DANCE AND MINGLE TOGETHER ALL NIGHT LONG IF THEY WANTED TO. COLORBOX, VELVET, RUPERTS, KAYA, CLUB ANYTIME, BACKSTREET, ETC. IF YOU DON’T KNOW ANY OR MOST OF THESE NAMES, MY POINT IS MADE!

NOW ATLANTA(JUST LIKE THE NATION) IS BECOMING MORE POLARIZED, NOT UNITED AND THAT IS A SHAME!

MY SOLUTION IS PRETTY SIMPLE, INFORCE THE LAWS, CHANGE THE CLOSING TIMES BACK TO 4AM(AND GIVE SPECIAL PERMITS TO A FEW TO STAY OPEN 24 HOURS), WORK WITH CLUB OWNERS TO DEVELOP A DISTRICT(S)(OTHER THAN UNDERGROUND) THAT THEY CAN OPERATE IN THAT WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH RESIDENTS OR SCHOOLS.

TO THOSE WHOSE RESPONSES THAT TALK ABOUT FUBU, “THEIR MUSIC”, ETC., WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. DON’T SMILE IN MY FACE WHEN YOU WALK DOWN THE STREET, TELL ME YOU DON’T LIKE ME. YOUR PREJUDGEMENT SPEAKS TO YOUR IGNORANCE ADN HATE OF OTHERS AND THEIR CULTURES. PERIOD!

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO STOP, REALIZE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO GO SHAKE THEIR BUTTS ALL NIGHT LONG! NOT EVERYONE IS MARRIED, BORING, FAT AND UGLY, OR FROM SOME ULTRA SEGREGATED “LEAVE IT TO BEAVER” PLACE LIKE YOU.

TO BRING THIS CITY, NATION, AND WORLD TOGETHER WE MUST ACCOMODATE EVERYONE, WHICH MEANS WE MUST UNDERSTAND THEIR CONCERNS, AND NEGOTIATE NO MATTER WHO HAS THE POWER AND THE MONEY. TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS EXPECTED. DON’T BRING YOUR SUBLTE HATE TO MY CITY!!!!!

By NotMyProblem

March 31, 2006 03:58 PM | Link to this

jdubb - first of all, turn off your caps key, okay? Typing entirely in caps just makes you sound like a screaming moron.

Secondly, isn’t saying THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE, RADICAL, ARROGANT, MORAL MAJORITY just as “prejudgemental” as talking about FUBU and “their music”? I’d be more careful about throwing stones when you’re in a glass house, honey.

Thirdly, how can you explain the downfall of Buckhead and how it just happened to coincidentally coincide with the arrival of the freaknik crowd? Was that just coincidence? Hmm. Guess so. People shaking their butts all night is fine with me. It’s the thugs who insist on bringing guns, crime and drugs to the scene that have ruined it. And unless you’re color blind, one trip down to Buckhead on a Saturday night will tell you all you need to know about the “dark” turn that area has taken.

Fourth, I will never look at you and pretend to like you. People like you are the reason this country is falling apart, and your lack of conservative (i.e. moral) values is ripping the fabric of our nation apart at the seams. All you have to do is look at the total collapse of the black family structure, and the generations of fatherless children and welfare mamas it has created, to see where this entire country could be headed if liberals like you are allowed to turn this into a socialist hell.

I do agree with you on two things - The existing laws should be enforced, whether as a result you have the usual race pimps screaming racism or not. If 99% of the people breaking the law in Buckhead are black, they should all be arrested, no exceptions. Same goes with any other color of law breakers there.

Second, we do need to accomodate everyone, regardless of belief and understand their concerns. But your post was just as hate-filled as any of the others on here, which tells me that you’re only willing to accomodate everyone who agrees with you.

By The Muffin Man

March 31, 2006 04:27 PM | Link to this

Great post, NotMyProblem.

Judging by his/her post, “jdubb” is just as bigoted and full of hatred as the people he is criticizing.

The sad thing is, “jdubb” doesn’t even realize it.

By D-Man

March 31, 2006 04:27 PM | Link to this

What a pile of crap from jdubb! So it’s the “Ultra Conservative” political cloud that has killed Atlanta nightlife, huh? The mayor, the council and the LRB are all overwhelmingly Democratic. Every few months they take a few more stabs at nightlife, which is already dying because of it. Many club operators have already left Atlanta and surely more will.

Let’s not forget that Shirley Franklin was ANGRY with the 2:30 a.m. pouring curfew compromise. She had insisted on 1:00 a.m.

By Nikole

March 31, 2006 04:36 PM | Link to this

Wow-Take a poll on the street and most of the people that have made posts today would say, I am not a racist. Give them a computer and funny name to hide behind and they tell what they truly feel. How can one Not play the race card when it is made so easy for them? How about, if you don’t make racist comments, then I won’t “play” the race card?

By Anna

March 31, 2006 04:40 PM | Link to this

I was a college student 10 years ago when Buckhead was safe and fun for college students to walk around, have a few drinks, blow off some steam after mid-terms and finals. This caucasian female met some other females from college a few weeks ago in Buckhead, a reunion of sorts. We couldn’t believe the changes we encountered. I still live in Atlanta, but as a married mom my Buckhead bar days are a thing of the past but we thought lets do this one more time for old times sake. It wasn’t rednecks I encountered, not at all. The first place we dropped in on you would have thought we dropped in from another planet from the looks we received. I had a girl walk by me and call me the B word. We knew this was not for us, this was not our place anymore. Rednecks? No. Thugzilla is all that I saw; guys in cars with rap music playing so loud it hurt your ears and we were yelled at like meat on a rack. I’d heard it was not safe for females anymore, trust me it isn’t. It’s a shame a place in such a beautiful are has been reduced to a thuggish ghetto crime ridden bar district. Thanks Ray Lewis, you killed Buckhead.

By Seek2Find

March 31, 2006 04:54 PM | Link to this

NotMyProblem, this is for you.. (All you have to do is look at the total collapse of the black family structure, and the generations of fatherless children and welfare mamas it has created) Those were your words.

Lets see your race or any race come out of slavery and be put in ghettoes and see how it turns out. When you think about that, let me know what u are thinking.

And this is for everyone. Why don’t you just come out and say that Buckhead is too black right now. And you all want the black people out. See that wasn’t so hard was it?

By jdubb

March 31, 2006 05:56 PM | Link to this

Thanks for your responses(notmyproblem & co),and “No” I will not join you in your hate. That would make me as low, mean spirited, upset, angry, and ultimately ugly as you and Rush, and Lott, and Fox News! You can say what you like, but I routinely embrace, engage in conversation, have over my house, and date other races, so you are overwhelmingly “WRONG!”. I bet you couldn’t say that. I hate no one, even those who hate me. You have to call people names (like “moron”) just to try to make a point. Why, because my opinion is different than yours! Go ahead and call me “un-American” too! :) You are hilarious, and very confused about why this city is what it is in the first place. We are too busy to hate, and you are too blind to see just how isolationist you sound. And yes you have a crowd of people that look and sound just like you, screaming the same things, like robots! I guess, me, and the rest of the world that truly wants to live together in peace, respect, humility, are just “crazy”, and your contingent is right as always. I am talking about direction, not people, their is a difference. That’s why I said, “the political cloud”. Believe it or not, I have many friends who are conservative, and we agree on some issues and agree to dis-agree on others.

“Fourth, I will never look at you and pretend to like you. People like you are the reason this country is falling apart, and your lack of conservative (i.e. moral) values is ripping the fabric of our nation apart at the seams. All you have to do is look at the total collapse of the black family structure, and the generations of fatherless children and welfare mamas it has created, to see where this entire country could be headed if liberals like you are allowed to turn this into a socialist hell.”

Now that statement is about as racist as David Duke, or Gov. Wallace, are you any kin?

You automatically think you come from a better family than I do, don’t you? Wrong again! You don’t know anything about me to attack me like that. My mother and father are still together, I have no kids out of wedlock, I volunteer time to my community, I am a mentor to an underprivelidged kid, I have a successful career, and unless your family has over 5K acres of land, at least 4 homes over $800K, and a private jet, you are not doing any better than “these” “DARK PEOPLE”! BOO! Scary isn’t it? Let’s just say that I come from one of the most respected family’s in this city and nation. You are out of line and your ignorance and hate are controlling your fingers.

The “Dark” complextion that you speak so negatively about, built this city before you and continue to improve it everyday. I have seen numerous fights in Buckhead that don’t involve one dark person. I was a bartender in this city for many years. My point is that it is unfortunate that some people have come to this city and turned Buckhead into “Shooter’s and Stabber’s Alley”, but people are a product of their environement and the “dark” plight elsewhere is much worse than it is here in Atlanta. And yes I believe that working together to improve education, and assistance to anyone that did not have the same opportunities that you or (get this) “I” had is just the right thing to do.

This city is over 60% “Dark” as you call it, so to your dismay, you will always see us. Everywhere, doing everything! We are even up in Suwanee, Cumming, Alph, etc. Can’t get away unless you leave! CYA!

To the point at hand: Establish entertainment districts that everyone agrees does not impact the community at large, enforce the existing laws, and extend the hours so that we and our guests can truly have a wonderful time in our great city!