Atlanta is dominated by the automobile in almost every area, catering to its needs by forming a landscape focused on the easy movement and placement of the car. In places like Buckhead, much of the historic fabric has been lost in the adaptation of the land into a CBD despite it being an auto-centric district even in the 1960s. This focus on the automobile has created some impressive displays of parking mania. In the first photo I show a comparison of the valet parking services at the Mansion Hotel & Residences on Peachtree (left) and the lot where the cars are parked by the valets down the side street (right). Rather than an assumed segregation of parking that would likely accompany the upper-class clientele of the Mansion, their cars are parked in a poorly maintained vacant lot that plays host to all sorts of illicit activities when left unguarded. This lot also serves as overflow parking for hotel employees, suggesting the valet parking today has more to do with the convenience of the driver than the care and safety of their vehicle.
The second photo is taken from the Lenox Square Mall parking lot (another interesting study in segregated parking for no real benefit) looking towards the Atlanta Financial Center. The absurdly large parking deck attached to the AFC takes up a massive footprint, but it goes relatively unnoticed by those on Peachtree Street because it is located behind and under the building. This parking garage also stretches across GA-400 and is visible by drivers heading north on the highway and is their primary vision of the AFC. The builders have made no effort to disguise the garage from motorists on GA-400 or visitors at Lenox, but those that enter the garage from Peachtree are met with a terraced facade planted with trees that seems like something built for 1980s EPCOT. Once again, it seems that parking in Buckhead is focused more on the current user rather than the community that will inevitably view the parking.
The final photo is of a side street off of Peachtree Street in Buckhead that ends in a cul-de-sac. This street used to continue on and connect with other neighborhoods, but the construction of GA-400 and the Buckhead Loop warranted the demolition of the single-family housing that once populated this street. Today this street is home to large, multi-family buildings and the service entrance to the Alliance Center office towers. Each of these buildings has their own parking garage and yet on-street parking appears to be necessary. The No Parking signs may be difficult to see in this photo but one has to wonder what the people who park here are thinking and also, where are they going? Buckhead's CBD is extremely well-served by public transit because it has two MARTA stations on separate lines, MARTA bus service, as well as the free BUC shuttle. Then it has its endless parking garages served by "free" valets and a considerable number of taxis. This is one of the few streets in the CBD where on-street parking is even feasible and thus it appears certain motorists feel comfortable parking there. Even on public property the user-focused parking logic is utilized, the point being that cars enable people to tune out the outside world and look only at themselves. This is how the car has affected our modern spaces.
Atlanta is dominated by the automobile in almost every area, catering to its needs by forming a landscape focused on the easy movement and placement of the car. In places like Buckhead, much of the historic fabric has been lost in the adaptation of the land into a CBD despite it being an auto-centric district even in the 1960s. This focus on the automobile has created some impressive displays of parking mania. In the first photo I show a comparison of the valet parking services at the Mansion Hotel & Residences on Peachtree (left) and the lot where the cars are parked by the valets down the side street (right). Rather than an assumed segregation of parking that would likely accompany the upper-class clientele of the Mansion, their cars are parked in a poorly maintained vacant lot that plays host to all sorts of illicit activities when left unguarded. This lot also serves as overflow parking for hotel employees, suggesting the valet parking today has more to do with the convenience of the driver than the care and safety of their vehicle.
The second photo is taken from the Lenox Square Mall parking lot (another interesting study in segregated parking for no real benefit) looking towards the Atlanta Financial Center. The absurdly large parking deck attached to the AFC takes up a massive footprint, but it goes relatively unnoticed by those on Peachtree Street because it is located behind and under the building. This parking garage also stretches across GA-400 and is visible by drivers heading north on the highway and is their primary vision of the AFC. The builders have made no effort to disguise the garage from motorists on GA-400 or visitors at Lenox, but those that enter the garage from Peachtree are met with a terraced facade planted with trees that seems like something built for 1980s EPCOT. Once again, it seems that parking in Buckhead is focused more on the current user rather than the community that will inevitably view the parking.
The final photo is of a side street off of Peachtree Street in Buckhead that ends in a cul-de-sac. This street used to continue on and connect with other neighborhoods, but the construction of GA-400 and the Buckhead Loop warranted the demolition of the single-family housing that once populated this street. Today this street is home to large, multi-family buildings and the service entrance to the Alliance Center office towers. Each of these buildings has their own parking garage and yet on-street parking appears to be necessary. The No Parking signs may be difficult to see in this photo but one has to wonder what the people who park here are thinking and also, where are they going? Buckhead's CBD is extremely well-served by public transit because it has two MARTA stations on separate lines, MARTA bus service, as well as the free BUC shuttle. Then it has its endless parking garages served by "free" valets and a considerable number of taxis. This is one of the few streets in the CBD where on-street parking is even feasible and thus it appears certain motorists feel comfortable parking there. Even on public property the user-focused parking logic is utilized, the point being that cars enable people to tune out the outside world and look only at themselves. This is how the car has affected our modern spaces.
Over all good--although I'm not sure what your third example really teaches us about the spatial logic of the car, except that we'll park wherever we feel like.
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