Assignment 8: Rosemary

Glenwood Park is a development that first broke ground in 2003 (although it took several years to complete) and is located off of Glenwood Road in East Atlanta. The definition of new urbanism, the large community boasts private homes, apartments, townhomes, and retail space and is designed to be a walking community. Although located off of Glenwood, the development sits on a large tract of land bounded on the opposite side by Memorial Drive. On the interior of the development, streets are narrow and one way for the most part, perhaps to reinforce the "village" mentality.

The style of the row houses is varied. Some row houses, like those pictured in the first photograph, have darker brick, corbelling, and brackets which all bring to mind a mix of Italianate style as well as the French Quarter. Unlike the French Quarter, this structure of row houses doesn't have shops on the first floor and then a second floor balcony--the balcony is oddly located on the third floor instead. The second photo depicts another set of row houses. These houses have a pseudo-Georgian/Colonial style with lighter colored bricks, arches, and conservative details. There is some "street" parking in front and then most row houses have concealed driveways/garages behind them. The third photo is taken from Bill Kennedy Way (borrowed from a Flickr account), a main thoroughfare on the outskirts of the development. Although there are some signs that say "Glenwood Park" and you can tell you've entered another universe compared to the industrial environment surrounding it, there is no gate or other marker to separate the community from the rest of the area. I think this is intentional by the developer as they wanted to encourage non-residents to visit.

This development appeals to younger, upwardly mobile professionals. There are some areas of the development that have retail and the shops all deal in consumable goods like restaurants, coffee, etc. Using Gans's analysis, I think the residents would fall into his upper-middle class taste culture as the architecture styles are more sophisticated than many similar developments (like Atlantic Station) and the majority are college educated (a survey of bumper stickers helped determine this). The variety of styles also suggests that the developer was trying to appeal to as many people as possible who are upwardly-mobile and college educated--this attempt may have been successful as the development appears racially diverse in makeup. Those who choose to live in Glenwood Park want some type of "city" living but they also want parking and safety. Applying Chase's theory, I think that the developers wanted to convey both exclusivity and accessibility. While the community is not gated, it is somewhat hidden and it has taken a long time for other residents of Atlanta to become aware of its existence. At the same time, if you live in the community, you have walking spaces, promenades, parks, and the aforementioned retail spaces to explore and make your own, at least in theory.