Assignment 10: David

This is a small one story commercial building located on Ponce de Leon Avenue near the Moreland/Briarcliff intersection. In this area both sides of Ponce are lined with a combination of new and old condo and apartment buildings, gas stations, office buildings, restaurants, a smattering of detached single-family homes, and small strip malls. In general, this area has experienced significant investment up to the current real estate bubble burst. It has clearly undergone the process of decay for quite some time and has even been partially torn down based on the physical evidence on the side of the building and the empty portion of the lot on which the for lease stands. I would say that Jakle and Wilson would characterize this site as having undergone the abandonment sterilization process to make way for reuse of this space. As a simple commercial space, it not experience obsolescence in the sense a factory, which lives and dies by technological upgrades, would. Rather, it reflects the change in the area, one that has become increasingly dense and geared toward residential, entertainment, and commercial needs. Also, this building appears to have been built before spatial impact of the automobile had been felt based on its street frontage. I would argue that the decline in foot traffic over the years has lead to the decline of this space.

Based on the now vandalized and decayed sign on the corner of the lot, the property was ripe for reinvestment before the current market crash. Once the real estate market rebounds, this site will definitely be redeveloped into some sort of office or retail space. It might even be a mixed-use development of some kind. At present, however, it stands as a reflection of how the capitalist system creates stark juxtapositions of investment and decay in the American built environment.