Belvedere Plaza
where you don't have to go home, but you might not want to stayBelvedere Plaza sits at the corner of Memorial Drive and Columbia Drive. Heading east from Downtown, this imposing strip mall swims into ken suddenly on the right.
This space is big and imposing. Many of the shop signs are missing letters and construction can be seen from the street, but this strip mall is anything but dead. Several smaller strips in the area have been left to rot, but Belvedere Plaza stubbornly persists.
Despite its unwelcoming first impressions, the space is alive with human activity. Police cars zip from one end of the parking lot to the other. The breezeways are choked with people walking back and forth. The pressure washer from the carwash adjacent to Columbia Drive hums loudly.
Where in Atlanta…
An impression...
Field notes
Large
Belvedere Plaza is a long strip along Memorial Parkway. There are about 50 store fronts and several bends and nooks in the main structure.
Unwelcoming
The lack of sit-down restaurants may be one reasons, but the overall feeling in Belvedere Plaza is that it's a place I don't want to spend a great deal of time in. This is compounded by the fact that I'm a weirdo with a clipboard.
Lethargic
The Customer Service queue at Kroger Citi-Center is 15 people deep. The rolling eyes and sighs of customers have no impact on their wait. All of these people will most likely be served by the sole customer service representative that has been there all morning and is in no hurry.
Surprise
"Hold up," she says to the two men she's walking with with. Turning to me she exclaims "I used to roll at Little 5 back in the day and you got the hippy thing goin' on! You remind me of those dudes!" She continues "Lookin' good. You holdin' it down Little 5 all right!" I am suprised, flattered and manage a "Thanks!" We exchange high-fives. My day is made.
Carwashing
An ad hoc, open-air carwash is operating at one end of the parking lot. A loud pressure washer sits in the bed of a truck and men in red shirts wash and detail cars. How the chrome rims gleam on a cloudy day.
Littering
A young man hastily and carelessly discards a box for a cologne he's just purchased, Arctic Blue: For Men. The box settles in a crack in the curb.
Getting High
A man sits in his car with tinted windows. The windshield is not tinted and I can see in his hand is a rather large doobie. There are two police cars, with police inside, parked about 100 yards away. They may never know or they might not care.
Sexual Healing
A large truck rolls through the parking lot blaring Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." The music is not loud enough to drown out the driver, who is singing along with Marvin.
Arguing
Walking briskly past the dentist office, two people, a man and a woman, are engaged in a heated discussion. They continue their diligent walking pace, only their words increase in speed.
Fire
I turn a corner and a bright orange flame catches my eye. A young Kroger employee is taking his break in the Kroger club car and lighting his cigarette with a very strong lighter.
New York Style
A carryout joint simply named "China" boasts a large handwritten menu in its window. In a sign nearby the cuisine is proclaimed "Chinese Food New York Style." Thoughts of gloopy, cornstarch laden sauces and steamy white rice make my mouth water.
America
...is a sandwich. There are several signs for American Sandwich Shop. My favorite is the one that hangs in the breezeway. The font used for "American" conjures images of strip malls past and delis I have known before.
Buffalo Wings
Several restaurants, American Sandwich Shop and China in particular, want you to know that they have buffalo wings and they are available for you to purchase.
Handwritten Signs
Several shops have handwritten signs in their windows. The most striking example can be found at Keep On Stitching. Large black and red marker strokes adorn hot, yellow neon posterboard.
Five-O
At the far west point of the strip mall, a fenced-in lot has 5 sheriff's cruisers, 3 marked, 2 unmarked, and a crime scene investigation van. The police presence is palpable in the strip as Dekalb County cruisers regularly zip through the parking lot.
By the numbers
graphs as they relate to the quantative data gathered about stores
Empty – Occupied
Occupied: 46
85%Empty: 8
15%Independents – Chains
Independents: 28
64%Chains: 16
36%By Type (generic)
Goods: 20
44%Services(personal): 19
42%Services(food): 6
14%quantitative representations of data gathered by type and kind
Notes en sum
In this row you will find totals for the amount of qualitative meta tags identified in the space. They have been organized by category: Impressions, Observations and Activities, respectively.
Impressions
6
Amount of impressions noted in space.
Observations
8
Amount of observations(general) noted in space.
Activities
7
Amount of activities observed and noted in space.
Numbers as they relate to distances, travel and parking
MARTA
2
It's just about two miles, by car, to either the Kensington or Avondale stations.
Bus Stops
9
The amount of adjacent bus stops. There are six on Memorial Drive and three on Columbia Drive.
Parked
8
The number of police vehicles in the parking lot. Two of them actually have officers inside. 01/13/09
Look out!
2
The number of truly nasty potholes in the parking lot. Not many, but they're really nasty.
Numerical odds and ends
SALE!
6
Stores with sale banners visible from the street. 01/13/09
Talk to me
2
I was spoken to twice. Once to be asked for money. Once to be told I am "a hippy from the past."