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I don’t have many positive things to say about Atlanta these days, but I certainly have had some grand times there.\u00c2\u00a0 In the mid 90s, just after college and before moving to DC, I (along with M.) was among the first handful of gentrifiers* of downtown Atlanta’s Fairlie Poplar neighborhood.\u00c2\u00a0 We snagged the first lease of an apartment in the Muse’s Building, a renovated former department store that had been joined with a number of other buildings to form an interesting collection of residences.\u00c2\u00a0 But the residences weren’t nearly as interesting as the residents<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 In one small community we had ourselves, a university president, a handyman, a fashion buyer, a stripper, a bank VP, an old writer, a political con man, pot-smoking business professors, and the mega-rich owners.\u00c2\u00a0 And we all knew each other, sharing spaces, drinks, and parties.\u00c2\u00a0 I sometimes wish I’d not been in such a rush with my life – it was an incredibly positive and stress free time (I mean,\u00c2\u00a0 lived at 50 Peachstree St. and worked at 100 Peachtree St.\u00c2\u00a0 Does it get any easier?).\u00c2\u00a0 Alas, time flows and we move on.\u00c2\u00a0 A few tracks, however, bring me right back there:<\/p>\n [youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XUrJdf4PbEk[\/youtube]<\/p>\n [youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lVL-zZnD3VU[\/youtube]<\/p>\n \n [youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4_kZetNY5so[\/youtube]<\/p>\n *Do you still count as a gentrifier if you’ve moved *from* Vine City, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the area<\/a>?\u00c2\u00a0 (Note that that article is from 1966<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing had improved by the time I lived there.)<\/p>\n