BELOW THE
AVENUE
A casual discourse on three urban villages
writer Osayi Endolyn photographers Julie Sharpe Dylan Fagan Monica Phillips
20
S CA N MAGAZINE
» FA LL / W IN TER
Residents of Downtown Decatur, East Atlanta Village and Little Five Points are a diverse bunch, but most share one common belief: Don’t Pass Ponce. It’s an unspoken maxim of sorts; this understanding that life begins and ends south of Ponce de Leon Boulevard. This mindset generally exists among those who’ve been called urbanites, urban dwellers, hipsters, bohemians and artistes, among other terms once considered complimentary but have since been manipulated to sound downright offensive. These are the tattoobaring, yoga mat-toting, co-op-shopping young men and women who like their beer craft, their coffee local and will still buy vintage vinyl records while the illegal torrent is downloading at home.
2 012
But the belief isn’t so much a rule or restriction as it is a challenge. Why bother? Why go north of Ponce unless you had to — isn’t it obvious that everyone else seems to come down here? The contemporary lifestyle found in these neighborhoods has an allure. It’s what smalltown southerners think of when they imagine city life. Ranging from bourgeois to gritty, all have unique identities. They offer bars, parlors, nightclubs and shops. Depending on the time of day, biker clubs or greyhounds leashed to strollers roam the street. Each in their own way, these urban villages do their part to make life below the Boulevard worth the rent — or a visit.