With the sudden announcement of Criminal Records’ demise, the residents of Atlanta have to ask themselves, how can it be? Some will point to the rise of digital media and the low cash flow these days. However, I believe a huge contributing factor to the slowing of business for Criminal, as well as other shops in Little Five Points, is the traffic. Car traffic, that is, and not enough foot traffic.
The landscape of Little Five Points is becoming more and more pedestrian desolate. In business, accessibility is everything. Shoppers are confronted with crossing very busy, very congested, very unforgiving strips of road. Rather than wait or risk the crosswalk, people will continue on the same side, dissuading them from what is on the other sidewalk.
What can be seen and felt by the flow of traffic on Moreland and Euclid can be seen in the people walking through Little Five. A pedestrian highway. The passing through of the cars within the walking space seems to create the same thing in people. They walk, stop, walk, stop, and walk through. The only real sitting and gather spots are directly in front of a business and are only for customers. Findley Plaza is an entirely different type of problematic space. If there were more places to sit, gather, congregate, as a neighborhood or community there would be a definite increase in business. The longer people feel comfortable in a space, the more they will linger and enjoy themselves and spend money. Take Las Rambla in Barcelona, for example. One long street of open markets, endless table and chairs and benches, and shops and stores surrounding.
Why it is that only during special events and parades is the area given over to the community. A sporadic handful of days when people can walk and gather in the street, in front of shops, absorbing their neighborhood. The rest of the time, the space is given back to traffic, full of cars who are just passing through, clogging and congesting the area without any distributed contribution.
Beginning this evolution small would be ideal. On Saturdays and Sundays to close of Euclid Ave at Moreland down to El Myr. Instigate a possibility for pedestrians in the neighborhood to walk and shop freely, without fear of getting run over. Out of all the points made about this issue, I feel that is the most relevant. The heavy saturation of vehicles makes it dangerous and chaotic.
