Atlanta is known for a lot of things but being a historically pedestrian scale city is not one of them. However, an explosion in growth since 1950, that has lead to the metropolis sprawling across much of Georgia, can give off a quite deceiving impression.

Sweet Auburn/Georgia State University

After the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, many black businesses relocated east of downtown along Auburn Avenue in what was known as the Fourth Ward during the late 19th century. By 1956, Fortune Magazine called Auburn “the richest Negro street in the world”. During the early 1960s, the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85) was built through the heart of Sweet Auburn, dividing the neighborhood in two.

Although home to the APEX Museum, Sweet Auburn Curb Market and Big Bethel AME Church, much of Sweet Auburn west of the Downtown Connector has changed in character since the highway’s construction. Much of this section of downtown is occupied by the main campus of Georgia State University. Established in 1913, the public university now has over 32,000 graduate and undergraduate students in the downtown campus.