Howell Mill Road and Marietta Street carry you through West Midtown, a former industrial corridor that two decades of change have turned into Atlanta's premier restaurant and design district. The neighborhood's transformation followed the pattern of industrial-to-creative conversion: warehouse buildings and former manufacturing facilities replaced by furniture showrooms, interior design studios, restaurants, and bars that drew a clientele from across the city. Westside Provisions District, anchored in a complex of former warehouses, became a destination for high-end retail and dining that established West Midtown's reputation as one of the city's most desirable commercial corridors.
Restaurants by some of Atlanta's most celebrated chefs — including Anne Quatrano's Bacchanalia, which has operated in the neighborhood since 2000 — helped establish the area's culinary identity. West Midtown also contains Chattahoochee Food Works and other food hall concepts that reflect Atlanta's hunger for communal dining experiences. The BeltLine's Westside Trail connects through the neighborhood, and new apartment and mixed-use development has arrived at a pace that has transformed the built environment dramatically.
What was empty industrial land fifteen years ago is now some of the most active real estate in the city. Atlanta reshapes itself quickly and without much sentimentality about what came before.