Leaders Tout Successes at Midtown Alliance Annual Meeting

ATLANTA, GA -- Hundreds attended the Midtown Alliance's annual meeting Wednesday morning at the Fox Theatre. The organization touted the area's business and development successes while cautioning that changes were still needed.

Kevin Green, the alliance's president & CEO, showed slides that highlighted the contrasts between the city's past and its present. Unveiling a blueprint, he also outlined issues that he said Midtown was working on fixing, such as more open space and "retail looking like retail and storefronts making the best use of facades, which all add to the retail experience."

Green said that places with open-space areas such as Colony Square had been transformed by art projects, instantly becoming "focal points in our community."

Mayor Kasim Reed spoke at the event, also trumpeted the use of public art to beautify Midtown's public spaces.

"I don't know if you've heard about it but at my State of the City Address last week I announced that I will go to the Georgia General Assembly to ask them to allow me to use the last tenth of a penny on the one penny they authorized last year to provide a dedicated source of arts funding in the city of Atlanta every single year for the next 5, 10, 15 years going forward," he said to rousing applause.

Reed said that the fractional amount would generate between $10-15 million in arts funding for organizations of all kinds.

Reed said that the earliest image of Midtown he remembered was when his father used to take him to Gorin's Ice Cream near 14th Street. Reed said that the city's core, from Piedmont Park to the Botanical Garden, is the strongest its been in modern times.

While using the opportunity to congratulate the strides made by Midtown's planners, Reed also chided them on incorporating affordable housing into their visions.

Image via Craig Johnson / Patch