Village Green

In the mid-1980s, the city leaders of Smyrna realized things weren't going so well for the Cobb County suburb wedged between Atlanta and Marietta. Besides living in the redneck capital of the South, according to National Geographic, longtime residents were having a hard time recognizing what was once a friendly Southern town. Sprawl's homogeny had claimed Smyrna, and city officials, led by Mayor Max Bacon, set out to take the town back.

In 1988, Smyrna leaders teamed up with the Atlanta Regional Commission to launch an ambitious reclamation that wrested the city, or at least its town center, from the grips of Blahsville. The result: a special district of downtown Smyrna called Village Green. Just 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta, Village Green is a walkable, mixed-use town center with a fountain, city hall, a police station, a community center, a library, shops, restaurants and 16 townhomes priced between $200,000 and $1 million.

In all, the $23 million redevelopment, which covers 15 acres and took 15 years to build, gives Village Green that old-timey sense of community its founders sought to re-create.

But enough about all that smart growth stuff. Consider this: Village Green resident Leigh Ann Good gets to live above a gelato shop.

In July 2003, Good bought one of the 16 townhouses in the Market Village section of Village Green, a block from the fountain. The townhomes sit over shops such as Gayle Palmer's Village Pottery Works, Red Door Interiors, Atkins Park, Village Cafe & Gourmet, and Moe's Southwest Grill.

"I like to sit on my balcony and people-watch," Good says "There's just so much energy here, it's great. I wouldn't leave unless Brad Pitt proposed to me, and that's not happening anytime soon."

Good's 2,500-square-foot home is outfitted with cozy furniture either inherited from her grandmother or bought at Pottery Barn. It's close to her daily destinations. She's 35 minutes from her job as a sales trainer in Roswell. She goes to church every Sunday in Buckhead. And almost every weekend she heads to Atlanta to eat out with friends. Most recently, they met at Two Urban Licks near the Carter Center.

Another reason Good is so fond of her 'hood is it's like one big family; Most folks who live in Village Green are singles and married couples with small children - young professionals a few years removed from the Buckhead scene. Good, the president of the homeowners association, can name every resident in the Market Village off the top of her head and is on a first-name basis with all the local business owners.

Residents aren't alone in celebrating the neighborhood. In 1997, the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit foundation that advocates for better land use, validated Smyrna's efforts when it gave Village Green an award of excellence. Downtown Smyrna has become a model that other towns look to when they begin their own revitalization projects.

Smyrna's success paved the way for the Atlanta Regional Commission's Livable Centers Initiative, which has funded more than 60 redevelopments since 1999. The ARC gives $1 million each year to neighborhoods and towns that want to revamp commercial districts to make them more pedestrian-friendly. The ARC also has about $350 million on hand to pay more for some of the more innovative projects.

Since Village Green's completion, a dozen other residential developments have popped up close to the town center. Single-family communities are a short bike ride away. And other nearby townhomes keep the Market Village district hopping well after dark.

Occasionally, late-night revelers leaving the bars below the townhomes can get loud. But that's about the only Market Village controversy Good has encountered in two years.

"When I first moved to Smyrna, I lived just a mile down the road in one of the subdivisions," Good says. "It was fine. It was nice, but this is just a completely different lifestyle. This area is alive."

And the area is about to get even livelier. The city throws a St. Patrick's Day party in the Village Green area, centered on the community center. Most bars and restaurants will have DJs and live music on March 17 and the weekend after.

Additional Info

HOME PRICES
Averaging $290,180 in 2004, up from $285,871 in 2002; a 2 percent increase.
Average rental: $1,000 for a two-bedroom house.

DIVERSITY
White: 60 percent
African-American: 19 percent
Hispanic: 19 percent

SCHOOLS
Belmont Hills Elementary
Brown Elementary
Cambell Middle School
Campbell High School

CULTURAL AMENITIES
Smyrna Community Center: Besides arts and crafts shows and concerts, the center offers aerobics, badminton, basketball, billiards and handball. 200 Village Green Circle.
Smyrna Public Library: State-of-the-art library. 100 Village Green Circle.

ORAL PLEASURES
Village Cafe & Gourmet: Serving sushi and grilled seafood. 1260-D W. Spring St.
ATKINS PARK: A neighborhood pub, with everything from jambalaya to Georgia-caught trout. 2840 Atlanta Road.
Vintage Tavern: A real, old-school tavern — no joke. The wooden bar originally belonged to Manuel’s Tavern and has given cocktail sippers something to lean on since 1910. The wooden floorboards were taken from homes in the Smyrna area built in the 1800s. 2860 Atlanta Road.