You won't believe what Atlanta's calling "Upper Westside."
Aye look, here's the thing though— I just read something that made me do a double-take, no cap. Is Atlanta's Upper Westside even a real place? For real? Because apparently, the Community Improvement District (CID) tasked with developing that area actually *coined* the name in 2016. That's valid. They made it up! We out here inventing neighborhoods and acting like they always existed. I mean, I'm thinking about places like Cascade Heights, Collier Heights, Grove Park — places with real history, real roots. Then you got a CID just out here like, "Yeah, we'll call this the Upper Westside." That's wild to me, period.
### What's in a Name Anyway?
See, this ain't just about some arbitrary name. This is about identity, about how we define our city, block by block. We got storied areas, from the West End to Candler Park, all with their own flavor, their own soul. And then you got this "Upper Westside" thing, which honestly just sounds like something a developer came up with to make some new apartments sound fancy. I'm talkin' about how we used to navigate from Buckhead to Midtown, or down to the Beltline's Eastside Trail, knowing exactly where you were. Now we gotta figure out if we're in a place that's even really a place.
* This "Upper Westside" actually turns 10 this year, at least since the CID started using the name. * It's a manufactured identity, not an organic one. * Makes you wonder what's next — the "Lower Eastside" of Stone Mountain?
For residents, it's gotta be confusing. Are you from the Upper Westside, or are you just from the part of town that's been there forever, before someone decided to rebrand it? It just feels… inauthentic, you know? Like putting new paint on an old car and calling it a new model. That's not how we move in the A — stay tapped in.
The crew on the Morning Wire breaks down wild stuff like this every day — catch 'em live at mornings.live.