Jon Birdsong
@JonnyBird
Playing a part in revitalizing downtown Atlanta; tour by tour, brick by brick, and tweet by tweet.
8:21 - 6 min bike to ARTS MARTA 8:27 - Arts MARTA Station (luckily timed - no wait) to Five Points 8:35 - Up 3 escalators with a bike 8:37 - Bike down Forsyth 8:39 - Arrive at 235 Mitchell 18 minutes! @MARTAtransit was clean, safe, and on time! Let’s rinse and repeat!
The next leader of MARTA is too important to our city for the current standards to remain. It is our most under leveraged asset by far! Timely piece, @morsea / @ajc. “MARTA must do better. Bring in new leadership and stop misleading the public.” ajc.com/opinion/2025/0…
Party down on Hotel Row #ATL next Thursday. Come on by. ⤵️ # . . #goodbyesweetberrypark #atlanta #books eventbrite.com/e/south-downto…
Once I hit 40, it became so clear third person omnipotent is how I prefer narrator point of views in novels I read.
The follies removed from Broad Street have a new home: bike parking for Smorgasburg on 140 Forsyth!
Hey this looks cool: On July 31st you can listen to Josh Green talk about his new novel set in Atlanta, and you get to go inside a newly renovated historic building in Downtown! eventbrite.com/e/south-downto…
Housing in Downtown Atlanta and the Crazy, Expensive Math Behind It: jonbirdsong.com/housing-downto…
MLK Bridge is open! This bridge opening is a symbol, not only of Atlanta’s most heralded and famous name, but also a symbol of downtown’s reinvention. Closed for nearly 8 years, now it re-weaves Atlanta’s historic downtown and Atlanta’s rising downtown. Between old bricks and…
17 minutes through 7 train stops from the Airport to Five Points. The moment we deliver an experience where travelers have desire to sojourn downtown, during their 3 hour layover, is the moment Atlanta realizes even more potential. Wishful thinking no doubt; not impossible.
Show vs. Tell: Volume 2, Month 6 is out! Read the latest on what's going in @sodowntownatl: linkedin.com/pulse/show-vs-…
Congrats @GaddipatiHarsha! Felt like yesterday I was interviewing you in front of @spillerpark in South Downtown.
Dash (@usedashai) transforms knowledge work. It takes context across Gmail, Slack, Notion, and more to search & complete tasks. From planning to lead qualification, Dash handles busywork to make you 10x. ycombinator.com/launches/Nv3-d… Congrats on the launch, @raidingAI,…
Construction reverberates downtown right now as you can see in this month's video! A more detailed newsletter is in your inbox tomorrow -- sign up on our website.
New Tenant Announcement! After taking NYC, LA, and Miami by storm, one of the nation’s top open-air food festivals is coming to Atlanta! Starting this fall, Smorgasburg Atlanta is bringing its eclectic culinary experience to South Downtown. Launching at 140 Forsyth Street SW,…
Outdoor street food, market, Smorgasburg, which will showcase local chefs, pop-ups, and food trucks, joins a stacked list of South Downtown newcomers that includes El Tesoro, Delilah’s Everyday Soul, Broad St. BBQ, and Bottle Rocket. roughdraftatlanta.com/2025/06/30/out…
Bottle Rocket is crossing the Carrie Steele Bridge and relocating to Hotel Row. Here is latest from @TheLazySusan in today’s Rough Draft: roughdraftatlanta.com/2025/06/27/bot…
Live from the @RenderATL HQ in the @ATLTechVillage - Sylvan. Quick interview after last week’s triumphant conference. @ThugDebugger is truly putting Atlanta’s tech scene even more on the map. Listen and watch below:
We have precious few buildings left where the masonry speaks in the dialect of another age. Let's not bulldoze our heritage in pursuit of cold arithmetic or today's temporary logistics.
GSU has announced plans to demolish a nearly century-old building at 148 Edgewood. This – writes @MariaSaporta – would be a mistake for so many reasons. buff.ly/pfig7gI
The Shrine of Immaculate Conception: Late 1800’s, mid 1990’s, and mid 2020’s.
