2014 Cityscape Large Photo

Cityscape

Pity the suburbanite and out-of-towner. Every morning, hundreds of thousands of people clog metro Atlanta interstates and land in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and make their way into our city. They're here for business and pleasure. Sometimes they're just lost. They'll work in Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead skyscrapers, walk in Atlanta's museums, and sometimes enjoy the city's parks. And at the end of their workdays or trips, they leave.

Atlantans, however? We get to live here. We wake up and go to sleep in these communities. We not only shop in the stores, but also live next door to the people who own them. Intown traffic might be nuts, but at least we can hop on a bus or train and not wallow in gridlock. And when people knock our city, we defend her because we've put so much of ourselves into making it what it is and is becoming.

But making this wonderful city that we call home actually function takes a lot of work. Approximately 58,000 people keep the world's busiest airport clean, safe, and welcoming to friends and family from far away. Employees at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights start waxing the floors at 7 a.m. in anticipation of tourists. The Piedmont Park Conservancy has a full-time staff that aerates lawns and picks up trash so the city's most popular greenspace remains a jewel. Neighborhood associations slog through long meetings filled with discussions about zoning and sidewalks because, in the long run, those issues make the difference in an excellent community. (And some journalists spend long nights trying to cover the issues that affect neighborhoods.)

Atlantans work damn hard but they don't always get the accolades and recognition. That's why CL every year racks our brains to recognize the people, places, and things that make Atlanta the city we love. We know all about the city's problems. Let's take a moment and applaud those contributing to the bizarre, chaotic, and beautiful cityscape.

— Thomas Wheatley

Best gatherings of the masses: Free event BOA Award Winner

Atlanta Streets Alive

Banning cars from the streets and allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to roam free? Blasphemy, right?! Not so thanks to ATLANTA STREETS ALIVE, a daylong celebration of human-powered movement and enjoying the city streets with friends and strangers. Since first being held on Edgewood Avenue in 2010, the blacktop party has touched Midtown, Downtown, Virginia-Highland, Inman Park, and, most recently, spread to West End in Southwest Atlanta. If only car-free boulevards were available every day of the year. www.atlantastreetsalive.com. less...

Best gatherings of the masses: Race for a cause BOA Award Winner

Atlanta Mission's Race to End Homelessness

Best pack of scarf-wearing, ball-kicking hooligans BOA Award Winner

Terminus Legion

Best local communities: Family-oriented neighborhood BOA Award Winner

City of Decatur

Best local communities: Neighborhood for porch life BOA Award Winner

Cabbagetown

Best local communities: Neighborhood for walking and biking BOA Award Winner

Midtown

Best place for a s BOA Award Winner

Westview Cemetery

Best reclamation of an asphalt eyesore BOA Award Winner

Boulevard Tunnel Initiative

Boulevard Tunnel used to be a place most pedestrians avoided. The dark and creepy underpass that connects Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown had broken lighting, busted roads, and lifeless walls. The conditions dramatically improved in spring 2014. The BOULEVARD TUNNEL INITIATIVE, a local nonprofit that has been working for years to spruce up the underpass, partnered with Living Walls to breathe life into the walkway. BTI and LW members cleaned up the tunnel once filled with trash and poop. New York-based muralist MOMO and a mighty army of volunteers brightened up the tunnel with a rainbow-colored mural. The beautification project has managed to make a ho-hum tunnel into something beautiful, made the area safer, and brought together different neighborhoods. Take that, concrete jungle! boulevardtunnelinitiative.wordpress.com. less...