Best Of Atlanta 2010 Cityscape Large

Cityscape

Cities are more than a mere collection of people and buildings. Sprawling in all directions from a modest downtown, Atlanta is a city of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own history and continually developing character. Atlanta is also a city of public and private institutions; of landmarks; of gathering places; of media of all stripes; and of events both popular and underground — all of which helps determine who we are.

As Atlantans, we are drawn together by our common stories, from the scandalous (state House leaders stepping aside due to sexcapades) to the absurd (African wildlife running loose on the Downtown Connector) to the inspirational (a local kid who slugs a three-run homer the first time he steps up to bat in Turner Field).

With Cityscape, we celebrate those stories, those political shifts, those public spaces — the shared experiences that define the place we call home.

— Scott Henry

Best annual release of aggression BOA Award Winner

Pillow Fight Day

Best bizarro news story BOA Award Winner

Ban on human microchipping

In saner states, legislative hearings to address the problem of involuntary implantation of microchips would easily score as the year's weirdest news story. But in Georgia, where the General Assembly also passed a bill allowing motorists to keep and eat their roadkill, the proposed BAN ON HUMAN MICROCHIPPING needed a little something extra. As luck would have it, that came in the form of a DeKalb County woman invited to testify to a Senate committee about how "researchers with the federal government" implanted a microchip in her "vaginal-rectum area." The microchip, she said, is activated by phone, like a beeper, with the number displayed "on billboards throughout the city." Naturally, the committee OK'd the bill. less...

Best display of the power of the MSM BOA Award Winner

Susan Richardson TV Interview

This year's turnover in state House leadership wasn't brought about by voters, prosecutors or an act of God. Instead, it was due to the SUSAN RICHARDSON TV INTERVIEW with Fox 5 reporter Dale Russell. The six-minute piece, in which the Speaker's ex described his frolicking with lobbyists, is proof thatmore...

Best evidence of social progress BOA Award Winner

Gay elected officials

They still can't marry in Georgia, but it's clear that GAY ELECTED OFFICIALS are finding more public acceptance than ever before. Voters have sent two openly gay candidates to the state House, three to the Atlanta City Council and, this summer, for the first time ever, one to the Fulton County Commission. And we're not even counting politicians who are in the closet! In fact, the Fulton race came down to a runoff between two lesbian candidates who handily out-polled a couple of breeders with nary a mention of sexual preference along the way. less...

Best intown hipster hootenanny BOA Award Winner

Cabbagetown Park

Cold draft beer, live bluegrass and all the chili you can eat (until it runs out). What's not to love about Cabbagetown's annual CHOMP AND STOMP festival? Held the first Saturday in November, the day kicks off with a 5K run, but most folks come to get samples from the chili cook-off, have a few beers and rub shoulders with pretty much every cool kid residing south of Ponce de Leon Avenue. There are also a few booths selling crafts, as well as a variety of food from local restaurants and vendors, including an entire slow-roasted hog. But possibly the most welcoming feature of the C&S is its laid-back Cabbagetown vibe; it's like one giant, day-long block party. Cabbagetown Park, Tye Street and Kirkwood Avenue. www.chompandstomp.com. less...

Best neighborhood for after-hours BOA Award Winner

Buford Highway

Atlanta's "last call" doesn't have to mean "good night." Just outside the city limits, late-night carousers and party animals flock to BUFORD HIGHWAY to seek the boompf boompf of Club Miami, the Latin rhythms of La Rumba and the drunken revelry of Karaoke Medley. (Don't forget the slender strippers of Pink Pony.) Top it off with 4:30 a.m. carne asada at any of the late-night authentic taquerias and you can see why Buford Highway beckons. less...

Best new park for catching air BOA Award Winner

Foundation Skate Park

Best organic farm BOA Award Winner

Love is Love Farm

Best overall neighborhood BOA Award Winner

Poncey-Highland

Best place to people-watch BOA Award Winner

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

Best intro to Atlanta history BOA Award Winner

Unseen Underground Walking Tour

Best local athlete you've never heard of BOA Award Winner

Evander Kane

Best person you love to hate BOA Award Winner

Erick Erickson

Back in the olden days (2007 or so), we genuinely liked Maconite Republican blogger ERICK ERICKSON, even though the only political issue we've ever agreed upon is the correct spelling of "America." Nonetheless, we admired his smarts, willingness to break ranks with the GOP and early mastery of a new medium. But sometime in 2008, Erickson began earning notoriety for lobbing partisan bombs. He declared jihad against any Republicans who criticized risible ignoramus Sarah Palin. He called Michelle Obama a "Marxist harpy," compared a White House spokesperson to a Nazi, called a sitting Supreme Court Justice a "goat-fucking child molester" and joked about greeting census workers at the door with a gun. Despite turning his name into a blogospheric synonym for gratuitous personal attacks, Erickson's star continues to rise. And since no publicity is bad publicity for right wing pundits, CNN even gave Erickson a regular gig. www.peachpundit.com less...

Best rooftop view of lower Midtown BOA Award Winner

Georgian Terrace Hotel

You can get higher than the 19 floors occupied by the newer wing of the GEORGIAN TERRACE HOTEL, but you'll likely be looking out a plate-glass window. The top of the near-century-old, Beaux Arts hotel at the corner of Peachtree Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, however, is the only place from which you can admire Midtown from above while enjoying the breeze in your hair, sipping a cocktail and dipping your toes in a rooftop pool. And when you dry off, you can head downstairs for drinks in the lobby bar or dinner in the brasserie-style Livingston restaurant. 659 Peachtree St. 800-651-2316. www.thegeorgianterrace.com. less...

Best way to see the city in a new way BOA Award Winner

Beltline's Hiking and Bike Trails

Best hope for Atlanta gridlock BOA Award Winner

Regional transportation tax

Best kids' radio show for non-kids BOA Award Winner

The Kids Are Alright

Airing Saturdays on 1690 (WMLB-AM), THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT touts itself as "kids' music for everyone." But that tag undersells the product. Each DIY-ish broadcast is a joyous riff on a single theme (summer, bugs, ice cream, etc.) lovingly curated from a vast library that ranges from the Pogues to Emmylou Harris to Bo Diddley. You don't need kids to appreciate its wit, indelible melodies and irresistible sing-alongs. www.1690wmlb.com/the-kids-are-alright less...

Best local blogger BOA Award Winner

Pecanne Log

Nowhere will you find more cleverly written posts on such Atlanta-centric topics as beer-swillin' 1930s circus elephants, the city's first parking deck or downtown's hidden beauty than at PECANNE LOG. At a time when others have retreated to Twitter or Facebook (or given up blogging entirely), its editor,more...

Best noncommercial radio station BOA Award Winner

WCLK

Best volunteer program BOA Award Winner

Park Pride

Best amenity-laden hotel BOA Award Winner

Mansion on Peachtree

Best hometown Internet sensation BOA Award Winner

Scoutmob

Best local celebrity BOA Award Winner

Kevin Gillespie's beard

What's red and bushy, has fancy W Hotel parties thrown in its honor, can be spotted at local joints including Morelli's Ice Cream and the "Ghetto" Kroger and boasts nearly 8,000 Facebook fans? That would be KEVIN GILLESPIE'S BEARD. Kevin Gillespie might be a "Top Chef" finalist and James Beard semifinalist who can create a transcendent meal as easily with pork belly and veal chop as with a bundle of farm-fresh veggies, but it's his Yukon Cornelius-inspired facial hair that's earned him the national fame he deserves. Oh, and if you're angling for a KGB sighting, your best bet is the dining room at Woodfire Grill. The best tables offer an unobstructed view of the open kitchen - and the chef's lustrous beard.

Editor's note: This blurb has been modified to correctly reflect Gillespie's recognition from the James Beard Foundation.

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Best local sports romance BOA Award Winner

Jason Heyward

Best overlooked tourist spot BOA Award Winner

Westview Cemetery

Off the beaten path and underpublicized, WESTVIEW CEMETERY is one of the most picturesque spots in Atlanta. At nearly 600 acres, it's the largest cemetery in the Southeast, boasting many of the features beloved of graveyard enthusiasts: ornate monuments and tombs, rolling hills and gardens, and, of course, famous dead people, such as author Joel Chandler Harris, Coke founder Asa Candler and assorted mayors. Westview also stands apart for a magnificent stone abbey, its high walls and original gates and its iconic water tower resembling a castle turret. 1680 Westview Drive. 404-755-6611. &emdash;www.westviewcemetery.com. less...

Best recession-proof neighborhood BOA Award Winner

Westside

Best sign that gay media is still alive BOA Award Winner

Project Q

Even before this year's shuttering of Southern Voice, the popularity of PROJECT Q stood as evidence that the new media (i.e., a website) can keep the community informed and entertained with breaking news, cheeky columns and pop-culture updates. You gotta love an outfit that titles its daily event listingsmore...

Best validation of the big-city daily BOA Award Winner

Alan Judd and Heather Vogell

The ongoing coverage of the standardized test cheating scandal involving Atlanta schools by ALAN JUDD AND HEATHER VOGELL shows why a large daily newspaper is so vital to the welfare of a major city. The AJC, which first questioned suspicious test results and, more recently, graduation rates is the onlymore...

Best barely ITP park BOA Award Winner

Whittier Mill Park

Best bet for next hot 'hood BOA Award Winner

Old Fourth Ward

Best OTP park BOA Award Winner

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Best underestimated suburb BOA Award Winner

Marietta

Best way to deal with historic properties BOA Award Winner

Reuse them

Best affordable day care BOA Award Winner

The Sunshine House

And other metro Atlanta locations.

Runner-up: Primrose School

1197 Peachtree St., Suite 554, 404-745-9797, and other metro Atlanta locations.

www.primroseschools.com

Best annual event BOA Award Winner

Dogwood Festival

www.dogwood.org

Runner-up: Peachtree Road Race

www.atlantatrackclub.org

Best bizarro local news story BOA Award Winner

Zebra loose on interstate

Runner-up: Woman crashes into Green's liquor store for second time