The weave of the urban fabric east of Atlanta’s city center has always had a predominate grain running in the east/west direction. The few north/south streets that existed were primarily used for local traffic rather than through put. Steep ridges, low lying bogs, and/or rail lines posed significant challenges to north and south traffic. Until the 1960’s residents of the east side of Atlanta simply did not circulate north and south much: the eastside neighborhoods related to downtown, but little to each other. As late as 1959, the DeKalb Avenue and train tracks formed a substantial hurdle for north south traffic, requiring steep climbs over 40 foot high berms and crossing multiple train tracks. The north and south side of DeKalb Avenue in the Moreland Corridor had very little in common.




