Cascade Heights

Cascade Heights

Cascade Heights is an affluent predominantly African-American neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. In the early 1960's the area was a predominatly white neighborhood. During the integration movement however, a practice called blockbusting occurred. Property in the neighborhood was purchased, and multiple families of African-Americans would move in, lowering the property values. Realtors stirred up the racial tension by calling residents of the area, scaring them about lowered property values, and offering to list their property. Sunday afternoons became a traffic jam of cars full of African-Americans shopping for homes. In 1962 Mayor Ivan Allen, urged by whites in southwest Atlanta (in particular, one of his high-level employees who lived right off Peyton Road), authorized the construction of a concrete barrier that closed Cascade Heights from the Peyton Road access for black home seekers from nearby Gordon Road. The incident, later known as the Peyton Road affair, drew national attention and caused newspapers around the country to question Atlanta's motto, "the City Too Busy to Hate." The "Atlanta wall," as some newspapers called it, was ruled unconstitutional by the courts and was torn down. This event is also credited in part for helping to spur the creation of Collier Heights, which became the first affluent community in the nation built by and for African-Americans.

After that incident, by the late 60's the neighborhood transitioned into an affluent predominantly African-American neighborhood located on the southwest side of Atlanta, Georgia. It is adjacent to the Historic Collier Heights neighborhood, another affluent predominately African American community in the Northwest side of Atlanta, along with West End. For the past decade, Atlanta’s Cascade community has been expanding westward with new subdivisions and shopping centers. It resembles any other upper-middle-class suburb, with the exception being that nearly all of its residents are African-American.Notable residents of Cascade Heights include: current Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, baseball legend Hank Aaron, former UN Ambassador and mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, and past national president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and founding member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Ozell Sutton, and Dr. Howard W. Grant,current Executive Director/Administrator of the Atlanta Board of Education


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cascade — steht für: Cascade (Rebsorte), eine Rebsorte Cascade, ein Elementarteilchen, siehe Ξ Baryon Cascade (Seychellen), Ort auf den Seychellen Cascade ist der Name mehrerer Orte in den Vereinigten Staaten: Cascade (Colorado) Cascade (Idaho) Cascade… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Collier Heights — Historic District U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic District …   Wikipedia

  • Ancaster Heights Falls (Hamilton, Ontario) — Infobox Waterfall name = Ancaster Heights Falls image size = caption = Ancaster Heights Falls location = Hamilton, Ontario latitude = longitude = coordinates = elevation = type = Terraced Ribbon Cascade height = convert|13.4|m|ft|abbr=on width =… …   Wikipedia

  • Maple Heights-Lake Desire, Washington —   CDP   …   Wikipedia

  • Lower Sanatorium Cascade (Hamilton, Ontario) — Infobox Waterfall name = Lower Sanatorium Cascade image size = caption = Lower Sanatorium Cascade location = Hamilton, Ontario latitude = longitude = coordinates = elevation = type = Talus Classic Cascade height = convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on width =… …   Wikipedia

  • Brandywine Heights Area School District — is a school district located in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It consists of three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The current District superintendent is Dr. Handler. One of the only schools in the country to have a… …   Wikipedia

  • Neighborhoods in Atlanta — This article is about neighborhoods in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. For cities, neighborhoods, and other districts in Greater Atlanta, see Atlanta metropolitan area. Note: many unincorporated communities in DeKalb County adjacent to Atlanta,… …   Wikipedia

  • Barrios de Atlanta — Anexo:Barrios de Atlanta Saltar a navegación, búsqueda En total Atlanta cuenta con 138 Barrios: Adair Park Adams Park Adamsville Allen Temple Brownlee Ardmoore Brookwood Argonne Forest Wyngates Haynes Manor Ashview Heights Atlanta University… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Atlanta — This article is about the city in the U.S. state of Georgia. For other uses, see Atlanta (disambiguation). Atlanta    …   Wikipedia

  • The Bluff (Atlanta) — The Bluff is an approximately 1.5 mile square neighborhood northwest of Downtown Atlanta. The Bluff is bounded by Donald L. Hollowell Parkway (formerly Bankhead Highway) to the north, Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. (formerly Hunter St.) and the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”