Downtown

Olympic legacy, game-day crowds, Sweet Auburn history and the one MARTA station where every rail line meets. Downtown is Atlanta’s front porch, and more people are starting to call it home.

What living in Downtown feels like

Downtown is where Atlanta shows up for the big moments. Centennial Olympic Park, built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, is the 21-acre front lawn, and its Fountain of Rings still runs choreographed water shows four times a day. Ring the park and you’ll find the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola at Pemberton Place, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the College Football Hall of Fame, State Farm Arena (home of the Hawks) and Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home of the Falcons and Atlanta United).

Walk east and the blocks get older and more personal. Fairlie-Poplar, Atlanta’s original business district, is a grid of brick, stone and cast-iron buildings, including the Flatiron Building, finished five years before New York’s. It’s also home to the Rialto Center for the Arts and Theatrical Outfit’s Balzer Theater at Herren’s, and Georgia State University’s campus keeps the streets full of students. Farther east, Sweet Auburn grew into what was once called “the richest Negro street in the world,” and today it’s home to Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and the APEX Museum at 135 Auburn Avenue.

Live music

Downtown is one of the city’s best neighborhoods for shows. The Tabernacle at 152 Luckie Street opened as a Baptist church in 1911, became a House of Blues for the 1996 Olympics and now holds about 2,600 people. The Masquerade moved from North Avenue to Kenny’s Alley at Underground Atlanta in 2016, and it runs its three rooms, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, there. Underground itself is coming back. Its owners say it’s about 65 percent leased, with the two-stage Lunchbox now open and more stages on the way.

Getting around

Five Points is MARTA’s central hub, the only station where the Red, Gold, Blue and Green lines all meet. From Downtown it’s a one-seat train ride to the airport, Midtown or Decatur. The station is being rebuilt, so for now, enter on Forsyth Street. It has no parking, and most downtown trips don’t need a car anyway, since Peachtree Center, SEC District (formerly GWCC/CNN Center) and the other downtown stations sit a short walk apart.

The Atlanta Streetcar runs a 2.7-mile, 12-stop loop from Centennial Olympic Park to the King Historic District, with a connection to MARTA at Peachtree Center. A ride costs $1, or $3 for a day pass, and transfers to MARTA aren’t free. On game and concert nights, the train beats the parking deck every time.

Food, coffee and everyday life

The Sweet Auburn Curb Market at 209 Edgewood Avenue has been feeding downtown since 1918. It’s Atlanta’s only public market, with produce, butchers and seafood alongside lunch counters, and it’s where Grindhouse Killer Burgers and Arepa Mia got their start. In June 2026 it added four new stalls: Retro Grill Atlanta, Dolce Tropical, A Taste of Secrets and Edgewood Pizza. Over by the park, the former CNN Center is now The CTR, with an 11-concept food hall called CTR Food Works. Broad Street in Fairlie-Poplar is the go-to for a quick lunch between classes and meetings.

Who tends to like Downtown?

Georgia State students and staff. People who work downtown, at the state Capitol or around the Georgia World Congress Center. Sports and concert fans who want to walk home after the show. Anyone who wants to live without a car and with history on every corner. The tradeoff: Downtown is still filling in. Some blocks go quiet after office hours, and game days bring crowds and traffic.

Explore nearby Atlanta neighborhoods

Downtown makes more sense next to its neighbors. Compare it with Midtown, Old Fourth Ward, Cabbagetown, Grant Park, or browse the full Atlanta neighborhoods library. For getting around, read How to Use MARTA Without Overthinking It and Can You Live in Atlanta Without a Car?. For moving and daily-life questions, start with our Living Here guides.