Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 2003
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Colin Campbell

'CRACKHEAD' CRACKDOWN IS HARDLY PERMANENT

The pathetic, filthy, drug-dealing, crime-breeding intersection of 
Peachtree and Pine streets, in the center of Atlanta, evolved from an odd 
mixture of neglect and good intentions.

True, the police pay sporadic attention. Over the past two weeks, in fact, 
with an urgency suggesting panic, they've flooded the zone with so many 
cops that most of the crack pushers, addicts and prostitutes have scurried 
off. "Crackhead Corner" itself, and the block of Pine outside the sprawling 
night shelter for the homeless there, look almost normal for a change.

But the underlying problems are still obvious. The minute the cops leave, 
the dealers and such will come back. After all, they've only walked a few 
blocks away. They're still busy on Courtland, Linden, Renaissance, Juniper, 
Ponce, Piedmont and other streets along the border of downtown and Midtown. 
(They're even busier in some poorer parts of town.)

Recent crime reports show few big increases, and several drops, in the 
Atlanta Police Department's extensive Zone 5. But the booming residential 
population within less than a mile of Peachtree and Pine is very upset 
about the streets. So are business people. They're sick of the 
drug-dealing, prostitution, in-your-face beggings, car break-ins, camping 
in the parks, etc.

Erik Friedly, a spokesman for Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, 
is tired of being burglarized on 4th Street, being awakened by shouting 
prostitutes, being ignored by the folks at 911. He's headed for a new 
apartment.

Christina Chan, who works for CARE and who was mugged and robbed 10 days 
ago across from Central Park, gave up her apartment last weekend and moved 
to Candler Park.

Debbie Friedman, who lives on Carlisle Way, sounds ready to follow: "I 
cannot tell you how depressing and demoralizing it is to leave my 
condominium at Renaissance Park each and every day," she writes. "I cannot 
tell you how scary it can be to walk to work, which I do, or even just to 
walk to the mailbox. The sad flow of downtrodden humanity which is 
perpetually oozing up and down my street is bleaker than anything else I've 
ever seen."

Friedman notes that the area around nearby Central Park has been a human 
dumping ground for more than a century. The legacies of white flight and 
urban decay are still palpable as well.

Many neighbors have tried to help. The area's wealthier churches (long 
after many of their members moved to Buckhead and the suburbs) offer meals, 
showers, mail drops, counseling and more.

Most recently, the area has flourished despite its vagrants: During the 
'80s and especially the '90s, more and more urban pioneers arrived: gays, 
yuppies, downtown employees, retirees, techies. Condos and apartments 
mushroomed. Now you see Land Rovers rolling up to the same gas station 
where zonked-out addicts buy their crack pipes.

Sadly, the homeless and the hustlers keep arriving, too. And one big reason 
has been the huge night shelter at Peachtree and Pine.

The facility has never been managed with enough care. There have been 
nights in which 500 or more men crashed there.

It's much too big for the neighborhood. Its clients don't get enough help 
or discipline.

Yet it keeps breathing human misery.

You and I and our governments and other institutions have failed to deal 
with the region's housing shortages, addicts, mentally ill, destitute, 
petty criminals and a host of other types.

A shrewd and gentle ex-cop I know sees it this way: A "perfect storm" of 
bad social policy has descended on Peachtree Street in the middle of 
Atlanta's latest rebirth.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl