Several years ago my huband and I moved from 14th Street smack in the middle of Midtown to an up and coming area called Hills Park in West Midtown. We didn't know much about it when we found a house that we fell in love with but we moved anyway and ended up finding a little piece of Mayberry just 10 minutes from the city!
Hills Park is a residential area filled with Crafstman style homes, lots of trees and greenery, small families, big families, kids playing in the streets, and of course pets. Located along CSX's closing Tilford Yard, the residents of Hills Park are reminded daily of its history as a beltline connection to two major railroads which began in 1905. Living in Hills Park brings the best of both worlds as it feels like you're tucked away in a suburb but in such a convenient location close to Downtown, Midtown, Bukchead, and even Cobb County. Other historic neoghborhoods on the Westside are Berkeley Park, Blandtown, Home Park, Howell Station, Riverside, and Underwood Hills. The commercial area surrounding Hills Park is transitioning from heavy industrial to a lot of mixed-use projects and repurposing of old warehouses into Ponce City Market type concepts. Several new art galleries, a couple famous Atlanta bakeries, some great music and event venues, and of course the intown Top Golf now call the Westside home. As many know, some of the best food in Atlanta can be found on the Westside from Howell Mill to Marietta Blvd, not to mention a bunch of killer craft breweries and even a cidery! The uber popular Scofflaw Brewery is literally in Hills Park's backyard.
Soon after moving here I started hashtagging Westside is the Best Side and saw others nearby doing it too. Apparently, it had been a thing for a while. :) I thought it would be a cool idea to have a flag designed that symbolized our neighborhood and how we all felt about it so I did it, as you can see in the picture above. That's my husband Jon and me at Das BBQ on Collier Rd with the owner, Stephen Franklin, right after I got the first shipment of flags. He proudly has it hanging on the wall which you should go see because their BBQ is hands down some of the best in the city!! Click here to drool: http://www.dasbbq.com/
I wanted to give back to the community somehow with the flags, so I decided I would donate the proceeds of the flag sales to a local charity. Our neighbors' kids across the street who had become our new best friends went to Bolton Academy which is the elementary school in the area so I thought that would be a good place to do it. The wonderful parents there have created a great volunteer fundraising organization called the Soaring Owls Foundation or SOFi for short. Their work gives the school resources above and beyond its APS budget to put toward short and long-term goals, from continuing education for teachers to capital improvements. Thanks to many of our amazing neighbors we have sold almost 100 Westside flags and have been able to donate almost $1,000 to SOFi! You can visit SOFi here: https://www.soaringowlsfoundation.com/
My husband and I recently moved to Sandy Springs (I know..we're traitors), but we still LOVE the Westside and have established many long-lasting friendships with some awesome people who plan to stay there for a long time. We really do miss all that the Westside has to offer so we go visit as much as possible. It's a great, growing area filled with wonderful people and it's still an affordable place to live so close to the city! #Westsideisthebestside!!