i got this s%$t from simpson road.
not to long ago, i wrote a somewhat tongue-in-cheek post about the renaming of simpson road to joseph e. boone boulevard*.
nothing tounge and cheek about this recent article about “boone avenue” in the ajc though. according to the article the 1300 block of simpson road is the deadliest block in the city of atlanta.
Three killings occurred in a recent 31-day span. Demetrius Holt, 25, was killed and four others were shot Dec. 7 when an unidentified man opened fire in the American Legion hall. Ronnie Hill, 46, was shot to death Nov. 28 after an altercation that began at the Tasty Dog. Paul Martin, 19, was shot to death Nov. 6 while in his car outside Ruby’s. No one has been arrested in connection with any of the slayings.
i’d like to sit here and rant about how the city and law enforcement should get serious about cleanig place like this up. the article says they have tried and failed and many things.
beats me what the answer is, though in the us in 2009 there ought to be one. at least better than just changing the name.
anyone got any thoughts? nothing our leaders come up with seems to be working.
Shirley Franklin has been fantastic for this city but the rest of our city government needs some serious help as well. The City of Atlanta police has never once proven to me to be a point of pride in my entire life of living in this city. You would think that even while this isn’t a highly taxed area — therefore, business-wise of less value to the city — that there would at least be a higher law enforcement infiltration in the higher crime areas of Atlanta. While I don’t claim to understand how the police force does their job, I know that they aren’t cutting it. Changing the street name didn’t help Bankhead Hwy either. It’s just the city trying to save face.
I’m a little new to the city, but I’ve always heard to avoid anything south of I-20 (save maybe EAV & the airport). But this is directly west of downtown…so I should avoid this too? Atlanta is looking more and more like an unsafe city with good parts than a safe city with bad parts.
Also, there are a few colleges clumped due south of Simpson Rd. Maybe they have something to do with all this?
One of the biggest problems facing the APD (besides lack of budget and leadership) is the revolving door prison system we have here in Atlanta and Georgia as a whole. The court system is a joke, prison terms too short and there is no absolutely no focus on rehabilitation of criminals.
Most of the criminals in the city end up with threee hots and a cot for a few weeks/months and then are back on the street selling dope and robbing people.
there is obviously serious poignancy to several of these comments after the events of the last few days.
jbaker, you basically want to stay away from everything on the westside past northside drive unless you know what you are doing.
<<sarcasm alert>> After all, changing the street’s name worked so well for Stewart Avenue. (That’s Metropolitan Parkway for you newbies.) >