Atlanta Neighborhoods

Buckhead Atlanta

An address in Buckhead--be it for home or business--is a mixed blessing. Certainly some of the ritziest but also some of the bawdiest and most rowdy elements call this area just north of Midtown home. Still, through the years, Buckhead has held onto its claim as the most renowned and fashionable of all Atlanta neighborhoods.

The legends of how Buckhead came upon its unusual moniker are varied, but most center around the killing of a large deer by a local hunter in the early 19th Century, and the subsequent mounting of said animals noggin over a popular public house. While taste and public health ordinances have made such sights less common in recent years, the wild tavern tradition of the area is still in full swing, and most nights of the week find the bars of Peachtree and Bolling Way doing a brisk business. The pace on Friday and Saturday nights escalates to such a degree that the streets of downtown Buckhead become all but impassable, and several roads are routinely shut down to allow for the safe passage of the stumbling masses.

Despite the regular disorder brought on by the drinking crowd, Buckhead's downtown area, generally demarked as the intersection of Peachtree and Paces Ferry Roads, remains clean and safe, and is home to many fine shops, restaurants and day spas. Arguably, both the city's best steak and finest seafood are to be found within a literal stones throw of each other, the former lodged on the ground floor of the tallest building on Peachtree (Chops), and the latter set off by a four-story, cast-bronze salmon (some say trout) that towers over Pharr Road (Atlanta Fish Market).

As you move away from the bars and shops of ground zero Buckhead, a growing battalion of high-rise luxury apartments and condos attracts the city's most prosperous up-and-comers. Gradually, small skyscrapers are beginning to dot the landscape of Buckhead's perimeter commercial area, as office and condo space is sold at an astronomical premium.

Some things resist change more strongly than others, however, and the tree-lined neighborhoods west of Peachtree, especially along Paces Ferry Road, live on as exquisite enclaves of old Atlanta money. Just a mile down this awe-inspiring stretch of road from the rollicking, disco-themed Have A Nice Day Cafe sits the august Georgia Governors Mansion. Many local celebrities and the families of early Atlantans make their homes in the wooded estates scattered hereabouts. A casual driving tour through these gently winding backstreets has a tendency to make one feel like a rolling prop in a pictorial out of Southern Living or Architectural Digest. The paradoxical proximity of these bucolic streets to crowded and hectic Peachtree Road is at the heart of contemporary Buckhead, and is perhaps what gives the neighborhood such wide, energetic appeal.

If you're not in a strictly business rush (and your wallet doesn't mind), the central location and frenetic activity of Buckhead make it an ideal spot to stay. World-class hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and The Westin Hotel - Buckhead stand just steps away from the city's most elegant shopping venues in Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square Mall. And if the restaurants, shopping, and nightlife aren't enough for you, never fear. The Atlanta History Museum sits at the center of it all on West Paces Ferry Road, watching the progression, keeping careful records of Buckhead's latest transformation.