Fulton County commissioners vote 5-0 against data center tax breaks.
Commissioners specifically named potential deals with OpenAI and Anthropic in rejecting incentives for data center projects anywhere in the county.

Manuel's Tavern turns 70.
The Poncey-Highland institution has been pouring beers for politicians and regulars alike since 1956, and it's still going strong.

A Babe Ruth-era magnolia finally falls at old Ponce de Leon Park.
The centerfield magnolia that stood in play during Atlanta Crackers games, once dinged by both Babe Ruth and Eddie Mathews, has toppled near Ponce City Market. A small but genuinely mournful piece of Atlanta baseball history is gone.

New Hope AME Church wins landmark protection in Buckhead.
The historic church and cemetery now has formal preservation protections, a meaningful save for a piece of Black history in a neighborhood better known these days for luxury retail.

APS posts its best academic growth in a decade.
Atlanta Public Schools ranked No. 1 among metro school systems for academic improvement since the Georgia Milestones assessment launched in 2015.

We asked 150 people on Beltline what changes they want. Here's what happened
An urban planning report surveyed 150 Beltline trail users on priorities including transit, pedestrian safety and greenspace, compiling their feedback for future corridor development decisions.

Beltline: Days numbered for former Buckhead commercial strip
Atlanta BeltLine officials are kicking off demolition on the vacant Bennett Street commercial district near Piedmont Hospital, clearing the way for bridge repairs, future affordable housing, and expansion of the BeltLine's Northwest Trail.

DeKalb, Decatur post test gains; ELA scores delayed
City Schools of Decatur and DeKalb County schools both showed year-over-year gains on Georgia standardized assessments across multiple grade levels, while state English Language Arts results remain pending.

DeKalb superintendent plans community engagement teams for new school year
As the new school year kicks off, the DeKalb County School District is launching community engagement teams to strengthen communication between school leaders and families.

DeKalb health officials warn local restaurants of fake inspector
DeKalb County officials issued a public alert warning local food establishments about an individual impersonating a health inspector to film social media content.

RFK Jr. visits the CDC's Druid Hills campus.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. marked the one-year anniversary of the shooting at CDC headquarters with a memorial event and staff town hall on Clifton Road.

DeKalb names a new fire chief.
CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson appointed 26-year department veteran Melvin K. Carter to lead DeKalb County Fire Rescue.

Decatur eyes '10-minute neighborhoods' in growth plan
The City of Decatur is folding "10-minute neighborhood" concepts into updates of its comprehensive growth plan, aiming for residents citywide to reach parks, transit, and daily commercial services within a short walk or bike ride.

Atlanta Residents Map Nearly 500 Cameras in Neighborhood Safety Survey
Edgewood Neighbors documented nearly 500 security cameras across the area as part of a grassroots mapping project. This comes as camera surveillance continues to be a hot topic across the city.

Atlanta Beltline hosts first housing fair connecting renters and buyers with necessary resources
The Atlanta Beltline held its first housing fair this past Saturday, connecting attendees with resources for renting and buying amid rising housing prices along the corridor.

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Shop Back To School

Sargent, a Parisian-style bookstore-restaurant, opens soon in Old Fourth Ward.
Sargent is set to bring serious charm to O4W this month, blending books and a full restaurant in one space.

&pizza picks The Interlock for its first Georgia location.
The D.C.-based chain is opening this September in West Midtown, its debut in the state.

Vela Park opens in East Lake with 328 apartments and a food hall.
The $80 million, 14-acre mixed-use development held its ribbon cutting on August 5.

Tuk Tuk Thai closes after 16 years in Buckhead.
The Brookwood Place restaurant shut its doors for good on August 2.

Gusto! closes its West Midtown location after seven and a half years.
The bowl, wrap, and salad spot near IKEA has closed, another sign of West Midtown's shifting restaurant scene.

Buckhead Village adds Tom Ford Beauty, Roller Rabbit, and Unsubscribed.
The three new boutiques keep Buckhead Village's retail lineup skewing upscale.

Nearly 40 Buckhead businesses forced out to make room for Georgia's first Equinox.
Coworking tenants at a Buckhead space are relocating to clear the way for the fitness chain's debut Georgia club.

Go Greek Yogurt is coming to Toco Hills.
The California chain is opening its first metro Atlanta shop in a 950-square-foot space between Sababa's and Sola Salons.

East Atlanta Village is having a restaurant moment.
Four new spots, Bar Schmutzi, Joystick, Sagra, and Zarate Tiki Co., have opened this year after a wave of post-COVID closures.

Jamestown signs agreement for solar power at Buckhead Village
Real estate firm Jamestown has partnered with Cherry Street Energy to install solar power infrastructure across Buckhead Village, supporting broader sustainability goals for the neighborhood's commercial center.

Atlanta Track Club talks vision for new track, community hub in Summerhill
The Atlanta Track Club has released plans, including renderings, for a new track and community hub in the Summerhill neighborhood.

Fresh images, timeline, details for Beltline mixed-income build emerge
New renderings and a project timeline have surfaced for the Wingate mixed-income development along the Southside Beltline corridor near Grant Park and Ormewood Park, which is planned to include direct trail connectivity.

2000s-era Midtown office tower looks brand new after $20 million renovation
Property owners Cousins Properties and Town Lane have completed a $20 million modernization of the Proscenium office tower in Midtown. The comprehensive update revitalized common areas and tenant amenities to keep the 2000s-era building competitive with newly constructed Midtown high-rises.

In heart of Midtown, new greenspace set to welcome public soon
A 4-acre site across 14th Street from the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, formerly slated for the No2 Opus Place skyscraper, is being transformed into an interim public park set to open next month. Crews cleared nearly 800 dump-truck loads of dirt to fill the stalled excavation site and deliver accessible green space to central Midtown.

Other permit-watch items: Keep an eye on Glen Iris Drive in O4W, where a new ALO clothing store is doing an interior build-out, and on Howell Mill Road in Buckhead, where Corso Atlanta's Phase II tenant improvement package points to more dining and retail on the way. In West Midtown, The Body Creamery is filling an unfinished mercantile suite on Chattahoochee Avenue, and a long-vacant Flat Shoals Avenue space in the Memorial Drive Corridor just had its power restored ahead of a likely new tenant.

Piedmont Park Arts Festival takes over the whole park this weekend.
Expect artist booths, live music, food vendors, and heavy foot traffic radiating well beyond the park all Saturday and Sunday.

The Popsicle 5K/10K/Half Marathon runs Saturday alongside the arts festival.

Criminal Records celebrates 35 years with a multi-venue anniversary run.
The Little 5 Points institution has shows at Criminal Records and Little 5 Pub this weekend.

ShedFest 2026 rolls into Pullman Yards Saturday.
The festival is part of a busy Saturday on the Eastside.

The Beacon Hill Black Alliance Pan African Festival takes over Decatur Square Saturday.

Fish Bolt Park breaks ground in Chamblee Wednesday.
The groundbreaking ceremony marks a new addition to the city's park system.

Franz Ferdinand and St. Lucia both play Buckhead Theatre this week.
St. Lucia hits Tuesday and Franz Ferdinand plays Wednesday.

Other notable events: Midtown gets Eagles of Death Metal and Noname at Center Stage Theater and The Loft on Tuesday, plus a full week of yoga and markets around Piedmont Park. East Atlanta's Earl wraps its 27th anniversary series with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Saturday. Two Saturday road races, Run for PB&J and Bagel Run, hit the S Peachtree Creek Trail near Druid Hills. Brookhaven hosts a Chamber town hall Wednesday, and West Midtown's Chattahoochee Food Works runs its usual packed weekly lineup including a Saturday luau.

Atlanta City Council confirms a new city auditor and keeps grinding on a packed agenda.
The Committee on Council unanimously confirmed Stephanie Jackson as City Auditor for a five-year term, while the fuller council agenda includes agreements for Atlanta's 2028 DNC bid, a new pedestrian plaza near Grady Hospital on Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, tough new consumer protection rules for private parking garages, and a $5.6 million solar contract expansion.

Fulton commissioners reject data center tax breaks and set up a November transportation tax vote.
Beyond the headline votes, the board also revived a Budget Commission to help shape next year's budget, approved nearly $1.4 million combined for jail suicide prevention upgrades and new inmate transport vans, and locked in election agreements with Atlanta and Sandy Springs for November.

A citywide self-storage Special Use Permit rule is moving through nearly every NPU.
Backed by a large group of councilmembers, the rule would end by-right construction of self-storage buildings in commercial and industrial zones and force developers through a public hearing first. A parallel measure would apply the same permit requirement to medical cannabis dispensaries.

Council approved $36 million for water system upgrades and $2.9 million to survey unpaved streets.
The water infrastructure funding covers repairs including a long-unaddressed leak at Westside Market, while the unpaved streets money, pushed by Antonio Lewis, funds a citywide survey of gravel and dirt roads.

Brookhaven punts a senior homestead tax exemption decision to voters.
The City Council voted 3-0 to put a special election referendum on raising the senior tax exemption in front of voters instead of deciding it themselves.

Decatur commissioners reject a repeal of the residential parking program.
The unanimous vote keeps current parking rules in place while staff restarts an update process that could take up to three years. Commissioners also set the school millage rate at 20.30 mills and created a 20-member Task Force on Homelessness.

DeKalb's Clifton Road historic preservation appeal and several rezonings head to commissioners.
The Board of Commissioners takes up an appeal at 1080 Clifton Road in Druid Hills, along with Henrico Road industrial-to-residential rezonings and a chronic nuisance property ordinance.

O4W / L5P / Candler Park: ALO clothing store's build-out and a speculative fourth-floor suite at Ponce City Market lead the permit list, alongside four new single-family homes and Mary Lin Elementary's new outdoor classroom. On the roads, an emergency watershed repair will close a lane on Edgewood Avenue SE August 11th.

Midtown: Demolition is underway at 1422 W Peachtree for a ground-floor renovation, and a full-floor buildout is filling in at 1100 Peachtree, home to the attorney behind the Dewberry pedestrian boulevard pitch.

Buckhead: Corso Atlanta's Phase II tenant improvement package and a new members-only Mahjong Studio lead over 75 commercial permits, while 107 residential permits are dominated by tree removals. Road crews are tackling I-75 lighting between Musket Ridge Drive and I-85, SR 400 tunnel bridge repairs, and SR 9 resurfacing near Paces Ferry.

Memorial Drive Corridor (EAV / Grant Park / Kirkwood / Ormewood Park): A new 2,840-square-foot office building is rising on Hosea Williams Drive, and small business turnover continues along Flat Shoals Avenue, including a long-vacant space getting power restored for a likely new tenant.

VaHi & Morningside: A new restaurant build-out is filed for 1397 N Highland Avenue, and a vacant Cheshire Bridge Road commercial space is converting into salon suites with an all-new gut job. SR 13 (Piedmont Road) is getting resurfaced for the first time since 2012.

West Midtown & Collier Hills: The Body Creamery is building out a retail suite on Chattahoochee Avenue. Road work continues on the Northside Drive intersection cluster at 14th and Hemphill, plus multi-county bridge preservation work that includes a span on Moreland Avenue.

Brookhaven & Chamblee: The priciest permit this week is a $297,574 interior renovation at a care facility, alongside emergency responder radio upgrades at a Parsons Drive condo. Watch for continued Ashford-Dunwoody ramp widening at I-285 and SR 13 resurfacing toward Chamblee Tucker Road.

Decatur: A $200,000 demolition permit clears a house on Hillmont Avenue for likely new construction, and a College Avenue space is prepping to open as a restaurant. I-285 concrete rehab between Snapfinger Road and SR 8 could slow your commute, and transit access upgrades continue near the Kensington MARTA station.

Druid Hills & North Decatur: Emory's graduate student housing Phase II project continues with new fire sprinkler work, and a $585,473 home addition just closed out on Council Bluff Drive. A Toco Hills retail space is getting a $414,540 buildout with restroom and plumbing work that hints at a new restaurant tenant. On the roads, Lavista is getting a left-turn lane extension and signal upgrade near Shepherds Lane.

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Until next week,
Busybody ATL

Disclaimer: We use advanced data retrieval and analysis techniques across hundreds of sources, and may be prone to occasional error. Independently verify information with a secondary source, and please let us know if we got anything wrong via the feedback form.