Old Fourth Ward

Old Fourth Ward (O4W) has undergone more visible transformation in the past decade than arguably any neighborhood in Atlanta. The BeltLine Eastside Trail runs through its western edge, and that single piece of infrastructure turned what was a historically significant but underinvested community into one of the most desirable intown addresses in the city.

The neighborhood stretches from Ponce de Leon Avenue on the north to I-20 on the south, with the BeltLine on the west and Inman Park/Edgewood on the east. The northern half is where most of the new development has concentrated: Ponce City Market (the massive former Sears building now home to a food hall, retail, and apartments), new-construction apartment complexes, and adaptive-reuse lofts along the BeltLine corridor.

The southern half retains more of the neighborhood's historic fabric. O4W was the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., and the King National Historic District occupies several blocks along Auburn Avenue. Ebenezer Baptist Church, the King Birth Home, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change are all in the neighborhood, anchoring its Civil Rights history.

The neighborhood's range is part of its appeal: BeltLine trail access, a restaurant and nightlife corridor in the northern blocks, galleries and studios that give O4W a creative energy, and quieter residential streets in the southern half with proximity to both Midtown and Inman Park. Historic Fourth Ward Park (17 acres) is the neighborhood's central green space, with a splash pad, skate park, and the stormwater retention pond that doubles as an urban lake.