Virginia-Highland

Virginia-Highland (VaHi to anyone who's lived in Atlanta longer than a week) is the neighborhood that proves you can have walkable urban living without giving up trees, front porches, or a sense of community. Named for the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue, it started as a streetcar suburb in the early 1900s and has spent the last century becoming one of Atlanta's most desirable intown neighborhoods.

The architecture is the first thing you notice. Craftsman bungalows, four-square homes, and cottages from the 1905–1936 era line streets like Greenwood Avenue, St. Charles Place, and Rosedale Road. Original hardwood floors, wide front porches, and a mature oak canopy that makes summer feel ten degrees cooler.

North Highland Avenue is the spine. Independent restaurants, bars, and shops packed tight enough to make a car unnecessary on weekends. The BeltLine Eastside Trail forms VaHi's western edge, and Piedmont Park sits immediately west, 200 acres that function as the shared backyard for the entire intown corridor.

The neighborhood has a creative streak woven into its DNA, from the independent shops to the gallery walks to the live music that spills out of bars on summer evenings. The Virginia-Highland Civic Association (VHCA) is one of Atlanta's most active, which is a polite way of saying the community cares deeply about what happens to its streets.