A lively conversation about 1970s life in Virginia-Highland prompted this essay. So many things are gone or changed beyond recognition.
"Survivors" is designed to embrace the places that have either survived intact and remained shabby — Nick's and the Old Fourth Ward tower. It also celebrates those that have survived and become a vital part of their newly gentrified intown neighborhood — the Irwin Street Market, the old Fulton Bag Mill (aka The Stacks) and Home Grown, the former Mammy's Kitchen.
It pays homage to South Highland's old blocks of the 1920s multi-family apartment buildings that survive despite the nearby modern apartment blocks; the long-term adherence to character, Daddy D'z, and businesses that have thrived doing what they do in the same location such as Veterans Radiator Co. and Azar's.
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There is, of course, East Atlanta Patch's ultimate survivor: Oakland Cemetery.