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Never mind Peachtree Street, give me Cheshire Bridge Road.

We know from the AJC, of course, that something like 21 “landmark projects” are stalled along the Peachtree Street/Road spine, but life goes on along Cheshire Bridge Road, which is at least as old as Peachtree.

Where else will you find a Colonnade Restaurant, or an Alfredo’s, or a Nino’s, or a Woodfire Grill, or the Doll House or 24K Club — you get the idea.

Don’t get me wrong. Peachtree Street is Atlanta’s defining thoroughfare, known worldwide as one of the most prestigious addresses as it winds north from downtown Atlanta through Midtown to Buckhead and beyond.

Peachtree is slick and sophisticated, while Cheshire Bridge Road is, well, skuzzy, a miscellany of food, booze, antiques, flesh and other attractions. But I like it that way.

And those of us who love the road and especially those who do business there are going to celebrate this week.

Tuesday through Thursday, July 21 through 23, will be “Taste & Tour of Cheshire Bridge 2009,” from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day. The establishments taking part are located along Cheshire Bridge Road from Piedmont Road on the south to just north of LaVista Road on the north.

According to their promotional brochure, the celebration will feature “a complimentary tasting at all participating restaurants, an open house with product samples, raffles, and silent auction from specialty and retail stores.”

The Cheshire “taste & tour” is a fund-raiser for Open Hand. Altogether 19 restaurants and 12 retail and other stores will participate, which costs $10 for a one-day pass, $20 for a three-day pass and 3-day family pack for $80. (The tour website is www.tourofcheshirebridge.blogspot.com.)

And let me make this clear, nobody put me up to this. It’s just that I like scruffy streets such as Cheshire Bridge Road, Ponce de Leon, North Highland, Memorial Drive and others, the real “city” streets that are unique to Atlanta. As much as I like Peachtree, with its glitzy high-rise post-modern architecture, it looks like the same thing you’ll find in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Miami and any number of other big cities with landmark buildings designed by international architects and built by national developers.

The Taste & Tour might be a good time for people who don’t often visit Cheshire Bridge Road to have a look before something happens that changes it — this is Atlanta, after all. I don’t have anything to go on but rumors but I’m told that much of the property on Cheshire Bridge Road is owned by a real estate company that has plans for upgrading — plans that are stalled for now by the economy.

And I’m sure the plans call for something grand and attractive. But I would really hope the developer would not do what so often happens in Atlanta, by taking a viable neighborhood with an establishing personality, razing it and putting up a plush mixed-use development that resembles every other mixed-use development you’ve ever seen.

The Cheshire orbit has already lost several classic establishments over time, including South of France Restaurant and Happy Herman’s. If city planners have their way, it would lose more.

Back in the ‘90s, the City of Atlanta did a corridor planning study that envisioned a future of “shade trees, outdoor cafes, fountains, public art and an eclectic mix of restaurants, neighborhood businesses and specialty shops.”

To be sure, Cheshire Bridge Road could use a few more shade trees, but it seems to me that this strip of property is already well endowed with attractions.

According to the late, great Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett, and others, Cheshire Bridge Road pre-dates the city of Atlanta, and shows up in state militia records as early as May 1823.

What became Cheshire Bridge Road was originally a farming corridor which attracted white settlers in the 1820s. Two brothers — Napoleon and Jerome Cheshire — owned farms on opposite sides of the South Fork of Peachtree Creek and connected their farms by a bridge known as Cheshire Bridge – ta Dah! The corridor remained farming until the early 20th century, when suburban development and then commerce moved into the area.
In its corridor plan a decade ago, Atlanta’s planners had the right idea: “No longer should Cheshire Bridge be seen as merely a road, but rather a community of residents and businesses,” they wrote in their planning document.

It’s been awhile since that study was completed, but if they asked me for my advice right now, I’d say, “Don’t mess with a good thing.”

See y’all at the ‘Nade.

1. Cliff Green says:

   July 19, 2009 at 8:35 pm

   Yeah. Leave the road be. When I was younger…Well, never mind…

   Reply
2. Dallas says:

   July 19, 2009 at 10:01 pm

   History that matters! Thank you, Tom, for this tribute to “a good thing” and for keying us in to the source of that name with a bridge in it … and we’ll see you “there” – at the ‘Nade.

   Reply
3. Mary Civille says:

   July 20, 2009 at 12:29 am

   Cheshire Bridge Road offers anything and everything. There are few places in Atlanta where you can get a vegan meal at two distinct restaurants at 2 a.m., while encountering a very staid tweed sportscoat- and button-down collar-wearing, downtown professional in enough leather to make a Harley sit up and take notice. I love it — and the Colonnade.

   Reply
4. Peggy Roney says:

   July 20, 2009 at 12:37 am

   Well written with fascinating history–I didn’t want it to end. For sure, I’ll see Cheshire Bridge Road anew!

   Reply
5. Susan Puckett says:

   July 20, 2009 at 7:37 am

   Fascinating story, Tom –
   And thanks for the heads up on this event…what a great idea!

   Reply
6. Michael says:

   July 20, 2009 at 9:47 am

   Cheshire Bridge is such a gamut of sleazy, fun and good eats (regrets to Alton Brown) fun road for those of us who have been Atlantas for some time. Looks as if it will be great time for all!

   Reply
7. Richard Hyatt says:

   July 20, 2009 at 9:54 am

   If you like Cheshire Bridge Road you’ll love Stewart Avenue. I know. Somebody gave it another name in an effort to gentrify the Alamo Plaza and all its other landmarks. Name change or not, it still has the scuz of old.

   Reply
8. Montana L says:

   July 20, 2009 at 10:41 am

   Thanks for this. Agreed with all.

   Reply
9. kimdegualle says:

   July 20, 2009 at 10:53 am

   I love this article. Thank you. I cannot stand urban sprawl; no matter how aesthetically pleasing a developer tries to make it, it always fall short. Character is developed over time, not built in a day. Honest neighborhoods mean so much to so many. Thanks again.

   Reply
10. Mary Lee (aka Bootsie Lucas) says:

    July 20, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    great story, tom. i say plant some trees and leave the rest alone. dallas and i moved back to atlanta last year and were happy to see that cheshire bridge hadn’t changed a bit. yay!
    mary lee

    Reply
11. Darby says:

    July 21, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    I lived in Atlanta back in the day before the sky turned sepia. As a once a year visitor, it is clear to me growth is not always a good thing. I have been living in Portland Oregon so I may be a little radical in my views on conserving resources. When I visit Atlanta I can easily get lost three miles from where I once lived because nothing looks the same. My apartment has gone condo, only one old watering hole left standing; I guess all the change keeps the kudzu at bay.

    Reply
12. Ralph McGill says:

    July 29, 2009 at 3:03 am

    –The street of broken dreams– is the nickname I gave good ole’ Cheshire Bridge when I was old enough to understand. When I was a young boy in the early-mid 1970’s ” The Bridge” was a mysterious avenue where my Father would perk up and his head looked like he was watching Borg vs. McEnroe and my Mother would act as she had sinned just for driving down the street. Porn, Prostitutes, Poppers; and yet some of the City’s best Fried Chicken at the Colonnade, Italian at Alfredo’s, and Seafood at the Red Snapper. How could one not love Cheshire Bridge?

    Well Tom, we stand at a crossroads, part of wants to do as Cliff suggested, and just leave her be. The other wants to go the road of the “Clermont Louge” and turn into a hipster paradise. Well, personally agree with Cliff, but not naive enough to know that her days are numbered and “The Street of Broken Dreams” will fall prey to Atlanta’s hunger for development. Get it while it’s still good! P.S. I miss Franklin Garrett!!! Great Man.

    good!

    Reply
13. Denis says:

    August 1, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    My introduction to Cheshire Bridge road was when my wife and I came down in 1991 to check out Atlanta and see if wanted to relocate from DC. A guidebook I used recommended the Colonnade Motor Lodge as a good value. At first I was suspicious but the room turned out ok. Staying on Cheshire Bridge was a great intro to Atlanta. We found it funny how the road had this progression of restaurant, restaurant, strip club, restaurant, repeat. It showed us a side of Atlanta we probably would not have discovered if we stayed downtown or out on the perimeter. The one restaurant we miss is San Gennaro’s (the Italian Feast). Nice old style Italian restaurant like up north.

    Reply