The Buckhead Reporter offers this look at the Ardmore Park neighborhood as part of a series of profiles on local communities.
People move to Ardmore Park to raise families and enjoy some of the nicest green space around, residents say.
Like many Buckhead neighborhoods, it’s bordered by haphazard development that attracts horn-honking traffic along Peachtree Road. But thanks to an abundance of trees it’s somewhat secluded from the disorder that defines the southern end of the Atlanta’s most affluent community.
Ardmore Park Neighborhood Association President Tom Gordon said that makes it attractive to homebuyers.
“It’s kind of hidden,” Gordon said. “People don’t really realize it’s here, which is fine with us.”
The neighborhood encompasses four blocks between Collier Road and 28th street, Peachtree Road and Ardmore Road. It’s in the E. Rivers Elementary School district.
At one point it was all land owned by the Collier family and it was the scene of the 1864 Battle of Peachtree Creek.
Historic markers scattered throughout the neighborhood are the only acknowledgement of a battlefield long since gobbled up by development. Gordon said some residents have found bullets from the battle buried in their yards.
Most of the homes date to the 1940s and 50s and there are also brick condominium buildings across from Piedmont Hospital that are part of the neighborhood. Many homeowners have
chosen ivy over grass and the tangled green leaves carpet many front yards. The neighborhood boasts a solid network of sidewalks and homes that are similar in spirit, if not in aesthetic. The gold, red and green brick homes are proof of that.
Between the multifamily and the single family dwellings there are 300 to 400 residents living there and many of them keep dogs, Gordon said.
“People know each other in many cases by their dogs and not as individuals,” Gordon said after reaching down to scratch a neighbor’s dog behind the ears.
The neighborhood tolerates most of the traffic, but there are drivers who cut through on their way to Piedmont Hospital, Gordon said. Then there are people who park their cars wherever they choose, but Gordon said Ardmore residents are winning that battle. They’ve convinced PARKatlanta, the city contractor known for zealous enforcement of parking laws, to keep non-residents from leaving cars where they don’t belong.
The residents of this small neighborhood are good at sticking together, Gordon said. Dan Bauer, former Neighborhood Association president, said the park is the main reason he lives there.
He said the residents banded together 11 years ago to buy 7 acres south of the original park footprint from a developer. Through their efforts, they were able to match money they raised with money from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
The residents immediately turned it over to the city and it became an expansion of the smaller park. Now the neighborhood is one stop on the Atlanta Beltline, which runs under a railroad bridge and into Tanyard Creek Park.
“Overall, the park is one of the best amenities the neighborhood has,” Gordon said.
