This story is part of a series on the west side of Atlanta in which Rough Draft deep dives into how small business owners, residents, and visitors to the area view the boom in development and the issues it has created in a formerly industrial pocket of the city.
Kimberly Smith, early 50s
Grew up in Marietta, now living in Howell Station, while she’s displaced from a condo fire.
When Kimberly Smith was displaced by a fire at her Decatur condo in early 2025, she reached out to friends and family for temporary housing. It was unclear how long she’d need a place to stay, but she landed at her brother’s condo on the west side of Atlanta near The Optimist on Howell Mill Road.
Then, Smith’s friends, who are currently traveling across the country in an RV, offered her a discounted rate to rent their furnished home in nearby Howell Station. The neighborhood flanks Shirley Clarke Franklin Park (formerly Westside Reservoir Park) and the Westside Beltline Trail.
Howell Station is a secluded Westside neighborhood surrounded by the QTS Atlanta data center, Fulton County jail, and a Georgia Power transfer station. Shirley Clarke Franklin Park is less than half a mile away. The 300-home community includes a mix of historic houses and new builds, a small park, a playground, and an active neighborhood association.
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Smith, a Marietta native, said she hit it off immediately with her new neighbors, with whom she now exercises and socializes with regularly.
From Howell Station, Smith will often walk a mile to beauty appointments at the Honey Bee Waxing Studio, located in The Salon Lofts at The Interlock on Howell Mill, and neighborhood shops and restaurants, including Perrine’s Wine Shop, Star Provisions on Ellsworth Industrial, Agavero Cantina on Huff Road, and Pancake Social at Westside Paper. She drives, however, to get her hair done at ULTA Beauty at the District at Howell Mill complex beside I-75.
“I’m very hooked on the Westside, even though all my friends and my groups are all on the northeast side [of Atlanta],” Smith said. “I love the walkability and the new Beltline because I’m an avid walker, so I’m enjoying being able to say, ‘Oh, let me just walk there.’”
For her household, Smith shops at two Whole Foods locations on 14th Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue in Midtown across the Connector, as well as the Publix on Moores Mill Road, more than four miles north of Howell Station.
Smith doesn’t shop at the Publix at Atlantic Station. While closer to where she currently lives on the Westside, the store is too small for her needs.
“I go to Costco in Brookhaven because it’s where I’m used to going,” she said of other shopping destinations she frequents.
Smith continues to get prescriptions at the CVS on North Highland Avenue because she’s still not sure where she will ultimately end up living. The Westside has grown on her, Smith said, but she will most likely return to living in northeast Atlanta.
As a personal assistant, Smith is frequently on the east side of Atlanta and in Decatur to run errands for her employer, like grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions, and managing doctor appointments. From the Westside, she drives Marietta Boulevard to Donald L. Hollowell Parkway, hops on North Avenue by Georgia Tech, and goes straight into Atlanta’s east side neighborhoods.
Smith can often build her schedule around school and work traffic to lessen her commute to around 20 to 25 minutes.
“I do base what I control in my work environment to get over there around lunchtime and get back over here before 3 p.m.,” she said. “I rarely get stuck on the east side, but if I do, I add about 15 more minutes to my commute time.”
Smith sees the city making some improvements to pedestrian infrastructure on the Westside. She’s started to notice more sidewalks and paths, many connecting to the Westside Beltline and other amenities in the area. But there’s still more to be done, especially along heavily traveled corridors connecting Howell Station to the Marietta Street Artery.
“The major problem is the bridge on Marietta Boulevard and West Marietta Street that crosses the railroad lines. The roadway is dangerous and the sidewalk is sketchy, at best,” Smith said.