College Park, Georgia

== History ==
===19th century===
[[File:CoxCollege-1900.jpg|right|thumb|Cox College and Conservatory, 1900]]

The community that became College Park was founded as Atlantic City in 1890 as a depot on the [[Atlanta and West Point Railroad]]. The town was renamed Manchester when it was incorporated as a city in 1891. It was renamed again as the city of College Park in 1896. The city's name came from being the home of [[Cox College (Georgia)|Cox College]] (where the city hall and other buildings now stand) and Georgia Military Academy (now the [[Woodward Academy]]). The east–west avenues in College Park are named for [[Ivy League]] colleges, and the north–south streets are named for influential College Park residents.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA224 |title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States |publisher=Routledge |date=May 13, 2013 |access-date=30 November 2013 |author=Hellmann, Paul T. |pages=224|isbn=978-1135948597}}</ref>

===20th century===
During World War I, the name of Wilhelm Street was changed to Victoria Street in "solidarity with our British brethren." At the same time Berlin Avenue was changed to Cambridge Avenue and the name of German Lane was changed to English Lane.<ref>The Progressive Era and the Great War, 1896–1920 by Arthur Stanley, AHM Publishing Corporation, 1978</ref> The history of College Park has been closely linked with what is now known as [[Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport]]—airport development having spurred several radical changes to the landscape of the municipality over the course of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Airport/ATL/Airport_History.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301150527/http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Airport/ATL/Airport_History.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2011|title=Airport History|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> In 1966, a study funded by the [[Department of Housing and Urban Development]] suggested that the introduction and expansion of jet aircraft travel would place the airport and surrounding communities, including College Park, into conflict; ultimately, the study concluded that "the only effective way to control the use of land is to own it," suggesting that the airport would have to acquire the properties it would be in conflict with in order to expand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/planATLpubs/id/21762/rec/19|title=Atlanta metropolitan region comprehensive plan: airports|website=library.gsu.edu|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref>

In the 1970s and 1980s, large swaths of property in College Park were purchased using information detailed in The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Noise Land Reuse Plan, which allowed the airport to apply for federal funding to purchase property deemed to be in so-called "noise land."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stumptown.typepad.com/stumptown_ga/|website=stumptown.typepad.com|access-date=15 August 2018|title=Stumptown, GA}}</ref><ref name="bub">{{cite web|url=https://lithub.com/blowing-up-bungalows-to-make-way-for-airports/|title=BLOWING UP BUNGALOWS TO MAKE WAY FOR AIRPORTS, ON ANOTHER KIND OF URBAN DISPLACEMENT IN ATLANTA|website=lithub.com|access-date=15 August 2018|date=2017-04-19}}</ref> The 1985 [[Chuck Norris]] film [[Invasion U.S.A. (1985 film)|''Invasion U.S.A.'']] was notoriously filmed in these abandoned portions of College Park; houses owned by the City of Atlanta and the FAA were allowed to be blown up to simulate bazooka attacks, a decision that has faced modern day criticism due to the fact that nearby properties were still in the process of being purchased.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Zita, Josef (Director) |date=May 15, 2003 |title=The Making of Invasion USA. |medium=Motion picture |location=United States |publisher=Cannon Films}}</ref><ref name="bub" /> This site would eventually, in 2003, in part be home to the [[Georgia International Convention Center]]; the center officially opened in 1985 at a separate location, but was relocated to the area in response to planned airport runway expansions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kemp|first=Kathryn |date=2009 |title=Historic Clayton County: The Sesquicentennial History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cY0cZj6XJsC&q=georgia+international+convention+center+runway+expansion&pg=PA80|pages=80–81 |publisher=HPN Books |isbn=978-1-935377-05-4}}</ref> Today, the GICC is the second largest convention center in Georgia, featuring a carpeted ballroom and multiple spaces for meetings, conferences and conventions. It is the only convention center in the country that also houses a SkyTrain with direct rail access to an international airport.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} Directly next to the Georgia International Convention Center is the [[Gateway Center Arena]], which opened in November 2019, home to the NBA's G-League [[College Park Skyhawks]] and where the WNBA's [[Atlanta Dream]] will play their 2020 season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arenagatewaycenter.com/|title=Gateway Center Arena @ College Park|website=Gateway Center Arena @ College Park|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-13}}</ref>

In 1978, the College Park Historical Society was founded in order to combat proposed northward expansion of the airport; the society succeeded in lobbying against proposed flight paths over the neighborhood colloquially known as Historic College Park, as well as registered swaths of homes and the Main Street commercial district with the [[National Register of Historic Places]], eventually resulting in the establishment of the College Park Historic District.<ref name="bub" />

Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, as part of continued execution of the FAA noise abatement program, the City of Atlanta and the FAA purchased roughly 320 acres of property (containing residential structures, churches, and some small commercial buildings) immediately adjacent to the west side of downtown College Park, resulting in a multitude of properties sitting abandoned for decades.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/04/06/320-acre-development-set-to-take-off-by-airport.html|title=Exclusive: 320-acre development set to take off by airport |website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> The totality of these eventually abandoned properties purchased from the 1970s through the 2000s have been described as a major player in shaping a negative public image of the city, second only to the perception of crime in the area.<ref name="comp_plan">{{cite web|url=https://www.collegeparkga.com/DocumentCenter/View/2597|title=City of College Park Comprehensive Plan 2016–2036|website=www.collegeparkga.com|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815024144/https://www.collegeparkga.com/DocumentCenter/View/2597|archive-date=15 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Recent history===
====Hip hop====
Although the [[Atlanta hip hop]] music scene in the 1980s and 1990s was largely credited to artists from nearby suburban [[Decatur, Georgia|Decatur]], College Park and the adjacent city of East Point have been strongly associated with [[rap musician|artists]] and [[record producer]]s from "[[SWATS]]" ("Southwest Atlanta, Too Strong"), who have substantially contributed to the evolution of the [[southern hip hop]] genre over the course of the 2000s.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kysEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA106 "Revolution Rock: Atlanta's Goodie Mob fight for truth, justice, but not necessarily the American Way", ''Vibe'', June-July 1998]</ref>

====Gentrification====
While the controversial process of [[gentrification]] started in the larger [[Atlanta Metropolitan Area]] in the 1970s, it was only in the latter 2010s that redevelopment substantially spread to College Park proper.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/us/gentrification-changing-face-of-new-atlanta.html|title=Gentrification Changing Face of New Atlanta|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=15 August 2018|date=2006-03-11|last1=Dewan|first1=Shaila}}</ref> In 2016, the College Park government embarked on a 20-year development plan which included goals "to expand its economic base while keeping its small town historic characteristics," and to "make use of its available land to attract new employers and residential opportunities."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collegeparkga.com/DocumentCenter/View/2597|title=City of College Park Comprehensive Plan 2016-2036|website=www.collegeparkga.com|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815024144/https://www.collegeparkga.com/DocumentCenter/View/2597|archive-date=15 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 2017 saw the construction of a [[mixed-use]] project which contained the first mid-rise apartments to be constructed in the city since 1969.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/5-things-know-pad-harvard-college-parks-first-new-mid-rise-40-years/|title=5 things to know about the Pad on Harvard, College Park's first new mid-rise in 40 years|website=www.atlantamagazine.com|date=26 October 2016|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> From the 1990s and into the 2010s, the City of College Park succeeded in repurchasing the entirety of the 320 acres adjacent to downtown; in 2018, concurrent with substantial commercial and residential development in the area, the City of College Park announced major redevelopment of this abandoned area, now referred to as "Airport City," as part of a larger transit-oriented revitalization plan referred to as "Aerotropolis."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aeroatl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/aerotropolis-atlanta-blueprint-final.pdf|title=The Aerotropolis Atlanta Blueprint|website=aeroatl.org|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref>