Sorry, Old Fourth Ward and Little Five Points. There can only be one “Brooklyn of Atlanta.”

That’s according to online travel publication Brooklyn Of, which recently set out to crown the “coolest neighborhood” in more than 150 cities worldwide, from Seoul to Mexico City and Melbourne. 

In EAV’s case, abundant used vinyl, dive bars, ubiquitous street murals, and big-wheel racing as time-honored tradition equated to high marks when it comes to resembling the New York City borough of 2.7 million residents, per the travel atlas. 

Three other eastside neighborhoods—Little Five Points, Old Fourth Ward, and Reynoldstown—made the podium as “runners-up,” a Brooklyn Of rep tells Urbanize Atlanta. (Elsewhere in Georgia, Savannah’s Starland District earned the “Brooklyn Of” label, which we can attest is about as accurate as possible for The Hostess City.) 

The list’s compilers acknowledge that “nobody goes to Atlanta looking for New York,” noting that “Brooklyn Of” has become shorthand (and a popular short-term rental search term) for a specific type of neighborhood “where independent culture, serious coffee, and creative energy define the character.”

Traditional big-wheel racing at the East Atlanta Strut, 2017. Shutterstock

The East Atlanta Strut, which returns Sept. 26 and marks its 30th anniversary in 2028, was cited as a Brooklyn-esque selling point. Ditto for food-and-drink mainstays Banshee and Argosy. And the burger and live tunes at inimitable dive The EARL.  

The methodology, hardly scientific, is described like this: “The method is personal experience where we have it, far too much research where we don't, and in most cities a sense-check with local tastemakers. Meaning friends of friends who live there and have opinions.” 

EAV's Southern Feed Store along Glenwood Avenue in 2025. Shutterstock

No neighborhoods are asked to audition or pay for the Brooklyn Of designation, and $11 IPAs and $4,000 one-bedroom apartments are not prerequisites (we kid).   

East Atlanta Village “has a walkable core where a whole night out stays inside the neighborhood, live music even on a weeknight, and murals covering the brick in between,” according to a Brooklyn Of creator who goes by Per. “The locals we ran the pick past did not argue much. Atlantans are welcome to tell us we are wrong.”

So, ATL, considering all of the above ... are they wrong? 

...

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