Westside Stride; Midtown bike lanes; Glydways vision; Serenbe; more!

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WESTSIDE—Sunday’s forecast calls for clear skies and a high temp around 70—ideal weather, that is, for opening up Atlanta streets and boogying in places like Home Park and Marietta Street Artery. 

Promising to be bigger and better than ever, the fourth-annual Westside Stride Block Party is on tap from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. This year marks the first time it’ll be held in partnership with Atlanta Streets Alive—old pros at ciclovía-style street fests like these. 

Expect Howell Mill Road to be off-limits to vehicles all afternoon from 17th Street down to 8th Street (where The Optimist seafood restaurant operates). The event will double as a chance for Upper Westside CID to show off sidewalk upgrades and new protected cycletracks on 10th and West Marietta streets. 

Throughout the blocks in question, plans call for more than 90 booths from local vendors and artists, numerous DJ booths, live music on two stages (including one at Northside Tavern), and activities for the kiddos that range from a petting zoo to a bounce house and fall-themed tiny house. Atlanta in the autumn at its finest, in other words. 

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MIDTOWN—Midtown Alliance reports this week that construction of the 1.1-mile Piedmont Avenue Complete Street project is progressing in multiple places—and on pace to be substantially complete by the spring. 

Construction that includes a barrier-separated bike and e-scooter lane and wider sidewalks is nearly complete south of 10th Street on Piedmont Avenue, following completion of roadway resurfacing from Ponce de Leon Avenue to 10th Street in recent weeks. 

Meanwhile, north of there, hardscape construction is underway on the western side of Piedmont Avenue between 10th and 15th streets along Piedmont Park. Midtown Alliance also relays that all required tree-pruning to create more clearance along the full route is wrapping up, too. 

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OLD FOURTH WARD—From the Department of FWIW, one reader recently envisioned an AI-assisted world in which a system of ATL airport-style Glydways has replaced any semblance of Beltline rail. (A sort of crosstown, elevated Beltline connection would also be included in places, per the Tron-ish visuals.) 

Let’s keep the pitchforks at bay, remember that food for thought isn’t advocacy, and have a look at this hypothetical eastside ATL below: 

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SOUTH DOWNTOWN—Months after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, restaurant openings (hello, Ida’s Kitchen Counter) and general momentum continues at South Downtown, where a district-wide communal thank you is on the horizon. 

On tap for next Sunday (Nov. 15) is a free event that South Downtown spearheads are calling the “Sunday Shindig,” which is planned as a family-friendly means of looking back and celebrating "the neighbors, builders, tenants, and friends who helped bring [us] to this moment,” per officials. Live music, lawn games, a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt, kid crafts, a hot chocolate bar, and the Atlanta Falcons’ live, televised victory over the Kansas City Chiefs (1 to 4 p.m.) is all on tap. 

Here’s the flyer:  

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SERENBE—Last but not least, fans of live music and day-tripping should skedaddle down to Serenbe on Saturday for the rollicking, annual Chatt Hills Porchfest, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the scenic New Urbanist community’s Grange Hamlet. 

Expect live music on numerous porches, live cooking demonstrations from SKS executive chef Nick Ritchie, food trucks, regional artists’ works on display, and time-honored family draws like face-painting and crafts. 

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