ATLANTA — Take a walk, just down the street from all of the demonstrators outside the Fulton County Jail Thursday— just down Rice Street, a half a block.
It is a walk into another world.
“It’s a great, quiet, intown neighborhood.”
Those are the words of Grant Knox about the neighborhood where he lives, the Howell Station neighborhood.
Howell Station, in northwest Atlanta, was founded in 1893— long before the jail was built next door, in the 1980s.
And that jail, and the commotion on Thursday when former President Donald Trump surrendered at the jail, were all a world away from Knox and Brian Smith and their at-home business making and selling cornhole boards.
“Very walkable, safe neighborhood, and we enjoy each other’s company,” Knox said of how close residents are to each other.
The jail is a world away from all that Arthur Toal and the neighborhood association are doing to help Howell Station and its population of more than 1,000 residents thrive.
Redevelopment is flourishing.
“It’s kind of exploded,” Toal said Thursday, “because we’ve got the BeltLine, it’s just right over here, and then Westside Park is just to the other side of that, and that’s attracted a lot of development. The development of West Midtown is moving this direction. All that really provides a lot of incentive and value to the neighborhood.”
There are only a few homes on the market. One of them, a three bedroom, 2.5 bath, with 1,482 square feet, is listed at $525,000.
Residents were saying Thursday how much they appreciate the sheriff helping keep watch in Howell Station this week-- during what were historic numbers of visitors driving and walking through their neighborhood to get to the jail, just down Rice Street, and make their voices heard.
John Mays, seeing and hearing it all from his front porch, was taking it all in stride.
“The jail has been good neighbors to us,” over the years, Mays said, speaking of how the sheriff and the residents communicate with each other about issues important to the community.
“Obviously today is one of those probably historical days, that may never happen again,” Mays said. “And everybody’s been on good behavior, and people obviously feel real strongly about the situation, one way or another.”
All of the demonstrations and chanting and sign-waving faded quickly Thursday night after Trump left the jail on bond. All of it was a world away from the oasis of calm called Howell Station.
“We’re looking forward to things going back to normal,” Toal said with a smile.