The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rising crime risks neighborhood’s revival
Blight still surrounds Lakewood Heights even as newpeoplemove in.
Beltline- adjacent, with reasonably priced homes and a convenient location, LakewoodHeights seemed to be primedfor a revival.
But the crime wave that roiled the city this summer hit the Southeast Atlanta community particularly hard. And its showing no signs of abating. On Thursday, a man was found shot dead inside a car near the gated entrance to SouthBend Park. Police are treating it as a homicide.
The week before, a man was shot and killed less than a mile away at the Little Bear Food Market on Jonesboro Road. That’s as many homicides in one week than occurred in all of 2018 and 2019. For the year, there’s been fifive in Lakewood.
“We hear gunshotsmost every night,” said KellyJeanne, a39- year schoolteacher who moved into the neighborhood in 2016. That year, a national real estate web site, citing FBI crime data, named
LakewoodHeights theninthmost dangerous neighborhood in the U. S. But crime has been a problem in Lakewood for much lon
ger than that.
Back to the past
“This was a solid, working class neighborhood at one time,” said Gloria HawkinsWynn, who has lived in LakewoodHeights for more than two decades.
Fifty years ago, the area was an industrial hub, with GeneralMotors’ Lakewood Assembly Plant the biggest employer. It’s where the Chevrolet Chevettes and Caprices were first produced. But consumer interest fizzled and, in 1988, GM laid off 1,600 workers. Two years later, the remaining 2,200 employees lost their jobswhen the plant was shut down permanently.
Hawkins- Wynn, president of the Lakewood Heights Neighborhood Association, said the job losses devastated the community.
“That’swhen crime really becameaproblem,” shesaid. Lakewood Heights became a civic afterthought — abandoned plants, vacant homes and pervasive blight.
Jeannesaidmanyresidents feel like it’s “the red- headed stepchild” of Atlanta.
“Every city has those neighborhoods— out of sight, out of mind,” said Jimmy Moore, whomoved in eight years ago.
Despite the persistent crime, Lakewood retains appeal because of the home prices. You can get a 1,055- square foot fully refurbished bungalow, with two bedrooms, two baths and an outsized deck, for $ 225,000.
Developer Omar Ali said he sees considerable potential in Lakewood Heights. He’s invested in a mixeduse development he says is 90% leased out. Ali also is building 20 houses in the neighborhood and, in three weeks, is opening a vegan restaurant.
“This area has been neglected long enough,” he said
But Aliworries that Lakewood’s renewal is at risk.
A sense of lawlessness
appears to prevail, particularly in the community’s main corridor around the intersection of Jonesboro RoadandLakewoodAvenue. A recent afternoon found cars making brief stops, drivers making quick exchanges withpeoplestandingaround.
“Prostitutes, drug dealers ... it’s the same thing every day,” said LakewoodHeights resident Travan Foster, 36.
Squatting is anothermajor concern inLakewood, where the vacancy rate is 69%, Ali said.
“We need some help,” Ali said.
Atlanta Police Interim Chief Rodney Bryant acknowledged the ongoing problems in Lakewood and said APD needs to build stronger relationships with the community.
“What we recognize is that the problems are generally beyond the scope of just policing,” Bryant said. “We can’t arrest ourway out of a given situation. There are other levels of resources that I think we’ll be able to bring to bear as it relates to us addressing that type of barrier.”
Bryant said he favorsmore
community policing.
“It starts with us really just sitting down and having a dialogue with the residents of that community to see howtheywant things policed and howwe can better serve them,” he said.
Moving on
“We’re in the middle of
the bad stuff,” said Foster, an illustrator. He moved to Lakewood two years ago.
Foster said he decided on Lakewood after comparing housing costs in other parts of the city. And he felt the Beltline— cleared but not yet paved — would eventually revitalize the neighborhood.
But his patience is running
thin. The recent homicides have Foster considering a move.
“Lakewood has been neglected for so long you just wonder if it can overcome all of its problems,” he said.
Moore, treasurer of the neighborhood association, said there are, by his count, 77abandonedhomesinLakewood. Until those homes are razed or refurbished, “little is going to change,” he said.
“Some of these properties have been vacant for 10 years,” said Moore, 43. “If you’re not going to do something with it, sell it. They are crime magnets.”
Moore said he still believes Lakewood has potential but he probably won’t be there to see it.
“We are actively trying to move,” he said.
Losing homeowners like Foster andMoorewould not bode well for the neighborhood’s future, Ali said. But he understands, saying if the situation does not improve within the next year he’d seriously reconsider future investment.
Still, there remains a steady influx of new residents. Homeowner Kelly Jeannecautioned thatchange will take time.
“It’s not going to happen in three to five years,” she said. “Thestructure is there.”
Hawkins- Wynn said Lakewood has too much going for it to fail.
“Progress is coming,” said Hawkins- Wynn, 65. “This is one of the last affordable neighborhoods in Atlanta, and with theBeltline as close as it is ... there’s no going back now.”