Justin Hosbey

Observer
SciCycle
I think my position on it was twofold in a way in terms of how I experienced the event because on the one hand I was an observer of it in an official capacity, but also that's the neighborhood where I grew up. I told Jonathan I worked at a place that was right there. I went to that [inaudible], so that was really my neighborhood. I think I have emotional ties to the areas where it goes beyond just my observations. When I pulled up to the event and I saw everything I thought about just how rapidly that corridor is gentrifying. And I thought about how, "Wow, this really can seem like a colonial event where there's these outsiders who are coming in and they block the entire Cascade Road. Even though there was a big turnout of people who were from the neighborhood, there was a lot of turnout for folks who are not from that part of town. And probably have never been to that part of town before who were there for the event. So I think that on the outside looking in, not knowing the event...outside of Atlanta, just the Streets Alive initiative itself. I think that the way it flat down in that neighborhood, as somebody who's from there it read to me like, "Wow, okay, they're gentrifying this neighborhood. It's like a pilot test for, "How do we make this street more safe?" Because now they're justifying Café Corridor because that intersection has been dangerous. I didn't even know it though, because I never heard anybody say that before. But apparently it's been dangerous for a long time and nothing's happened all these years and now would it be different by and Belt Line is right there. Now Street Alive comes and now you have this cycle Atlanta Fest. And because I'm outside the neighborhood, I'm not coming. So it can read like, "Oh my God, these are outsiders coming in and what are they doing here?" And that was my initial emotional response to the event.