AJC Packs Up & Heads OTP
Decatur Metro | April 16, 2010
On the AJC’s last official day in its Marietta Street office in downtown Atlanta, the New York Times gives it a little ink-love.
When The Atlanta Journal-Constitution moves into its new home next week, its employees will have access to free parking, more natural light and a wide variety of “retail, service and dining options” at Perimeter Mall, according to a memorandum from the newspaper’s publisher, Michael Joseph.
What The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will not have is a home in Atlanta.
A move out of Atlanta by the city’s only major newspaper raises an interesting larger question about the present media landscape: In a 21st century world of virtually free and easy communication, how important is office location?
Photo courtesy of Fresh Loaf
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I wish they would have moved a little farther north…say….Cleveland?
Ohio or Georgia? Or maybe Tennessee.
LOL…OHIO definitely.
At the rate the AJC’s circulation is dropping/plummeting , I would not sign a long-term lease……
5 years from now, the current 25-30 page daily paper will be down to 5-7 pages and even more irrelevant.
Don’t count them out quite yet. I’ve heard rumblings that they’ve been back in the black since late last year.
Perimeter having more dining options than Downtown is a JOKE! Have fun driving to McDonalds and sitting 14 cars deep in the drive-thru line.
Well, there are plenty of dining options at Perimeter, but you’ll either be 14 deep getting into the parking lot or 14 deep waiting for a table or 14 deep waiting for the light to change..
The wig options at CP are appalling.
I think this is an interesting point — how much office location matters in an age when electronic communication is so much a part of the way office workers interact. Telecommunications technology and the high-speed connectivity tools that support it will quite possibly put an end to the standard central business districts in cities. These districts have less and less relevance as people telecommute from home and communicate with coworkers with IM and email rather than walking to their office down the hall.
Considering that most metro office workers seem to live in the suburbs, why make them drive congested highways to a central business district in urban Downtown, Midtown or Buckhead five (or more) days per week? I’d like to see more office parks similar to the new AJC Perimeter offices dotted throughout the suburbs. It just makes sense to locate the offices closer to the homes where most of the metro population lives.
Plus, land tends to be less expensive in the areas outside the established central business district. I’m sure it will be much less costly for the AJC to operate in the Perimeter office. Plus, driving and parking will be easier for the ones who live in the northern suburbs.
I think a major reason they re-located to the Perimeter is because Cox headquarters are already located there.
It is very ironic (and sad) that the AJC is not even a true City of Atlanta newspaper anymore.