I’ve been asking myself this question ever since the over-hyped, mixed-use, mega-city first opened to the public in 2005. At first I chalked it all up to on-going construction. “Once this place is finished, kids will play in the fountains, elderly couples will walk hand-in-hand along the wide sidewalks, and 20 somethings will sunbathe in the parks.”, I thought. But that hasn’t been the case. In the two plus years since its opened, Atlantic Station has continued to look as dead as its ever been. Which has led me to speculate that either no one lives here or the homes and apartments are inhabited by some sort of mole people straight out of the 1956 sci-fi movie.

Tell me you don’t have the same experience? Whenever I drive across the 17th street bridge into former brownfill country for an embarassingly frequent Banana Republic fix, all the residential areas are a wasteland. Sidewalks? Empty. Porches? Empty. Apartment balconies? Empty. Parks? Empty.

Maybe I just don’t know where to look. Maybe all the families hangout away from where all the chainstore junkies congregate. I wouldn’t blame them if they did. But I have a sneaking suspicion that’s not the case.

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