Buckhead

“Buckhead isn’t what it used to be.” That could be the tagline for Atlanta’s best-known neighborhood, where politicians, rappers, blue-bloods, and the nouveau riche (and oh yeah, the governor) mingle with apartment dwellers, the cash-poor, and the entirely normal people; where fine international dining meets light-beer pub crawls; where Atlanta’s whitebread history of private schools and gated mansions are inextricably linked to (and incredibly removed from) the city’s African-American and urban fabric. In the mid-20th century, Buckhead was a rustic, white, middle-class bastion of high-school hoo-rahs and church Sundays. By the turn of the millennium, it was known internationally as the site of a double murder outside of a nightclub after the Super Bowl. Locally, it has long served as a derisive moniker for anyone who seemed too materialistic or entitled: “She’s very Buckhead, yes?” Today, the old commercial center—the Buckhead Triangle at Peachtree, Paces Ferry, and Roswell—is a redesigned, high-end shopping district. But some of the best places of Buckhead’s history still remain the same.

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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA

Address
1160 Moores Mill Road Northwest
Website
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If you don’t win acceptance at Cherokee Town and Country Club, you still have options for fitness and club-like socialization. Specifically, the Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA at Buckhead is a remarkable deal. Curled in a leafy nook where Moores Mill meets the interstate, it has all the weightlifting things you’ll need, plus full-court basketball, tennis courts galore, fitness classes, an indoor track—Jesus, they’ve even got a hot tub, a sauna, and a steam room. AND: To complement the indoor lap pool, an outdoor pool is open during the summer, and it includes a two-story twisty slide that is from the land of kid (and dad) dreams. The architecture lets in ample light and leaves room for motivational signs and views of the trees. And they’re expanding!

Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA
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Henri's Bakery

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