Piedmont Road is like a stab wound through the heart of the city. This must be one of the ugliest streets in the world. At the very end of it is Atlanta's Piedmont Park, which is a great park (though it could be a lot better) but one has to drive on the street in order to get there. There are also attractive neighborhoods located off of this street, Peachtree Hills, Garden Hills, and Peachtree Park for example, but one wouldn't know it based on the true starkness and ugliness of this road.

Congested or fast-moving traffic impedes pedestrians. Rarely does one see pedestrians on this street. There is a lack of human scale: no trees, power lines everywhere, very wide street with concrete median in the middle, parts of the street lack a sidewalk. There are also undesirable uses (the famed Gold Club _ a seedy strip club _ was located on this street until it was shut down.)

Vehicles dominate the space. It is completely unfriendly to pedestrians.

People use it for one reason: as a way to get someplace else.

No one shows this off to relatives _ unless it is as an example of what not to do.