South DeKalb Is Changing. We Went and Asked Who It Is Changing For.

There is a lot happening in South DeKalb. Announcements land, signs go up, and the explanation rarely follows. Hearing that something is coming and getting someone to walk you through what it actually means are two different experiences, and most residents only ever get the first one.

So we went out and asked. This is what the walk covered:

• Candler Crossing, on foot, on site.
• Belvedere Plaza, and where things stand with it.
• A new cottage community, explored up close.
• Local entrepreneurs working along the corridor.
• Resources for residents, both for buying a home and for growing a business.

The question underneath all of it is the one I kept coming back to between stops. New opportunity is arriving in South DeKalb. Whether it can honor the neighborhood's history while creating real opportunity for the people who already live there is not a question the groundbreaking answers for you. It gets answered in who gets hired, who gets financed, and who is still there in five years.

That is the thing about a corridor in motion. The buildings are the visible part, and they are the easiest part to report. The harder part, and the part worth the walk, is the people already doing the work next door to the construction fence.