First developed in 1893, Virginia-Highland (VaHi) in northeast Atlanta was one of the city’s original ‘trolley suburbs.’ The neighborhood’s borders – Briarcliff Road on the east, Ponce de Leon on the south, the BeltLine and Piedmont Park on the west, and Amsterdam Avenue on the north – were formalized in the early 1970’s amid a multiyear fight that stopped the Georgia Highway Department from building a four-lane freeway across the community. Land cleared along Virginia Avenue for that road was turned into John Howell Park. Today’s VaHi has the city’s oldest continuously operating fire station, a public library, three parks, more than a half dozen places of worship, and a historic commercial corridor of restaurants & shops. Springdale Park Elementary – better known as ‘SPARK’ – sits on VaHi’s eastern border; Grady High is on the western. They join Inman School and the newly reopened Howard MIddle School in the Old Fourth Ward as our public schools. Virginia Highland is a happening area with a vibrant bar and restaurant scene. On North Highland and Virginia avenues, young locals sip coffee and cocktails in quirky cafes and shop for organic tea and funky homeware. The landmark Plaza Theatre screens indie films. Green spaces include Orme Park, which runs along Clear Creek and has a playground, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden