People ask what sold them on Kirkwood, and my answer for a decade has started with the same word: outside. Not a backyard on a golf course, but the kind of outside that is shared: parks everybody treats as their own,and trails that will eventually stitch the whole east side together.
Bessie Branham, the neighborhood living room
She sits at 2051 Delano Dr NE,roughly 7 acres in the middle of the grid: tennis and basketball courts,baseball fields,a playground,a recreation center,and even an outdoor ping-pong table whose net is a metal Kirkwood sign. On a Saturday you will find the whole hood here,and nobody minds sharing the walk loop.
Coan Park and the trolley line
A few blocks over,Coan Park carries the Trolley Line Trail straight through its middle. Locals use the outdoor fitness equipment along the trail,and the path doubles as the neighborhood bike lane when nobody is looking. It is low-key,it is free,and it runs through the trees.
The 1.1 miles that matter
The Eastside Trolley Trail is a 1.1-mile protected multiuse connection,nosing ground broken back in July 2022,that is being built to tie existing paths straight into the Atlanta Beltline. When it lands,Kirkwood flips from a great neighborhood with a car to an east-side hub that you can quite nearly live without one.
See them you for yourself
The next time you are in intown Atlanta,start your tour at Bessie Branham,and I will point out what sold us on every block.
Plan the walk