SoNo, Atlanta

SoNo (South of North Avenue) is a sub-district of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, just south of Midtown. The area was defined and named by T. Brian Glass while working on a rezoning committee with Central Atlanta Progress in 2005 in order to better establish an identity for the area and give it a hipper image.^[1] SoNo refers to the area of Downtown bounded by North Avenue on the north, Central Park Place on the east and the Downtown Connector (Interstate-75/85) on the west and south.^[2]

Ongoing urban renewal efforts in the new neighborhood seek to establish a chic cultural identity for the underdeveloped area, as well as reunite the Midtown and Downtown commercial districts (which have remained mostly divided since the construction of the Downtown Connector through the heart of the city), including a proposed "interstate cap" over the highway that would extend Mayor's Park south along Peachtree Street to Baker Street.

SoNo is home to several attractions, including Emory University Hospital Midtown, the Atlanta Civic Center, Shakespeare Tavern and the Bank of America Plaza, the city's tallest building. It also is home to the historic Baltimore Block and Rufus M. Rose House. SoNo's centerpiece Renaissance and Central Parks were also the site of Atlanta's annual Music Midtown festival, before moving to Piedmont Park.

Public transportation is provided by MARTA with buses and with the north-south rail line serving the Civic Center station.^[3]