It sure sounds like every place I thought was nice when I lived in Cola is now run down and full of rift-raff. I last lived in Shandon. AJ’s restaurant was on the corner of Devine and Maple. 5 Points was like a safe little town of it’s own with about a dozen diverse great places to eat and hang out. My apt was only .9 miles from there so getting home was easy after a night out.
I used to run down Maple to Millwood, then right up to Dreer HS, then right all the way to Rosewood, then right back through Shannon to home or I’d weave my way down to 5 Points then back up Devine to home. Now I never crossed Millwood or ran up to Harden or crossed Rosewood. Those streets were kinda the dividing line before you got into the hood, but from there all the way to Rosewood was safe. I never once ran into any trouble or felt threatened even when I once ran that route at 3 AM.
You could rock the night away at Rockaways and finish at Pug’s or any other club/restaurant/bar in 5 Points. The Vista was brand new, and only had a few places to eat or drink, but we often started evenings there before heading elsewhere. I didn’t have much reason to venture over to Cayce/West Cola except to get some Popeye’s fried chicken or Maurice’s BBQ. Bush River Rd/St. Andrews/Dutch Square/Broad River Rd. was teaming. Parts of it weren’t the best, but certainly not the worst either. It’s sad to hear that pretty much all these areas and places have become so run down, unsafe, and even violent.
The years I spent in Cola were some of the worst and best of my life. I loved living there (15 years counting 4 at USC), and in some ways wish I’d never left, but eventually almost all of the folks I loved there moved elsewhere with new spouses or jobs including me. Such is life.
