One of my goals this year is to walk more. I knew walking in my own neighborhood would feel boring, so I decided to make it more interesting by exploring different parts of Atlanta, not just the usual spots like Midtown or Grant Park. My plan was to randomly choose neighborhoods within the city’s Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs).

In 1974, Mayor Maynard Jackson created NPUs to give Atlantans greater local control, especially those who lived in historically disenfranchised areas. Today, there are 25 NPUs, labeled A through Z (No U).

For my first walk, the random selection landed on NPU Z, located in Southwest Atlanta. After checking Google Street View, I chose the Lakewood neighborhood, which is the largest in NPU Z.

Lakewood sits south of Lakewood Heights, which is the neighborhood more people know. Some of its streets include McWilliams Rd., Burroughs Ave., Jernigan Dr., Thaxton Dr., and the southern stretch of Browns Mill Rd. The neighborhood was largely developed in the 1950s, though a few homes date back to the late 1800s. Browns Mill Park Baptist Church first appeared in local newspapers in the early 1950s.