For years, Reynoldstown has been trying hard to get some respect. The neighborhood already had a place in history as a home for freed slaves after the Civil War.

But by the 1970s, things had gone downhill. A community association had to fight for its share of city services, including streetlights and police patrols. In the 1980s, the Reynoldstown Revitalization Corp. was formed as a partner of the civic group to repair the deteriorating bungalows and cottages of working-class residents and to attract new development.

So what has had the most powerful impact on changing the look of the historic neighborhood? It may be Atlanta's traffic.

Many new residents, weary of long commutes, have discovered you can get from Reynoldstown to downtown Atlanta in just a few minutes on a MARTA train. And the housing is affordable. A bungalow in need of some TLC can still be snatched up for less than $150,000. Meanwhile, abandoned warehouses and industrial buildings along Memorial Drive have been reborn as posh lofts with stunning downtown views.

Recently, new single-family homes, condos, townhouses and lofts have been added into the mix.

"To me, it's prime real estate," said Kevin Lewis, who moved into a unit at the new MillTown Lofts a few months ago. "I'm a native Atlantan, and I always knew this was an up-and-coming area, but recently I saw visual evidence that it was gentrifying quickly with new construction, restaurants coming in, and buildings being converted to lofts."

The evidence was contradictory to the image many still have of Reynoldstown: a run-down community with crime. "I don't think this was ever Crackville, USA," said Lewis. "There was just a lot of urban decay. There wasn't so much a bad element living here; just no element."

Pam Mayo, head of the Reynoldstown Civic Improvement League, has lived there most of her life and has watched people's attitude toward the area change.

"I do remember a time when people said, 'I wouldn't dare live over there,' " she admits. "I've seen it when it was a nice, cozy area where people left their doors open. I've also seen it run down, infested with drugs and prostitutes and people who didn't care. But there's been a huge change in the last five years. Now not only are new people discovering our neighborhood, but children whose parents owned property here are staying to renovate and remodel."

Mayo's home -- the one she grew up in -- is like much of the older housing in the area. The one-story cottage has three bedrooms, one bathtub with an old claw-foot tub, hardwood floors, a dirt basement and a big back yard.

"I thought about moving maybe eight years ago," Mayo admits. "But I'm glad I didn't. I enjoy being in town. I tell everybody I'm 15 minutes from everything: Centennial [Olympic] Park, the malls, I-20. And with all the new construction, the new developments, I'm so excited about the neighborhood."

Reynoldstown Revitalization Corp. has played an important role in changing attitudes and streetscapes. Headed by Young Hughley, whose father was a civic leader in the neighborhood, the RRC works to attract new residents and new housing projects and to improve the quality of the housing already in place.

"We spent our first five years doing owner-occupied rehab work because the first thing residents wanted was to have their own homes improved," Hughley said. "More than 280 homes have been worked on to stabilize the housing stock."

You can see the results of the RRC's work in vacant lots and at the A&P Lofts, South Park Lofts and Reynoldtown Square, a joint venture of the RRC and developer John Wieland. When completed, the project will have 46 flats, lofts, condos and townhouses priced from the $120,000s to the low $200,000s.

"Reynoldstown Square is a mix of affordable and market-rate homes," Hughley said. "We try to maintain the balance. The houses here are from $85,000 up to $280,000, but the average home price has been around $135,000."

Price and location were important to Audrey Davenport, who had lived in Decatur. "I liked the history of Reynoldstown, that it was established by freed slaves, and I wanted to be intown," she said. "Now I have a 1,200-square-foot unit with two bedrooms and two baths in a great building."

Davenport was introduced to Reynoldstown while working on the neighborhood's annual Wheelbarrow Festival, an arts and entertainment gala in June. The event raises funds that are plowed back into the community.

Despite big improvements, the area is only on the cusp of being popular, said Bill Shoemaker, who is an agent with Keller Williams Realty and has lived in South Park Lofts for two years.

"It's not quite discovered by the masses yet," he said. "There are definitely some good deals there. A single-family home with three bedrooms and two baths that needs some rehab can still be found for about $125,000. The new construction is into the $200,000s, and that's definitely affordable for intown right now."

There are days when Mayo can hardly believe she's on home turf, including her back yard, which borders one of the area's newest housing developments.

"Ten years ago, you couldn't have given someone a house here," she said. "Now a lower-income family may not be able to afford some of things we have here. The new properties are quickly getting expensive, and property values have skyrocketed. But I can't I can't see myself leaving. I've never lived anywhere else."