Atlanta has no shortage of places to meet. We wanted one that represented what we love most about Atlanta.
Community. Entrepreneurship. History. Good food. Interesting people building things.
We found all of that at Pittsburgh Yards.
Pittsburgh is one of Atlanta's oldest Black neighborhoods, with roots stretching back to the 1880s. The neighborhood grew around railroad work and became a place where Black Atlantans built homes, businesses, churches, and community institutions. That history is worth a much deeper story of its own, but it is part of what makes this location feel different from picking another coffee shop or coworking space.
The land at Pittsburgh Yards has a surprising story too. Part of the site was once farmland used by Clark College's agricultural department. Later it became the Great Southern Trucking Terminal, which Pittsburgh Yards says was the second-largest trucking terminal in the world when it opened in 1951. Today, that same land has been reinvented again as a 15-acre business and community destination centered on entrepreneurship and economic opportunity.
That last chapter is what first made us think about Pittsburgh Yards as a place for the Atlanta chapter.
A Place to Work and Build
More than 140 businesses operate at Pittsburgh Yards, and entrepreneurship is built into the purpose of the development. The Nia Building offers coworking, offices, meeting rooms, and other spaces for people building businesses and organizations. The coworking options are also intentionally accessible, which makes the space useful when you need something between working from home and renting a traditional office.
That works for us. Sometimes community does not need another formal event. Sometimes we need Wi-Fi, a table, a few laptops, and enough time to work through an idea together.
The space itself is part of the recommendation. It feels practical and approachable, which is exactly what we want from an informal chapter home base.
Then Walk Outside
Pittsburgh Yards sits right beside the Atlanta BeltLine Southside Trail. When the laptops close, the conversation can keep going outside.
The Container Courtyard makes that even easier. The colorful container-style spaces are home to small businesses where you can grab coffee or food, shop, and spend some time before or after a walk on the BeltLine. Businesses there have included Urban Grind BrewBox, The Creamy Spot, Carrot Dog, Ideal Barbers, Atlanta Bicycle Rentals, Pink Pothos, and Adam J's.
That is much closer to our idea of networking than standing around exchanging business cards. Grab coffee. Get some work done. Meet somebody new. Walk the BeltLine. Support a local entrepreneur. The setting does a lot of the work for you.
You Might Find Us Here!
We're making Pittsburgh Yards our unofficial home base and recommending it for informal networking and community meetups.
That does not mean every Atlanta chapter event will happen here. We are still going to Pull Up all over the city and support the organizations and communities that make Atlanta's tech scene what it is. But we also want a familiar place where relationships can develop outside of scheduled events.
We plan to announce more opportunities to meet at Pittsburgh Yards in the future, including casual coworking sessions, networking, and other chapter activities.
So if you hear us say, "We'll see you in the Yard," now you know exactly where we'll be!