The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business groups.

[1] Midtown, situated between Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north, is the second-largest business district in Metro Atlanta.

[4] The definition and meaning of "Midtown" have varied over time, expanding from an original concept of a small neighborhood midway between Downtown and Buckhead.

The 1897 "North Atlanta" encompassed (roughly) most of today's Midtown, Georgia Tech, and English Avenue.

[8][9][10] Sources from the 1950s and early 1960s refer to the area as "Uptown Atlanta," a moniker which would later be applied instead to Buckhead following its annexation.

[11][12] The southern half of Midtown between 8th Street and North Ave was originally purchased by Richard Peters in 1848 to use the pine forest there for fuel for his downtown flour mill.

Over the next 40 years, Peters slowly subdivided sections of these land lots off for a gridded residential area and built his own home there on Peachtree at 4th Street.

The home, now called Ivy Hall, was restored by the Savannah College of Art & Design in 2008 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[15][16] As Atlanta grew ever further outwards from its historic center, mansions were constructed along Peachtree Street and the area around 10th was known as Blooming Hill.

The Downtown Connector freeway opened in the 1950s, and the blocks between Williams Street and Techwood Drive were demolished to make way for it.

In 2006, then-Mayor Shirley Franklin set in motion a plan to make the 14-block stretch of Peachtree Street a street-level shopping destination.

Activities of the Alliance include improving neighborhood safety, developing area arts and education programs, and building community leaders.

A 2011 Creative Loafing article claimed that:[24]No part of the city has evolved more dramatically over the past two decades ... Impersonal office buildings, imposing parking decks and cold asphalt arteries have given way to high-rise living and an explosion of street life ... Where once there was a wasteland, now there are great restaurants, groceries, specialty shops, townhouses, lofts, and ... people.In the early 1980s, Midtown Atlanta was a blighted area mainly consisting of parking lots.

[28] Furthermore, Midtown is home to many corporate headquarters, such as Equifax,[29] EarthLink,[30] Invesco,[31]The Coca-Cola Company,[32] NCR, and CNN/Warner Bros.

[44] The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, representing the Republic of China, is located in the Atlantic Center Plaza.

Midtown is the home of the Atlanta campus of Savannah College of Art and Design, which is located in historic buildings throughout the district.

Piedmont Park is the finish line of the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on Independence Day.

Piedmont Park is the home of the Southeast's largest multicultural festival, Festival Peachtree Latino, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture with arts and crafts, family activities, sporting events, a parade, dance demonstrations, ethnic foods, and a live music stage featuring international performers from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.

In addition, the campuses of Georgia Institute of Technology, John Marshall Law School, and the Atlanta division of the Savannah College of Art and Design are located in Midtown.

The Midtown Ecodistrict was created in 2012 as a platform for the community to collaborate on initiatives that results in improved environmental and economic performance.

Green operational practices in the areas of energy, water, transportation and waste were implemented in an effort to make Midtown one of the most livable, vibrant and sustainable districts in the country.