A Step Above the Basics: Elevating Perimeter’s District Appeal with Exceptional Care

Perimeter is much more than a typical business district; it’s a place that many people and businesses call home and spend time. And like any cherished neighborhood, it deserves ongoing TLC.

Here, keeping the district inviting and appealing is a shared commitment. Property owners, city services for Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven, along with the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts’ (Perimeter CIDs), all play their part in cultivating an appealing district that stands out for its clean, well-ordered, and inviting atmosphere.

The Day-by-Day, Block-by-Block Effort for a Debris-Free Perimeter District

The Perimeter CIDs’ five-person landscaping and maintenance team goes a step above the standard with block-by-block efforts to keep the district clean. Five days a week, the team travels the district to make sure landscaped areas stay perfectly neat, cleaning up windblown debris and everyday litter that gets trapped along the roadways, in medians, and on sidewalks. This attention to detail translates into a welcoming environment for everyone to enjoy.

“Five days a week, we’re going through the district, cleaning it up, maintaining it, and making it a pleasant experience for everyone,” says Andrew Long, Project Manager at Perimeter CIDs.

This effort is no small feat – Perimeter is one-square-mile wide and two-square-miles long, with 100 medians and several miles of sidewalks. Despite the vast coverage area and the daily challenge to clean up debris from nature and Perimeter’s bustle, this extra care is a worthwhile investment to maintain Perimeter’s appeal.

A Commitment to Quality Landscaping

What makes Perimeter extra special is its shared environment across public and private spaces. The district is home to more than 5,000 companies and about 3.35 million square feet of commercial spaces; three cities and two counties converge to make up the Perimeter district. All totaled, Perimeter’s varied geographic tapestry comes together cohesively through attention to street-level aesthetics, especially landscaping.

Property owners and businesses in the Perimeter district often take extra care to landscape around the street-level and gateways of their private land. While the business community does its part to personalize landscaping on their properties, the Perimeter CIDs team provides the same level of attention to areas within the public domain. For example, plants for medians are chosen to match the ones property owners put on curb lines. The result is a cohesive community identity along corridors and throughout the district.

“We aim for our landscaping efforts to not only match but elevate the community’s overall aesthetic,” Long notes. “The private property owners are putting in A+ efforts to maintain their properties with nice landscaping, and we’re matching that effort in the areas near their properties.”

The median along Ashford Dunwoody Road in front of Dunwoody City Hall undergoes a sustainable transformation. The addition of native plants, including Muhly grass, enhances aesthetics and promotes stormwater management.

In addition to matching the level of care, the Perimeter CIDs landscaping team also selects plants that will do well in the local, urban environment. This includes 11 plant varieties that have been chosen for their hardiness, their suitability to the climate , and their ability to thrive in urban areas. These include:

  • Asiatic Jasmin
  • False Holly
  • Loropetalum
  • Silhouette Sweetgum
  • Hydrangea
  • Tea Olive Fragrans
  • Northern Red Oak
  • Nandina Lemon Lime
  • Grass Muhly
  • Liriope Silver Dragon
  • Bermuda sod
Perimeter Center West undergoes a refreshing streetscape upgrade (right). The median in front of Terraces South is adorned with low-maintenance Loropetalum shrubs.

Making Perimeter a Beautiful Place to Be

It’s easy to miss all the effort that goes into keeping Perimeter beautiful – and that’s by design. Landscaping and maintenance efforts are meant to get rid of glaring eyesores. If Perimeter CIDs does the job right, the neat and unassuming landscaping will fade into the background.

But what won’t fade is the enjoyment everyone can get from a day in Perimeter. Its cleanliness and visual cohesion are among the many things that make Perimeter enjoyable, accessible, and most importantly, a place that feels welcoming to all.

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