Century old brick mills turned into shops and lofts, with the light rail running at street level beside a paved trail.
What South End looks like
The runs through South End along the old rail and streetcar route. It is paved in asphalt, brick and concrete, with murals and steel sculptures set along the path. The LYNX Blue Line runs at grade beside it, level with the sidewalk rather than raised above the street.
Red brick mill buildings line the corridor, one and two storeys with rows of multipane factory windows set in a grid. Stair towers built to contain fires still rise at the corners of the oldest ones.
is built into a sloped site, one storey from South Boulevard, with the downhill side opening onto two full floors below. Its old loading dock is now a shop entrance, with floor to ceiling factory windows and a built in cotton weighing scale still inside. A few blocks north, has a stepped parapet roofline and a riveted water tower still standing on its roof, converted into design showrooms and restaurants around an open courtyard.
Newer apartment blocks in brick and panel siding fill the side streets around the mills, four to six storeys with ground floor parking entrances. A 23 storey glass tower rises at , well above the rooflines of the mills around it.
Shot in South End
Shallow Hal filmed a scene at , a storefront inside the Design Center of the Carolinas on Camden Road. The storefront is no longer Pike's Soda Shop, and the building now holds several other shops and restaurants in the complex.
Shallow Hal, 2001
Pike's Soda Shop
Hal and Rosemary share a milkshake at the counter inside, the shop playing itself rather than standing in for anywhere else. The storefront is no longer Pike's Soda Shop, though the building around it is still part of the complex's shops and restaurants. Street View
Roofman, 2025
The production closed South Clarkson Street and West Summit Avenue for driving scenes, with letters sent to nearby residents and employees ahead of the shoot. The street reopened once filming wrapped that November. Street View
Cabbagetown's Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts share the same brick mill scale and the same rows of factory windows set in repeated bays. A water tower still stands over the converted lofts, much like the one South End kept on its own former knitting mill. Cabbagetown's mill blocks run longer than South End's. The small frame houses nearby are a different scale, so a wide shot should stay close to the mill face to hold the match. Try searching brick cotton mill lofts now.
American Tobacco Historic District in Durham, North Carolina
The former American Tobacco buildings in Durham are the same century old brick and steel mix, warehouses converted into offices and restaurants around open courtyards. A water tower and a smokestack still stand over the campus, the same kind of rooftop landmark South End keeps on its own former knitting mill. Durham's water tower and smokestack are taller and more recognizable than South End's, so keep them out of a wide shot or the location gives itself away. Try searching brick warehouses water tower now.
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