Northlake is the name of a mall, a suburban office retail district and also geographic area of about 20 square miles, in approximately 2.5 miles around Northlake Mall--in DeKalb County, Georgia. Northlake, the business district, sits right on top of the Northeast part of Atlanta's "ring road" (bypass), Interstate 285. I-285 was opened in 1969 while Northlake Mall was under construction and the mall opened in 1971, just a few months after Perimeter Mall.
Unfortunately, "Northlake" is not a community name--at least not adopted easily by nearby residents.
That may be about to change. In conjunction with a revamped DeKalb County Comprehensive Land Use Plan that defines Lavista Road business center as a "Regional Center", it is now zoned for eight to fifteen-story apartment and condominium buildings in a mixed-use setting--via what is called an "zoning overlay", planned with Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) funds. The area shown for residential towers can easily accomodate 4,000 new living units. The mall property is underutilized by "mixed-use" standards as a retail-only site with acres of surface parking area. Thousands of new residential units within a half-mile of the mall may necessitate centrally-located schools and other "town-like" public services.
What will make the "Northlake Core" gain "town" status would also be the development of a commuter rail station on the CSX rail line near Montreal Road or across I-285 at Crescent Center. Prior to WWII (and the industrial parks of the late 1960's), a train station existed at Montreal Road. Past is prologue and we will be using trains more than cars again, particularly from town to town.
A rail station always determines an area's "brand". It will then be convenient for the entire 15 square-mile area around "Northlake Station" to tell people from outside Atlanta and other regions in the Metro area that we live in "Northlake" or near the "Northlake Station".
Think 10-15 years for the "brand" to complete itself.
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