Beltline: A fait accompli? (more on Duany)
What I took away from Andres Duany’s visit to Atlanta last week is coming out in dribs and drabs here.
I was looking at his plans for the five neighborhoods that sought his help, and I was struck by how he and his team incorporated Beltline infrastructure (which is to say, proposed Beltline infrastructure) into the plans as if it were a done deal.
(In particular, I’m referring to plans for Boulevard Crossing in southeast Atlanta, below Grant Park. You can see Duany’s proposal on the Web site of the Atlanta Regional Commission, which invited him to Atlanta).
My point isn’t to drag down the Beltline. I live about three blocks from the Beltline and sometimes I fantasize about boarding the streetcar proposed for my section.
What I’m saying is, have we reached the point where we can really take it for granted that the Beltline is going to happen?
Or is it that the nine-day charrette Duany presided over in February, and the plans he produced for Boulevard Crossing, Toco Hills and three other neighborhoods are all so theoretical in nature that we might as well heap the Beltline on top?
In a previous post, I mentioned the $300,000 the developers spent to bring Duany to the ARC event. I really hope he didn’t come as part of some theoretical exercise.
But most people in Atlanta, myself included, have little first-hand knowledge of the Beltline. It’s right beneath our noses but access is restricted or available via a bus tour (for the weekly Beltline tours).
Folks like Angel Poventud are trying to make people more aware of the Beltline. But I’m guessing in most people’s minds, not to mention in just plain reality, it’s a remote possibility. So can we really include it in other development plans as though it’s a done deal?
Related posts:
- Duany: Time to get things right Atlanta I attended a two-hour workshop this morning that featured noted...
- Beltline Walk #2 — West End to Reynoldstown I took my second Beltline walk with Angel Poventud...
- Details on Duany’s visit Wednesday I have the details of Andres Duany’s return visit to...
- Beltline bushwhacking You may remember a post that I wrote a...
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