The upside of commercial vacancies (not)
I suppose if you had a whole bunch of empty storefronts under your control and New Line Cinema came along and said, “Hey we’d like to film a Farrelly Brothers movie called ‘Hall Pass’ that stars Owen Wilson in your empty shops,” you’d say yes.
But isn’t it a bit sad that that’s how you’re using these empty shops, recession or no?
Isn’t a bit sad, and potentially a sign that your strategy isn’t working, if the only use one particular corner shop has seen is as a fake Borders and now a fake real estate office?
That’s what’s happening at Glenwood Park (above), the planned, new urbanist community between Grant Park and East Atlanta.
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“Streetcar Envy” in CL
Please check out a story I wrote this week for Creative Loafing on Savannah’s streetcar. You can find it here, along with some cool photos of the streetcar (just look at this beautiful 1925 re-conditioned Melbourne streetcar!)
Obviously in light of the U.S. DOT’s decision not to grant Atlanta federal funds for the Peachtree Streetcar, it’s a bit depressing to contemplate other cities having trolley service.
But this is a topic that I just find fascinating. Consider the position of the parking industry.
They are decidedly FOR streetcars. Here in Atlanta, Lanier Parking, played a key role in studying the feasibility of the Peachtree Streetcar.
When I interviewed Glenn Kurtz, an official with Lanier, he said we Atlanta residents have “put all of our eggs in one basket in terms of our transportation system.”
“It used to be location, location, location. Now it’s become access,” he said.
“When everyone is driving downtown and going into these parking decks and then leaving at 5 p.m., it doesn’t work. It can be a challenge getting in and out,” he said.
(He thinks if the streetcar came to Peachtree Street, people would ditch their cars at various points and hop on the streetcar for the final leg of their journey).
In Savannah, the streetcar comes under the parking department. Sean Brandon, who’s head of the parking division, said the streetcar is not a silver bullet, but rather a tool to use in concert with other tools to reduce congestion.
“Streetcars are not going to stop someone from Gwinnett County driving into downtown Atlanta,” he said. “But what they do is give infill urban areas a chance to increase density, and it gives your public transit system new ridership. That’s because someone using a streetcar will have no problem [transferring to] commuter rail or buses.”
Medical Arts Building signage hearing April 1
Here’s the hearing notice on Google Docs of the hearing before the Board of Zoning Adjustments: 100210 BZA due 4-1-2010 Medical Arts Building.pdf – Google Docs.
h/t Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association
No go on the Peachtree Streetcar
Ariel Hart of the AJC reports that Atlanta will not receive federal funds to build a streetcar line here.
As Ariel puts it, “The loss for the streetcar is one more drop in the bucket of metro Atlanta’s mass transit misery.”
She has all the details here.
It’s times like this that I like being a blogger. Because it would have been hard to write the story Ariel had to write.
Streetcar announcement today — I hope!
Photo credit: kevinseanw via Flickr
Good morning!
As you probably know, Atlanta expects to hear word today whether it has been awarded up to $300 million in federal funds to build a streetcar system downtown.
MARTA and several other organizations put together an application for funds, which, if awarded, would help bankroll a six-mile line on Peachtree Street and/or a three-mile, east-west line on Auburn Avenue that would connect the King Center with Centennial Olympic Park.
Officials have said they think Atlanta has a good chance. We’ll see.
Federal regulations recently changed to favor the construction of streetcar systems, and many cities already have a head start (the photo above shows a streetcar in Toronto).
In fact, Charlotte, which already has a light rail line, has begun to explore the possibility of applying for federal funds for a streetcar line.
I think many of you are up to date on the prospects of streetcars in Atlanta but if not, check out this post on SaportaReport and this post from Thomas Wheatley at Creative Loafing.
Not flower power — flower *symbol* power
I take lots of photos for this blog and then get wrapped up in work and forget to post them.
The above photo is a perfect example. I took it over the summer at the end of a long walk along the Beltline with Angel.
We were waiting at a busstop on Peachtree Road near Piedmont Hospital and I looked over my shoulder and saw the above monument to surface parking.
What caught my eye, actually, was what you see in the photo below:
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What’s gotten into Sonny?
Gov. Sonny Perdue seems to be cramming for his finals.
“Too little, too late” never seemed more apt.
After doing not much more than grumbling about metro Atlanta’s growth problems for seven years, Sonny Perdue finally is pushing lawmakers to pass water conservation and transportation funding bills. Not only that, last week he proposed converting four statewide elected offices into appointed positions — a bold idea that any good government type should be celebrating.
The perplexing thing is that Perdue’s doing all this in his eighth and final year as governor, when his influence is surely too low to bend the Legislature to his will. He won’t have any way to followup to ensure that his ideas are implemented effectively, either. Read more
Fur trappers: The real pro-animal activists
'Fur is Green' model, brought to you by the Fur Council of Canada.
You gotta love the moxie of the Fur Council of Canada’s “Fur is Green” campaign:
This Atlanta book could become the decade’s manifesto
![Kevin and Hannah Salwen outside their old house. [Photo: Courtesy of Kevin Salwen.]](http://atlantaunsheltered.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/KH-outdoor-pockets-300x200.jpg "Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen")
Kevin and Hannah Salwen outside their old house. [Photo: Courtesy of Kevin Salwen.
Kevin and Hannah Salwen are the authors of The Power of Half — a book that’s generating national buzz for its appeal simply to cut something in your life in half and to use the savings to help others.
A couple of weeks ago, Parade ran an excerpt. Then, it was the subject of New York Times column by Nicholas Kristrof. The Selwans also have been featured on NBC’s Today show, in the LA Times and on Belief.net.
I happened to see Kevin and Hannah speak last week at TEDxAtlanta (organized by the Atlanta communications firm Unboundary) where the theme was “re:purpose.”
Read the rest of this article at MyGreenATL.com.
Bonner names her Atlanta desire
I often think I’m quite witty, even if evidence to support the claim is lacking.
To wit, the headline of the post is meant to spoof this headline from the Denver Post’s online edition:
“Romer Names his Colfax Desire: Streetcars”
You can read the whole story here, though I will warn you, if you live in Atlanta, the story may seem as depressing as “The Departed” and “Million Dollar Baby.”
I suppose that’s why I wanted to parody the headline.
The quick summary is that Colorado State Sen. Chris Romer is going to introduce a bill that “would take a portion of higher vehicle registration fees and flow the money to a special district that would coordinate financing, construction and operation of a streetcar line on Colfax Avenue in Denver and Aurora,” according to the newspaper.
‘”It’s been a dream of mine to restore streetcars to Colfax; they change the way people live,” said the 50-year-old Romer, D-Denver, who grew up not far from the area’s longest street.’
(The story also includes this key detail: “The state began collecting higher registration fees after last year’s legislature passed the FASTER transportation measure to pay for highway, bridge and transit improvements.”)
In the past week, I’ve written about Charlotte’s intention to apply for federal funds to build a streetcar system, and its existing lightrail network.
Now this.
I’m still learning the lay of the political land here in Georgia, but I look forward one day to reading a headline like this:
Reed (or insert another Atlanta/Georgia politician’s name) Names his Atlanta Wish: Streetcars
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