It’s alive! The blog or the Beltline, take your pick

June 28, 2010 by Jeanne Bonner
Filed under: ARTS & EVENTS, Cityscape, RIVERS/TRAILS, SMART GROWTH 

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This is another post about the Beltline.

But this post is unlike anything else I’ve written about the Beltline.

That’s because yesterday I used the Beltline for what it’s intended for: I rode my bike on the Beltline from Glenwood Park to Piedmont Park.

I went somewhere. I changed my scenery. I took in the skyline. I got some exercise. I enjoyed some art. I peeked in the backyards of folks who are not even my neighbors. And I did it all on the Beltline, and so can anyone else in the city.

As usual, I’m late to the party, in this case in terms of what’s happening on the Beltline. I’ll blame it, and the unwitting hiatus this Web site’s been on, on my vacation.

But I hope you’ll find my bike ride interesting, because I really did.

I had written last year about the Beltline folks opening up temporary trails, and then promptly forgot about it, even as the calls for art went out, and radio pieces told me the art was up, and Angel Poventud’s Facebook statuses told me something was happening.

You know, the best things in life need to be experienced first-hand.

Now, to be sure, I really want to take a streetcar or light rail from my spur of the Beltline to other parts of the city. For all the hype and the money and the press releases, and the sense of importance, I want the thing to actually help solve a problem that desperately needs a solution. But that’s clearly going to have to wait. So……


….So putting that dream aside, the second-best thing, for me, at least, is to ride my bike from my spur of the Beltline to Atlanta’s main park, Piedmont Park, which is in the city’s most exciting neighborhood. That’s what I’ve wanted to do, and I did it and I’m going to keep doing it. Arriving at Piedmont Park yesterday reminded me of Dorothy seeing Emerald City off in the distance.

So what about the photo above? Well you know how hipsters are.

They have to do kooky stuff to commemorate life. And what you see above is a modern version of a small-town traveling show. It was truly entertaining! But I’m publishing this photo because it shows people ON THE BELTLINE.

And they’re not bush-whacking!

Here are a few more photos of the events from yesterday:

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The traveling show attracted quite a crowd.

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There were drummers on the Beltline and there were acrobats hanging from the Beltline and wrapping themselves in silky ropes and running and jumping.

All very well and good. But the main show was riding my bike on the Beltline from point A to point B.

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Comments

11 Comments on It’s alive! The blog or the Beltline, take your pick

  1. Jimmy on Mon, 28th Jun 2010 4:09 pm

    2. Funny, I rode my bike to Piedmont Park on the Beltline trail as well yesterday (although I took the path through the Old Fourth Ward). I was shocked to see so many people out and about on the makeshift trail, taking pictures, enjoying the artwork, etc.

  2. Jeanne Bonner on Mon, 28th Jun 2010 4:25 pm

    3. I know, right? Obviously I’ve been on the Beltline before with Angel for walks but we never encountered anyone else! Yesterday, there truly were a lot of people on the Beltline and it did seem like a watershed moment.

    I wish I had brought my camera because some of the artwork is really interesting!

  3. Atlanta Blogs Today: Ben at Terminal Station is moving to Chicago, Pecanne Log knows where Calhoun meets Sweet Auburn, and more… | atlanta.rssible.com on Tue, 29th Jun 2010 2:51 pm

    4. [...] Jeanne Bonner at Atlanta Unsheltered found life — lots of life — along the Beltline this weekend. Photos and thoughts — and [...]

  4. Court on Tue, 29th Jun 2010 5:00 pm

    5. Umm, nice post, but you didn’t give us any indication where the trail starts on either end or what the route is….

  5. Ethan on Tue, 29th Jun 2010 10:36 pm

    6. Court on Tue – here is a link to a map of the hiking trails and the Art on the BeltLine- http://beltline.org/Portals/26/Art/PDFs/beltlineMap_webDL.pdf

    More info on the art at art.beltline.org. The exhibit runs through October so lots of opportunity to go exploring! Enjoy!

  6. Jeanne Bonner on Wed, 30th Jun 2010 10:31 am

    7. I’m sorry Court on Tue for being so vague; thanks Ethan for sharing the info.

    Just to back up a second, let me say I accessed the Beltline Sunday on Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown, near the intersection of Bill Kennedy Way (near Cabbagetown and Grant Park).

    And I took it through Reynoldstown, through Inman Park (near Highland Avenue), over North Ave., over the new bridge over Ponce, through the Poncey-Highland neighborhood to finally the intersection of 10th and Monroe in Midtown (adjacent to Piedmont Park).

    That’s the section I know best and that’s the only section I used on Sunday. As I’m sure you know, Court on Tue, the entire circuit is 22 miles around the circumference of the city.

    I’ve been on other parts of the Beltline but I would really like to see them again by bike. For now, I think the temporary trails cover a portion of the Beltline. Maybe Ethan can tell us when/if temporarily trails will cover the rest of the Beltline.

    I hope to get back out there soon because I saw so many cool things that I would have liked to photograph (I was out pure and simple for exercise on Sunday). The art installations are impressive. And they make you feel like you’re somewhere, like you’re in an enclosed art park where you never know what you’ll see next.

  7. O on Wed, 30th Jun 2010 3:13 pm

    8. A few questions:

    How is the grade?

    Is it hard pack or gravel?

    How does it get over North Ave? Isn’t the bridge cut off by Murder Kroger?

  8. Jeanne Bonner on Wed, 30th Jun 2010 3:35 pm

    9. Thanks for your questions, O. I will try to answer them as best as I can.

    The grade: it’s flat the whole way.

    But the terrain varies; in places, it’s packed dirt and in other places gravel. And the gravel varies as well — large pieces, small pieces, etc. There was only one place where I had to dismount, and we can probably chalk that up to my being weirdo or something.

    As I recall, there’s a bridge over North Ave just like at Ponce. I can recall looking up North Avenue from the bridge, and thinking, ‘Why is this major road cutting through the heart of the city so deserted?’

    I must admit I don’t know how Murder Kroger fits in, geographically to the trail, that is — but I don’t remember having any problems.

    One last thing; as you approach Piedmont Park, you have one of the best views of the skyline. It’s also cool (as I’ve noted on the blog before) to approach City Hall East from the Beltline. It’s like the view King Kong had of the Empire State Building (I’m guessing).

    Hope this helps. Get out there and ride!

  9. Jimmy on Wed, 30th Jun 2010 3:40 pm

    10. Hey Jeanne – do you know if the trail continues north of Monroe / Piedmont Park? I rode up from Murder Kroger but when I got to tenth (basically in front of Park Tavern), I lost sight of the trail and ended up just going down Monroe to the park.

  10. Jeanne Bonner on Wed, 30th Jun 2010 3:49 pm

    11. Jimmy, thanks for your question. The trail does continue and if I recall, you pick it up by walking through the parking lot next to Park Tavern. It links to the Piedmont Park expansion (which is really cool; I saw it when I tagged along with Angel on a walk a few months back).

    Now I don’t believe the new temporary trails go beyond the intersection of 10th and Monroe. Looking at the map Ethan linked to earlier, I only see art going up to the intersection and I’m guessing they would have installed more art if there was more trail that they wanted to open up to the public,

    If Beltline folks want to add more detail, great.

  11. AnotherUglyAmerican on Thu, 1st Jul 2010 11:02 am

    12. I can throw in a few other things:

    The trail does not connect between Reynoldstown and Inman Park. You have to go through the Krog tunnel, then ride west on the north sidewalk of Dekalb Ave until just before that weird, solitary apartment complex. The trail heads north from there. Or you can pick it up immediately to the east of the Irwin Street Market in the Old Fourth Ward.

    The trail itself is covered in many places by really big, chunky gravel, and in other places it’s heavily rutted dirt. Riding it on a skinny-tired road bike would not be much fun as you’d get seriously jarred and be very prone to a flat tire. And even on a mountain bike it’s slow going. It’s definitely not useful as a transportation trail yet, but that’ll change after it’s paved in another year.

    The trail does continue north along Piedmont park. As Jeanne said, go through the gravel lot for Park Tavern and look for it on your right. But you’ll only get as far as the Amsterdam Walk strip mall (the most ironically named place in town, by the way) before you hit a fence, so it’s not really worth the hassle. But you do get a good view of the park expansion from there.

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