You can read the story here.

What’s before 1.0? Trying to describe Atlanta’s streetcar sitch

Thomas Wheatley at Creative Loafing sums up Atlanta’s transit situation nicely this afternoon with a post entitled “Atlanta tries again for streetcar while Charlotte pops the champagne.”

It details Atlanta’s second, much more modest attempt at winning federal dollars for a streetcar line while, Charlotte…wait for it….learns it’s already won federal money for streetcars!

Those lucky son of guns! I’m so happy for them. I mean, really. I mean, shoot, maybe I should move to Charlotte!

You can read his post here.

Alive and kicking (Beltline 2.0, cont’d)

I was back on the Beltline’s temporary trails over the weekend, and I saw something that was a bit amazing. And I don’t mean the art (but more on that in a minute)

Like conquering heroes, runners from the Peachtree Road Race were slowly walking from the race’s finish in Piedmont Park back to their homes/cars in Inman Park and beyond along the Beltline.

It just made the trail seem so useful!

By heading back to the Beltline on Sunday, I got in some traffic-free biking, which is key for someone like me who is really not ready to brave Atlanta’s drivers.

But my main objective was to snap a few photos of the art installations on the Beltline. (Just as a brief reminder, I access a short spur of the Beltline on Memorial Drive, and then take the Krog Tunnel to connect to the rest of the Northeastern section of the trail. Oh and I use a sturdy mountain bike — it would be tough-going on less robust bikes.)

There’s been a lot of hype, in my humble opinion, but I can tell you I was truly impressed by the innovative works of art I encountered along the path. They reference the South’s history, agriculture and economy. And it’s almost like an obstacle course where you want to check off each challenge. As I’ve mentioned, I still need to check off one big challenge: visiting the installations on the less developed Southwestern portion of the Beltline.

Anyway you can see my favorite work of art, and others in photos after the jump.
Read more

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

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……

Read more

Turning around America’s dying cities — from “Reason”

I saw an article from Reason somewhere else on the Web that talks about Cleveland and other cities gasping for life.

There are so many great points here but I would like to just highlight one paragraph.

“When down-on-the-heels cities are not simply holding their hands out, they tend to work the same frayed ropes over and over again: building convention centers that will never make money, betting the farm on light-rail systems that always underperform, shoveling tax dollars at stadiums and sports franchises that don’t generate any new revenue, redeveloping the waterfront. If the basic definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again while praying for different results, then huge swaths of urban America are certifiably nuts. For its part, Cleveland has turned all the usual tricks and more while manifestly failing to address the most basic quality-of-life building blocks that might generate jobs, attract people, and build hope. What Cleveland and other slump towns refuse to do is decentralize and deregulate, pushing decisions and dollars back to the people so they can navigate their own courses through life.

You can find the whole story here.

Building has new life, and new address, too

I’ve been meaning to post a story I produced about the old Macy’s building in downtown Atlanta since last week. And a story in yesterday’s AJC reminded me to get going.

My piece was for WABE 90.1, and focused on one aspect of this building’s renewal: it now has two addresses. The upper floors of the building will remain 180 Peachtree Street, but the lower three floors, which are being converted to event and conference space, have been “re-addressed” to 200 Peachtree because the owners think that has more cachet.

You can find my piece here, and the AJC piece here. The AJC piece is very interesting, and goes into much more detail about the history of the building.

Addresses can be an interesting thing for companies. There are companies off of Powers Ferry Road in COBB COUNTY that have an Atlanta mailing address. I always find that one funny because the companies didn’t see fit to locate in Atlanta, but they know that around the country and around the world, no one knows Marietta but everyone knows Atlanta.

I hope the investors succeed in turning 200 Peachtree into a grand space. As I told one of the investors, even if I have a natural skepticism about any real estate development now and especially in downtown Atlanta, I am at the same time naturally excited by the idea of restoring a grand old building like the Macy’s building.

Even Phoenix, Ariz. has light rail

Maria Saporta reports on a delegation of Atlanta leaders who visited Phoenix, Ariz. recently as part of a regular outreach series of trips to other cities organized by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

And she tells us and shows us that yes, even Phoenix, Ariz., — yes THAT Arizona! — has a light rail system. You can read her piece here at SaportaReport.

What’s significant is that the light rail links university campuses in downtown Phoenix and downtown Tempe.

Running to stand still. Feels that way sometimes, despite recent legislative wins.

GSU gives new life to a vacant field

Georgia State University has taken a neglected asphalt lot across the railroad tracks from Grady Hospital and made it the site of its new football practice field. You can listen to my piece about it for WABE 90.1 here.

The property, on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the western edge of Grant Park (real western edge), includes a warehouse that officials say has been used for many things over the year, including manufacturing. It was most recently Blood N Fire Ministries, and will eventually house a locker room, team meeting rooms and other facilities.

As James Greenwell of GSU said, it’s a site that otherwise would probably not have been redeveloped. Adaptive re-use — nice!

Abandoned in Midtown

Photo credit: Johnny Urban via Flickr

If you read this blog, you may know that Johnny Urban is a frequent commenter. Well he’s also a prolific taker of photos around town!

Here’s one he took of a house in Midtown in February. And below is the description he added on Flickr. What I like about the photo is it captures the crazy mish mash of building styles in our city.

“Abandoned and forlorn after serving as a restaurant, this modest bungalow on a backstreet in Midtown was at one time the home of Celestine Sibley, a very popular writer in Atlanta. Although she is most remembered for the stories she wrote about her ancient farmhouse named Sweet Apple in Crabapple (near Roswell, GA), she raised her children in this home. I remember reading somewhere that she found joy in being an urban mother, as she wasn’t obliged like her suburban counterparts in having to play the role of chaffeur. They could simply walk out the door to stores, entertainment, the park. Who knows how much longer this place will still be around….”

Hey Johnny, where is this exactly? And while I’m at, I love your photo stream on Flickr! You’ve got an eye for what’s great, and not so great, about Atlanta.

Who’ll save MARTA? Good question, Maria

*Post has been amended and corrected*

Maria Saporta asks some great questions today in her regular Monday column at SaportaReport.

Namely, why did civic groups and private businesses rally to save Grady Hospital but no one is rallying to save MARTA or C-TRAN for that matter?

Maria quotes Mayor Kasim Reed as saying recently, “I…want to send a message to the economic development community and business people.”

‘If budget cuts force MARTA to cut back service to six days a week, he said, it will weaken metro Atlanta’s economy, especially tourism, and it will weaken the state’s attractiveness to business.’

“If Atlanta is going to remain dominant, if Atlanta is going to continue to be the economic engine that drives metro Atlanta and the State of Georgia, how are we going to do that with a train line that runs six days a week?” Reed asked.

(Or half the number of buses that run now, for that matter).

You can read her column here.

There was also a great op-ed about MARTA recently in the AJC by Jim Durrett, who is executive director of the Buckhead Community Improvement District and sits on MARTA’s board.

Thanks to kind reader Darin, you can see Durrett’s piece here.

What caught my eye was that the Buckhead is home to many businesses and residents that don’t rely on MARTA, and yet this group is smart enough to know that transportation is key for any community.

Durrett makes so many great points. For example, he says:

“The state Legislature should do three things. First, pass long-term transportation funding legislation (that has been considered for four years now) that includes transit operations and maintenance as allowable uses of the new funding. Second, permanently eliminate the 50/50 restriction on the MARTA sales tax revenues. Third, provide short-term funding assistance to MARTA during the next three years, such as state-supported bonding for capital projects, which, coupled with elimination of the 50/50 restriction, would help MARTA to make ends meet.”

So many smart people here in Atlanta and yet MARTA may have to cut 30 percent of its service next fiscal year (i.e., in July) and C-TRAN is on life support.

At this rate, I think I’ll stop trying to be smart because all of these “smart” people are giving smart a bad name.

Next Page »