Atlanta Unsheltered » SMART GROWTH

Mark Bradley, I’ve been thinking the same thing

Jeanne Bonner — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:06:09 +0000

AJC sportswriter Mark Bradley poses a great question today:

The Braves are in first place. Why is the ballpark half-empty?

You can read the rest of his post here.

I’ve been thinking something along those lines: it’s summer, it’s not rainy as it was last summer, the Braves are doing well, and you get a good view from even the cheap seats at Turner Field. So where is everyone?

Freelance work has taken over my time, and I’ve become an occasional blogger. But I’ve been attending Braves games all season, and the weather has been pretty great every time I’ve gone (including last Friday night, though the Braves meltdown that night did push me to look for other distractions. For example, it’s fun to get a drink and then stand by the railing that overlooks the Visitor Bullpen and call down to the players. Some of those Marlins players area really flexible!)

But I digress. So what’s the problem?

Mark gives you lots of options in his piece; I’ve only got one thought.

Transportation.

Oh I know I harp on this topic but I think it’s the answer to Mark’s question (he includes it in his list of possible answers).

And while I’ve long thought this, recent visits to Turner Field have confirmed it. Why?

Because I’ve been biking there.

Biking to Turner Field is pure joy. No headache, none of the hassle or extortion associated with parking; and certainly none of the long lines you face when you try to leave your parking spot.

Last Friday, as I tooled through the streets of Grant Park on my way home, and spied a gorgeously full moon, I thought I had died and gone back to third grade. The weather was already beginning to cool and speeding through the dark streets of my neighborhood made me giddy (with some residual help from the beverages of Turner Field).

This weekend, some wonderful activists are organizing a Seersucker Social, which will include a bike ride around the city.

It’s time to start organizing bike rides to Turner Field. It removes the only bad part about going to see the Braves.

Well the only bad thing, if you’re not a Mets fan. Which I am. But that’s my own sad little problem!

May my fellow Met fans forgive me, but here are a few of the things I like about Turner Field:

- The Price is Right
- Almost all seats have a good view
- You can watch the game while drinking a SweetWater 420 (you have to know where to go, though)
- The weather
- Baseball is American for Chrissakes. So it’s fun to say Charge! And sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” If you don’t think so, you’re too sophisticated for me!
- It’s an outdoor sporting event that’s taking place on spring, summer and fall evenings in the American South. Need I say more?

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CL: Streetcar funding update, etc.

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:20:57 +0000

The adorable Thomas Wheatley, as we call him here at Atlanta Unsheltered, has a great update on the city’s plans to apply again for streetcar federal funding.

The twist is that the Beltline, the 22-mile rails-to-trails corridor, will not also apply for the funding, even though it, too, has considered streetcars for the transit portion of the loop.

You can find all the details here at Creative Loafing.

It’s not the only interesting nugget Wheatley has shared in the last week. He also linked to an article in the Economist about MARTA. Yes, our MARTA in, yes, THE Economist.

It’s a brilliant article. Here’s how it starts:

“FROM downtown Atlanta, the 113 bus trundles past many of the city’s most prominent attractions: the Martin Luther King memorial, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and Centennial Olympic Park. It serves residential neighbourhoods in Sweet Auburn, Candler Park and Inman Park; students at Georgia Tech; and tourists heading to the city’s museum and arts district. It does, in short, precisely what a city bus is supposed to do—make it feasible for people to get around without a car. On September 25th, it will cease operating.”

Here’s the link from CL.

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Beltline picture in New York Times today

Jeanne Bonner — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:28:29 +0000

The New York Times published a photo of the Beltline near Parish in a story today on how New York’s High Line is inspiring other cities to consider reviving old rail beds.

The story actually does not talk about the Beltline or Atlanta’s efforts to revive that rail corridor. But the picture is pretty darn big!

You can read the story here.

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

Jeanne Bonner — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:52:55 +0000

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.

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Alive and kicking (Beltline 2.0, cont’d)

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:31:20 +0000

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.

This is my fave. I saw something similar a few years back at the South Carolina Botanical Garden at Clemson University. I don’t know much about the work, but I’m guessing this form of natural sculpture dates back centuries. If anyone knows anything about it, I’d be thrilled to get schooled.

Other cool things I saw:

Here’s a little “settlement” (above) I found under the Freedom Parkway trail. I love this little “field” of paper flowers below. It just cheers me up!

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

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:19:16 +0000

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:

The traveling show attracted quite a crowd.

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

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:30:34 +0000

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.

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Building has new life, and new address, too

Jeanne Bonner — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:00:01 +0000

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.

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Even Phoenix, Ariz. has light rail

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:16:29 +0000

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.

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GSU gives new life to a vacant field

Jeanne Bonner — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:52:45 +0000

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!

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