One more Beltline walk pic — an important one
I took the photo above last month during a tour of the Beltline’s Northeastern section with Angel Poventud, the uber-activist.
What do we see in the photo? A high-rise at the corner of 10th and Monroe.
As Linda Richman used to say, talk amongst yourselves, and see a personal disclosure after the jump.
And while you talk amongst yourselves, let me add my two cents — albeit a bit late — about a recent decision by the NPU-F to reject the Beltline’s plan to allow up to an eight-story building near the corner of 10th and Monroe in Midtown Atlanta. (See here for a great overview by Creative Loafing’s Thomas Wheatly).
Cent one: How did the building in the photo above get there? (Clearly the Beltline folks need to do whatever that guy did).
Cent two: Now that it’s there, why can’t there be other buildings of that size in the area? Does the neighborhood consider that building a mistake? Are there plans to demolish it?
For the rest of this post, and to see comments from readers, please follow the link to My Green ATL.
Beltline bushwhacking
You may remember a post that I wrote a few months back about the Beltline’s plans to lay down mulch and temporarily open up the trail to walkers and joggers.
Well, work has begun on this project — began today, looks like — and you can see in the photo above that the sections that will be opened up include a tract between Dekalb Ave. and Highland Ave.
I walked on that section today with Angel Poventud, uber-activist and Beltline aficionado, who took us from the new section of Piedmont Park, down through the contentious section of the Beltline at Monroe near 10th, across Ponce, next to Parish on Highland, behind Kevin Rathbun’s new restaurant, behind Kevin Rathbun’s old restaurant, next to the Irwin Street Market and finally out to Dekalb Ave., near the Krog Street tunnel.
Oh the things we saw and the people we met!
I will be posting more photos but I wanted to let you know that, come Spring, you may very well be walking or jogging on the Beltline.
Here’s a photo of the skyline taken from the Beltline, just after crossing over Ponce:
Beltline mayoral forum: Which candidate scored?
One nice thing about a mayoral debate in a city in the midst of an economic crisis is that it’s difficult for candidates to promise the moon.
That was very apparent at last night’s forum in Midtown on the Beltline and its impact on transportation, parks and historic resources. Many of the questions drew caveats from each candidate in the form of fiscal reality checks.
Even the relatively modest idea that Atlanta ought to stop off-loading sidewalk maintenance costs on adjacent property owners drew very careful answers. “The city has to be able to support it,” cautioned Jesse Spikes, a smart attorney who’s generally regarded as the fourth guy in a three-candidate race. “At some point we’re going to get beyond the situation that we’re in today.” Read more
She doesn’t read blogs. *Le sigh*
Ken is handling the coverage of last night’s mayoral debate on the Beltline, but I thought I would take advantage of a break between his postings to stick in my two cents about a few things that have nothing to do with the Beltline.
Before the debate last night, I introduced myself to Lisa Borders and told her that I had written about the mayoral race on this blog.
And she said, “I don’t read blogs.”
I’m pretty thick, I guess, so I said, “Oh because you don’t want to read potentially negative comments?”
And she said something to the effect that no, no, it’s because she’s too busy reading the primary sources and leaves the blog-reading to her staff.
Now, clearly my pride is wounded. But as a journalist, I’m torn between two conclusions:
#1 – Lisa’s a straight shooter and she’s not going to pretend she’s reading this blog or others if she’s not. And besides, she has so much other stuff on her plate that she just does not have the time to read blogs. Both could bode well for her if she wins the election.
Read more
SaportaReport interview with new Beltline CEO
Maria Saporta, as usual, is on the case and has an interesting story about the Beltline’s new CEO, Brian Leary, who worked previously with the group that gave us Atlantic Station.
Leary’s appointment was announced Wednesday; he replaces Terry Montague.
I will share one little nugget of her story that meshes with discussions we’ve had here.
Maria asked Brian about density, and here’s how he responded.
“It’s unfortunate that density in general has been given a bad rap. Density is a more efficient way to use our natural resources. A great deal of the economic model for the BeltLine is tax increment financing. It’s going to have to be densified.”
Density is a more efficient way to use our natural resources. Hmmmm…..
Hope you guys know how to swim. It’s weather for ducks out there!
Would-be mayors to attract young folks by….
As I mentioned Wednesday, I attended the mayoral forum held earlier this week at Park Tavern.
An audience member asked how the candidates proposed to attract and keep young professionals here.
That’s a topic that interests me because I think smart growth is inextricably woven into the desires of today’s young professionals.
Most of the candidates glossed over smart growth, but to be fair, they said the city will attract and retain young professionals only when it functions properly, and when it’s safe.
I know the city needs to function properly and I know it needs to be safe.
But I don’t think people from around the world move to New York each year because it’s safe or because city government there functions properly.
They move there because the city is exciting, and because it overflows with things to see and do, and with places to congregate and share ideas. People move there because the pace of life is fast — as fast as a speeding subway car that can take you to every corner of the city.
If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know that I like to quote statistics from RCLCO, a real estate firm that has conducted lots of research into what baby boomers and members of Generation Y (people born between 1979 and 1996) want out of their communities.
So please indulge me while I repeat: 77% of Generation Y plan to live in an urban core, according to a report released in March by RCLCO (which has offices in Atlanta).
Why does this matter? Because there are 80 million people in Generation Y.
How big is that? BIGGER THAN THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION
As I said yesterday, the one candidate who consistently mentioned streetcars and bike lanes at the forum was Glenn Thomas, who may just be the least likeliest to win the election. (Interestingly, most of the candidates mentioned the Beltline, but did no more than mention it.)
I’m not saying safety and competence are unimportant. Of course they are important!
But we have a chance to attract young professionals here and most of them don’t plan to be stuck on I-85 every morning.
Sierra Club/CPT to host discussion on transit
The Sierra Club and Citizens for Progressive Transit will host a discussion on transit in Atlanta on Sept. 10 at Parish. Sounds like a great event!
Here are all the details (and I mean all, since I cut and paste the info):
From its humble origins as the sleepy railroad town of Terminus, to the rise and fall of the turn-of-the-century “Trolley Titans,” to the construction of MARTA in the late 20th century, Atlanta’s history and development as a city has been inextricably linked with its transportation system.
Today, with city and statewide elections fast approaching, transit concerns remain at the forefront of the public agenda. What is the future of MARTA and other transit services in light of unprecedented financial challenges? When will we see transit on the BeltLine, or streetcars on Peachtree Street, or passenger trains to Athens, Savannah, and beyond? And with transportation funding proposals having failed in the last two legislative sessions, what can we expect in 2010?
Please join the Sierra Club and Citizens for Progressive Transit on Thursday, Sept. 10 for a discussion of “Transit in Atlanta: Past, Present & Future” — the next program in our new networking/education series, “Hot Planet, Cold Drinks.” We’ll begin with socializing at 7pm, followed by a presentation by David Emory, principal planner for transit policy at the Atlanta Regional Commission. Jim Dexter, chair of Sierra Club’s RAIL (Regional Action to Improve Livability) Committee, will emcee and provide an update on local transit advocacy efforts.
The event will be held at PARISH, an eco-friendly restaurant and market in Inman Park (http://www.parishatl.com). Meet us in the market, accessed through the lower level patio at the back of the building. PARISH is served by MARTA’s 113 bus (select trips only), and is a ~15 minute walk from the Inman Park station. Onstreet, valet, and bicycle parking is also available. Plan your transit/bicycle trip at http://atltransit.com
Questions? Email sierra_club_socials@yahoo.com.
DETAILS
When: Thu., Sept. 10
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Parish, 240 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, GA
ITB/OTB
Thoughts from my Beltline walk continue to trickle out, and yesterday while I was in Decatur, I remembered another topic of discussion from the six-hour walk last Friday.
Inside the Beltline vs. Outside the Beltline.
Some of my fellow Beltline hikers think these phrases will gain currency, if the 22-mile rail trail that circles Atlanta ever gets off the ground.
As an intown resident, I would gladly say I live Inside the Beltline because the rail corridor already describes the voluntary boundaries of my everyday life.
I live Inside the Perimeter, and I don’t really go Outside the Perimeter very often (not because OTP is icky (!) but because I have almost everything I need intown).
To shop, socialize, work and exercise, I bounce between a series of neighborhoods near or on the Beltline, including the Old Fourth Ward, Midtown, Downtown and Grant Park. Readers, you probably have a group of intown neighborhoods where you do most of your “living.”
So it makes sense for a new nomenclature to emerge because many of the neighborhoods right inside of I-285 are actually unabashedly suburban. So saying you live inside the Perimeter of Atlanta doesn’t mean a whole lot to me.
Saying you live Inside the Beltline, well, that means you live in an intown neighborhood.
My point is not to demonize my suburban friends!
My point is that if the Beltline ever becomes even half of what it’s meant to be, it could become a way to denote the loose confederation of intown neighborhoods that want to protect and encourage walkability, community, diverse cultural interests, attractive and accessible commercial spaces, timeless architecture, and leafy greenspaces.
Of course, this is all contingent upon the folks behind the Beltline acquiring all the land and converting the rail trail into transit, parks and paths.
10th and Monroe re-zoning
There’s a great discussion about the re-zoning of 10th and Monroe today at one of my favorite Atlanta blogs, Terminal Station.
Ben’s argument riffs on a story in today’s Creative Loafing by Thomas Wheatley about the intersection, which borders Piedmont Park and is part of the proposed Beltline trail and transit corridor.
Wheatley quotes a woman who lives in the neighborhood, writing, “She worries that dense development would mar the charm of the city’s most iconic greenspace.”
It’s so hard to understand this point of view. Look at the photo above! Isn’t that pleasant?
Is that not a classic city view that one sees in Chicago and New York? The classic interplay of the urban with the bucolic?
The picture above shows the opposite side of Piedmont Park.
I wish I had a photo of the other side of the park, which is at the center of this argument.
But I don’t because it’s one of the ugliest intersections in the city so I didn’t bother to snap a photo of it!
Beltline Walk #2 — West End to Reynoldstown
I took my second Beltline walk with Angel Poventud Friday, and was simultaneously encouraged by the possibilities I saw and humbled by the sheer scope of the project.
I think I said the same thing last time! Is it me, or does it just take a while to get your mind around the Beltline?
A sense of vicarious participation in the life of the city overtook me, as it had on previous Beltline walks and during my jog along the Freedom Parkway trail last week. There’s no question you see things you don’t see in the normal course of your life.
Like, if you don’t happen to live in West End, how often do you visit Adair Park (at left)? That was one of many parks we passed during the walk. We also traveled through various neighborhoods, including Peoplestown, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, Glenwood Park (where one block off the Beltline, we stopped at Perk coffeehouse to re-fuel) and Reynoldstown.
And I dare you to tell me you’ve seen the Beltline treehouses!
Here’s a selection of the other sights I took in during the Beltline walk, which began near the West End MARTA station.
Read more
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