CL: Streetcar funding update, etc.
Filed under: Cityscape, POLITICS, SMART GROWTH, transportation
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.
Your weekend away: the Beltline’s Southwest side
Please don’t tell me you have Beltline fatigue, kind readers, because I’ve finally made it over to the temporary trails on the West and Southwest side and I’m eager to sell you a travel package on it!
Of course all you have to do is bike across town, or take MARTA to the Ashby station. From there, it’s an easy half-mile ride to the start of the temporary wooded trail. And once there, you really won’t believe you’re still in the city.
I’ve covered this territory already, having walked part of this trail a year ago. But now, instead of a three-hour walk, you can take an hour-long bike ride (or less, depending on how far you go).
Just as on the Northeast side, which I’ve covered quite a bit, there is art to see. How about this piece?
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Beltline sightings — July 21
I was biking on the temporary trail on the Northeast side of the Beltline Wednesday night around 8 p.m. and I saw:
*Three other mountain bike riders
*A man walking with his baby
*Two men walking two dogs
*Two cats
*One mouse
It’s a start!
Beltline picture in New York Times today
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.
Alive and kicking (Beltline 2.0, cont’d)
Filed under: ARTS & EVENTS, Cityscape, RIVERS/TRAILS, SMART GROWTH
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.
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It’s alive! The blog or the Beltline, take your pick
Filed under: ARTS & EVENTS, Cityscape, RIVERS/TRAILS, SMART GROWTH
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……
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.
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