No go on the Peachtree Streetcar
Ariel Hart of the AJC reports that Atlanta will not receive federal funds to build a streetcar line here.
As Ariel puts it, “The loss for the streetcar is one more drop in the bucket of metro Atlanta’s mass transit misery.”
She has all the details here.
It’s times like this that I like being a blogger. Because it would have been hard to write the story Ariel had to write.
Streetcar announcement today — I hope!
Photo credit: kevinseanw via Flickr
Good morning!
As you probably know, Atlanta expects to hear word today whether it has been awarded up to $300 million in federal funds to build a streetcar system downtown.
MARTA and several other organizations put together an application for funds, which, if awarded, would help bankroll a six-mile line on Peachtree Street and/or a three-mile, east-west line on Auburn Avenue that would connect the King Center with Centennial Olympic Park.
Officials have said they think Atlanta has a good chance. We’ll see.
Federal regulations recently changed to favor the construction of streetcar systems, and many cities already have a head start (the photo above shows a streetcar in Toronto).
In fact, Charlotte, which already has a light rail line, has begun to explore the possibility of applying for federal funds for a streetcar line.
I think many of you are up to date on the prospects of streetcars in Atlanta but if not, check out this post on SaportaReport and this post from Thomas Wheatley at Creative Loafing.
This train is bound for Charlotte
As a freelancer, I pitch story ideas and sometimes editors bite and sometimes they don’t.
Last week, the global conglomerate Siemens came to Atlanta to show off a light rail car that will be part of Charlotte’s transit expansion. I thought it would make a great story, but I was the only one.
Or was I? Maria Saporta was on it, of course, and from her column I learned that the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce actually laid track to properly display the car, which can also be used as a streetcar.
Laid tracks? You have my attention now.
Maria mentions a lot of great things, so please check out her column.
But I would like to mention one thing former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory said while he was in town.
McCrory, who Maria points out is a Republican, said you need to marry transit with the existing transportation network and expansions need to make economic sense. And he said you can’t build transit without a land-use plan.
“The right is only going to want to build roads. The political left will want to put transit everywhere out of fairness. This is not a fairness issue,” McCrory said. “There needs to be an inter-connected system of sidewalks, bikeways and buses.”
Doors of Inman Park
I did my own personal photo hunt one day in Inman Park, and here’s a glimpse of what I came up with.
Read more
So many good ideas for Mr. Reed!
Do I wish I had thought to write/solicit ideas for a to-do list for the new mayor, as Atlanta magazine did in its January issue, or do I wish I had thought of some of the actual ideas?
Needless to say, both.
It doesn’t look like you can access the whole article online but you can read a taste of it here. (It’s worth getting your hands on a copy of the actual magazine to take a look at the whole piece).
The suggestions were published in conjunction with the proceedings of a roundtable the magazine convened to discuss Atlanta’s problems and what we can do to fix them.
The magazine solicited ideas from people all around Atlanta, and while many of the ideas are a bit self-serving — someone involved in a volunteer organization thinks every Atlantan should start volunteering — all of the suggestions merit consideration.
I think the best single comment comes from Creative Loafing’s Andisheh Nouraee. (You may think we are biased in favor of Creating Loafing folks here since Ken worked there for so long but I never worked there and I don’t even know Andisheh. I just like good ideas).
While I don’t agree with every idea, I love the way he presents his thoughts in a very no-nonsense way that just says, “Let’s get going.”
Here’s his comment:
“Treat critics with respect instead of as enemies. Honor responsible homeowners by cracking down on serial code violators whose derelict properties are magnets for criminals. Create an Office of Transparency and empower citizen watchdogs by putting every new government report and document online in real-time. Admit the BeltLine is a park with a bike path, not a mass transit project. Require large parking lots to install secure bike racks. Mobilize Atlanta business leaders against rural GOP lawmakers who revel in hurting the city. Hire more cops, and tell the ones directing traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson to stop being such dicks.”
Alright so let’s get going!
Keep walking — in Boston, that is
Happy New Year friends!
From Jeanne’s “broken record” file, I offer a link to a great story in the New York Times on a Boston neighborhood that has been revitalized in part by the burying of one of the city’s main highways, which previously cut through the neighborhood like a gash, separating areas that should have been joined and making walking unpleasant, if not treacherous.
My favorite line? “Keep walking” — the author, Sara Rimer, uses the phrase twice as she describes fantastic itineraries that take visitors and residents alike through the city’s North End and along HarborWalk, which is a 34-mile path along the water.
Yes, yes broken record. But I’m not talking about New York, and I’m not talking about a city that was born perfect.
I’m talking about a city that 30 years ago began re-planning areas so people could enjoy city life where it’s meant to be enjoyed — out in the streets (some of the best things I saw last night on New Year’s Eve were out in the street — including a bride dashing along Crescent Avenue after midnight).
You know, as in,
When I’m out in the street,
I walk the way I wanna to walk
When I’m out in the street, girl
Well, I never feel alone
When I’m out in the street, girl
In the crowd I feel at home
(Thanks Bruce!)
Enjoy the story here!
Tour of Ctown’s Stacks — urban living with a twist
Over the weekend, the Stacks at Fulton Cotton Mill in Cabbagetown held their annual loft and artists’ studio tours.
The highlight of the tour is probably the loft that includes what I will call the bell tower, the highest point of the mill’s main building and perhaps its most distinctive feature, which can be seen from various points around the city. The home has 65-foot ceilings!
But it’s also interesting to peer through the windows of one loft to gain a view of another part of the complex — a little bit like living in the apartment complex in Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” without the wife killing. The industrial shape of the exterior of the complex and the common courtyard space were as intriguing as the interior of the lofts, as funky as they are.
To have reclaimed the space and then converted it to residential living enriches that part of Atlanta immeasurably.
Terry at the Architectural Tourist blog took some fantastic photos of the event. See his slide show here, and make a mental note to check out the tour next year.
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:
Atlanta Pecha Kucha — Wow!
Boulevard at Edgewood
Do you know these people? They get together once a month to hear brief presentations about design, architecture, city living, sustainable living, you name it.
They met last night at Octane on the West side and I went along because the evening’s theme focused on advice or questions for Atlanta’s next mayor.
So many of the presenters said interesting things so I will mention just a few things that seemed new or novel to me (Angel Poventud, angelic as always, presented information on the Beltline, but it was really just a review/update).
Perhaps the most impressive presentation came from food writer Christine Lauterbach who asked why are there hundreds of food carts/trucks in Portland and almost zero in Atlanta?
Uh, good question!
Read more
Cityscape: A favorite corner
I’m at the intersection of Boulevard and Edgewood the other day, and I’m reading the New York Times and I’m drinking mint tea and the sun is shining and out the window businessmen are shaking hands and a hipster is on his cellphone and cars are passing and tourists are coming into Danneman’s for a cup of joe, and all is right with the world.
At least from this little corner of the world.
The intersection of Boulevard and Edgewood is really centrally located; it’s along one of the main north-south streets in Atlanta, and has just an awesome view of the skyline.
And oh what handsome buildings there are there.
It’s one of the few places in Atlanta with a traditional urban street grid that has retained some of its original buildings.
Unfortunately, of the four corners of this intersection, only one currently has an occupied building on it. Two of the other corners have old buildings that have sat empty for a long time, and the third corner is an empty lot.
I know many people will say we’ve come a long way. In fact, a friend of mine likes to tell the story that back when she first moved to Atlanta, her boyfriend was mugged at this corner, and years later she marveled that it was now home to a hipster coffee spot.
I don’t think we have come far enough, for two reasons.
Read more
Our new website!
