ATL Urbanist

For a brighter rail-transit future, Atlanta needs the streetcar to succeed

One thing became clear about the Atlanta Streetcar route from the moment the project was announced: a lot of people, even among public-transit supporters, don’t like it.

The criticism often boils down to people opposing the very idea of using  a streetcar as a tool for developing a blighted area — particularly when there is potential use for new rail in existing areas of density and economic vibrancy.

No matter what you’re opinion of this route, or of the whole streetcar-as-development-tool concept, one thing is certain: Atlanta needs this to work. If the streetcar fails, we’ll likely face an even more uncertain future for rail expansion than we do now.

Just listen to Ryan Gravel, the visionary behind the Atlanta BeltLine, as quoted in this Atlanta Magazine piece:

The next big test, he says, actually rests on another project, the Atlanta Streetcar, which is scheduled to begin service next year through the Auburn Avenue corridor and downtown.

“The success of the streetcar is important to regional transit in general and the BeltLine in particular,” Gravel says.

Very true. It will be much harder to qualify both local political initiative and federal monetary support for additional rail — such as an extension to and eventually on the BeltLine — if the downtown streetcar fails to attract significant development and riders. The future of Atlanta rail-transit expansion could, in large part, rest on a success here.

The need for investment on this route is well-stated in this excerpt from the streetcar project proposal:

“From a national perspective, the streetcar links the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site on the east side of Downtown Atlanta to Centennial Olympic Park on the west, via historic Auburn Avenue, the birthplace of our nation’s civil rights movement…It will also reconnect the eastern and western sections of Downtown Atlanta, which were effectively separated by the construction of Interstate 75/85 in the mid 1950s. The barrier of the I-75/85 overpass has left a negative, lasting adverse impact that destroyed the vibrant local economy previously existing in the Auburn Avenue corridor.”

When I walk from Woodruff Park east to the King center, I see clearly the way decades of neglect have taken their toll on this corridor. I experience the particularly unpleasant passage under the 75/85 overpass.

I think we owe a debt as a city to the rich history of this district to provide this catalyst. We’re not just building a transit line — we’re rebuilding a significant part of the city that should never have been allowed to get where it is now.

Streetcar construction photo by Flickr user ssinharoy

Restoration of Atlanta’s Proctor Creek includes building a trail from the Beltline to the Chattahoochee

This sounds like a great project: at a press conference today, the Environmental Protection Agency and Mayor Reed announce a plan to clean up heavily-polluted Proctor Creek in northwest Atlanta.

According to this news article:

Government leaders and land conservationists are working to develop a seven-mile trail along a polluted Atlanta creek that would link the city’s BeltLine trail system to the Chattahoochee River.

The cleanup effort will involve clearing the area around the creek of trash and improving its banks to help prevent flooding and further pollution

The effort will be part of the national Urban Waters Federal Partnership that is organizing several similar projects across the US. Creative Loafing covered this in-depth in a blog post a few days ago.

The environmental good of cleaning up Proctor Creek is significant. Part of the watershed for the creek is the notorious downtown Gulch, which is no doubt contributing greatly to the pollution. The creek is a tributary that feeds into the Chattahoochee River, so there’s a great need for lessening the pollution for the sake of plant and animal life (including people) who rely on it.

Also significant is the chance for an economic boost to NW Atlanta. A path that connects the Beltline to the river sounds, to my ears at least, like a promising tool for attracting all kinds of investment to the area.

Proctor Creek photo from Flickr user Alan Cressler

The Atlanta Beltline: a Brownfield Clean-up Success

The “Marketplace” radio series reports on the difficult work and the incredible rewards involved in converting the railroad brownfields of the Atlanta Beltline route into park space that attracts development:

Luring developers to rebuild on polluted land

Here’s a quote I like:

The old railroad town is in the midst of a huge rebirth, spawned by a 22-mile system of trails, parks, and transit known as the BeltLine. It’s been called “Atlanta’s best idea.” And it’s also one of the nation’s most successful brownfield clean-up stories.

You can listen to the full report here:

Atlanta is currently hosting the 2013 Brownfields Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center. (From my stroll on Peachtree Street last night, it looks like attendees are giving some good business to downtown restaurants, BTW.)

Beltline photo by Instragram user Sunterr

Atlanta’s urban treasures may neighbor an asphalt-heavy Walmart

Creative Loafing reports something I’ve long suspected — that the notorious, proposed development next to Glenwood Park at the Atlanta Beltline will not only feature a large surface parking lot, but also a Walmart. Though I’m not a Walmart hater (more of an avoider), I do think this is as bad a spot for the car traffic this store generates as you could possibly find in Atlanta.

Glenwood Park and the Beltline are two of Atlanta’s most acclaimed developments in good urban design. They’ve been praised nationwide as examples of Atlanta’s ability to move development in a more sustainable direction, building attractive infill in a welcoming, walkable environment. Kaid Benfield, a popular writer on urban sutainability, called the Beltline “the country’s most ambitious smart growth project”

In the national urbanist community, these two are known as beacons that point to a more positive future for a city often refereed to as the “poster child of sprawl,” with the past few decades being dominated by car-dependent built environments.

Just take a look at this video featuring Glenwood Park that made the rounds on urbanist websites a couple of years ago:

What is potentially going to be harmed with this Fuqua project is (among other things) the ability to continue pointing growth in the area surrounding Glenwood Park in a more sustainable direction. This area can serve as a great example of what Atlanta neighborhoods could achieve with additional attractive, compact, mixed-use structures and environments that give equal importance to pedestrian traffic.

A big box store (Walmart or otherwise) with a large surface parking lot seems like more of the same old thing for Atlanta rather than the bold change it needs, particularly in this spot next to Glenwood Park and the Beltline. What chance does this area have for good pedestrian and cycling mobility if it ends up with the same car traffic we have at other intown shopping centers that are as car-focused as the one proposed here?

Glenwood Park photo by Flickr User cnuatlanta

New York Times covers the Atlanta Beltline

There’s an excellent piece on the successes and challenges of the Atlanta Beltline in the New York Times today: Now Atlanta Is Turning Old Tracks Green

I really like this quote from Mayor Kasim Reed:

“We are changing Atlanta into a city that you can enjoy by walking and riding a bike,” Mayor Kasim Reed said. “We have been so car-centric that you didn’t experience the city in an intimate way.”

It’s great for Atlanta to continue getting good national press about the Beltline. It validates our efforts to move the city beyond car-centric development and transportation, toward a healthier future. Exciting.

I was struck by this part about critics of the planned transit component of the Beltline:

“The BeltLine doesn’t go where people want or need to go,” said Michael Dobbins, an architecture professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who has studied the project’s feasibility. “The parks and trails are great, but it makes no sense to add streetcars while traffic elsewhere is so bad, especially in this economy.”

I think it’s possible that the path would serve a good purpose as a cycling & pedestrian “last mile” route for commuters rather than a primary transit route.

But then a train connection to Ponce City Market makes so much sense, so I don’t know. 

Anyway, be sure to read the full article. 

Atlanta Beltline photo from Flickr user MamasLittleButterbean

Is public-private funding the future of rail expansion in Atlanta?

The AJC’s Ariel Hart writes a good piece on the state of Atlanta’s transit proposals now that T-SPLOST funding chances are a distant memory.

Interestingly, it looks like there’s potential for streetcar expansion on the Atlanta Beltline through public-private partnerships. The image above shows what the corridor could look like with proposed rail spurs that stretch out into streets.

First, a nice quote on the various proposals and the underway downtown streetcar:

A new streetcar line is under construction and likely to open in 2014. The planned rail component of the Beltline, far from sinking to oblivion after the T-SPLOST, is the subject of intense talks for innovative private funding, and is even sprouting new proposed lines. Even the state, long stymied on transit, is taking the first steps toward a long-discussed transit hub downtown.

I’m intrigued by this idea, in another quote, that public-private funding could provide even more money to Beltline transit than the T-SPLOST could have:

[Mayor] Reed said he is “very confident” that a public-private partnership could yield more than the T-SPLOST proposed, up to $800 million.

If that ends up being true, the loss of funding from a 10-year regional tax might not be that bad of a thing — it may have pointed the way to a brighter future with a potentially more sustainable funding model.

Image of Beltline corridor transit design from Flickr user Atlanta Betline