348 replies to this topic

[G W North]

Are the areas around where the stations would be densely built up right now, or are they sparse with parking lots, suburban densities, undeveloped land, etc.?

[Spartan]

I didn't realize this project was so far along. That's good news.

Could you post a map?

[teshadoh]

Spartanburger, on Apr 12 2004, 05:00 PM, said:

I didn't realize this project was so far along. That's good news.

Could you post a map?

There is progress - but it isn't 'that' far along.  No engineering work has been made, so far they're still trying to get support.  I spoke to the project manager for it a few weeks ago, he works directly for Cathy Woolard, & they have practicly zero technical work concerning this.  He has mainly been concerned with doing research on the area to support the need for a line.

I know I would love it if it's built - I'm a half mile away from one of the proposed stations.

[Spartan]

This certainly is a large project. I read somewhere that its not really going to be a part of MARTA in that it wont be the same kind of rail. It will also have sidewalks or something along side of the tracks for bikers or pedestrians. - all of which is nto like the current MARTA stations. Is that still the case?

[Spartan]

Yeah. It seems counter productive to have so many oranizations of public transit. I think generally competition is a good thing, but in this case you really need one entity that is powerful enough to get stuff done.

[teshadoh]

Hopefully we will have a new govenor that will put more bite in GRTA's bite.  When Barnes was in office the agency was in the position to take over MARTA & make it a regional transit authority, now the entire transit picture is going in the wrong direction.  Cobb County is in position to control the bus rapid transit line - perhaps integrating CCT into it, the civic organizations for the Cumberland & Perimeter business districts may consolidate the bus rapid transit line on 285 into a seperate authority.  But the belt line & C loop routes should likely be under MARTA's umbrella - MARTA is studying the routes after all http://www.itsmarta....m/planstudy.htm.

What is unfortunate about the bus rapid transit lines - is that they will not invigorate transit oriented development.  They are almost exclusively freeway oriented systems with few transit stops that will mostly be accesible for automobile drivers.  In fact within the city of Atlanta, the only stop that is being considered in at Atlantic Station.  They will be blowing a great opportunity to encourage a massive level of infill development within the city between I-75 & the south towards Marietta Blvd.  I would say the balkanization of Atlanta metro is continuing - but the Atlanta metro has never enjoyed a regional approach to planning.  The Atlanta Regional Commission has some power, but in most cases they can only make recomendations to the municipalities.  

Speaking of which, there 2030 transportation plan is incredibly uninspiring.  What happened to transportation plans that were revolutionary - visionary?  Even if most of the projects don't make it - some projects that were never considered could.  ARC's plan features very little transit (besides the projects that have been discussed the past 10 years).

[monsoon]

[Brickell]

Are these stops in traditional town centers?   It's been my experience that people won't go from residential neighborhood to residential neighborhood.  I think you need more spokes in the wheel.

[ATLman1]

Proposed intown loop seen as $1.4 billion economic engine

By JULIE B. HAIRSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/19/05
Civic leaders and city officials Tuesday hailed a proposed intown loop of transit and green space as a potential economic catalyst as important as Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

More than 200 big-money developers, consultants, lawyers and supporters braved temperatures in the teens for an early-morning meeting on the proposed Atlanta Beltline, estimated to cost $2 billion to $3 billion to complete.

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Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was out of town but sent City Council President Lisa Borders to echo her recent comparison of the Beltline and the airport.

Borders highlighted the 46 urban neighborhoods that would be connected by the Beltline and the unusually large number of government and private groups working simultaneously to create it.

"We are excited about this project at City Hall," Borders said. "This is a political dream."

Consultant Barbara haga of EDAW, a landscape design firm now putting the finishing touches on the city's Beltline economic study, said new housing, offices and shops along the loop could generate $1.4 billion in property taxes in the next 25 years.

That money, she said, could be used to pay construction costs for the 22-mile circuit of transit, bike trails and new parkland.

Franklin will ask the City Council, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the Atlanta Board of Education to approve a special tax district dedicating money to the project this year.

In addition, the Trust for Public Land, which co-sponsored the meeting with the Urban Land Institute, is promising to raise private funds to help pay for the 1,400 acres of parkland the Beltline would connect.

haga said the proposed tax district would allow the loop to be developed holistically. Work, she said, should begin with bike trail and green space portions. That would be followed by privately developed housing, offices and shops along its path.

Finally, haga said, transit could be added to link the attractions and destinations clustered around the line.

Developers already are jockeying to take advantage of the Beltline's promise to connect some of Atlanta's most sought-after intown neighborhoods.

Suburban real estate mogul Wayne Mason now controls a prime 4.6-mile swath of the loop in northeast Atlanta. He took the podium for the first time since closing the deal to declare an end to the days of the "half-acre, swing set and a dog" as Atlanta's residential standard.

Instead, Mason said Atlanta is evolving toward a lifestyle more like European cities where urbanites live over shops, travel frequently by transit and share public recreational areas.

"I follow trends," Mason said. "I invest in concepts."

Many of those gathered at the SouthTrust building in Atlantic Station, Atlanta's first large-scale experiment in urban redevelopment, appeared eager to line up behind Mason.

"We haven't seen this type of excitement since the [1996] Olympics," said James Oxendine, an Atlanta economic development consultant.

Bruce Gunter, an affordable housing developer who lives in Inman Park, called the Beltline "the best idea I've heard in my lifetime in Atlanta."

Beltline advocates were thrilled with the size and tenor of Tuesday's meeting.

Ed McBrayer, executive director of the PATH Foundation and a steering committee member for the recently released Trust for Public Land Beltline "Emerald Necklace" study, said further private investment in the project is virtually certain.

"Every developer from Nashville to Jacksonville was there," said McBrayer. "And I think that's a good sign."

Ryan Gravel, whose Georgia Tech graduate thesis became the Beltline's prototype, now leads a nonprofit advocacy organization called Friends of the Beltline.

He talked about the challenges of coordinating a project now involving at least 22 government and private organizations.

"There's a lot of work that needs to happen by a lot of different groups," Gravel said. "Everybody has to come to grips with . . . how all the pieces come together."

[monsoon]

Is this the same thing as depicted here in this diagram?




There was a discussion here last summer about that located in This Thread.    It would be nice to hear an update on it.

[ATLman1]

Yes it is.

[alexr15]

Check out Beltline.org. It's the official site, I believe. I certainly hope Atlanta can pull this off!