New Buckhead tower

[teshadoh]

A few years ago, I read an article in a website about Buckhead that was telling of a massive "urban Peachtree Rd." It said that a new landscaped boulevard would be converted out of the old Peachtree Rd. and that new pedestrian friendly areas would be built, along with wider sidewalks, a bike path, and new pedestrial lighting and crosswalks would be constructed, which would lead to new offices, hotels, sidewalk cafes, etc., right on the road. Anyone know what happened to this plan?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is funded & will begin this year I believe.

[Unifour]

That's great, I like the sound of that for the area than anything else. Maybe the city leaders are aware that it needs more of that type of thing.

[derrickskugler]

If you combine these two 600 foot + towers going up within a 1/4 mile of each other in Buckhead with the new direction that Buckhead is going to take Peachtree Street over the next few years (adding sidewalks, landscaping, medians, etc.), then I can't wait to see Buckhead circa 2010. Plenty for Atlanta to be proud about, even if most posters from other cities love to hate us. :->

[atlla]

Buckhead.........

it's suburban.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Buckhead might not be as urban as some people would want, but it's definately not suburban. That's RIDICULOUS!!!

[atlla]

It is funded & will begin this year I believe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is schedule to start in August, with Ga. Power starting some of its work this summer before everyone else starts.

[ATL4EVER]

someone told me " Atlanta is as Hot as Hollywood" I think stuff like this is why they say that.

[teshadoh]

Buckhead might not be as urban as some people would want, but it's definately not suburban. That's RIDICULOUS!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, then suburban would fit wouldn't it? There isn't a "notquiteurbanbutnotsuburbanurban" tag is there?

Suburban includes a wide variety of urban levels of development, & most are not bad - in fact, in a literal sense, some of the best 'intown' Atlanta neighborhoods are suburban.

[atlrvr]

Literally, Sub-urban means "below urban", so if a place isn't urban, then by definition it is suburban.....but like Teshadoh said, suburban doesn't need to carry the same negative connotation that "Sprawl" does. There can be good suburban growth, just as there can be poor urban growth (look at many cities, in India, China, or Brazil)........as is becoming my favorite saying of late, "it's how a development relates to its surroundings, that determines whether is works well in the overall city structure".

Buckhead, at it's inception MANY years ago, worked well, though infrastructure didn't keep up with development (and development didn't look to incorportate exisiting ifrastructure thoughtfull), so you have what is there today (not urban, though not proto-typical "suburban", mixed with a hell of a lot of traffic and little pedestrian friendliness) There are obviously plans to retro-fit the area into a more urban space, and hopefully the city fulfills their plans, AND has the balls to force devlopment to occur in a more sustainable manner.

EDIT: My examples of India, China and Brazil were included to show entire cities that would be considered poor urban design......all cities have some elements of poor urban design, just as most cities would have at least some suburban area of good design.

[ATL4EVER]

Exactly, How would you define the word sprawl?

[atlrvr]

Well there is a big discussion about this in the Charlotte forum, but for me the definition is simple.

If a new development/neigbhorhood etc. can be built so that all basic destinations can be reached without adding cars to the existing thouroughfare system, then it is not sprawl.

What I mean, if people can use neighborhood roads (or walk, or transit) to reach every destination (I would exempt employment from this list, though ideally it would be included), then the new development is at least not negative.

This would require a mix of ammenities in the neighborhood, including schools (at least elementary), parks, sporting fields, churches, basic retail (at least a full service grocery), doctors/dentists/accountants/legal offices, tanning salon, UPS like store, florist, community center.......

Transit must be accessibly to everyone (less than 1/4 mile away) to provide for longer trips.

[Dale]

Business to Business magazine has this tower at 25 stories. Also, no offense intended (I love the design), but how can this tower possibly be 600 ft. ?

[atlrvr]

I assure you that it will be 31.....also, the floor-to-ceiling heights should be 15'.....soooo, 31x15'=465'. Then you have to assume that the lobby and possbily mezzanine level are taller than normal floors, plus, I don't believe the top portion of this building is occupied space.....it seems reasonable.

[Dale]

I'm going to guess the tower's no more than 500 ft. But I'd be delighted to be found wrong in this.