ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[shivtim]

Only in Atlanta would you have several people arguing against capping a freeway to create park space and connect neighborhoods because they prefer to stare at the buildings while they drive on the 16 lane interstate. Here's a thought - how about you actually spend some time in the city, instead of driving through it at 70mph? Then you might see the need for this type of project.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by Atlanta3000

The very foundation of cities is the aboundace of streets in a grid to support transportation by cars.

Is this a competition for "most ridiculous post of the year"? Because you're the front runner.

[Frankster87]

Originally Posted by Atlanta3000

Sorry in advance if I come across as an @$$hole, but the foundation of your arguement is ridiculous - "Cities are for people, not for cars."

The very foundation of cities is the aboundace of streets in a grid to support transportation by cars. Have you every been to a major city with just sidewalks?

Of course cities need infrastructure for automobiles but to say that "The very foundation of cities is the abundance of streets in a grid to support transportation by cars", is absolutely ludicrous, no offense.

Major cities take into account all modes of transportation. Cities such as New York, Paris, and London, with their walkable environments, have become novelties in today's society due to the widespread, negative impact of the automobile across our cities.

Just take a look at this old picture of Downtown Atlanta. Now imagine if Atlanta continued to grow in a fashion that gave pedestrians as much consideration as it did the Automobile (or even more). We would have a totally different built environment, much closer to resembling the likes of Paris, New York, London, etc (Of course not nearly to the same scale). All things aside, I do however enjoy the idea of flooding the connector and giving Atlanta a much needed water feature!

[Atlanta3000]

Sorry - I don't live in the land of make believe with unlimited money or in Atlanta circa 1890 (where horse and buggy and feet were the only mode of transportation).

The fact is, capping the Connector would cost several Billion $'s. Probably in the neighborhood of $5+ Billion. I would rather see that money spent building out the Beltine, having a streetcar go from Downtown Atlanta to Buckhead and improving MARTA.

[Newnan_Eric]

Originally Posted by Atlanta3000

Sorry - I don't live in the land of make believe with unlimited money or in Atlanta circa 1890 (where horse and buggy and feet were the only mode of transportation).

The fact is, capping the Connector would cost several Billion $'s. Probably in the neighborhood of $5+ Billion. I would rather see that money spent building out the Beltine, having a streetcar go from Downtown Atlanta to Buckhead and improving MARTA.

I agree! The idea of capping the entire connector is preposterously expensive. There are a few places that have been proposed that might make sense. Even these are expensive and unlikely to ever move forward:

1. A new 15th Street Bridge with a park space on either side. This was proposed somewhere in some Midtown Alliance documents several years ago. I haven't seen any mention of it except for here since. If Midtown Alliance was motivated, this might move forward, since they have some capacity as a CID.

2. An expansion/renovation of the "Mayor's Park" are near the Civic Center where Ralph McGill, Piedmont cross. This is currently a sad place. If Central Atlanta Progress could push this, it could give this area a shot in the arm. It would also help if the Civic Center was redeveloped and the Peachtree-Pine shelter were closed and the Medical Arts building redeveloped. Alas, there hasn't been any further mention of this since the "Imagine Downtown" visioning exercise that CAP did years ago.

3. (My Favorite) An expansion of the new "Liberty Plaza" East of the Capital Building. This would tie into a planned linear park between MLK and Memorial Dr. all the way to Oakland Cemetary. It would create a stunning vista for the Capital Building and help accelerate redevelopment in the area. Couple this with the planned State Court building slated to replace the old Archives building and the redevelopment at the MLK MARTA station and this area would be on its way.

However, when the State did Liberty Plaza. They left some of the parking deck against the connector along with the pedestrian bridges. I don't think this is going to happen any time soon. Although, the linear park still might. The city has been buying up the property for some time. They aren't pushing out any active businesses, but as things close, they have snapped them up. Keep your fingers crossed.

4. Lastly, this new plan in Buckhead. The Buckhead CID could pull this off. Parkspace is certainly needed here. And, it could improve pedestrian connectivity over 400 and between these adjacent buildings. It will be interesting to watch.

[Stairstars]

If, they flood the Connector, and create a canal laden Venice of the South, I guess we can rename the city New Atlantis.

Thinking in abstract ideals may lead to fine plans, but the reality of what is already here has got to dictate the conversation.

I am curious as to why a street car from Downtown to Buckhead is preferable to the existing MARTA train, and would not be considered redundant, beyond the obvious sightseeing advantages of an above ground trip? I wonder if it's use would justify the expense.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Originally Posted by Stairstars

If, they flood the Connector, and create a canal laden Venice of the South, I guess we can rename the city New Atlantis.

Thinking in abstract ideals may lead to fine plans, but the reality of what is already here has got to dictate the conversation.

I am curious as to why a street car from Downtown to Buckhead is preferable to the existing MARTA train, and would not be considered redundant, beyond the obvious sightseeing advantages of an above ground trip? I wonder if it's use would justify the expense.

Streetcar can have higher density of stops, and currently Peachtree Rd. has only bus service till you get into the core Buckhead area. Buckhead Triangle would be well served with the streetcar.

[gttx]

Originally Posted by Atlanta3000

Sorry - I don't live in the land of make believe with unlimited money or in Atlanta circa 1890 (where horse and buggy and feet were the only mode of transportation).

The fact is, capping the Connector would cost several Billion $'s. Probably in the neighborhood of $5+ Billion. I would rather see that money spent building out the Beltine, having a streetcar go from Downtown Atlanta to Buckhead and improving MARTA.

Sure, but what if the people in 1890 had said the same thing? We wouldn't have the transportation system that is here today, because building giant new roads would have been preposterously expensive. After all, they were living in the modern world of horse and buggy. Who needed to think about the next big thing? We have to be thinking about the city 100 years from now - and I for one sure hope that city doesn't include a 16-lane highway at its center.

I like the big idea of a cap over the interstate. It might not be the first project I'd choose if I had billions of dollars to spend, but it is definitely interesting and not worth dismissing out of hand because of the cost. I think you could easily find $5 billion worth of economic impact by improving the cut and encouraging development along its edges...instead of repelling it with a giant highway.

[cabasse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonggyecheon

[boomtown]

Originally Posted by gttx

Sure, but what if the people in 1890 had said the same thing? We wouldn't have the transportation system that is here today, because building giant new roads would have been preposterously expensive. After all, they were living in the modern world of horse and buggy. Who needed to think about the next big thing? We have to be thinking about the city 100 years from now - and I for one sure hope that city doesn't include a 16-lane highway at its center.

I like the big idea of a cap over the interstate. It might not be the first project I'd choose if I had billions of dollars to spend, but it is definitely interesting and not worth dismissing out of hand because of the cost. I think you could easily find $5 billion worth of economic impact by improving the cut and encouraging development along its edges...instead of repelling it with a giant highway.

Its fun to imagine what cities could be - sometimes the most outlandish ideas are worth investigating. I love Leon Krier's idea to create canals in Washington DC - probably not realistic but an amazing study that he did way back. Here are some more.....
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=200113

[robertjhajek]

Made this in quick photoshop lol

Reminds me of austin

[Atlanta3000]

Originally Posted by robertjhajek

Made this in quick photoshop lol

Reminds me of austin

[briantech]

Originally Posted by Stairstars

If, they flood the Connector, and create a canal laden Venice of the South, I guess we can rename the city New Atlantis.

Thinking in abstract ideals may lead to fine plans, but the reality of what is already here has got to dictate the conversation.

I am curious as to why a street car from Downtown to Buckhead is preferable to the existing MARTA train, and would not be considered redundant, beyond the obvious sightseeing advantages of an above ground trip? I wonder if it's use would justify the expense.

A street car all the way from DT to BH would be rather duplicative.

But how about just a streetcar from Arts Center station up Peachtree to the Buckhead MARTA station? That'd be awesome.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Whole foods in Midtown core + news regarding related groups 14th St. Project

http://m.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/pe...en-flagship-store-in.html?ana=twt&r=full

[forj]

Originally Posted by briantech

A street car all the way from DT to BH would be rather duplicative.

But how about just a streetcar from Arts Center station up Peachtree to the Buckhead MARTA station? That'd be awesome.

If the Street Car plan was realized all the way to "Phase 4", there would be street car all over the damn place, including all the way up peachtree from south of downtown up into buckhead.. i seriously doubt that will ever be realized.. but here is a view of phase 4:



here is a link to the PDF with the whole plan:
http://beltline.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SES-Final-Report-022514.pdf

[gttx]

I like that Turner Field is still labeled in Phase 4 of the streetcar plans.

[AtlantaMustang]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Whole foods in Midtown core + news regarding related groups 14th St. Project

http://m.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/pe...en-flagship-store-in.html?ana=twt&r=full

This is amazing news:

Atlanta's largest Whole Foods Market could come to the site of a planned residential tower in Midtown Atlanta.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) is in talks with Miami's The Related Group for a roughly 60,000-square-foot store.

The store would anchor Related's planned project at 14th and West Peachtree streets. The development could include two towers built in phases. The first phase is set to include about 400 residential units, according to a previous interview.

[Tuckerman]

Capping the connector from North Ave to just above 14th Street would be relatively easy and one could build in an and occasional open part for exhaust, light and for those on the cap to gaze down at the stalled traffic underneath them (much like the capped throughway in downtown Toronto and other places). The advantages would be enormous: GT would have a contiguous campus and the Midtown would be able to widen and ultimately connect with the Westside developments. As for the views, they would be terrific and far exceed the passing views from driving on the connector - unless you like to join those gawking, leaving lanes and banging into others as they stare at the skyline. This is not a terribly expensive undertaking by DOT standards. It might even be cost effective in the long run with development on both sides of the cap. Also, this is not a tunnel - they are expensive; nonetheless in European big cities road tunnels are quite common in congested areas. Why let car priorities ruin the fabric of the city?

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Got some deets on the new NCR building, architects held some small meetings, they are looking to build 4-5 buildings on the lot, not sure how that will work cause the lot isn't that big, other things discussed were just interior things, for what we wanted for workspaces, etc.

[Frankster87]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Got some deets on the new NCR building, architects held some small meetings, they are looking to build 4-5 buildings on the lot, not sure how that will work cause the lot isn't that big, other things discussed were just interior things, for what we wanted for workspaces, etc.

Nice! Spring street between 5th and 10th is going to be super dense! I hope the momentum continues North and South.