ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Article about Colony Square redevelopment: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-rea...m_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Article about Colony Square redevelopment: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-rea...m_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This is long overdue.

[AtlantaMustang]

Anyone know what this is? Accidentally found it on Pinterest. Looks like it was posted in November, and is labeled Atlantic station block C, so the hole at 17th and the connector. It's also labeled BOKA Powell, an architecture firm. Looks interesting even if it's not a solid proposal.

[Martinman]

That rendering has been around for years. Maybe some developer was considering it at some point but it never was officially proposed.

[AtlantaMustang]

Originally Posted by Martinman

That rendering has been around for years. Maybe some developer was considering it at some point but it never was officially proposed.

Ahhh ok. Don't know how I've never seen it. Thank for the info.

[DWNTWN]

Post Centennial Park as of a few days ago:





It will look much better coming down Centennial Park when this is completed, since it will obscure the Museum Tower deck, and will make a nice brick block spanning the vastness that existed between MT and Centennial House/W/Twelve.

[RudyJK]

Originally Posted by DWNTWN

Post Centennial Park as of a few days ago:

Will we ever be rid of higgledy-piggledy power poles in Atlanta?

This is one thing that separates us from more mature and picturesque cities; rotten-ass wooden poles with yawning 3rd world wires and transformers hanging on for dear life. Look at almost every photo of the city and there they are. Sentinels from another century we'll never shake loose.

[daharris80]

Originally Posted by RudyJK

Will we ever be rid of higgledy-piggledy power poles in Atlanta?

Rid? Unlikely. Reduce? Yes.

The cost of burying lines is extremely expensive. As an example - Anaheim, California is burying their power lines. The cost is estimated at $3 million per mile. The project is expected to take 50 years.

Doing the entire city would require a monthly surcharge on all power bills. In Anaheim, that surcharge is 4%. That's likely not going through the PSC and the Atlanta City Council would throw a fit (with good reason) because of the disproportionate impact such an increase would have on low income citizens.

For comparison sake, the cost of building two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle is approximately $14 billion. To fund that cost there is approximately a 5% surcharge. And that surcharge will not last for 50 years. (In 50 years they'll be planning new reactors to replace the ones currently being built.)

As for aesthetics. I agree. But because of the high capital costs power lines will only be buried in areas where private developers and public/private improvement districts (CID/TAD) can justify the pooling of resources with an increase in value to their property because of additional visibility and marketability. That is currently happening.

[pica]

Originally Posted by RudyJK

Will we ever be rid of higgledy-piggledy power poles in Atlanta?

I see Atlanta's overhead power lines as an aesthetic symptom of a larger problem with way bigger consequences we talk about all the time: like an inadequate transit network and bad pedestrian infrastructure. In the south there's not enough of an appetite for equitably funding the infrastructure we need with state and local income taxes. So we rely on property and sales taxes, which are both regressive and disproportionately affect the poor. And we rely on lots and lots of federal funding, which slows projects down. Yes, it would be nifty to bury our power lines, but it would basically happen by default if we solved the core issue. More public investment = more private investment = incentives to do this kind of non-essential but nice stuff.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by pica

I see Atlanta's overhead power lines as an aesthetic symptom of a larger problem with way bigger consequences we talk about all the time: like an inadequate transit network and bad pedestrian infrastructure. In the south there's not enough of an appetite for equitably funding the infrastructure we need with state and local income taxes. So we rely on property and sales taxes, which are both regressive and disproportionately affect the poor. And we rely on lots and lots of federal funding, which slows projects down. Yes, it would be nifty to bury our power lines, but it would basically happen by default if we solved the core issue. More public investment = more private investment = incentives to do this kind of non-essential but nice stuff.

It's one major reason many people move to Atlanta and the South from cities with more buried power lines...apparently it isn't worth the higher taxes in those cities? It's getting done here a little at a time - a couple of decades ago it was much worse. They are buried in adjacent areas to the one shown in that photo above. and downtown is relatively free of them I think...I don't really notice them unless they are really bad.

[Dale]

Worst I've ever seen for overhead wires: Toronto

[eRosewater]

Underground power lines are great, but given the cost they should be used sparingly. It may be appropriate to bury lines on main Boulevards (maybe Peachtree) or important public spaces (say, around Piedmont Park). However, it probably wouldn't make sense to have a goal of 'burying every power line in Atlanta.' I don't really mind the aesthetic and the fact that most lines are above ground keeps costs low and makes servicing easy. Partly because of this, Georgia Power does a great job of providing uninterrupted service and fixes outages promptly.

All in all this is another instance of something that I value, but would rather spend the money on other things (sidewalks, bike lanes, other pedestrian infrastructure).

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

I think people overexaggerate on the exposed power lines...

In Seattle they have lots of exposed wires because of the Trolleybuses that run on them like a streetcar with wheels and with the new LRT and it didn't really detract from the beauty of the city. All that was important was that the buses actually were useful and had constant buses running down some streets and the street retail was well designed and had big time shopping tenants in the downtown area too. I also think the smaller blocks helped.

[jpk1292000]

Originally Posted by Dale

Worst I've ever seen for overhead wires: Toronto

Yeah...really bad there in areas like Queen Street West

[bryantm3]

i mean it would be nice if we could take down the street power lines, but the ones that really destroy the city and the natural environment are the tall high-voltage lines that require such a large right-of-way; they cut right across piedmont park and midtown, and across the metro area we've got huge gashes cut right through the forest to accommodate the size of these lines. they need to mandate that those type of lines be buried, it's ridiculous.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i mean it would be nice if we could take down the street power lines, but the ones that really destroy the city and the natural environment are the tall high-voltage lines that require such a large right-of-way; they cut right across piedmont park and midtown, and across the metro area we've got huge gashes cut right through the forest to accommodate the size of these lines. they need to mandate that those type of lines be buried, it's ridiculous.

My understanding is these are an order of magnitude more expensive yet to bury. As voltage increases (these lines are 200,000-500,000 volts vs 10,000-20,000 for distribution lines) the amount of heat shed by the lines increases, meaning some form of active cooling system is required. That's big, big bucks.

[Street Advocate]

Movement on the Cornerstone MOB located at 1895 Peachtree:


https://aca.accela.com/atlanta_ga/Cap/Ca...gencyCode=ATLANTA_GA&IsToShowInspection=

[MdtwnATL]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

I think people overexaggerate on the exposed power lines...

In Seattle they have lots of exposed wires because of the Trolleybuses that run on them like a streetcar with wheels and with the new LRT and it didn't really detract from the beauty of the city. All that was important was that the buses actually were useful and had constant buses running down some streets and the street retail was well designed and had big time shopping tenants in the downtown area too. I also think the smaller blocks helped.

There's something about trolley / streetcar wires that's more acceptable and appealing than power lines.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Land development permit for the Civic Center redevelopment was filed yesterday

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Land development permit for the Civic Center redevelopment was filed yesterday

Oh wow...must be close...have they updated the plans? I remember an article saying the Mayor didn't like the plans presented. I certainly didn't.