Atlanta Beltline

[atl2phx]

hey jewforlife, nice pics.

you are right, it's much easier to grasp the scope of the project by walking the corridor(s). i hope to hike all five segments this year.

thanks for sharing!

[smArTaLlone]

great tour

[cabasse]

so much potential, and you can see the progress towards that so far. (even on the somewhat neglected until recently westside)

thanks for the great pics and i'm loving the mega saturation

[sunking1056]

Great pictures. I adore Angel...

[cybele]

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

Well I have always thought West End is one of the best MARTA stations. Great pictures and you are right that this has a lot of potential!

[jew4life4948]

Thanks everyone!

When I asked Angel about his thoughts on Mayor Reed's statement about shortening the Beltline timeline from 25 years to 10-15 he gave me his opinion that "You shouldn't rush the planning and implementation of these massive projects, because if you short-change the community input aspect then the completed project will not reach maximum efficiency & utility for the communities it passes through."

I actually de-saturate most of my photos, I like to exaggerate the shadowing and highlights when I can detect contrast in the sky. I'm still working on a huge batch of Midtown skyline shots that I'm proud of.

Higher Quality versions of these pics can be found on my Flickr.

[cybele]

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

When I asked Angel about his thoughts on Mayor Reed's statement about shortening the Beltline timeline from 25 years to 10-15 he gave me his opinion that "You shouldn't rush the planning and implementation of these massive projects, because if you short-change the community input aspect then the completed project will not reach maximum efficiency & utility for the communities it passes through."

Well you shouldn't eliminate community input but at some point you've got to get on with things. We've already been working on the Beltline for years and there have been hundreds of opportunities for public feedback.

Yes, the Beltline is a big project but things like airports, power grids, huge dams and the interstate highway system were built in far less than 25 years. The route of the Beltline isn't going to change, and mountains of planning have already been done. And for the most part you are going through abandoned railroad right of way (some of it fairly dilapidated), not smack dab through the middle of town.

I'd vote to move on with all due speed and work out the kinks as you go along. Surely 10-15 years is enough time for community input.

[trainiac]

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

Here's a walk from December 26th.

Great job! How long did the walk take?



Cool. John Gordon's old grocery. I love the brick work on this building




I sure miss The Depot, the did a fantastic job on the renovation. Hope somebody else takes it over

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by cybele

I'd vote to move on with all due speed and work out the kinks as you go along. Surely 10-15 years is enough time for community input.

Everyone should keep in mind they have already eaten up 5 years, so there should only 5-10 years left. They need to get going!

[jew4life4948]

this is stanton park which the city re-opened in 2004 after it was closed in 1999. they actually plan to demolish the playground to rebuild the park with the new beltline plan.

"The D.L. Stanton Park was closed in 1999 when a young girl playing in the playground was burned from a methane gas explosion in the park’s soil.

The Department of Public Works and Watershed Management graded and grassed the park to eliminate the formation of large amounts of stagnant water. The standing water is a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes and can cause injury to children while playing. The Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs completed the final touches to ensure that neither safety nor style was compromised."

[ATLaffinity]

Incredible pics.

Does anyone know what is happening with the NE Beltline?

I know a small minority of NIMBY people shot down all their ideas. I think the NPU voted against it as well.

Seems like there were a lot of meetings and now nothing.

I don't think they do a very good job of enlisting *support* for the Beltline.

[atl2phx]

Originally Posted by ATLaffinity

Incredible pics.

Does anyone know what is happening with the NE Beltline?

I know a small minority of NIMBY people shot down all their ideas. I think the NPU voted against it as well.

Seems like there were a lot of meetings and now nothing.

I don't think they do a very good job of enlisting *support* for the Beltline.

addmittidly alot of this is heresay on my part, but i'm under the impression the majority of the NE proposal was ok, rather, it was the intersection of 10th and monroe that caused concern and is the current sticking point.

i was even told the ansley mall sub-area was approved to include the neighborhood connectivity elements of the proposal.

apparently the sticking point is the specific northwest corner of 10th/monroe (between the rail ROW and piedmont....where the dog boarding/training spot is now). apparently some time ago, residents requested the stand of trees that runs along the rail track/ROW remain greenspace, however, the beltline sees that area as critical (where development should meet the street) in an area where density makes sense.

the beltline proposal recommends development on that parcel as a 6-8 story building facing monroe that would step down to 6 stories, 4 stories and finally 2-3stories as it pushes northward. doing so would remove the stand of trees and partially incumber the view toward the park (for probably A HALF DOZEN homes).

the rest of that intersection is proposed to be redeveloped in a similar fashion, but from what i hear it's this one parcel (NW 10th/monroe) that's the sticking point.

i would imagine the noise has toned down now as the city and ABI are potentially reworking the proposal.....it also may have to do with the timing of reed coming into office.

[atlantaguy]

^I think you nailed it, atl2phx. With an adjacent 12 storey hilltop condo, I think they're nuts over there.....but that's just me, I guess.

In an interesting side note, I noticed in this weeks Creative Loafing in Cliff Bostick's column that all the businesses in Ansley Square (The King & I, Burkharts, Pets are People Too, etc.) are now on 6 month cancellation leases.

I think a lot may be going on behind the scenes.

[jurban8]

Originally Posted by atlantaguy

^I think you nailed it, atl2phx. With an adjacent 12 storey hilltop condo, I think they're nuts over there.....but that's just me, I guess.

In an interesting side note, I noticed in this weeks Creative Loafing in Cliff Bostick's column that all the businesses in Ansley Square (The King & I, Burkharts, Pets are People Too, etc.) are now on 6 month cancellation leases.

I think a lot may be going on behind the scenes.

I read that too. As ugly and under-developed as Ansley Square and Ansley Mall are, I would hate to see Burkharts and Brushstrokes go. Just more of Atlanta's gay culture swept under the rug...

[ATLaffinity]

^atl2,

The Beltline plan also included plans for streets to cut up that "super block" bounded by Monroe, Virginia Ave, Ponce Pl, and Ponce.

NIMBY crowd spun this as "all these new roads" when it was really about making a grid to help with pedestrian and bicycle safety.

What's most grating is the fact that what's already there is so horrible: a bunch of surface lots and dangerous intersections. It's not like quaint old buildings. It's crap right now.

[atl2phx]

Originally Posted by ATLaffinity

^atl2,

The Beltline plan also included plans for streets to cut up that "super block" bounded by Monroe, Virginia Ave, Ponce Pl, and Ponce.

What's most grating is the fact that what's already there is so horrible: a bunch of surface lots and dangerous intersections. It's not like quaint old buildings. It's crap right now.

yeah, i'm aware of the plan to reconnect drewry, greenwood and st. charles when the home depot site is ultimately redeveloped, however, it didn't occur to me (but it makes sense) to do the same with ponce terrance and virginia circle up to monroe. it is crap now.

i wonder how the beltline discloses such plans at the meetings.....2D maps that simply show grid and shaded parcels based on density of development, or animated CAD fly throughs? maybe form factor of presentation doesn't even matter. i'm also curious how traffic flow is discussed and presented. i don't get the resistence. IMHO, the residental properties on streets that connect directly to the beltline corridor will become more desirable, attractive and appreciate in value. hop on a bike or take a walk to the beltline and have easy access to so much of the city? it seems like a no brainer to me.

by the way, i understand just south of ponce, the poncey-highlands neighborhood has really taken to proactively planning for the beltline and how it will shape that particular neighborhood. i wonder what defines the difference between the two areas besides one is more established (midtown/va highlands) and the other really started coming back to life over the past 10-15 years.

[trainiac]

Originally Posted by atl2phx

by the way, i understand just south of ponce, the poncey-highlands neighborhood has really taken to proactively planning for the beltline and how it will shape that particular neighborhood. i wonder what defines the difference between the two areas besides one is more established (midtown/va highlands) and the other really started coming back to life over the past 10-15 years.

Yes! They're doing a great job. Us Inman Parkers are trying to keep up As far as I can tell Poncy-Hi, Old Fourth Ward and IP are extremely "pro-beltline"

Further north gets a little dicier

[ATLaffinity]

The PEDS people spoke in favor of density, basically saying that without it, that area of the Beltline is simply a playground for the wealthy. Everyone nodded somberly to show that they deeply cared about affordable housing and then went back to attacking the presenters.

At the NE Beltline meeting, the traffic engineer was excellent. But the residents simply don't believe what he said. There's nothing you can do about that.
I wish I remembered his name. It wasn't like he just had pie in the sky ideas and numbers. You could tell he knew the area.

You'll have to ask somebody against the proposal, but there was something about historic streets not being able to handle the load if they were extended across Monroe.

[cybele]

Well it sounds like some of the folks along this Beltline thing are having a pretty rough go of it.

Some residents remain bitter at the trail's intrusion into the area.

Roger Moister, whose family has lived at the corner of Golfview Road and Golfview Drive since 1977, doesn't believe PATH is meeting neighborhood concerns. He says his life has been disrupted by large trucks rumbling down his narrow street as early as 7 a.m. In constructing an access road along the golf course, contractors used large-diameter rock and stone, leaving Moister wondering whether the rubble will be removed.

Before a tour of the trail on a recent chilly Sunday, Moister anticipated the scene when the trail is completed and urban hikers arrive. "Where are they going to park?" he asked. As for the construction site, "I and the neighbors didn't realize how big it was going to be."

Moister acknowledges the path will provide users with a chance for exercise and exploration, but believes the amount of concrete being used is too much for the area, which includes an archaeological site and natural spaces.

He pointed to a towering tree, "the biggest white ash in the Atlanta area," where the trail was supposed to have been narrowed to protect ancient roots. The concrete presses upon the tree's trunk. Another tree, one of the largest cedars in the area, faces similar encroachment.

Bobby Jones Golf Course sees changes for PATH construction

[scpatl4now]

I found this map of what future rail should look like (more like wish). I dont remember what it was from though or how old. Hopefully someone will know

[IMG][/IMG]