Do you think Atlanta will cultivate its stream system? (Georgetown: designs, friendly)

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Hi all, just a simple question that I've had in my head for the longest. With all of the NIMBY's, the tree huggers, the green movement, the environmental studies/laws, do you think that Atlanta will get to a point were the city will develop and cultivate it's vast intown stream system?

I know that there are some plans of doing a little of this with some of the Beltline developments, but I have no idea of how they intend to incorporate those developments into the surrounding habitats and streams exactly. Below are examples of what I'm talking about:


Amsterdam:



Austin:



DC:





Portland:



Seattle:



Seoul:







Sydney:

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by NYbyWAYofGA

Hi all, just a simple question that I've had in my head for the longest. With all of the NIMBY's, the tree huggers, the green movement, the environmental studies/laws, do you think that Atlanta will get to a point were the city will develop and cultivate it's vast intown stream system?

Great topic and beautiful examples.

A couple of years ago the History Channel held a "City of the Future" competition and Atlanta firms came up with some very interesting designs that involved daylighting buried streams and incorporating wetlands into the urban environment. You can probably Google that up and find some of the entries.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

...

A couple of years ago the History Channel held a "City of the Future" competition and Atlanta firms came up with some very interesting designs that involved daylighting buried streams and incorporating wetlands into the urban environment. You can probably Google that up and find some of the entries.

City in the Forest: Atlanta 2108

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by NYbyWAYofGA

Hi all, just a simple question that I've had in my head for the longest. With all of the NIMBY's, the tree huggers, the green movement, the environmental studies/laws, do you think that Atlanta will get to a point were the city will develop and cultivate it's vast intown stream system?

I know that there are some plans of doing a little of this with some of the Beltline developments, but I have no idea of how they intend to incorporate those developments into the surrounding habitats and streams exactly...

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16465213-post6.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16465265-post7.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16493847-post22.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16532729-post37.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16532986-post39.html

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Great topic and beautiful examples.

A couple of years ago the History Channel held a "City of the Future" competition and Atlanta firms came up with some very interesting designs that involved daylighting buried streams and incorporating wetlands into the urban environment. You can probably Google that up and find some of the entries.

Arjay57, thank you for the props and for that info! It's good to know that this is being looked into. If the city decides to build up and around some of these streams, do you think that they will be as manicured as my examples, or do you think Atlanta will take a more natural approach as to not interrupt the natural habitat?

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by aries4118

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16465213-post6.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16465265-post7.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16493847-post22.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16532729-post37.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/16532986-post39.html

Aries4118, I see great minds think alike. I like a lot of your ideas. As the city moves forward with the Beltline designs, do you think some of these ideas have a chance of coming to fruition in some way or another? I will try to find and post some Beltline renderings that I've seen before that I'm sure shows some examples of how they plan to incorporate landscaped/hardscaped urban streams into some of the developments. If properly implemented, that would be awesome.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by NYbyWAYofGA

Aries4118, I see great minds think alike. I like a lot of your ideas. As the city moves forward with the Beltline designs, do you think some of these ideas have a chance of coming to fruition in some way or another? I will try to find and post some Beltline renderings that I've seen before that I'm sure shows some examples of how they plan to incorporate landscaped/hardscaped urban streams into some of the developments. If properly implemented, that would be awesome.

Thanks.


I have no idea. I just hope they convert many of the former creeks/streams and adjoining areas back to wetlands and/or parklands.

And a Peachtree Creek corridor flood control project has the potential to be a brilliant and authentic water feature for Intown/Relative Central Atlanta.

[tellitetre]

That would be awesome. I've studied a lot about the city and the Beltline and never gave much thought to streams as a part of the master plan. There are a lot of streams, creeks, ponds and even small lakes that are invisible unless you happen upon them or know they are there. Some dried up after the drought. Who knows if these gems can be restored to their original beauty.

[cwkimbro]

A few issues to mention about streams... and the original example posted above.

Keep in mind most streams in the Atlanta area have development buffers and will likely to continue so. This is the most ecologically friendly thing to do. It also lowers risk to development.

Most places that have rivers through areas of town like the above example in the OP occur in older built areas where they didn't create proper buffers to begin with.

We are more likely to leave streams more untouched...unlike the examples above. The only thing ecologically friendly about the examples in the OP is more of a... well that reconstructed the stream better than it was constructed before.

A better way of looking at this would be... Where are existing trouble sites in Atlanta and what needs to be done to better buffer development from the stream?

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

A few issues to mention about streams... and the original example posted above.

Keep in mind most streams in the Atlanta area have development buffers and will likely to continue so. This is the most ecologically friendly thing to do. It also lowers risk to development.

Most places that have rivers through areas of town like the above example in the OP occur in older built areas where they didn't create proper buffers to begin with.

We are more likely to leave streams more untouched...unlike the examples above. The only thing ecologically friendly about the examples in the OP is more of a... well that reconstructed the stream better than it was constructed before.

A better way of looking at this would be... Where are existing trouble sites in Atlanta and what needs to be done to better buffer development from the stream?

Good points, Cwkimbro. Check this link out about other places that are rehabilitating their urban streams:

Urban Streams with Green Walls

Urban streams with green walls : Highly Allochthonous (http://scienceblogs.com/highlyallochthonous/2010/06/urban_streams_with_green_walls.php - broken link)