Best ways to make Atlanta more walkable? (Roswell, Marietta: crime, townhouse)

[RoslynHolcomb]

Oh, that's cool. I'm in Chamblee quite a bit as it's simply easier to shop there than it is in Dunwoody. I really like Keswick Park. I'm not sure Doraville has any plans. Reportedly they're broke. At least that was the crux of the issue about paving Tilly Mill.

[chiatldal]

I saw this a minute back it's about Buford Hwy, it's appropriate to this issue.


NEED TO KNOW | Blueprint America special report: Dangerous crossing | PBS - YouTube

[arjay57]

I'm really impressed with how Roswell has gotten on the ball. It's already a very cool city and they're taking a sophisticated approach to walkability.

New Urban Roswell - Blog - New Canton Street - Mill Village Neighborhood - DPZ*Concept

[arjay57]

The ATL gets a major write up in the Atlantic today.

How to Green Southern Cities Built in the Age of Cars and Air Conditioning - Design - The Atlantic Cities

[cqholt]

The ATL gets a major write up in the Atlantic today.

How to Green Southern Cities Built in the Age of Cars and Air Conditioning - Design - The Atlantic Cities

Was very surprised that Atlanta has the 3rd largest concentration of green certified buildings in the nation.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by testa50

Walkability is a major challenge for the metro--no doubt. My GF and I share a car so it's an issue that affects me in a very personal way; I am outspoken about being in favor of more walkable urban areas, public transit, and smart development (increasing the connectivity of streets is an important part of this, as others have said).

But the whiter, wealthier, more urban areas improving in walkability is not the most urgent concern I have. Nor are the affluent suburbs.

Atlanta's poor population is increasingly suburban; within a couple decades, it might be completely suburban. And many of our suburbs are completely unable to accommodate people without cars. Go drive around Clayton County and see how just about every major thoroughfare has telltale ruts in the grass where people without cars have to walk. Stoplights are often extremely dangerous, and sometimes lack pedestrian signals or have such high traffic volumes the signals are useless.

To add insult to injury, poor suburbs will probably be the last ones to get sidewalks. It's pretty standard to require them in normal suburban development nowadays, meaning they are close to being continuous along roads like Old Milton Parkway, where there's lots of recent development/redevelopment. But in poor suburbs, there is little or no development/redevelopment going on around the main thoroughfares, so there's no funding mechanism to build sidewalks--Tara Boulevard is almost completely without sidewalks.

In areas without sidewalks I've seen some pretty bleak stuff. Strollers being pushed on the paved shoulder of a highway. Families climbing over guardrails to catch a bus. That sort of thing.

And, sadly, sidewalks are just the only most basic need of people without cars. It's very difficult or maybe impossible to engineer a stoplight with 6 lanes of general traffic plus turn lanes that can safely accommodate pedestrians. And that crossing point, horrible though it may be, could be the only place to cross the road for half a mile in either direction. Let alone lack of public transport to actually get places more than a couple miles from home.

Great point! The Buford Highway corridor is a prime example of that very thing as well as the regional challenge it would be to come up for a solution considering how its runs through several cities and unincorporated areas. It's not an option for us as a region to just turn our nose up at areas away from where we live.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by cittic10

I have a great idea!
Climate controlled pedestrian tubes with free wifi.

They would be elevated over the city like a monorail but instead it's a tube. You can walk in it or ride your bike (dedicated lane for that). Emergency call boxes and guarded entries and exits would make it unfavorable for ner do wells.

You enter and exit at a limited number of access points through a spiral ramp.

It goes in a straighter line between high demand locations making it a shorter walk than using the sidewalks or roads down below. And it uses existing right-of-way although agreements could be made with some private schools and shopping malls, etc for dedicated access points, whereby they would pay the city for the pedestrian tube access rather than the other way around.

There could also be some vendor space at tube junctions.

They could also have those flat escalator- conveyor belt things like at the airport to let you walk faster.

You're safe and away from cars that want to run over you and You have a nice view out the clear sides of the tube as you walk, making it fun and it's in the air conditioning so there is no excuse!
I would totally use it!
It's brilliant, isn't it?

You get something similar but more practicable with gondolas.

[cqholt]

We've had 2 people killed by cars in 3 days. We need to do something about making walking in the metro safer. Maybe better pedestrian and driver education? I see so many people cross a street mid-block.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by JPD

The main problem with sidewalks within the city limits of Atlanta being in poor shape is the fact that homeowners are responsible for their upkeep.

PEDS » City of Atlanta Sidewalk Repairs

Wow - I had no idea. That explains a few things though, like why the sidewalk disappears in front of one house on my street, only to reappear in front of the next house. Maybe the owner wanted a few more square feet to garden?

[nrgpill]

I honestly feel some of these jaywalkers underestimate the width of a corridor like Bufor Hwy. I mean, it's quite wide, especially as you go towards N.Druid Hills. It is why I feel a lot of the times people are standing around in the middle lane instead of running across in one shot. The worst is mothers w/ strollers and 2 other kids, all holding hands or tethered.

Originally Posted by cqholt

We've had 2 people killed by cars in 3 days. We need to do something about making walking in the metro safer. Maybe better pedestrian and driver education? I see so many people cross a street mid-block.