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I mean, granted, it's not a New York, SF, or Chicago, but I still think it's one of the best urban cores in the United States.
When I mean the Atlanta urban core, I'm strictly talking about the 4 mile long Downtown/Midtown Atlanta strip...roughly 6-8 square miles.
A lot of people diss Atlanta for being very spread out, but for such a spread out city, it's urban core is actually pretty good. In Midtown, you have many street level restaurants and retail, tall skyscrapers, nice apartments, and great walk ability. It has great amenities all in one area that you can pretty much walk anywhere to. Midtown is rather dense...could be more dense and have more people.
Downtown isn't bad either. It's a little more grittier then Midtown and could probably improve some, especially areas in the southern part of downtown, but it still has a good number of restaurants and many things to do for tourists along with large skyscrapers and some older, historic buildings, especially in the Fairlie Poplar District.
I think Midtown Atlanta has a lot of potential to be a world class urban district in the future. It's skyline continues to improve nearly every year and becoming more and more dense.
If then urban core of Atlanta had a larger population, I could see it really becoming world class in a sense that many people want to come visit it simply for the urban core.
I mean, granted, it's not a New York, SF, or Chicago, but I still think it's one of the best urban cores in the United States.
When I mean the Atlanta urban core, I'm strictly talking about the 4 mile long Downtown/Midtown Atlanta strip...roughly 6-8 square miles.
A lot of people diss Atlanta for being very spread out, but for such a spread out city, it's urban core is actually pretty good. In Midtown, you have many street level restaurants and retail, tall skyscrapers, nice apartments, and great walk ability. It has great amenities all in one area that you can pretty much walk anywhere to. Midtown is rather dense...could be more dense and have more people.
Downtown isn't bad either. It's a little more grittier then Midtown and could probably improve some, especially areas in the southern part of downtown, but it still has a good number of restaurants and many things to do for tourists along with large skyscrapers and some older, historic buildings, especially in the Fairlie Poplar District.
I think Midtown Atlanta has a lot of potential to be a world class urban district in the future. It's skyline continues to improve nearly every year and becoming more and more dense.
If then urban core of Atlanta had a larger population, I could see it really becoming world class in a sense that many people want to come visit it simply for the urban core.
I think the Atlanta urban core is pathetic.
Skylines and hi-rises do not determine the health of a city's urban core. In fact hi-rises in Atlanta are rather pointless since there is so much available land around. What's the point of building up when there is an endless supply of empty lots surrounding these buildings? Real cities build up because they have nowhere else to build out.
The key words are density and walkability. Yes, higher density is achieved by taller buildings, but ONLY if the buildings are connected together seamlessly. DC only has 14 story buildings in its core. Much of residential London and New York (in the boroughs) are rowhouses, which are low-rise. But the density factor is still impressive in all three cities because of continuous development with plenty of planned retail.
The same anti-government, anti-tax cultural values of the South which have thwarted public transportation planning in Atlanta, hinder private developers from working together to properly zone and plan Atlanta. It's each man for himself, the rest be damned. Those are not civic-minded attributes.
As a result, most of Atlanta's hi-rises in the core are set back from the street, completely nonintegrated with their neighbors, and surrounded by parking lots and grass, which reflects a suburban, car-oriented mindset. It discourages people from walking from one building to another, especially in high crime cities like Atlanta where people are paranoid that thugs are lurking in the dark. Well, often they are because the lack of foot traffic facilitates muggings and street crime. Safety in numbers is not something law abiding citizens feel in Atlanta.
Atlanta can build all the hi-rises it wants, but until they are built flush out to the street, with sidewalks and plenty of ground floor retail, in addition to a multiple line heavy or light rail transportation system, people are going to continue to drive and park their vehicles in the ample parking lots and garages. No one is going to want to come "visit Atlanta for its urban core." That's ridiculous.
Skylines and hi-rises do not determine the health of a city's urban core. In fact hi-rises in Atlanta are rather pointless since there is so much available land around. What's the point of building up when there is an endless supply of empty lots surrounding these buildings? Real cities build up because they have nowhere else to build out.
The key words are density and walkability. Yes, higher density is achieved by taller buildings, but ONLY if the buildings are connected together seamlessly. DC only has 14 story buildings in its core. Much of residential London and New York (in the boroughs) are rowhouses, which are low-rise. But the density factor is still impressive in all three cities because of continuous development with plenty of planned retail.
The same anti-government, anti-tax cultural values of the South which have thwarted public transportation planning in Atlanta, hinder private developers from working together to properly zone and plan Atlanta. It's each man for himself, the rest be damned. Those are not civic-minded attributes.
As a result, most of Atlanta's hi-rises in the core are set back from the street, completely nonintegrated with their neighbors, and surrounded by parking lots and grass, which reflects a suburban, car-oriented mindset. It discourages people from walking from one building to another, especially in high crime cities like Atlanta where people are paranoid that thugs are lurking in the dark. Well, often they are because the lack of foot traffic facilitates muggings and street crime. Safety in numbers is not something law abiding citizens feel in Atlanta.
Atlanta can build all the hi-rises it wants, but until they are built flush out to the street, with sidewalks and plenty of ground floor retail, in addition to a multiple line heavy or light rail transportation system, people are going to continue to drive and park their vehicles in the ample parking lots and garages. No one is going to want to come "visit Atlanta for its urban core." That's ridiculous.
See if you actually knew 2 cents about Atlanta rather than spend so much time hatting on Atlanta for unknown reasons. You could actually know some of the city plans, and get answers back for some of your isssues.
I don't think its that bad either. On sundays u see a lot of people walking in midtown.. by the way everytime I am in DC I see a whooooolllllleeeeee lot of people still driving there cars and parking.. I see more people driving there than walking. back2dc why is that? It seems like they love there cars just as much as people do in Atlanta..
Downtown is my favorite part of the city.Yes it needs some work in areas but overall I think it is one the best urban cores outside of the usual main cities.As far as what was said about "high rises being built without regard to street level retail and wider sidewalks",thats just nonesense unless we are talking about 10 years ago.
Most new development built nowadays always has those attributes.Look at every GSU new building built downtown.All of them have retail at the street level.
NYC,LONDON,and other cities grew the way they did ad people utilized them.Just as Atlanta did.It was not by some grand planning stage.Downtown is not Midtown or Buckhead which both of those nowadays have denseified immensely.
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,244,620 times
Reputation: 1041
I personally dont think so. But I grew up in the inner city and actually en joy living in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs and being able to drive downtown. ATL has a very good urban flavor. Could it have a little more? Maybe. I split time between Manhattan and ATL and to tell you the truth I prefer ATL. A loota stuff one has the other doesnt. Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead is fine with me.
The capitol area is pretty bad. It should have been better laid out with more greenspace with the Capitol building as its center and a state government campus around it. It should have been a place that we could point to with pride. As it is, it's best to show only the capitol building in a tight shot.
County and City buildings aren't much better. With so much available land, campuses could have been laid out for each.
Fairlie-Poplar has potential with its narrow streets but it's sort of shoved aside and forgotten. Woodruff Park and Hurt Park are more like a homeless camp. The corner of Peachtree/Andrew Young is approaching what is hoped for in downtown. But the downtown vibe quickly drops off as you move away from it.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 15,002,372 times
Reputation: 7333
Quote:
Originally Posted by back2dc
I think the Atlanta urban core is pathetic..
Kettle, meet pot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by back2dc
Skylines and hi-rises do not determine the health of a city's urban core. In fact hi-rises in Atlanta are rather pointless since there is so much available land around. What's the point of building up when there is an endless supply of empty lots surrounding these buildings? Real cities build up because they have nowhere else to build out.
Falsehood that this is the case on a large scale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by back2dc
The same anti-government, anti-tax cultural values of the South which have thwarted public transportation planning in Atlanta, hinder private developers from working together to properly zone and plan Atlanta. It's each man for himself, the rest be damned. Those are not civic-minded attributes
What are you talking about?
The city of Atlanta has rail and bus public transportation and is building streetcar lines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by back2dc
As a result, most of Atlanta's hi-rises in the core are set back from the street, completely nonintegrated with their neighbors, and surrounded by parking lots and grass, which reflects a suburban, car-oriented mindset. It discourages people from walking from one building to another, especially in high crime cities like Atlanta where people are paranoid that thugs are lurking in the dark. Well, often they are because the lack of foot traffic facilitates muggings and street crime. Safety in numbers is not something law abiding citizens feel in Atlanta
Again, what are you talking about?
Yeah, no one walks anywhere in Downtown, Midtown or Buckhead or any other part of the city of Atlanta. Every single highrise in the city is surrounded by lawns. Sidewalks are a foreign concept. Yeesh!
Quote:
Originally Posted by back2dc
Atlanta can build all the hi-rises it wants, but until they are built flush out to the street, with sidewalks and plenty of ground floor retail, in addition to a multiple line heavy or light rail transportation system, people are going to continue to drive and park their vehicles in the ample parking lots and garages. No one is going to want to come "visit Atlanta for its urban core." That's ridiculous.
I used to think you were bitter, but now I guess you are just living in a fantasy land based on you hating that parents relocated you here when you were a teenager. Why don't you just keep yourself in your paradise of DC (if you even live there) and call it day?
Side note: what is it with these DC posters and their extreme aversion to Atlanta? It just boggles my mind they just universally stack their hindquarters out on threads like these to show off how much more urban and smarter they are than the lowly Atlantans. Perhaps there is some sort of public school indoctrination program at play? I have other theories though, but I digress...
Last edited by waronxmas; 04-27-2012 at 01:26 PM..
I don't think its that bad either. On sundays u see a lot of people walking in midtown.. by the way everytime I am in DC I see a whooooolllllleeeeee lot of people still driving there cars and parking.. I see more people driving there than walking. back2dc why is that? It seems like they love there cars just as much as people do in Atlanta..
You would be mistaken. Washington DC proper has the second highest non automobile commuter rate in the nation at about 54%. 38% transit, 12% walking, 5% biking. That is ahead of San Fran, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. No city outside of NYC has a stronger car free culture than Washington DC. And if we are talking about suburban car free cultures, DC really pulls away from the pack.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 04-27-2012 at 01:12 PM..
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