Sweet Auburn district listed as endangered (Atlanta: neighbourhood, maintenance, live)

[cqholt]

Right, but my point is that the same dagger was driven right through the heart of much of the rest of the city, too. Many other neighborhoods have recovered (often with difficulty) and there's no reason Auburn Ave can't recover as well.

You are right, but it was built as the black commercial center of segregated Atlanta. Once people were allowed to live where they pleased they left the old restrictive areas. Businesses followed. But unlike other recovered areas "urban pioneers" did not immediately move to the area. I think the streetcar will drastically improve the area and add residences and commercial to the neighborhood. Don't forget both streets are set to receive pedestrian upgrades in the TIA. Better lighting means safer areas.

[JPD]

Sweet Auburn is going to be fine. It's going to take some time, but significant progress is happening continually.

-The projects over there: GONE.
-Royal Peacock: Back in business.
-Two or three restaurants just opened over there in the last few months.
-Renaissance Walk, a large residential development, was opened a few years ago (bad timing, granted).
-The streetcar is coming.
-Edgewood Ave, the next street over, is one of Atlanta's newest hotspots for young people.
-GSU just last week bought two buildings in the area.
-The Daily World building was almost bought, showing that there is private sector demand for those properties.

All positives. I can't think of any steps in the wrong direction that have been taken in that area over the last several years.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

If it has people, business should follow. If not, there's a problem. Guess we'll see if the streetcar fixes it.

Well much of the residential in the area is fairly new, so it's partly a function of time--as in, there hasn't quite been enough of it yet to produce a complete turnaround.

The process should be organic. Besides, the connector isn't going anywhere so maybe we should let it go and focus on more promising areas.

If the neighborhood was deliberately divided, then it should be deliberately reinvested in. Why is it that urban disinvestment can be completely engineered but urban investment should be "organic"?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

If the neighborhood was deliberately divided, then it should be deliberately reinvested in. Why is it that urban disinvestment can be completely engineered but urban investment should be "organic"?

While it is true that the freeway was deliberately routed through Auburn Ave, that is also true in every other neighborhood where freeways have been built in Atlanta and elsewhere.

That's not to minimize the disruption of freeway construction. We lived within a stone's throw of one and it took years for the neighborhood to fully adapt.

But it's doable, and that's the point I'm making about Auburn Ave. Its issues can't be laid solely at the feet of the freeway, and that's not where the solutions lie either.

If Mathman is talking about avoiding a theme park style redevelopment, I tend to dislike those, too. However, that doesn't rule out master planning or targeted investment. A great deal of work in that regard has been done and I'm optimistic the area will take off after the streetcar is in operation.

For those who haven't seen this, scroll down to the section on what they refer to as catalytic development sites.

Revitalization Strategy

[DTL3000]

Atlanta should shoot for what H Street is becoming here in DC:

H Street NE Neighborhood Guide in the DC area from washingtonpost.com

I believe a street car is slated to begin operating along H street in 2013.

It's a shame that one of the most historic neighborhoods in Atlanta was just left to rot like that.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by arjay57

While it is true that the freeway was deliberately routed through Auburn Ave, that is also true in every other neighborhood where freeways have been built in Atlanta and elsewhere.

That's not to minimize the disruption of freeway construction. We lived within a stone's throw of one and it took years for the neighborhood to fully adapt.

But it's doable, and that's the point I'm making about Auburn Ave. Its issues can't be laid solely at the feet of the freeway, and that's not where the solutions lie either.

If Mathman is talking about avoiding a theme park style redevelopment, I tend to dislike those, too. However, that doesn't rule out master planning or targeted investment. A great deal of work in that regard has been done and I'm optimistic the area will take off after the streetcar is in operation.

For those who haven't seen this, scroll down to the section on what they refer to as catalytic development sites.

Revitalization Strategy

"Theme park redevelopment" is typically reserved for brownfield sites, which Auburn Avenue is not. My point is that the city should be deliberate in reinvesting in the area, which is part of the city's urban core, and I think it's doing just that.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

...
If the neighborhood was deliberately divided, then it should be deliberately reinvested in. Why is it that urban disinvestment can be completely engineered but urban investment should be "organic"?

This.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

If the neighborhood was deliberately divided, then it should be deliberately reinvested in. Why is it that urban disinvestment can be completely engineered but urban investment should be "organic"?

I don't know if it was deliberate to divide it. It is after all a flyover. They probably didn't have a sense of what these roads would do back then. The Connector basically spit Atlanta in two. Georgia Tech has no sense of connection to the other side of Atlanta. I wonder how the town felt before the Connector was put in? You can still see roads on one side end and continue on the other side of the expressway. The fabric of the city was ripped apart. Although, what was done on 5th Street at Georgia Tech has helped mend a small piece of that ripped fabric.

Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA - Google Maps

That bridge/park blocks out the sight and sound of the Connector.

Really, the same is not true of Auburn Avenue but it is more of a psychological split. I suspect that the sight and sound of the Connector will keep Auburn Ave split.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I don't know if it was deliberate to divide it. It is after all a flyover. They probably didn't have a sense of what these roads would do back then. The Connector basically spit Atlanta in two. Georgia Tech has no sense of connection to the other side of Atlanta. I wonder how the town felt before the Connector was put in? You can still see roads on one side end and continue on the other side of the expressway. The fabric of the city was ripped apart. Although, what was done on 5th Street at Georgia Tech has helped mend a small piece of that ripped fabric.

Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA - Google Maps

That bridge/park blocks out the sight and sound of the Connector.

Really, the same is not true of Auburn Avenue but it is more of a psychological split. I suspect that the sight and sound of the Connector will keep Auburn Ave split.

it's pretty clear that I-75/85 was put where it was to separate the neighbourhood from downtown as it was such a significant black community.

the biggest problem now is that the interstate is overhead between sweet auburn and downtown, you have this 30 foot high, who knows how many feet wide hulking behemoth in the way of everything. had the separation occured below grade as it was at georgia tech, somehow i don't think the separation would've been as severe.

but now we're stuck with it— what do we do at this point? i think there needs to be heavy lighting under where auburn and edgewood go under the connector, and there could possibly be storefronts built under there. as for the wall, cover it with either art or trees. they made a pathetic attempt on the east side to put some italian-looking trees that don't fit at all when they needed to go with local trees that will tower over the sides of the interstate when grown out.

of course the streetcar is the first step to all of this. i can't wait until it's completed.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I don't know if it was deliberate to divide it. It is after all a flyover. They probably didn't have a sense of what these roads would do back then. The Connector basically spit Atlanta in two. Georgia Tech has no sense of connection to the other side of Atlanta. I wonder how the town felt before the Connector was put in? You can still see roads on one side end and continue on the other side of the expressway. The fabric of the city was ripped apart. Although, what was done on 5th Street at Georgia Tech has helped mend a small piece of that ripped fabric.

Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA - Google Maps

That bridge/park blocks out the sight and sound of the Connector.

Really, the same is not true of Auburn Avenue but it is more of a psychological split. I suspect that the sight and sound of the Connector will keep Auburn Ave split.

oh, and also, i wish they'd do that sort of thing for all of the bridges over the downtown connector.