GT Releases 25 Year Vision of Downtown Atlanta with Autonomous Cars, Removed Parking, Vibrancy (Buckhead: 2015, credit)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Personally, I think Downtown is finding its' destiny without having to resort to cutting Midtown off at the knees.

I hope that is the case, LD.

Back when Midtown took off in the late 1980s, however, it was very much like a "squeeze the balloon" phenomenon. It started with the big legal firms and before long a major portion of downtown's business core had decamped to the north.

But perhaps downtown will find its place as a center for government, residential and tourist/entertainment venues. That wouldn't be bad at all.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Sualpine

The solution to fix the woes of this city are the same solutions as for any other city.

Trains. Trains. Trains.

This plan is garbage.

Next.

You continue to throw out New York, London and Tokyo as benchmarks with your delusional attempts to 'shame' Atlanta.

Need you be reminded yet again that there are daily nonstops to all 3? Why are you still here?

[primaltech]

Atlanta's in a different weight class than NY, London, and Tokyo. Not a fair fight. Better to compare Atlanta with Seattle, Dallas, etc. The rest of the B-tier of American cities. We're certainly not in the A-tier of urban cities, even in our own country.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Atlanta's in a different weight class than NY, London, and Tokyo. Not a fair fight. Better to compare Atlanta with Seattle, Dallas, etc. The rest of the B-tier of American cities. We're certainly not in the A-tier of urban cities, even in our own country.

I agree, for the most part. Our amazing tree canopy firmly cements us in the A-tier when it comes to that particular asset, though. And it is a major asset.

I believe it is fair to rank us as B-Tier, yet it's necessary to note that all of the other cities within that tier would kill for our Heavy Rail backbone.

[-thomass]

I feel like living and working in DT would be so much better if there was a grocery store. I seriously don't understand why Kroger or publix have not invested in DT yet.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by -thomass

I feel like living and working in DT would be so much better if there was a grocery store. I seriously don't understand why Kroger or publix have not invested in DT yet.

Underground Renovation and other future plaza projects are being proposed to fix this, though seeing as there is a lot of ground level retail space in South Downtown I wouldn't mind seeing independent groceries like New York has.

[primaltech]

City of Atlanta, MARTA, CNN, Hawks/Philips Arena, Falcons/MB Stadium, all need to team up- to do something totally amazing with the Gulch and surrounding area, hopefully even including replacing that atrocious behemoth CNN parking roof deck. Some massive development, much like Atlantic Station, with parking all hidden in decks below the surface level.

Publix or Kroger in it, Maybe a Target, and a movie theater and bowling and other entertainment type stuff, dozens of retailers, dozens of nice restaurants, office towers, residential towers, everything. And with new streets to break it all up.

On the eastern side of the project, that block of gulch east of Ted Turner and west of Forsyth St, adjacent to Five Points, should be the commuter rail MMPT, integrated into Five Points MARTA with direct pedestrian tunnel connections. And with towers built on top of the station.

Then all you have to do is seamlessly blend it right into Fairlie-Poplar, and we're talking some major game-changing.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by -thomass

I feel like living and working in DT would be so much better if there was a grocery store. I seriously don't understand why Kroger or publix have not invested in DT yet.

You might remember the Kroger Citi Center near the Capitol; it closed some years ago for whatever reason. I do agree that the absence of basic amenities such as this will hold Downtown back from taking it to the next level.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Atlanta's in a different weight class than NY, London, and Tokyo. Not a fair fight. Better to compare Atlanta with Seattle, Dallas, etc. The rest of the B-tier of American cities. We're certainly not in the A-tier of urban cities, even in our own country.

I'm pretty sure most people don't want Atlanta to be on PAR with New York, London, and Tokyo. New York is the epicenter for my career. I don't live in New York because I don't want to live in a place like New York. If Atalanta were to become like New York, I'm not sure how long I would stick around.

Originally Posted by primaltech

City of Atlanta, MARTA, CNN, Hawks/Philips Arena, Falcons/MB Stadium, all need to team up- to do something totally amazing with the Gulch and surrounding area, hopefully even including replacing that atrocious behemoth CNN parking roof deck.

Which one is that?

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

I'm pretty sure most people don't want Atlanta to be on PAR with New York, London, and Tokyo. New York is the epicenter for my career. I don't live in New York because I don't want to live in a place like New York. If Atalanta were to become like New York, I'm not sure how long I would stick around.

I totally agree. I'm a second tier major city kind of guy. And even then, I personally prefer to live near in-town Atlanta, but not in it.

New York is super cool and pretty, but it's overwhelming, especially Manhattan. It would take an entire lifetime just to try every restaurant around that city. Too big, too crowded, too claustrophobic for me.

I like Atlanta, but in our tier, I'm jealous of many things about Seattle. Including the better culture scene.

Also jealous (or envious?) that even though they only have light rail, they're spending $50 billion to expand it, to connect their whole metro. Makes all of our plans look like a total joke. Also, their rapid commuter bus system beats our bus by 2500%.

I'd like Atlanta to gain some ground on Seattle, in my lifetime. That's my goal.

Which one is that?

That would be this guy:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7519.../data=!3m1!1e3

My least favorite parking lot in the city.

That whole area is right across from 2 pro sports stadiums, and it's downtown. It should be a mecca for retail, restaurants, entertainment, night life, business, residential. Not a mecca for parking.