Report faults Atlanta for lack of park space (Boston, Portal: 2009, homes)

[Atlantasfinest]

Eight years after Atlanta was named among the nation’s worst cities for parks, a report released this week says the city is still park-poor.

Hopefully with the New Westside Park coming into fruition things will be able to change. I've always wondered about the lack of decent park space in the city proper.

Report faults Atlanta for lack of park space | ajc.com

[blondandfun]

The cost of land in Atlanta is so high I don't think a network of bike trails would be possible (something I personally would LOVE to see on the beltline or the creeks). I honestly don't care much for the light rail on the beltline that is proposed. I would be happy with just a bike/walking trail, a safeway where I wouldn't have to worry about crossing a street where the crosswalk lights don't work.

This is a big city, there really isn't a lot of nature here, that's just how it is. My hometown of Huntsville had all sorts of walking trails along creeks and in the mountains, but that's Huntsville, not Atlanta.

You can't just go around and pick on big cities for doing things which are 20x easier in small towns.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Birmingham is a city that's pretty park-rich as well. I was actually surprised when I lived there at the number of parks.

But as the previous poster stated, land here is so expensive I can't imagine how it would be possible to build any parks anytime soon. Unless some really rich person decides to get on board, and given the current recession, even the very rich aren't as rich as they used to be. I still maintain that building sidewalks would be beneficial to everyone, and still don't understand why there are so few neighborhoods that have them.

[noah]

Why wouldn't it be possible, because land is so expensive? I don't really think land is expensive here but I guess it depends on where you come from. Just read the other day that Cobb County voters voted in 2006 to expand their park system and they have already bought 6 new properties for parks. Within the city of Atlanta there seem to be some great parks but I am always for more and agree even more bike trails would be great.

[joe2000]

http://www.beltline.org/Portals/26/P...20Projects.pdf

New parks coming soon!

[yankee_transplant]

Atlanta's park problem is not lack of land. The city owns several large, undeveloped tracts, but they seem to have no money to develop or maintain them. The parks and rec department has been gutted by the recent budget shortages. I don't know where the city DOES spend money, but parks and greenspace are not a priority.

Bike trails are non-existent, and the bike lanes are a joke. Poor city planning and development have left little room for improvement.

[DeaconJ]

People also fault Atlanta for having neighborhoods with single-family homes and yards within the city...but the two faults together work out just fine. Atlanta doesn't require as many acres of parks because the majority of residents have a yard. In cities like Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, etc. they often don't have the luxury of their own private yard space, so more parks are a necessity to enhance the quality of life.

I'm not saying I wouldn't like to see some new parks in Atlanta, and I think we will see some in the near future...but I haven't noticed any of the current parks being overcrowded or overused, even in Midtown. So it may be a fault to someone on the outside looking in, but it doesn't affect the quallity of life in Atlanta as far as I can tell.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

People also fault Atlanta for having neighborhoods with single-family homes and yards within the city...but the two faults together work out just fine. Atlanta doesn't require as many acres of parks because the majority of residents have a yard. In cities like Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, etc. they often don't have the luxury of their own private yard space, so more parks are a necessity to enhance the quality of life.

I'm not saying I wouldn't like to see some new parks in Atlanta, and I think we will see some in the near future...but I haven't noticed any of the current parks being overcrowded or overused, even in Midtown. So it may be a fault to someone on the outside looking in, but it doesn't affect the quallity of life in Atlanta as far as I can tell.

Excellent point. Atlanta should definitely pursue more park space but its a statistic that I think is overrated. Atlanta's physical built density is not the same as most of the other cities and some of the most densely populated areas are dominate with single-family homes with back yards. Combine that with the fact that until 15 or so years ago the city was losing population its understandable why there is relatively less park space here.