Beltline Progress (Atlanta: bill, light rail, estimate)

[noah]

But it sure makes it a lot easier to go to the airport, a ballgame, or a museum.

Originally Posted by bizchick86

To add to this, I used to go to school in Chamblee and whenever I missed my school bus, I had to ride marta. What I noticed, and if you ride the train regularly you'll notice as well, was that the northbound train was significantly more populated by whites and the southbound train significantly more populated by blacks. Suffice it to say, people are mostly taking the train to and from work (and in the instance of a special event in the city) and are not taking joy rides up to the white burbs for the hell of it.

Just because lines were added in the suburban communities doesn't mean poor/black folks are any more likely to travel to them, and it's clear from observing the passengers on the lines that the existence of northern lines makes little impact in the amount of non-white folks riding them.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by bizchick86

To add to this, I used to go to school in Chamblee and whenever I missed my school bus, I had to ride marta. What I noticed, and if you ride the train regularly you'll notice as well, was that the northbound train was significantly more populated by whites and the southbound train significantly more populated by blacks. Suffice it to say, people are mostly taking the train to and from work (and in the instance of a special event in the city) and are not taking joy rides up to the white burbs for the hell of it.

Just because lines were added in the suburban communities doesn't mean poor/black folks are any more likely to travel to them, and it's clear from observing the passengers on the lines that the existence of northern lines makes little impact in the amount of non-white folks riding them.

I think that white suburbanites were more afraid of black folks moving to their neighborhoods than simply traveling to them. It seems like, in their minds, MARTA access would give more people the freedom to live in those neighborhoods...there are so many things wrong with that line of thinking that I don't even know where to begin.

[demonta4]

I'm surprised we don't have a general Beltline development thread but this one from over a decade ago seems good enough. The Westside Beltline Connector to Downtown has completed construction. It hasn't officially opened but the trail is ready to go. Expect major changes to this part of town in the coming decade.

[LynnHarris1]

Fresh renderings: Where the biggest BeltLine development to date stands now

https://urbanize.city/atlanta/post/a...oject-new-city

SOURCE: Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta (formerly editor of Curbed Atlanta)

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

what trails? I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not a city planner. But I believe the beltline is a residential line. The business centers of Atlanta are downtown and buckhead, which the beltline completely bypasses and is too far.

WHile it may be nice to get to some park on a Saturday, do you think that will be enough to sustain light rail?

There will only be a small handful of nodes on this line where there is a high amount of density.. most of it though is old residential areas.

While you may think 20 years is a long time, while there may be a few more skyscrapers in the city, that doesn't really mean anything, most of the in-town areas of Atlanta have been stagnant, 30 years ago we had a higher population.

I don't think the beltline is the magical answer you think it is. I think we need to focus on the basics of what a real city is first.

In other words, I think we need to hit some people over the head with a bat first

But i'm a glass half empty type

Originally Posted by LynnHarris1

Fresh renderings: Where the biggest BeltLine development to date stands now

https://urbanize.city/atlanta/post/a...oject-new-city

SOURCE: Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta (formerly editor of Curbed Atlanta)

Went back to read some of these comments and what a dichotomy! O4W is practically becoming another urban center of the city.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Went back to read some of these comments and what a dichotomy! O4W is practically becoming another urban center of the city.

This was a fun trip down memory lane. Especially with some of the negative nancies lack of vision. While I don't think anyone could've imagined what ended up happening and the way it reshaped almost half the city, it's remarkable to think what has happened given this wasn't too long ago.

Just imagine where things will be 30 years from now.

[Yoski]

Originally Posted by demonta4

I'm surprised we don't have a general Beltline development thread but this one from over a decade ago seems good enough. The Westside Beltline Connector to Downtown has completed construction. It hasn't officially opened but the trail is ready to go. Expect major changes to this part of town in the coming decade.

Went for a run to check it out, hoping it would be open as I had seen someone comments on another site that they had been using it for awhile. It was open and accessible from Josephe E Boone/Northside Drive intersection at Vine City up to just north of north of North Avenue directly behind TI's Trap Music Museum. From there it is fenced off forcing you into a English Ave neighborhood until you get to Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and then down a few blocks until you get to James P. Brawley where it opens back up for maybe a half mile then dead ends abruptly. Run down a few blocks and the Proctor Creek Trail ios there for additional miles. A lot of potential here as evident by the already ongoing construction and the connector connecting Blandtown & the Westside Park to downtown once the Westside Beltline makes its way up. What's also needed is a connector from Georgia Tech to the Westside Beltline Connector down Northside Drive Prkwy. I can't see KLB stopping the forces of gentrification from really picking up steam from Grove Park to the east southeast.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by Yoski

Went for a run to check it out, hoping it would be open as I had seen someone comments on another site that they had been using it for awhile. It was open and accessible from Josephe E Boone/Northside Drive intersection at Vine City up to just north of north of North Avenue directly behind TI's Trap Music Museum. From there it is fenced off forcing you into a English Ave neighborhood until you get to Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and then down a few blocks until you get to James P. Brawley where it opens back up for maybe a half mile then dead ends abruptly. Run down a few blocks and the Proctor Creek Trail ios there for additional miles. A lot of potential here as evident by the already ongoing construction and the connector connecting Blandtown & the Westside Park to downtown once the Westside Beltline makes its way up. What's also needed is a connector from Georgia Tech to the Westside Beltline Connector down Northside Drive Prkwy. I can't see KLB stopping the forces of gentrification from really picking up steam from Grove Park to the east southeast.

I’m hoping they rehabilitate the abandoned Bankhead Hwy bridge across the railroad tracks from Marietta St. That’d be a tremendous pedestrian connection to GT.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Yoski

Went for a run to check it out, hoping it would be open as I had seen someone comments on another site that they had been using it for awhile. It was open and accessible from Josephe E Boone/Northside Drive intersection at Vine City up to just north of north of North Avenue directly behind TI's Trap Music Museum. From there it is fenced off forcing you into a English Ave neighborhood until you get to Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and then down a few blocks until you get to James P. Brawley where it opens back up for maybe a half mile then dead ends abruptly. Run down a few blocks and the Proctor Creek Trail ios there for additional miles. A lot of potential here as evident by the already ongoing construction and the connector connecting Blandtown & the Westside Park to downtown once the Westside Beltline makes its way up. What's also needed is a connector from Georgia Tech to the Westside Beltline Connector down Northside Drive Prkwy. I can't see KLB stopping the forces of gentrification from really picking up steam from Grove Park to the east southeast.

Was it fenced off before the tunnel under DLH? If so, that's new, I walked through that tunnel on the trail about two months ago, even after the lighting was completed.

[Yoski]

Yes, that was absolutely a part of the gated off section. It started just to the southeast of it when heading northwest from downtown. Construction zone fencing was also up all around the trail at Griffin Street so you couldn't hop on at that intersection. In all, about a three block area was inaccessible.