Urban planning commentator gives photo tour of downtown Atlanta, and boy do we look like crap! (apartments, hotel)

[koko339]

Untitled Document (click for link)
James Howard Kunstler, the notoriously outspoken critic of the urban condition in America, was in Atlanta for the recent Congress For The New Urbanism. When I heard he was going to be in town I was just waiting on a scathing review of downtown to appear on his blog...and here it is! For out of towners who don't know of all the great spots in Atlanta and have their first impressions created by all the John Portman bullcrap, I can't blame them for leaving with a bad taste in their mouths.

[reet4587]

Originally Posted by koko339

Untitled Document (click for link)
James Howard Kunstler, the notoriously outspoken critic of the urban condition in America, was in Atlanta for the recent Congress For The New Urbanism. When I heard he was going to be in town I was just waiting on a scathing review of downtown to appear on his blog...and here it is! For out of towners who don't know of all the great spots in Atlanta and have their first impressions created by all the John Portman bullcrap, I can't blame them for leaving with a bad taste in their mouths.

He's overly cruel about downtown's streetscape and takes too much relish in his mean, dismissive complaints. But he's also mostly right, unfortunately. There is way too much in the way of car-centric infrastructure, surface parking, blank walls and narrow sidewalks in this section of downtown. Why they held the conference at this hotel is beyond me.

To dismiss downtown in such a general fashion is just narrow minded, though. I'm an urbanist and have enjoyed -- and experienced the pedestrian-friendly supremacy of -- the streets of NYC and Paris and other cities. I nonetheless enjoy regular walks through downtown Atlanta and am able to enjoy the pockets of nice urban streetscapes that do exist amid the car-centric "fortifications" (snarky as it is -- he's got that right).

[jj06]

eh...


i still love Atlanta

[BringBackCobain]

The design of downtown is simply a product of the market demand of the time. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, when most of downtown was developed, the trend was to "protect the building's inhabitants from the unpleasant facets of urbanity". Everything was oriented inward. Sky-walks were created so people could get from parking garages to the office without even going on the street. Malls were placed in the lobby so the workers could shop and eat without ever leaving the building. And since no residences were ever included in these developments, everything shut down at 5 PM. Huge parking garages were necessary for everyone to get back to their homes and apartments in the suburbs.

In most buildings, even if you want to enter from the sidewalk its impossible without going through the bottom level parking garage first. The buildings did not address the street and the pedestrian was not engaged at all, because all that was on the street were bums, vagrants, and other characteristics associated with the declining American downtowns of the white flight era.

Portman's buildings were just a product of their time, so he cant take all the blame. If AC had been invented 20 years earlier, downtown would have a different look. But that is why Downtown is so unpleasant for pedestrians looking for an urban experience - its all parking lots, parking garages, and concrete walls, with a virtually non-existent street level experience. Downtown does needs some major retrofitting, but this would entail the demolition of places like Peachtree Center and Americas Mart. But it may be the only way to fix the desolate, no-mans land that dominates the downtown experience.

I especially like this comment he made, and it can sum up downtown in one sentence:
"Non-parking buildings are mere accessories to parking structures."

[jj06]

lmao i just looked at those pics again..those comments are hilarious.

He must have stayed away from where the crowds on purpose just to make the city look bad.

[BringBackCobain]

Originally Posted by jj06

lmao i just looked at those pics again..those comments are hilarious.

He must have stayed away from where the crowds on purpose just to make the city look bad.

I don't think he was trying to make Atlanta look bad. Downtown sucks, and it doesn't take an urbanist to figure that out. The vast majority of Downtown looks exactly like the pictures he took.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by jj06

lmao i just looked at those pics again..those comments are hilarious.

He must have stayed away from where the crowds on purpose just to make the city look bad.

Must have been a boring sunday..

[waronxmas]

There are valid criticisms to be made about Downtown. As some have noted, it was the victim of "urban renewal" and the car obsessed 60s-80s. On the other hand it is not as forlorn as some would have you think, and lot of work has been put in to making it better over the last 20 years. If you want to see truly anemic downtowns, just Google Map the downtown areas of Detroit or St. Louis.

As for Kunstler, I found it odd that a supposedly educated 62 year old man would be reduced to making teenager-like comments on a subject he is supposedly serious about. In my book, you lose all credibility to speak on a subject when you let your immature hubris override your intelligence.

Edit:

Found this on his blog:

If the Devil created an anti-city, a place where people would feel least human, Atlanta would surely be that place -- despite the prayerful babble of tongues emanating from the evangelical roller rinks at every freeway off-ramp. One might think: Los Angeles, but that city at least came up with the amenity of valet parking, mostly lacking in Atlanta, where the suffocating heat slows the journey of blood from heart to brain.

All i can say is W-O-W....since I can't really post the "D" word that rhymes with "loose".

[mjtinmemphis]

Lol!!! That was awfull. Unfortunately. The pictures is what I remember of my last visit to Atlanta.

Rolling into the city from the west on i20 and you see the massive freeways and this huge modern skyline would excite any 1st time visitor or new resident. The moment one exits off the freeway the excitement goes to disappointment.

I don't think that this should be interpreted as a bash Atlanta post or thread. After all Atlanta is what it is. IMO its a good southern suburban oriented metro and shouldn't be compaired to large urban cities of the world.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

There are valid criticisms to be made about Downtown. As some have noted, it was the victim of "urban renewal" and the car obsessed 60s-80s. On the other hand it is not as forlorn as some would have you think, and lot of work has been put in to making it better over the last 20 years. If you want to see truly anemic downtowns, just Google Map the downtown areas of Detroit or St. Louis.

As for Kunstler, I found it odd that a supposedly educated 62 year old man would be reduced to making teenager-like comments on a subject he is supposedly serious about. In my book, you lose all credibility to speak on a subject when you let your immature hubris override your intelligence.

Edit:

Found this on his blog:



All i can say is W-O-W....since I can't really post the "D" word that rhymes with "loose".

Don't you mean "whoosh?"