Midtown Place looks to connect to Eastside Trail (construction, shopping centers)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Do we really want to unleash that automobile tsunami on the residential neighborhoods? What happens to walkability and bikeability?

They actively get better because there are better walking and biking connections between residences, and commercial properties, and the walking/biking infrastructure. Instead of making everyone take the long-way around, or scrambling over poorly-made dirt paths, people will be able to just stroll over and around the area.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It's not.

As I said, I mentioned this simply by way of comparison to the massive traffic (37,000 vehicles) on Ponce in the vicinity of Midtown Place. That gives you some sense of scale as to the very large number of cars we're talking about.

They don't own a street, I live on West Peachtree and I can assure you that more the 37k cars pass through here daily. Does buying a SFH entitle you to less traffic?

I think they should just redevelop the entire thing, it's an awful development.

[tikigod311]

So, about connecting Midtown Place...

I think they can make this connection work and not be so bad for the residents by offering well designed streets w/ calming measures that include landscaping. The streets would be a major relief. The most interesting part of the article was at end, the owner of the development said:

If you think what was there before, which was a baseball field and at one time, the China outlet mall, it's pretty dynamic. I know it pays a lot of taxes. It’s a very successful project. It meets the goals of that community... I would like to urbanize it more."

This has to be one of the most ripe places in all of Atlanta for redevelopment. The current design is garbage, redeveloping to take advantage of its location only makes sense.

[jsvh]

Both these sites need to redeveloped with a interconnecting street grid in the Beltline Master Plan.

[arjay57]

If they do start changing things I hope the taxpayer is at least given an opportunity to weigh in.

Are the people who want to make these changes going to be living in the neighborhood 5, 10 and 20 years from now?

If you just start running over people willy-nilly you run the risk of killing the goose that laid the Golden egg.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by arjay57

If they do start changing things I hope the taxpayer is at least given an opportunity to weigh in.

Are the people who want to make these changes going to be living in the neighborhood 5, 10 and 20 years from now?

If you just start running over people willy-nilly you run the risk of killing the goose that laid the Golden egg.

I understand your point of view entirely. There's a fine line.
But, I'm also moved by the sentiment that was expressed here earlier about the need to overcome the poor planning & design that originally allowed the 2 existing retail components to have been built as they were.
Perhaps I should give the earlier planners a break given that the popularity of intown & the press to densify has grown tremendously in the last 2 decades after they went in.
Someone also mentioned the breaking up of the "superblock" that exists here too. Think in terms of how far it is around the huge chunk of land.
I've ragged before about some superblocks in Midtown that need to be broken up where the street grid should have been built out better over a hundred years ago so I'm tempted to just fall into the redevelop or redesign it camp as regards the prospects for the 2 adjacent large retail properties so that the neighborhood can better mesh together.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by atler8

I understand your point of view entirely. There's a fine line.
But, I'm also moved by the sentiment that was expressed here earlier about the need to overcome the poor planning & design that originally allowed the 2 existing retail components to have been built as they were.
Perhaps I should give the earlier planners a break given that the popularity of intown & the press to densify has grown tremendously in the last 2 decades after they went in.
Someone also mentioned the breaking up of the "superblock" that exists here too. Think in terms of how far it is around the huge chunk of land.
I've ragged before about some superblocks in Midtown that need to be broken up where the street grid should have been built out better over a hundred years ago so I'm tempted to just fall into the redevelop or redesign it camp as regards the prospects for the 2 adjacent large retail properties so that the neighborhood can better mesh together.

I hear what you are saying.

But I'd also point out that an important principle of planning is "Don't fix it if it ain't broke." These two shopping centers are extremely popular and their parking lots are full almost all the time. They are also well integrated into the thriving, longstanding communities around them.

So what exactly is the compelling need to change things? (I'm asking that rhetorically, not to you in particular, atler).

Maybe the larger question is: What is "poor planning" and who makes those decisions? Has the community involved risen up and demanded change? Or does the criticism come from people who live elsewhere? Are our planning overlords locals with a vested interest in the community?

You know, when the interstates were being laid out, Dwight D. Eisenhower famously noted, "Farming looks easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." But what of the real world? Is it really worth tearing up these two popular centers and opening the torrent of Ponce traffic into the residential streets?

[cqholt]

If residents and planners are concerned about vehicle traffic, maybe they could build ped/bike connections and encourage alterative transportation to the shopping centers.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Maybe the larger question is: What is "poor planning" ?

I would say two stores right next to each other that take over 20 minutes to officially walk between them is a perfect example of poor planning. Especially in an urban environment. I get that things change and from what I have heard elsewhere, I think the neighborhood isn't exactly evil for stepping in in the past. It sounds like they were not just concerned about the street connection but the way it was developed. Going

BTW, with a significant redevelopment of the parcel, I think they could avoid the neighborhood all together and sharply cut Glen Iris over to the current parking lot. Pedestrian and bike connections should be available, but this could avoid tons of cars moving through the hood.

[HH82]

https://whatnowatlanta.com/rendering...g-renovations/

Had to find an old thread for this, but here’s the plan for Midtown Promenade’s Beltline-facing renovations.