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The article notes that property values have gone up only in 3 "walkable" neighborhoods. Actually, there isn't much to walk to in any of these. Virginia-Highlands has a lot of restaurants. Eastlake has a small commercial area that is not connected at all to the residential and Grant Park has a very nice park (and a lousy zoo), but little retail and just a few restaurants, most of them concentrated in two areas on the extreme far North of the neighborhood. None of these neighborhoods is convenient to Marta (the EastLake Marta station is in Kirkwood, a couple miles away). There are a couple more interesting and more walkable areas: little Five Points (which is a bit bar heavy) and East Atlanta). Some of the areas near Little 5 are near a bike path, and others have proximity to Marta stations. Midtown, which has bars and restaurants, but limited retail does have Marta.

Marta did experiment with transit-oriented development at the Lindberg station (a connecting point for the 2 northbound lines). It was a failure--it didn't connect well to the nearby streetscape, was dependent on a tenant that has kept shrinking its footprint, and the station itself is poorly designed. OTOH, there is a relatively successful replacement of an old strip mall almost across the street and no real integration exists between the two. Decatur 9close-in surburb) is the closet thing to a successful transit oriented development with condos, a hotel and an abundance of restaurants (but few shops) near its station.

The main problem with Marta and development is racial. The rail system is used by whites who are out-of-towner visitors and people who from actual cities. The African-American users tend not to include the relatively well-off. The buses are almost entirely African-American in their ridership. the system actually doesn't function badly although the lack of coordination between the N/S and E/W lines at nights is ridiculous.

There are a number of places where transit oriented development could thrive more in Buckhead and in the area near Perimter Mall. There also are stations with a lot of buildable land nearby on the Northeast line and the Eastern end of the E/W line.

Atlanta is a place that talks progressive but isn't. there is little that is imaginative and the city is a frustrating place because even walkable areas require a car. Not needing a car was one of the things I liked about coming back to DC. Atlanta's lack of vitality and lack of real public spaces (mostly, they are malls) reflect the carbound nature of the place, as well as its many racial and class divisions. Underlying the management of the city and the business community is a feudal mindet that has little faith in regular people. When a light rail line was proposed near Emory University, neighbors balked and the subtext probably was racial. Despite this, there are people who will take what is available rather than the endless, soulless suburbs that dominate the landscape. The '96 Olympics fueled the big re-assessment of intown neighborhoods, but even without that, areas like Inman Park and Candler Park, Virginia-Higlands Grant Park, parts of East Atlanta, and the town of Decatur had been slowly renewing themselves without any help from anyone. CDC and Emory played large roles in these areas, not as institutions but as employers who attracted people who were willing to invest in the city when the establishment wouldn't. The gentrification of the city, including unlikely places like Vine City has been stunted by the real estate market--Atlanta didn't so much have a price bubble as a speculation bubble. It's a place where a quick buck and slimely salesmanship are confused with being an "entrepreneur". It's meant that a lot of people are stuck with empty houses, often vandalized in marginal areas that had promise but have since collapsed. this threatens any effort at intelligent redevelopment of the city, because it adds to the lack of imagination and willingness to try anything new.

by Rich on May 25, 2011 4:53 pm • link • report