Making Way For More Parks

When people think of parks in Atlanta, they generally think of Piedmont Park. Its the cities largest park and nestled into the side of Midtown where major concerts or festivals convene throughout the whole year. They also think of Centennial Olympic Park situated next to Downtown. Central to the Aquarium, CNN, the World of Coke, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and the Ferris wheel, its the tourists' epicenter of Atlanta. If you live ITP, you will definitely consider the Atlanta Beltline a major city park. Bikers and runners will also think of the PATH Freedom and PATH 400 trails which connect the Eastside and Buckhead respectively. Some people may mention Grant Park, home to the zoo, but its not in as desirable location as say Piedmont Park is. But of the major parks prevalent across the city of Atlanta, the list is relatively limited compared to other cities such as Chicago, Boston, or New York City.

Old Fourth Ward Park- once an industrial yard

In fact, Atlanta has only 4,418 acres of parkland compared to its total 85,217 acres. Nearby Charlotte, on the other hand, has about 25,000 acres of parkland. For a supposed world-class city, Atlanta does not have a world-class park system. City leaders and community activists are trying to change that by petitioning and raising funds for new parks such as the Bellwood quarry (aka Westside Reservoir Park) which would be four times larger than Piedmont Park and is already famous for its Walking Dead and Hunger Games scenes or the Atlanta Water Works which was a park until the city put up a fence around the valuable water supply in preparation for the 1996 Olympics. Also, the Atlanta Beltline has put Atlanta on the map for its incredible urban renewal projects which will add 1,200 new acres of parks to Atlanta and 33 miles of multi-use trails. Their Old Forth Ward park was once an old industrial field that flooded local streets and buildings and is now a beautiful park and wetland that prevents flooding and has stimulated millions of dollars in reinvestment to the adjacent lots. So, yes, we are working on our lack-of-parkland problem, but the Beltline isn't expected to be completed until 2030, and there is currently no timeline for the opening of the Bellwood quarry and Atlanta Water Works.

In the meantime, what can we do to make Atlanta more park friendly? I support two ways to further increase park acreage and park access: 1) reinvest in the current parks and 2) create new parks along major road corridors.

D.H. Stanton Park- renovated by the Atlanta Beltline

Firstly, reinvesting in the current parks could work magic to many of Atlanta's more disadvantaged neighborhoods. While this isn't necessarily going to increase park acreage, it will make the quality of the Atlanta Parks and Rec system rise. Re-doing old sidewalks, replacing old playgrounds, adding new splashpads and water features, adding new landscaping, and renovating community centers will give some of Atlanta's oldest parks a breath of fresh air. Local residents will enjoy an improved quality of life. Investors and redevelopers will be more interested in developing and converting empty lots and old parking lots into more dense and walker-friendly homes and shops. People from outside the city limits may even begin to see themselves moving away from their suburbs to more walkable, livable, user-friendly neighborhoods. And on the political side, everyone would support this reinvestment because it positively impacts a wide range of people's concerns.

Secondly, making mini-parks and greenways along the city's old and decrepit roadways would create more parks and green space without forcing the city to buy new land while also renovating old roads into complete streets that are accessible and safe for transit, bikers, walkers, shoppers, workers, and residents. Georgia Tech's College of City and Regional Planning created a master plan for converting one Atlanta roadway into a complete street with small parks, a wide walkway, and a newly paved road where the car isn't king. Currently, Memorial Drive is an old 4-lane highway where the sidewalks are not always complete and the road clogs up during rush hour due to bad planning. The school imagines Memorial Drive and its surrounding area to become a shared space complete with bike lanes, multi-use trails, pedestrian bridges, improved crosswalks and sidewalks, bulb outs, and even pedestrian barriers. Along improved sidewalks and near bus stops the school also envisions small parks with seating, landscaping, and shade. This mini-park would create more park space for nearby businesses and residents without taking up an entire new lot and costing the city a fortune to plan and build.

Before and After of a Complete Street Renovation in NYC

Creating more complete streets with small parks, trails, and bike lanes along other major roadways such as MLK Jr. Drive, North Avenue, Cascade Avenue, and Metropolitan Parkway would dramatically alter the city's environment without the huge costs of building new parks in dispersed areas on smaller-sized lots. Making more complete streets in Atlanta is a smart investment because it allows more residents to have more access to park space, it reduces traffic with better transit, bike lanes, traffic light signals, and round-about intersections, and it makes the overall area a greener and more friendly area to live with improvements in infrastructure creating more investments in the community. Creating complete streets is a smart alternative to building new parks such as the Bellwood Quarry, and currently, Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning estimates all of the Memorial Drive construction to be complete by 2026 while the other parks in the works have no estimate to their completion time.

Memorial Drive in Atlanta

Renovating old parks and renovating old streets is the best way to make more parks in a city with a tight budget and pricey real estate. While this plan doesn't create acres of new parkland and green space, what is does instead is create green communities where residents are living and working in places that look and feel like a park but in reality is just a renovated street. Also, renovating old parks will light a spark in communities that have already been designed around these older parks creating a chain reaction in smart and new development in those park's surrounding areas. We don't need to build new parks to make way for more parks in Atlanta.          

What Seattle and Gwinnett Have In Common? Voting No, Apparently

Seattle Traffic

Today, I read an article in the Seattle Times about a decision their citizens made in the 1970's. The journalists wrote about how a referendum that would subsidize heavy rail by the federal government failed due to lack of support by the people of Seattle. He then compared Seattle's decision to Atlanta's decision in which we DID support the same referendum. The result was Atlanta was given millions of federal dollars to design, implement, and run MARTA. About 50 miles of heavy rail line was laid out throughout the city, connecting major business hubs with the CBD and the airport. Seattle on the other hand was forced to let sprawl become king in King County because its citizen choose to not invest in long term mass transportation options. In 2015, both Seattle and Atlanta have suffered from the effects of urban sprawl with long commute times, smog, and few alternatives to using a car. The difference, according to the journalist, is that in Atlanta we have the option to use an efficient and well laid out subway/heavy rail system when in Seattle, they are confined to their less efficient, slower light rail and commuter rail system (this of course is very debatable but he's not from Atlanta, so we can't blame him).

Looking across Metro Atlanta today, you can see a changing opinion of what the region needs in terms of transportation needs. Within the Atlanta city limits, the people are all gung-ho for more transit where there is strong support the expansion of the Atlanta Streetcar and the Atlanta Beltline. In DeKalb County, residents support a light rail line through the Clifton Corridor connecting Lenox with Avondale MARTA stations. In North Fulton and Alpharetta, residents are starting to come around to the idea of using MARTA to enhance the Connect 400 Initiative. In Clayton County, residents saw MARTA bus service begin limited service to parts of the county, after they voted yes on a referendum asking whether the county wanted to join the system. Even in Cobb County, county commissioners will vote on a budget tonight that earmarks money for a referendum on a bus rapid transit line. (YES, you heard me right, Cobb County!) And in Gwinnett, their Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey on whether residents would support expanding MARTA to the county, and 63% said they would support an expansion. But when the Gwinnett County Commission was asked about an expansion, she says the county needs to have a "comprehensive discussion about transportation in the county" before making any rash decisions (No offense Mrs. Nash, but WTF have you seen our commute times?)

Gwinnett County Municipalities and Main Thoroughfares

As a resident of Gwinnett County, its pretty obvious to me that not only do we need to have a discussion about transportation, but we also need to act on it because rush hour is actually "let's sit on 85 and do nothing" hour in Gwinnett. As a transit enthusiast, I do not understand why the pro-business commissioner is hesitating on supporting transit: expanding mass transit create jobs in several industries, stimulates economic growth, stimulates real estate around transit-oriented developments, provides more access to our businesses, allows for greater tourism with more access to Gwinnett amenities, and is a great investment in the future success of the area. Yes, we would be taking on a large and costly investment, but the benefits are too good to pass on and the alternative would mean stunted economic growth for the county.

And when you look at the county as a whole, there is also greater reason to question the commissioner's hesitancy. Gwinnett is the second largest county in the state with over a half-a-million people living there. It is diversifying faster than any other county in that state and will soon be a majority-minority county. It is a middle class heaven where homes are affordable, the schools are incredible, but the cars and transportation costs are expensive (even with the low price of gas currently). While the Great Recession really hurt the local economy, strong leadership by our commissioners and county government prevented our budget from going awry and unlike other counties, Gwinnett fared better with less layoffs and budget cuts during the recession. To me, Gwinnett's current demographics and stable budget are all the more reason, we should be like Atlanta and be gung-ho for making a major investment in mass transportation.

What Bus Rapid Transit or Light Rail Transit could look like on Satellite Boulevard

But one difference between Chairman Nash and me is where we live. She lives in the less populated eastern side of the county where its more rural than urban. I live in the middle of the I-85 corridor where the demographic shifts, worse traffic, and increased densification is more obvious and has had a greater impact on the quality of life. This means that throughout the county different areas have very different wants and needs. My neighbors and I need access to a BRT or LRT line that can ease the flow of traffic on I-85 and provide more commute option between our neighborhoods and the major business hubs. But residents of Dacula and Grayson have no interest in using or more importantly paying for a transit line along the I-85 corridor when they live and work elsewhere. So when this comprehensive conversation about transportation begins in Gwinnett, I hope this demographic difference is noted.

One way to bridge the gap between the disconnect between the different areas of Gwinnett is to create more Community Improvement Districts along the I-85 Corridor and elsewhere. CID's would allow citizens in Unincorporated Gwinnett to have more of a voice of what goes on in their communities. It would also allow citizens to address their most immediate needs in their respective regions. Around the Gwinnett Arena, a CID would focus on smart growth, transportation needs, and traffic easement while other CID might focus more on safety or environmental needs.

Jimmy Carter Boulevard Diverging Diamond Bridge Rendering

Already in Gwinnett, the Gwinnett Village and Gwinnett Place Community Improvement Districts have  already made huge impacts on their respective communities and have partnered together to outline the need for a light rail line on Satellite Boulevard. Their work has created diverging diamonds on the Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road bridges and has beautified and cleaned up the public spaces and sidewalks. Without their CID titles none of this work would've been done, and they do not create the expensive bureaucracies that municipalities such as Norcross or Lawrenceville need.

In addition to using the CID's for more localized issues, in about two-three years time when the county government will be ready to present and allow residents to vote on a transportation referendum, allowing CID's to vote on the referendum as units would better help the county. For instance, CID's along I-85 could vote "Yes" and receive the much needed public transportation investments they desire, while other parts of the county could choose to vote "No" and spend their taxpayer money elsewhere without impacting the needs of another part of the county.

My idea may be a little too extravagant and complicated, but the point is that in Gwinnett, one size does not fit all. So when the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and the county leaders take the initiative to make transportation a priority, I hope we can make a real impact on focusing on localized areas rather than the diverse county as a whole.                    

Densification Vs Reurbanization (aka OTP vs ITP)

Silicon Valley's Suburban Growth and Densification due to Large Technology Companies

Recently, I read an article about how Silicon Valley in California was losing its suburban identity to a pseudo-urban environment. Located outside San Francisco, Silicon Valley is an edge city that is home to technology companies such as Apple, Google, Oracle, HP, and many others. With the technology boom of this century, these companies are expanding and causing the economy in Silicon Valley to boom. As a result, the low-rise, one-story office complexes that characterized American suburbs are being replaced with medium-rise office buildings that house hundreds of more employees. These buildings add density and more people to Silicon Valley helping greatly boost its economy, but the edge city now lacks the amenities that make it either a comfortable suburb or a vibrant city.

In Atlanta, a similar situation is playing out. Unlike the economy dependent of the technology companies in Silicon Valley, the Atlanta economy is a diverse mixture of large Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and start-ups. But Atlanta has developed similar to Silicon Valley in that its edge cities are growing and intensifying in density making them less of a suburb and more of a large city. So in this post, I am going to look at some the merits and faults of companies that choose to locate inside-the-perimeter versus companies that choose to locate outside-the-perimeter.

NCR's Current Suburban HQs in Duluth

Recently, NCR announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from suburban Gwinnett to urban Midtown Atlanta. Before NCR was located in Gwinnett, the company was headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. During the early 2000's, Gwinnett government offered NCR enticing tax incentives to move its headquarters to Duluth, Georgia. NCR took up Gwinnett's offer and moved their HQ's to several newly built medium-rise office buildings on Satellite Boulevard in addition to some older one-story office buildings there as well. This move brought over 3,000 jobs to the area helping fuel the housing market boom and the expanding service economy. The low costs plus the benefits of Gwinnett's excellent schools and suburban climate made the move an overall smart move.

But when the tax incentives began to dry up after the recession, the technology company began to consider moving its headquarters away from its suburban home to a more dense and central location. Reportedly, NCR executives looked at several locations across metro Atlanta including Alpharetta, Dunwoody, and Sandy Springs but ultimately decided to move to Midtown at Tech Square (with a large cash incentive awaiting them there). NCR plans to develop a high-rise for its headquarters and hopes to benefit from the start-up community and Georgia Tech students located around Tech Square. So comparing this move to their Gwinnett move: NCR will be paying for land at a premium, they will have to pay the city of Atlanta's higher taxes, the cost of living is more expensive, and workers will have to consider either commuting in from the suburbs where they currently live or moving intown where the climate is not always best suited for family living. On the other hand, the company will receive a handsome cash incentive from the city of Atlanta to help with the transition (upwards of several millions), they will be located near top-tier talent around Georgia Tech, they will located within a city with a vibrant culture and have access to public transportation (instead of being stuck in suburban traffic), they will own a piece of Atlanta's notable skyline and their signage will be seen by every driver on the connector, and they can provide a better work climate for their employees in the city.  

NCR's plan to move to an urban location or its "reurbanization" signifies a shift in companies and businesses who are now focused on creating an excellent work environment with access to the most qualified workers instead of attaining the lowest costs. And as a result, edge cities are changing their growth patterns to adjust themselves to this corporate shift. For instance, Alpharetta is no longer focused on building the most homes or the best malls. Instead, Alpharetta is investing into drive-to urban destinations such as newly developed Avalon or its developing new town center. These mixed-use developments are home to luxury condos and apartments, street level shopping, small parks, and office-space in the buildings upper levels. Around these mixed-use developments, the new commercial and residential developments are focused on walkability and access to these new "urban" amenities instead of the strip malls or cul-de-sac neighborhoods that typify suburbs. Also, Alpharetta is expanding in the education sector with the building of a Gwinnett Tech satellite campus. In addition, Alpharetta focuses all new development towards completing its city master plan that guides the planning department towards the best land development of the city. All of this means that instead of being the home to Fortune 500 office parks, malls, strip malls, and gated neighborhoods, Alpharetta wants to be the home to a more dense and less suburban edge city.  

Avalon in Alpharetta

Alpharetta's "densification" is a shift from its suburban origins and as a result, Mercedes Benz is relocating its North American headquarters there from its current suburban location in New Jersey. Mercedes Benz cites cash incentives, a need for new talent, and the economic climate in Atlanta and Alpharetta as reasons for its move. So now, Mercedes Benz has bought land in Alpharetta for a premium (due to Alpharetta's location and densification), plans on building an urban-like, mixed-use campus to foster a better workplace community, have a high-rise building that provides signage to GA-400, and have access to Atlanta's finest workers. Sound similar to NCR's move to Midtown? It should because both companies are moving to their new locations for the same reasons. The only difference is the location: downtown vs edge city.

Future Plans for Alpharetta's Avalon Development

So is the current suburban densification any different from the urban revival taking hold of Atlanta. In many ways no: mixed-use developments, high prices, good locations, and the appeal of its workers or residents characterizes both the metro Atlanta's densification and the reurbanization in the perimeter. But there are differences in that the edge cities still lack the culture, public transportation access, or density that the city of Atlanta has while the city lacks the good schools, the safety, and affordable amenities that edge cities are home too.        

Creating People Places

 Portion of Atlanta's Skyline

Recently in the Saporta Report, the President of AIA Atlanta called upon Atlantans to begin investing in significant and meaningful architecture rather than just covering the basics. She wants Atlanta to be home to some of America's most architecturally significant structures in the next decade. She refers us to observe Dallas which in the last ten years has built some of America's most important buildings. The beautiful architecture in Dallas adds to the city's character and vitality making Dallas a more attractive and thus livelier city. Atlanta already has its own strong character and independent identity. The people of Atlanta fill the city with a quiet vibrancy and buzz that is unique to the Big Apple of the South, but when it comes to our significant architecture, we are somewhat lacking.

It's true that our skyline is a stunning sight and buildings like the High Museum and Fox Theatre are beautiful, but other than that our buildings are lacking when compared to other American cities. Even along Peachtree Street, refurbished strip malls line some of our most important intown districts. While paint can do an old building wonders, its not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing piece of architecture our city can offer. And recently, Curbed Atlanta highlighted some of the city's new high rises in the pipeline. They showed a comparison between two apartment buildings being built in Buckhead and Midtown, and both buildings looked remarkably similar. While still nice buildings, this is not the kind of stunning new architecture that will set us apart. 

The High Museum

When looking at the High Museum, the entire focus of the building seems to be on its purpose, a world-class art museum. People are given an incredible experience of beautiful art, and the museum integrates its architecture perfectly into that purpose. Instead of getting carried away with the minute details the building maintains its focus on art and your experience with art throughout it. While seeing the world's finest compositions and exhibits, you can see how the skylights in the ceiling, the open concept, the spiral staircase, and glass windows all add to the art. But in the High, you won't find yourself complaining about getting lost, weird layouts, or an awkwardly placed atrium because the focus of the architecture isn't distracted on the building itself, but zoned in on the art and your interaction with it.

By making new buildings and structures in Atlanta focus on its purpose with the people who will use it rather than the many other details about the building, Atlanta will find more architecturally significant buildings being built. For instance, instead of becoming distracted by all of the different components that can take away from a buildings purpose, maintaining a constant focus on its use will make the building more appealing. Then, you can begin to add in the other details that make buildings like the High Museum stand out. Its purpose is clear and the architecture around it adds to that purpose rather than taking away from the art. 

As an example, if the city was replacing an old library with a new state-of-the-art library, by focusing on its main components: its books, computers, and quiet areas, the city can create a building people will find useful. Then, the architects can focus on adding details that further add to people's experience. Large windows that let in Atlanta's sunlight, an open concept centered around a central meeting space with different nodes expanding out from this space, and indoor floor-to-ceiling windows that let people see other parts of the library would make this a place not only useful to Atlanta citizens but also a place that they would want to be and stay in. 

Dallas Architecture

So Atlanta can try and take after Dallas and become a model city for stunning architecture, or we can take our own path by focusing on the people that already make this city great. By focusing on the people's needs, architects can then design places that Atlantans would want to live, work, and play in. Significant and expensive architecture will add to Atlanta's vibrancy, but I believe our architecture will be the most successful by also focusing on the people. Atlanta needs to create people places.   

Why We Can't Afford Inaction Anymore

Spaghetti Junction in Gwinnett County- this year's legislative focus: transportation and infrastructure

This month the General Assembly opened up its 2015 legislative session. Top issues this session range from continued prison reform led by Governor Deal to controversial educational reform about state-control over failing school systems. But, the issue that will take up the majority of the attention this session is over transportation funding. Last year, a legislative task force on transportation funding released their recommendations that told us something we already knew: Georgia needs to reinvest itself in its transportation system and quickly.

Their study found that we need to raise $1-1.5 billion in revenue for infrastructure improvements and repairs. With the facts now laid out on the table, its time for our representatives to act on this issue because if we don't, not only will we not have alternative transportation options, but we won't even have adequate roads for our car-centric region. We might be the number one state to do business in currently, but in the near future, we won't be if we are stuck in traffic on failing roads and bridges that are falling apart beneath our tires. To me, the regular citizen, the answer seems obvious: raise taxes for transportation so we can move on to life's more pressing issues.

Governor Deal hopes for action on transportation funding this year in the Georgia Assembly

Unfortunately though, there is a current faction within the Republican party known as the Tea Party whose mission seems to be never raising taxes EVER. This is unfortunate since we still need $1-1.5 billions worth of transportation improvements and repairs for our roads and transportation systems, and we have no other source of funding for this except through raising taxes. Governor Deal, Casey Cagle, David Ralston, and many other republicans understand and agree that something has to be done, and currently, they believe the best way to raise these funds is through a gas tax. But with about half  of the Republican party out the picture in supporting this tax, Republican State Senate and House leaders will have to reach out to the other side of the aisle to pass this bill. Democrats in Georgia generally support investments in infrastructure, but they will probably only support this tax if some small portion of it goes toward an alternative transportation fund. This means there will be a lot of debating, bickering, and hopefully compromise in the 2015 legislative session.

But all of this is expected in a Red State such as Georgia. What is unexpected and gives this tax an actual chance (unlike T-SPLOST 2012) is that the economy in Metro Atlanta and Georgia is booming like it was before the Great Recession, gas prices are lower than they have been in years due to the introduction of more American-produced oil in our market, and MARTA's new leadership and improvements are improving the region's image of public and alternative transit in Atlanta. Firstly, a strong economy provides consumers' confidence at home meaning that traditionally conservative households this year will be more open to allowing their representatives to vote yes to an indirect tax increase. Furthermore, with gas prices being so low, people will be more open  to the idea of a gas tax since they can actually afford paying a gas tax currently. Also, MARTA had a stellar year last year, and as a result, government officials have more confidence and trust in the agency and its ability to function as a viable alternative to driving within the region. So the strong economy, low gas prices, and high opinion of MARTA can provide the recipe for success for a gas tax to raise transportation funding, but what cannot happen is doing nothing like in times past.

If we do not act on transportation funding during this legislative session, our governmental officials are putting our region's future at the risk. If they care about not only our reputation as an international city to do business and work, but also, the sustainability and livability of the residents living in Metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia, they will find a way to pass this gas tax. We cannot allow inaction anymore because it is not a solution when we have over $1 billions worth of infrastructure repair and improvements needed. The federal government will not come to our rescue, private investment will not come to our rescue, only the representatives in the Georgia Assembly this legislative session can provide for this region and state's future. So it is time to act up and make some actual progress this year.

"We can debate how much it costs to do something, but let us not forget how much it will cost to do nothing." -Governor Deal at the start of the legislative session this year