True to ATL? Refocusing On Our Neighbors

Old Forth Ward Park apart of the Beltline brings both good and bad to East Atlanta: redevelopment but also affluence

When it comes to inclusionary zoning, Atlanta is behind in the game. It's not that Atlantans do not care about ensuring affordability toward every Atlantan, it is just an issue we haven't really had to deal with before. But with the rapid redevelopment of East Atlanta, there are some problems that have accompanied its gentrification. While it should be commended that new luxury apartments are bringing in thousands of new residents increasing the city's density and property owners are reaping the rewards of increasing rents, the rapid increase of property values have negatively impacted owners who bring in a low income as well as forced many renters to leave the area because they can no longer afford the rent.

Once the catalysts of white flight, older Atlanta suburbs are facing "slumburbification" 

Where do they go? One option is to move to other areas of Atlanta where crime and poverty is rampant, and the public education is no match to the Grady High School district schools (which isn't perfect either). Another option is to move to the suburbs, but this presents several problems. Firstly, Atlanta suburbs lack reliable public transit service therefore hindering these displaced low income residents' ability to get well-paying jobs because they are forced to rely of CCT or GCT buses, walk far distances, or purchase a car and handle the expenses that accompany a car (which is costly for families on tight budgets). Secondly, their displacement is contributing to a relatively new suburban phenomenon called "slumburbification" because suburban governments choose to divert funds to higher class areas. This leads to the decay and deterioration of older, low-density neighborhoods that already have a long list of needed repairs. Thirdly, it continues to exemplify Atlanta's age old problem of income inequity. This removal of low income residents from the city core to other areas does not fix the rampant income inequality present throughout the region but only furthers our inability to overcome race stereotypes that hinders the upward mobility of hundreds of thousands of Atlantans.

But luckily with strong leadership from the Atlanta city council and the city's new planner, inclusionary zoning has been placed in the spotlight for the first time in the city's history. Mayor Kasim Reed has recently said that Atlanta is now the beacon for affordability in American cities. He has identified creating greater housing diversity as one of his final goals to his mayoral term. He said that while cities like New York and San Francisco are no longer affordable to even middle class families, Atlanta has a chance in becoming a city of income diversity where no matter what your income, you can find a safe and reliable home. But what cities like New York and San Francisco have that Atlanta lacks is inclusionary zoning laws. But with the planning department now under the new direction of planning director Tim Keane who was the director of Charleston, he has already outlined his plan to add inclusionary zoning laws into Atlanta's zoning code. Inclusionary zoning would help create greater housing diversity across the city because it would put into law that new residential developments would be required to have a certain number of units be considered affordable.

The Westside Beltline could uplift the Westside or could gentify

Finally, I feel it is also up to the citizens of Atlanta to reach out and stand up for their neighbors. While we can stand by and watch private interests redevelop Atlanta into a affluent center for only the rich to live, work, and play in, I know the citizens of Atlanta do not want this. The conflagration of diverse people that walk the Beltline everyday makes Atlanta special, not the Beltline itself. By taking ownership of our spaces such as the neighborhoods around the new Atlanta stadium and the developing Westside Beltline, the public can force their input on the developers rebuilding different parts of Atlanta. So far, residents have done this and stood up and made demands for the historic neighborhoods that they live in in the Westside, but soooo much more is to come in the rapid redevelopment of the Westside. It could easily become Atlanta's new center of inaffordable gentrification where low income residents are passed over for new residents that can pay more for these homes. Redeveloping Atlanta shouldn't be about making Atlanta a new, shiny place where longtime residents are forced to leave their homes because they can no longer afford it, but about raising these residents up along with the streets they call home. I agree with Kasim Reed, Atlanta can and will be a beacon for affordable housing, but I also believe that in order for this to happen the residents of the city have to stay true to Atlanta and stand up for their neighbors first, rather than be blown away by the spectacular new developments that accompany the city's redevelopment.

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.