Urban Infill and Suburban Infill Is Coming

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile! While I certainly will try to update my blog on at least a monthly basis from now on, I am not going to make any promises (like I said two posts ago)! But what's been on my mind lately is related to infill in both urban and suburban places. This has been a big trend lately in the development community within city centers and regional edge cities. Instead of our continual march outward, most American cities have acknowledged that sprawling fifty miles plus from downtown is no longer economically viable for growing a city. 

Calhoun Street in Cincinnati, OH - ten years ago

Calhoun Street, as of this year

Instead, developers are looking at infilling the free spaces we have. In downtowns and city centers, developers are converting abandoned lots and old surface parking lots into new apartment buildings, mixed used towers, or other suitable uses. In the suburbs, developers are snapping up any vacant land, big or small, and building their new developments on these vacant parcels rather than more greenfield development on the urban fringe. Both types of infill have their pro's and con's, and in this post, I am going to parse through this new trend.

Starting with urban infill, most planners agree that infilling our city centers and bringing life back into our downtowns' stagnant streets is wonderful. I, too, find this movement very positive. Its hard to complain about removing a parking lot and replacing it with a place to live, work, and play. Urban infill is bringing new residents, businesses, and activities to our downtowns that for too long haven't seen any growth. These new developments bring in a new tax base that allows cities to do more for their citizens. New taxes allows cities to reinvest in themselves, providing much need infrastructure upgrades or new social services for its people.

Many argument against urban infill as they fear it will displace residents and gentrify low-income neighborhoods

For this reason, I find urban infill necessary for American cities. While urban infill can result in gentrification, I struggle to understand the argument that its better to just leave our streets empty and stagnant. Whether we gentrify our city centers or not, the United States still faces a major housing crisis where people can no longer afford to stay in their homes. It's a multi-faceted issue that won't be solved by stopping all urban infill. In fact, it would probably exasperate the problem because as of right now, our cities cannot afford to solve this issue with depleted taxes revenues. We need innovative solutions to solve homelessness and preventing a renewal of our cities centers won't solve anything. I challenge those on the extreme left who are opposed to any urban infill projects to explain to me why these projects are bad for our cities and bad for our labor force.

Urban infill brings back people, jobs, and money to our city centers. It allows cities to put forth new investments in their infrastructure system that suit the needs of the city and its greater region. It allows cities to create mixed-income, diverse neighborhoods that better the local schools and parks. In addition, urban infill is a more sustainable and greener way to develop new homes and businesses. People are free from cars, allowed more options of mobility, and can live healthier lifestyles. It creates density and lowers the crime rate. Infill comes with the threat of gentrification and soaring property taxes, but compared to other options, urban infill is a smarter way to develop in our 21st century anthropocentric world.

Rendering of a future apartment community in Duluth, GA

Now focusing outward on our suburbs, suburban infill comes in many different ways and fashions. The general trend follows crowding in our edge cities and highway corridors with as much development as possible. Recently, I saw a Facebook post complaining about overcrowding in the greater Atlanta county of Gwinnett. Recent development trends have been to develop density-intense apartments in communities that have only ever seen single family homes.

And it makes sense why people would complain in Gwinnett when county government can barely manage the growth as it is. The number of high schools have increased (practically exponentially) from eleven in 2003 to nineteen (going on twenty) high schools today. The interstate can no longer expand the number of lanes it has because the federal government told the county that it has maxed out on interstate expansion (currently seven lanes). Its jails are overcrowded with court backlogs that go back for months. And on top of that, the county will join the ranks of Orange County, California in the next ten years for suburban counties with over a million people as the county's population continues to grow.

So while I understand people's complaints about the ongoing "suburban infill" trend in Gwinnett and other American suburbs, I also wholeheartedly disagree with the prevention of new development. Instead of complaining about "being full," this infill trend is a call to arms for suburban communities to develop sustainable forms of mass transportation. This trend is indicative that it is not too late to correct the mistakes of sprawl, and to instead develop new places that encourage community, walkability, and sustainability. Suburban infill is happening, so instead of letting market forces carry it out (as most conservative suburbs would let), suburbanites need to take charge of the growth going on around them and shape the infill to fit the needs of their community and region. (Go to planning commission meetings people!!)

Suburban trends of racial profiling developments can no longer continue

What can't (and physically won't due to growth pressure, I predict) happen is for suburban moms and dads to prevent density from infilling their communities because this infill brings in the "wrong crowd." In this century, business-as-usual won't cut it anymore. We live in a world with growing pressures and new environmental needs; this means everyone will have to make sacrifices. Change will have to happen, so instead of being apart of the backlash against change, I challenge members of the suburbs to embrace change and shape it in a way that fits their growing needs and challenges.

In conclusion, this post acknowledges that infill of our cities must happen if we are to continue grow in a sustainable and productive way. What this post also does is challenge the nay-sayers to rethink the way they see the change (the infill) going on around them and to shape it into the goodwill for all.

Making Downtown Small Town

Recently, CNN published an article on "6 Reasons To Love Atlanta." In this article, they had a section describing Atlanta as a "city of small towns," and then, they detailed some of our city's most special and unique neighborhoods. In this section, they also pointed out another blatant fact: the lack of strong community and belonging in Downtown Atlanta. While our downtown lacks the heavy density and boisterousness of other Central Business Districts across North America, underneath its tired facade, a small town from another time still exists. I believe Central Atlanta Progress can recapture the spirit that built and created the big city of Atlanta through building on a new kind of concept: the one that Downtown is a small town.

Broad Street in Downtown Atlanta

When you look across our entire metro, you will find small towns and little municipalities splattered across the ten counties that make up our region. And it doesn't matter if you live in an edge city such as Woodstock or in the urban core like in Midtown, each city and neighborhood shares a strong community bond and tight culture that is characteristic of the small towns CNN refers to except at the heart of the region in Downtown. Downtown does have a community and culture, but not one that is going to attract others to come live, work, and play there. But luckily, this is something that can be fixed by city planners and developers, and something that will instigate innovation from the people who chose to inhabit Downtown.

 

A Fairlie-Poplar Street Ripe for Redevelopment

So, one way to build a small town feel in Downtown is to create the "small town" which is actually easy since one already exists! The Fairlie-Poplar neighborhood houses Atlanta's old CBD and is registered as a National Register Historic District. Its quaint tree-lined streets and architecturally-significant buildings serve as a hidden treasure underneath the towering skyscrapers that surrounds the neighborhood. The neighborhood has been partially redeveloped on the east side where there are a few Georgia State academic buildings, housing, and the redeveloped Broad Street. But on the west side, Fairlie-Poplar remains a relative dormant district with parking garages taking the place of what could be office space, residential buildings, shops, and restaurants. The city can make this neighborhood an Atlanta hot spot for both millennials and families by firstly making it more friendly to people. By closing off some small streets and alleys to cars, and making them only accessible to pedestrians, bikers, and streetcars, the city can create a sense of shared place. Also, by opening up and creating more street front property, the city can attract both small businesses looking for a trendy place to set up shop as well as big-name businesses interested in getting a share of the economic booms from redeveloped urban cores. Finally, by redeveloping the parking garages and surface lots of West Fairlie-Poplar into new businesses and homes, the city can reconnect the Luckie-Marietta district home to the award-winning Centennial Olympic Park with the rest of Downtown through what would be the newly-bustling Fairlie-Poplar district.

Georgia State in Downtown

Another way Central Atlanta Progress can build up Downtown is by creating a university town. Recently, Georgia State has been quickly buying up and redeveloping a lot of land in Downtown Atlanta. Under the direction of President Mark Becker, Georgia State is determined to create a more residential university-like campus. But due to its location next to Atlanta's CBD, this is a hard task to accomplish for GSU. For city government, the benefits of having a large university at the hands of its biggest employers would be abundant. The city could reoccupy all of its Downtown skyscrapers with businesses interested in benefiting from young, educated, cheaper employees. Georgia State would attract more students interested in getting work-place experience with so many top-tier companies right at its door step, and the city would benefit because more people and more businesses means more tax revenue and less vacant lots. Partnering with Georgia State to create what would be the first-ever American university town in a downtown will help rebuild Downtown by setting a fuse to the area with creativity, innovation, education, and business.

Also, by looking and following the example of their partner to the north, Downtown can become the center they desire to be. Redeveloping its parks, adding green space, adding more streetfronts, extending sidewalks, and making the area have a sense of togetherness and place, Midtown has been able to create itself as a hip place for people to move and live in. Whether in Atlantic Station, Crescent Street, or Piedmont Park, Midtown has created itself into a place people want to be. Its re-creation and hip lifestyle has made Midtown the small town 20-somethings move to in order to escape the suburbs they grew up in. Downtown can do the same by investing in its image and its actual streets.

Downtown Atlanta: Ready for a Facelift for the People? 

Finally, I believe Central Atlanta Progress can reinvigorate Downtown as a small town with culture, activity, and life by doing something rare now-a-days: by going to the people. Atlantans know what they want. People are willing to drive over an hour to be in the places they like. (For instance, I have suburban friends who now choose to drive 40 minutes to go Atlantic Station to shop and hang out over the Mall of Georgia every time!) By going public and letting the people remodel the city they call home, Atlanta city government has a sure-fire way to build the ideal community. Its time to let us in, and let Atlantans choose what they want instead of trying to build what you think we want! By letting the citizens reclaim Downtown, Downtown will become the best small town of all. It will become the citizens' treasured small town in the city of small towns.