10 Stories, Driving Trends and Regions

It's amazing how much can change around the city in two weeks. This post is pretty long but I think there are a bunch of juicy articles for everyone. Also, as you know, we have a new Governor who will have to take on the challenges of the state and region. I'm looking forward to seeing his position on transit in the metro region.

Roswell

North Fulton Cities Affirm Billion Dollar Transit Plan - AJC

This is just one piece of a metro-wide plan that is being put together by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Notable Excerpt:

The north Fulton proposal includes three layers of projects. The top layer has about 18 projects, including greenway connections and capacity improvements on Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs, McGinnis Ferry Road in Johns Creek and on Ga. 9 in Alpharetta.

Roswell Sued Over Holcomb Rezoning - NorthFulton.com

Now, this is about as boring as it gets but it struck me as interesting because a developer couldn't get his land rezoned from office to retail to provide what he believes the market wants.. a strip center that will house a car wash, dry cleaners and day care... maybe we can throw in a nail salon, tanning bed and a wing delivery joint. I think the market is demanding some of those too.

$100M, 10 Story Office Project OK'd - NorthFulton.com

I don't think this one's ever going to get built.. Do we really need two 10 story towers in a park in Alpharetta? Unless the roads are more interconnected, you can rest assured that you'll be seeing more traffic in the area around these two towers (if/when they get built and occupied).

Roswell gets $400k Grant for Holcomb Bridge Rd Study - AJC

The study is supposed to recommend ways to improve traffic from Warsaw Road to Holcomb Woods Parkway, including the Ga. 400 interchange. We need to be sure that the improvements are not completely oriented to auto travel. There are pedestrians and bicyclists that would also like to see notable improvements in that area.

Alpharetta Readies Downtown Changes - NorthFulton.com

I was a huge proponent of the now dead mixed-use (with residential) proposal for downtown Alpharetta. However, that is long gone and they are now looking at streetscaping as an improvement measure that is cheaper and more in line with the times. The project will go just from the Roswell border at Hembree Rd all the way up to Windward. I like the idea and I hope that it can encourage them to bring back the old proposal sometime.

Region

Obama's DOT Chief Calls for Leadership in GA - WSBRadio.com

Ray LaHood was in Macon a couple weeks ago making a case that leadership in GA can get us where we need to go.. literally. Notable Quote from LaHood:

If Georgia wants a rail line and wants to be connected to high-speed intercity rail, you can make it happen.. You need to have leadership from all of you, but you need it from the governor's office, too.

Georgia Conservancy Promotes Healthy Growth Through Blueprints Program - Saporta Report

I'm currently taking the Good Urbanism 101 class that the Ga Conservancy offers and it is a well put together program to educate leadership in Georgia on the ecological benefits of smarter development. Katherine Moore gives a good overview of the program in this guest piece on the Saporta Report.

Mayor Calls for Elimination of 'Food Deserts', 25 Percent Reduction of GHGs by 2020 - Creative Loafing

Mayor Reed wants to establish Atlanta alongside New York, Chicago and Seattle as one of the top 10 greenest cities in the US. One of the goals is to bring local food available within a 10 minute trip of 75 percent of all residents by 2020. You can check out an 8 page summary of the plan here. There's only one problem with this.... They are talking about the City of Atlanta not the Region of Atlanta... we need to be doing all of this Regionally.

"Cities" May Not Matter as much as We Think - Regions and Neighborhoods are Where Things Actually Happen - Kaid Benfield NRDC Switchboard

So, adding on to the statement above that we need to be doing more regionally, this post focuses on the city vs. region debate and mentions Atlanta. Notable excerpt:

One might say that Atlanta is a sprawling metropolis and powerful economic engine with a population of 5.4 million people; but, using the second, Atlanta becomes a much smaller area confined within an artificially drawn boundary containing only some 540,000 residents. The smaller, jurisdictional Atlanta may mean something to candidates for city office and cartographers, but it has very little to do with economic or environmental reality.

Why You Should Stop Bitching and Embrace the Streetcar - CitySearchBlog

As I look deeper into the Streetcar, I like it a lot more. The amount of ridership from GSU students as well as office workers in the area will probably be a lot larger than most expect. Plus, it's a good start for a project (eventual Peachtree Streetcar) that has to start somewhere.

Branded! Municipal Identity and the Selling of Cities - PlaceMakers

This post focuses on the new branding campaign for the City of Dunwoody which looks very similar to the Wal-Mart logo. Notable Excerpt:

If your leadership fails to engender trust, you can t sell strength. If your policies are not incentivizing what you want and penalizing what you don t, you can t sell vision. If your zoning promotes sprawl and your citizens are disconnected from civic participation, you can t sell community. No matter how pretty your logo or clever your tag, you are wasting your time.

Transit Links Crucial to Suburban Prosperity - Jay Bookman - AJC

Uneasy Alliance of Officials Meets on Metro Atlanta's Transportation Needs - AJC

Rail Between Atlanta and Charlotte Looks Promising with New Funds - Politic365.com

Solar Powered Green Home for Atlanta - Jetson Green

Council Asks Haddix to Resign from RTR - FayetteDailyNews.com

Beyond

Is the Digital Age Changing Our Desire to Drive? - Infrastructurist

The statistics used are from an Advertising Age article about the diminished importance of the automobile in the digital age. The piece points out that in 1995 people age 21 to 30 accounted for roughly 21 percent of automobile-miles driven in the United States. By 2001 that figure had dipped to 18 percent, and in 2009 it had fallen below 14 percent. All this while the proportion of people in this age group actually increased.

A Very Impressive Two Weeks for the Federal Sustainability Partnership - Kaid Benfield NRDC Switchboard

This is a great summary of how EPA, DOT, HUD and the white house have teamed up to support smart growth initiatives around the country with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

Smart Grids are a Dumb Idea - Tree Hugger

In essence the smart grid advocates are saying we can't afford what we have, so let's build something else we can't afford. We need to be building local power systems that are more efficient at transferring energy to the end user.

Investing in Metro Areas is the Key to Sustainable Growth - Grist

One of the fundamental beliefs of new urbanism is that the region is the true economic engine of the country. Two plus two equals five in cities.

Christopher Leinberger Explains Why Washington DC is a Model for Walkable Redevelopment - Tree Hugger

Good case for why future train stops should go to walkable centers and not to spots along 400. In my opinion, stops should go along Notrhridge's low income area, Roswell near Canton Street, town center shopping center, the hospital, Alpharetta at Northpoint, the old Prospect Park site at Old Milton and then up to Windward.

Will Los Angeles Ever Become Something Besides a 'Suburban Metropolis' - Grist

Great point on the rationale for building rail. The point is not to decrease traffic. Any system that is built for that purpose will fail.

British Officials Demand a Reduction in Street Sign Clutter - Unclutterer

I demand a reduction as well.

Good News on Energy Efficiency - Sierra Club Compass

Increasing the efficiency of new homes by 30% is a HUGE win on the sustainability front.

Suburban Renewal - Richard Florida @ Creative Class

Prizes for Public Participation - Daily Camera via Planetizen

Cul-de-sac Hell, Continued - Human Transit

How Segregation Caused the Housing Crisis - ChicagoNow

Tea Party in a Parking Lot

As a general rule of thumb, I like to stay away from politics on this blog. The reason I do is because I view the issues that I discuss as apolitical. However, this was a little too strange to pass up.

Yesterday, I was driving through the Alpharetta Hwy/Holcomb Bridge intersection and noticed that a Tea Party rally was going on in the 'Town Center' shopping plaza parking lot. The backdrop for the stage was Alpharetta Hwy with a view of Chick-fil-a to the left and a closed big box to the right. Now, I couldn't think of too many worse places in Roswell to hold a rally if you are looking to restore the country to the good conservative values of yesteryear. I don't think our founding fathers had arterial roads, big box stores or fast food on their minds when they whipped up the constitution.

Before you go crazy with your comments, I recognize that this is one of the most traveled intersections in Roswell and it surely gained visibility. However, the message may have been lost on some.

image: Google Street View

Streetcars, Secession and Elections

Today's post will be a little long winded but there's a lot of exciting news out there right now.  We're starting to hear a lot more about transit in our region.  Unfortunately, Roswell has been on the periphery up until now.  One of this installment's headlines is about the upcoming vote on the North Fulton Transit Plan.  I find it amazing how much mis information and divisiveness is out there on transit.  My biggest complaint is that people don't realize or admit that our road system is significantly more subsidized and expensive than transit.  The other idea that transit should somehow have to turn a profit is misguided at best.  Do our roads turn a profit?  The only way that can happen is by installing a toll and we all love those don't we??

Roswell

Roswell to Vote on Transit Plan - AJC

The vote will occur during Monday's City Council meeting and will determine whether to adopt the North Fulton transportation plan that was put together by the Atlanta Regional Commission and Kimley Horn & Associates after workshops were held in the area asking citizens what their transportation needs are.  Last week, Milton became the first city in North Fulton to sign off on the plan.

Roswell City Council Calls Meeting for Land Purchase - AJC

I'm not sure what they are going to do with it exactly but it's looking like the old dilapidated apartment building near the intersection of Oxbo and Hwy 9 will be razed to help re-route Oxbo.  Not sure what will happen to the hardware store.

Roswell Wired for Free at City Hall and Three Area Parks - AJC

This is great.  Does the library do this as well?  If not, they should.  The even better thing is that the city has found a way to minimize the cost on this project. 

Region

Streetcar Project Gets Green Light from the Feds - Saporta Report

The feds are planning to kick in $47 million and the city and state are going to pick up the rest of the $70 million price tag.  Notable Excerpt:

Located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, the Georgia Transit Connector Project which will run a span of approximately 2.6 miles will connect Peachtree Street with Sweet Auburn Avenue shuttling more than 4.7 million tourists each year and a large mass of local residents through the area.cerpt:

Streetcar Money Breaks Atlanta Transit Losing Streak - Jay Bookman AJC 

Jay's posts always seem to draw the ire of the commenter.  There is a good map of the route as well.  Notable Excerpt:

In terms of transportation and economic development, though, the line in question makes a lot of sense, linking some of the city’s major tourist attractions and its major downtown hotel district. As the city’s application noted, it will also “reconnect the eastern and western sections of Downtown Atlanta, which were effectively separated by the construction of Interstate 75/85 in the mid 1950s.”

I do love this project from a new urbanist point of view as it is reconnecting neighborhoods and areas that were separated by bad planning decisions of prior generations.

Neal Boortz: Trolley Nothing but Fanplex on Wheels - AJC

I can't say that I completely disagree with Neal here.  Notable Excerpt:

The real issue with this streetcar is the routing. Is it going to run up Peachtree Street to the Arts Center or maybe even to Buckhead? Nope. I guess tourists really don’t want to travel between Midtown and Centennial Olympic Park.

No, this street car is going to run between Centennial Olympic Park and the King Center. Are there throngs of tourists hovering around Centennial Olympic Park on any given day trying to figure out how to get to the King Center?

Report: Metro Atlanta's Traffic is 15th Worst in Nation - AJC

This study, Driven Apart: How Sprawl is Lengthening Our Commutes and why Misleading Mobility Measures are Making Things Worse, takes a slightly different view on traffic.  It actually looks at traffic from two perspectives, time spent on clogged roads as well as distance of commute.

Dekalb Mayors to Consider Joining Circle of One-Cent Transportation Tax Critics - Creative Loafing

More cracks are starting to show in the logic of HB277.  We need to fix this before 2012 or Fulton and Dekalb will not successfully carry the region and our transit deadlock will continue well into the next decade.

The Atlanta Beltline Provides a Prescription for a Healthy City - Saporta Report

Valarie Wilson, Executive Director of the Atlanta Beltline Partnership, makes the case that the parks and transit components of the Beltline will help the city increase physical activity thus reduce overall health care costs.

Notable Quote:

Among physically able adults, average annual medical expenditures are 32 percent lower for those who achieve physical activity targets than for those who are sedentary.

City Hall East to get $180M Facelift - 11Alive.com

Great news for development along the Beltline.  Just another one of those liberal transit boondoggles :)  The plan is currently for about 20% retail and the rest split between office and residential.

Wheels Turning on Transit Hub at Downtown 'Gulch' - AJC

I'm really excited to see the plans.  To bad they won't be out until May '11.  Currently 5 developers are expected to submit projects for the planned transit hub that will link MARTA rail and bus, Regional Express bus systems and future passenger rail as well as streetcars.  

Toll Lane Proposal for I-75, I-575 to get Public Input - AJC

Maybe we're on our way to fixing this boondoggle of a 'free'way system that we have now.  Something tells me that this isn't going to fly.  At least we're not looking to widen this stretch of 'free'way to 23 lanes anymore (for now).  Reversible lanes might be in the future though.

Live Work Play Coming to Buckhead - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Moving in the right direction... Notable Excerpt:

The new standards encourage more street-level retail and improved streetscaping in an area centered in the Buckhead Village near the planned $1.5 billion Streets of Buckhead but also including major intersections along Peachtree, Piedmont and Roswell roads.

Sidewalks, Not Streetcars - Sunday Paper

Lots of people are making the argument these days that the city could more wisely invest the money that is being thrown into the Atlanta Streetcar project.  This piece recants a story that the writer covered in the mid '90s about a young girl who was killed by a hit and run driver along a road that did not have sidewalks.  It's worth a read and will remind us that there are simple things that can save lives that should get more attention.  Notable Excerpt:

Sidewalks are only one of many basic public needs that are ignored by Atlanta’s city government as its politicians pursue more glamorous monuments to themselves.

Broke and Broken: Fixing Sidewalks Should be City's Responsibility - Saporta Report

Here's another piece on sidewalks from Sally Flocks of PEDS.  The unbelievable piece of this that I had no idea of until I read it was that the city is actually not responsible for the maintenance of sidewalks.  Notable Excerpt:

The 2008 State of the City’s Infrastructure report estimates that 18 percent of the City’s sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced, at a cost of $79.4 million.

Now, sidewalks are part of the public right of way.  The maintenance thereof will never be covered by a private entity on a consistent basis.  We need to look at Charlotte, DC, Boston and Chicago for an example of how to work on this one.  Just another example of how the city puts pedestrians at the bottom of the totem pole.  No wonder we're so obese.

Perimeter Residents Feel "They Have it All" - AJC

I admit that its nice in Perimeter.  The location is great for access to Atlanta's amenities.  There is access to Transit.  But really, the traffic is choking and there really isn't much of a 'town' atmosphere.  Sandy Springs is doing good things but you still can't really walk to much of anything if you live there.  I think in 10 years, they will have come a long way just as they have in the 10 years since I lived there.

Transportation Referendum Prompts Calls for Secession - AJC

Peachtree City Mayor Don Haddix is calling for secession from the 10 county Atlanta region due to his perception that Fayette county will not receive a fair shake out of the penny sales tax if approved.  This has since been voted down by a 3-2 vote.

Georgia Tech: Atlanta 'Testbed' for Reusing Urban Spaces

It probably helps that Ellen Dunham-Jones, an influential new urbanist and co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia, was the dean of the GT College of Architecture.  The college has worked on projects such as Atlantic Station and the Beltline and is now working on the old Ford plant in Hapeville that is slated to become Aerotropolis.  

Ruining a View

So, I was on my way to work along my usual route when I noticed something different. This picture (I apologize for the poor quality) was taken from my car at the intersection of Grimes Bridge and River Bluff Pkwy at the east end of Grimes Bridge.

Apparently, the long foreclosed subdivision on the north side of the road is building a TALL fence on the border of the property along Grimes Bridge. I guess drivers, cyclists and pedestrians will no longer be able to enjoy the great view from the top of the hill anymore. Well, I guess we won't have to see the empty lots anymore either so we won't be reminded of the failed development as much.

This is just one more example of the private realm being given priority over the public realm.

Transit Tax, Car Diets & Private Roads

 

It's that time again.  We're going to round up all of the noteworthy news that we have come across recently and throw our opinion out into the deep space of the internet.  If you have an opinion or would like to share additional stories, please leave a comment.

Roswell

Reed Urges North Fulton to Back Transportation Tax - AJC

I do agree with the mayors on this.  It is not fair that Fulton and Dekalb residents pay two pennies when everyone else pay one.  However, we MUST have this reform and I think the way it's going to happen is highlighted in the Creative Loafing article linked to below in the Region section.  

Redeveloping Roswell - The City of Roswell

The city is adding redevelopment powers to the November ballot.  I say let's do it.

Coolest Suburbs Worth a Visit - Travel & Leisure

Roswell came in at a respectable number six.  

Roswell Neighborhood Wants to Keep Park - AJC

I have a problem with this one.  It seems to me that it would actually be cheaper and more beneficial to everyone for the current fire station to be renovated.  I haven't seen all of the numbers but $2.5M for a new fire station seems like a lot of dough.  Consider that the entire midtown streetscaping project is running in the $1.3M range.  The other argument was that the fire trucks backing into the station causes TRAFFIC (OMG.. not TRAFFIC!!) on Holcomb Bridge Rd.  I'm sure that there are a lot of other reasons that there is traffic on Holcomb Bridge.  Fire engines backing into the station maybe ten times a day or so, is NOT one of them.  I can't agree with spending probably an extra million dollars and losing a park just because we don't want to have a little bit of traffic.

Region

Regional Transit in Metro Atlanta? - Creative Loafing

Creative Loafing did an excellent job breaking down the issue of creating a truly regional transit system here in Atlanta.  The notable quote is:

All options are on the table: putting MARTA under state control; hiring a private firm to operate various rail and bus routes; creating a brand-new agency that would oversee all transit operations in the 10-county metro region; or any number of equally radical solutions.

Atlanta Residents Go on a Car Diet - AJC

ZipCar is sponsoring 30 Atlantans in this effort to show how their company and car sharing in general can help you rely less on a car.  The Low-Car Diet Challenge doesn't require that you don't use a car.  Rather, participants agreed to surrender their cars for a month and use the ZipCar service.  It started in mid-September.  I'm excited to see how it turns out for the particpants.  I wish this were an option in Historic Roswell.

Crooked Creek May Get Private Road - NorthFulton.com

Backward news...  In order to curb cut throughs and speeding in their neighborhood, Crooked Creek residents may soon be gating their two entrances.  This will take two super blocks and turn them into one MEGA block essentially severing another link in the effective road network in Milton.  The worrisome part here is that the city of Milton seems to be in favor of this.  It will only channel more traffic onto Hwy 9 and create more congestion that the residents of Crooked Creek likely aren't too fond of even outside of their enclave.

Livable Communities Coalition Reassesses its Strategy with Slowdown in Metro Growth - Saporta Report

Notable Quote:

Retrofitting our already-developed urban and suburban areas ultimately makes good economic sense because it builds on past investments rather than requiring new roads and sewer lines. 

Metro Atlanta's Future: Slow Period Perfect to Quicken Creativity - AJC

We are currently experiencing our slowest growth period in the region since the 1950's.  Let's hope that this pause gives us time to realize that we need strong cities and towns with a coherent metropolitan region with a focus on improving transit for all modes and livability for all incomes and races.  Notable quote:

 A slow healing of our economy presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to think deeply about the future. This has value only if we apply the end product toward tuning up, if not overhauling, our strategic vision for the future. Excelling in this work will best situate metro Atlanta for the next chapters in our economic story.

30/10 Initiative - Metro.net

Put this one on the wishlist... Los Angeles has instituted the 30/10 initiative.  That is.. 30 years worth of transit projects finished in 10.  

Beyond

Nuvo: A Mayor for the New Millennium - Urbanophile

A good case for the importance of the arts in a successful community.  Good read.  Notable excerpt:

Have you gone for a romantic walk with your significant other recently, past the Walmart parking lot on one side and the six-lane road on the other? Probably not. And the reason you haven’t is because it’s not any fun! It’s not romantic. It’s not pleasing to the eye.

So we’re bringing the buildings back up to the street. Let’s go up a little higher. Let’s accommodate the car, but let’s accommodate them underground with garages. Let’s get people walking in the community. Let’s have options for people who don’t want to live on a big lot. That means apartments and condos and townhomes. And as we build this more walkable, sustainable community, one of the ways we make it beautiful is to have art. Public art.

We started a policy, as many other cities have across the country, of spending one percent of our general reserves for support of the arts about six years ago. Over time we’ve been able to buy a lot of public sculptures, support a lot of arts organizations.

Whole Foods to Stop Selling Over-fished Seafood - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Just another reason why shopping at Whole Foods is the right thing to do.

The View From Above

Last weekend, I had the good fortune of taking a BiPlane ride over Atlanta.  My wife bought a tour for two with BiPlane Adventures for my birthday last year and we just got around to using it.  After a couple of failed attempts in the past couple months due to logistics getting to the right airport and bad weather, we were finally able to get into the air.  We flew out of McCollum Airfield in Kennesaw and went south to downtown and back.  

First, if you've never experienced flight in a small airplane, it is nerve wracking, cozy and amazing all wrapped into one.  The open cockpit experience just adds to the enjoyment.  But getting hit by constant category 1 hurricane strength winds when you are trying to take pictures can be a bit of a challenge.  Our air speed was pretty much a constant 80mph.  

I went into it thinking about having fun but also thinking about what I could put on my blog.  The first thing I wanted to look at was the sprawling subdivisions that permeate the Atlanta landscape.  It's much more impactful to see them from above.  Most subdivisions, shopping plazas and business parks that have been built in the past 20-30 years wipe out vast swaths of real estate and look like homogenous blobs on the landscape.  It's much easier to notice from a biplane than it is when you are flying into Hartsfield on a commercial airliner.  

Watching the density of the development from Kennesaw to downtown was very interesting.  The thing that really becomes noticeable is the amount of tree canopy that many of the better designed/historic neighborhoods have versus that of the newer suburban developments.  Obviously, there is something to be said about the age of the trees but something tells me that crape myrtles aren't going to cover up much of anything.

The last thing I'll hit on is Tyler Perry's house.  What in the world is that guy thinking?  Who needs all of that?  His house is the last picture below.

Here are some pictures...

One Swath of Sprawl Looking East into Cobb County

This wouldn't be a tough Target to hit...

Completely unnecessary... and he just bought a place in Johns Creek that will end up being bigger.  Yikes!

New Urban Roswell Review

Let me forewarn you, today's post will be a little lengthy but it will be packed full of headlines that we have found interesting over the past month or so.  Since our last review, we have been to Salt Lake City and Southern California.  It was nice to be able to ride the UTA light rail system in Utah and walking around Santa Monica and Venice Beach in Southern Cal was a treat.  These were great examples of ways that transit and walkability can improve an area.  I'm not going to get into it here but if you have a chance, check them out.

Let's kick it off with some Roswell updates.

Roswell

100 Townhomes and Condos Sold in Roswell in the First Half of the Year - All About Roswell

This one struck home with me since I own a condo in the historic district.  The number of units sold was an increase of 69% year over year.  I think it is obvious that the trend in real estate is toward smaller homes and less maintenance.  I LOVE not having a yard.

More New Construction in Crabapple - Alpharetta Real Estate

This one is more in Milton but it is right on our back door.  Four new homes have broken ground in Crabapple Crossing.  This is good news for the Crabapple area and North Fulton in general.  It tells me that home buyers are serious about buying in more walkable, social and livable areas.  The retail area in Crabapple is not quite where it needs to be yet but it will get there.  If you haven't been to the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub yet, I recommend that you check it out.  

Roswell to Open Holcomb Bridge Road Sidewalk - AJC

The new sidewalk officially opens Wednesday Sept 1st at noon.  Although I don't necessarily think it's the most walkable place, it is definitely a needed improvement for pedestrians in that area of the city.  Great work getting this done Roswell!

 North Fulton Cities Pool Efforts for Comprehensive Transportation Plan - AJC

This plan is part of a region wide effort that is being coordinated by the ARC.  After all areas have been completed, the ARC will compile and submit to the federal government for approval.  This is a 25 year planning effort so don't expect overnight miracles.  Below are some of the items that the authors of the article expect will be on the North Fulton project list that impact Roswell:

• Connect Big Creek Greenway to Roswell's Chattahoochee River Walk along Riverside Road
• Enhance bike and pedestrian facilities along Riverside Road and Holcomb Bridge Road, creating a complete east-west bike/pedestrian route through north Fulton
• Remove reversible lanes from Marietta Highway to Riverside Road and widen to four lanes.
• Enhance Hardscrabble Road to a divided two-lane with a median and turn lanes from Ga. 92 to Crabapple Road
• Enhance Houze Road to a divided two-lane with turn lanes from Rucker Road to Mansell Road

Region

GM Doraville, New Broad Street Deal Dead - Atlanta Business Chronicle

This is a disappointment to me as I would like to have seen New Broad Street land this property.  New Broad Street developed Celebration in Florida and is committed to mixed-use new urbanist developments.  Even though this deal is dead, I believe this property will be sold relatively soon.  Here is a website that provides and overview of what New Broad Street had planned. 

Federal Money to Atlanta Area Transit Projects - AJC

It looks like almost half a million is heading toward the Beltline from the Feds.  That's just a drop in the bucket when compared to what the overall price tag will be but every bit helps.

Beltline Will Yield to Downtown Streetcar, Sit Out Upcoming Federal Funding Round - Creative Loafing

I found it very interesting that the Beltline would take a back seat here.  I'm not a proponent of the Atlanta Streetcar initiative.  I think it's a boondoggle that will serve tourists more than citizens.  I do understand that there are some neighborhoods in the area that will be served by the streetcar but I don't think it makes as much sense as actually getting the Beltline up and running as quickly as possible.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition on the Beltline vs the Atlanta Streetcar

In a response to the previous headline, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition voices it's concerns about putting a streetcar on Atlanta's busiest bicycle corridor (had no idea about that).

Woodstock Development Gets New Life - Cherokee Tribune

John Weiland homes is planning to build 107 single-family homes and townhomes in the unfinished Downtown Woodstock development.  This is a fantastic place and I was happy to read that a quality builder was going to finish off where Hedgewood Properties had to stop.  

Beyond

Conservative Mag Tells Conservatives Why They Should Care About Transit - The Infrastructurist

The American Conservative has launched an online symposium to discuss why conservatives should care about transit.  All too often I hear conservative thinkers make the case that transit is a bad idea because it does not pay for itself.  That argument and more are examined here.

The Suburban General Store - MetropolisMag.com

All I can say is that we need these and they will work. 

Brave New Codes Reach Tipping Point: When, Where & Why - PlaceShakers

It was great to hear that form/transect based codes are seriously picking up steam.  We need to jump on the wagon here in Roswell and Atlanta.  Notable quote:

over 330 cities and towns around the world — representing over 40 million people — have embraced the idea of form-based coding as an alternative to the sprawl-inducing zoning models of the past century.  We’ve hit the tipping point. Welcome to the other side.

Now More Than Ever, Smart Growth Makes Dollars and Sense - Smart Growth Around America

As we know, the demand for walkable, mixed-use development has been increasing for years.  The studies referenced in this post provide some interesting data points.  Notable quote:

..in Sarasota County, Florida, an urban residential development generates830% more in annual county taxes than a comparable multi-family suburban development. And, the clincher: In Sarasota, “Suburban housing takes 42 years to pay off its infrastructure costs” while downtown infrastructure is paid off in 3. (Curious for more? A presentation on Sarasota’s study can be found here)

Facts & Fun

These two are both from FailBlog

Mario Kart Bike Lane - Making bike commuting fun.  We need more of this.

Street Crossing Fail - Huh?

And this one was all over the internet but we found it on The Infrastructurist

Chinese Lane Straddling Bus - Man, I could totally see one of these on 400.

A Regional Plan: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally and Planning Regionally

From towns to cities to counties, the number of municipalities within the metro area is in the scores.  Everyone in the metro area crosses boundaries and jurisdictions on a regular notice without even thinking about it.  It is rare that a commuter from Cumming to Buckhead would realize that they are crossing at least six jurisdictional lines in their commute.  More likely, they would view the trip as a traffic laden journey through the north side of Atlanta.

The need for a regional plan that coordinates the administrations of these jurisdictions in a meaningful and productive way has never been greater.  Our regional issues include but are not limited to transportation, air quality, public health and water management and we are failing in at least two if not all four of these areas.  The good thing is that with the recent legislation passed to create regions in Georgia that will allow residents of those regions to vote on a penny sales tax, we will be able to control our own transportation destiny.  

The main organizing body behind planning at the regional level is the Atlanta Regional Commission.  The ARC, as it is known, has been serving the metro area for 60 years (under different names) and focuses the area leadership on solutions to regional issues.  They also serve as an informational compendium for data related to the region.  Some of the projects that the ARC works on are:

• ARC Plan 2040
• Atlanta Fifty Forward
• Green Communities
• Lifelong Communities
• Livable Centers Initiative

By sponsoring meetings and forums all across the region, the ARC enables citizens to act locally and give input on projects and plans.  It also seeks ideas globally by sponsoring the annual LINK (Leadership Involvement Networking Knowledge) trip that enables regional leaders to tour other successful cities across the nation gathering ideas and knowledge that can be brought back to Atlanta.

All in all, our region is talking the talk.  The ARC is saying many of the right things to help lead Atlanta toward a smarter growth pattern than what we have seen in the past.  As a major thoroughfare in the north metro area, Roswell, only stands to benefit from active participation in ARC planning.  We should encourage our politicians to stay engaged regionally and continue to play a leadership role.

Inevitable Growth: Replacing No Growth with Good Growth

image: ARC

Atlanta is expected to grow by almost three million people by 2040 according to the ARC.  This will put the region at just over eight million homo sapiens.  You may often hear that growth is a bad thing and that we need to manage growth or curb growth in order to retain a certain quality of life.  The validity of that argument is debatable but unfortunately for those in the 'no growth' camp, there are other demographic and economic factors that are unlikely to be mitigated at play.  Everyone needs to face it.  We are going to grow.  The question is... "How will we grow?" 

Roswell is off to a good start in many of the planning documents that have been produced in the past decade.  The city understands that quality growth should be a priority and that the local government should play a key role in organizing while not dictating that growth.  The city's Comprehensive Plan2030 predicts in its medium assumption that population will grow from 91,496 in 2010 to 106,771 by 2030.  This will create the need for an additional 3,560 new housing units.  How will we get there?

The only way is smart. willing density.  We need to figure out how to get people to willingly live in higher density.  The plans for four main additional 'villages' of development activity will help significantly and probably should be focused on even more.  These types of developments no only encourage walking and transit but they also create places of character that residents and visitors can relate to and manage the transportation in the area by mitigating congestion.  Below is a map of the proposed villages from the 2006 Master Transportation Plan.

image: Roswell.gov 

The residents should be educated on the merits of smart growth with livable density because density is coming.  Here's a sample that most of us can relate to in the historic district just nort of the Smith Plantation where the Value Village and Southern Skillet are.  This is just a rendering of what a redevelopment of that area could look like.

image: Roswell.gov

If we can turn the blighted areas of Roswell into dense areas that are beautiful and interesting, wouldn't that be an improvement on our current situation?  There are so many reasons that this type of growth should be encouraged.  I can't go off on a diatribe of the economic/environmental/health/social benefits of density as well as many others out there in the blogosphere so I won't even try.  But, I will link to a couple very interesting posts on density by one of my favorite bloggers, Kaid Benfield, with the NRDC.

Hilariously and Scarily Bad Density

Beautiful Density

Hopefully you took a look at these links.  Most of the places in the Beautiful Density link are examples of Smart Growth and/or New Urbanist communities that offer a much higher quality of life for all ages than the typical suburban development.  If Roswell is going to get serious about growth over the next 30 years, we should be curbing development on the fringe and encouraging smart density in the villages that have been identified as growth centers as well as in the historic district.

Watch & Learn: Ellen Dunham-Jones TED Speech on Retrofitting Suburbia

About a year and a half ago, I made a trip down to Decatur for an evening lecture that Ellen Dunham-Jones was giving at a church as part of a community education effort that Decatur was promoting. Her talk was actually a fill in talk after Andres Duany had to cancel his appearance. I decided to still go as I had heard about her book, Retrofitting Suburbia, from a friend and it sounded interesting. Her talk went for a little over an hour and was very informative. It was essentially an overview of the book. This TED talk is about 20 minutes and covers most of the ideas from her book without getting too wonky. Many of the principles discussed are critical to properly redeveloping Roswell. Think about the southern end of Alpharetta Highway and the intersection at Holcomb Bridge. Great things could happen in that area if we have the vision, will and the patience. Enjoy...