Dirt Lots, Economic Development and Holcomb Bridge

Roswell

Roswell OKs Economic Development Contract - AJC

City Council voted recetly to approve a $103,775 contract to develop a strategic economic plan. The plan has been signed with RKG Associates. RKG is based out of New Hampshire but has consulted many local and regional muicipalities. One of the most notable to me is Greenville, SC which has done a fantastic job rejuvinating its downtown.

New Study will Pinpoint Ways to Improve Traffic on Holcomb Bridge - Alpharetta Neighbor

The study will look at the 1.5 miles between Warsaw Rd and Holcomb Woods Pkwy. The total cost of the study should not exceed $463k and Roswell's share will be just under $100k. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

Big Creek Wetlands Workday - RoswellGov.com

The city is holding a work day for wetlants restoration, plantings, and litter removal at Big Creek on March 5th.

Region

Developer Promises No Dirt Lot at Mixed-Use Site Near GA 400 - Alpharetta-Milton Patch

There has been a lot of talk about the proposed development at the MetLife/Peridot campus in Alpharetta. Naysayers complain that Alpharetta doesn't need more mixed-use and are requesting a moratorium on approvals of proposals. Proponents say there is nothing even close to similar in N Fulton and that Alpharetta should encourage this type of development because demographic trends show that it is becoming more ad more desirable. We can all agree that another dirt lot similar to Prospect Park is undesirable.

Public Concerns Spur Alpharetta to Reconsider MetLife Project - AJC

The city council has tabled this until the February meeting. I hope they are not persuaded by the naysayers who are using faulty statistics and clinging to a 1990's land development model.

Tough Questions for Mayor of Johns Creek - CBS Atlanta

My only question is this: $400k for 9 Electric Bikes???

MARTA to Spend $117M on Train Control Technology - AJC

At first glance, this seems staggering but according to MARTA has been planned for some time. However, it was plainly obvious after the DC Metro crash in 2009 that MARTA would be spending some money since our systems are essentially identical (except that DC decided to build neighborhoods around their stations and we decided to build parking lots, that's another story though)

Beyond

Miami21 Wins National Planning Excellence Award - CEOs for Cities The form based code that has been adopted in Miami is a model for the 21st century. I would love to see something like this adopted here in Roswell and in the larger metro area. We're a long way off.

Are Cities Any Place for Children - Shareable

This is an interesting piece on why cities are percieved (in some cases rightly so) as bad places for children.

Survey Finds "Buy Local" Message Beneffiting Independent Business - NewRules.org

Notable Quote:

For the fourth year in a row, a national survey of independent businesses has found that those in communities with an active "buy local" campaign have experienced markedly stronger revenue growth compared to those located in areas without such a campaign.

I wonder how Roswell's buy local campaign Find it All Roswell is doing.