Roswell Roads, Density Battle 2, Buckhead and the Beltline

Roswell News

Norcross-Grimes Roundabout Update - The roundabout is finally functional.  I’ve used it about 10 times in the past few weeks and so far I love it.  I have seen a couple of confused drivers and I’ve heard one honk at someone who wasn’t paying attention.  I’d love to see some stats on how many accidents there have been since it opened.  If there have been any, they surely can’t have been too bad as the speed within the roundabout has been low as predicted.  

Midtown Streetscape Project - The finishing touches are being put on the landscaped islands on Alpharetta Hwy.  The first one is just north of the Norcross St intersection and the last on is at the Hog Creek Bridge.  This one will be the largest.  I’m still concerned about the lighting and overhead wires.  To spend all of this money on streetscape improvements and overlook the most unsightly piece of the streetscape (aside from the crappy buildings along the corridor) is a disappointment.  

Historic Gateway Project - This project was included on the final list of projects submitted to the regional transportation roundtable.  It will be reviewed for potential inclusion in the list of projects that will be included in the regional sales tax initiative that is going to be on the ballot next year.  

Comp Plan Undergoes Changes After Residents Sound Off - Roswell Neighbor

There was a vocal contingent that voiced its concern over the types of uses the Roswell Comp Plan (Roswell 2030) was proposing for the Holcomb Bridge and GA400 interchange.  There are still thoughts of Charlie Brown in everyone’s minds.  I’m in favor of a massive revitalization of that area for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is a dysfunctional area in our city that has the potential to be a major jobs, residential and transportation center that Roswell and North Fulton can use.  Here’s a quote from the Roswell Neighbor article that outlines the types of changes that were made after the ‘sound off:’

Among the changes sought, according to Tolleson, is shifting density from the southeast quadrant of Ga. 400/Holcomb Bridge to the northwest quadrant. And instead of designating Holcomb Bridge Road as a commercial corridor, it would be the lower impact designation of neighborhood commercial, which would allow businesses “that support people who already live here, not the people passing through,” he said.

You can take that for what it’s worth but I think it’s a classic case of ‘we don’t want that type of people getting any closer to our space here in East Roswell.’  Also, what in the world is ‘lower impact’ ‘neighborhood commercial?’  If that is another way to say, ‘exactly what we already have,’ then I’m 100% against it because it’s not going to work in the years ahead.  

Regional News

Regional Light Rail All About Jobs North Fulton Chamber CEO Says - Alpharetta-Milton Patch

image: Metro Atlanta Northern Crescent Transit

Brandon Beach has been lobbying pretty actively to get transit into the northern burbs of late.  Most recently a public/private consortium of regional leaders met at the Cobb Galleria Centre to discuss the prospects of transit in the burbs.  It seems to have been an optimistic meeting with a caveat that most of the people there stand to benefit financially from transit development especially if it is primarily publicly funded.  Here’s a quote that I found interesting:

A survey conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2008 found that by investing $26 billion to $46 billion in transportation infrastructure, including light rail, Georgia could increase its gross domestic product by $114 billion and create 230,000 jobs over the next 20 years.

35% of Atlanta Homes Underwater - Atlanta Business Chronicle

YIKES!  This is well above the national average of 22.7% according to CoreLogic.

Stalled Alpharetta Project to Get New Life - AJC

Prospect Park is about to have a new owner.  North American Properties plans to purchase the land and build a more realistic and less grandiose mixed-use center on the 106 acre property.  They will begin community outreach in the coming months.  You may recognize North American Properties as the company that purchased the retail and some of the office space in Atlantic Station last year.  I believe they have done a good job engaging that community thus far to find out what they want to see at Atlantic Station.

MARTA Takes A $14M Step Toward Linking its Buckhead Station With Adjacent Developments - Saporta Report

image: Atlanta Business ChronicleBidding will open at the end of this month to improve linking the Buckhead station with developments on the north side of the station.  This is a great step to making MARTA more functional within neighborhoods (albeit wealthy a wealthy neighborhood) and job centers.

City Hall East Deal Could be Derailed by Feds - Creative Loafing

image: Creative LoafingThis is complicated and I find that generally when things get complicated, we’re doing something wrong.  My understanding is that the deal is being held up because the US Parks Department of the Dept of the Interior is not comfortable with what potential owner/devolper Jamestown Properties wants to do with the long vacant building.  Jamestown is applying for some $15M in tax credits???  Do they really need $15M in tax credits to make this thing work?  It’s a gem in an area that is revitalizing.  I think both sides need to give a little here.  I’d love to see this building get put to good use.  It’s a great pice of historic architecture in our region.

Go East, Young Beltline Fanatic - Creative Loafing

image: Historic 4th Ward Park ConservancyThe loaf has a good quick update on what is going on with the parks and trails along the Beltline.  The park in Old Fourth Ward was recently ‘officially’ opened and it has been getting rave reviews.  Just from the images I’ve seen, it looks incredible.  One of these days, I’ll make my way down to check it out.

Streets of Buckhead now Buckhead Atlanta - Atlanta Business Chronicle

image: Oliver McMillanSay what you will about the name of the project but I am certainly glad to see new ownership and the potential for progress.  The eyesore in Buckhead has been a horrible scar on our region’s most prosperous area.  You personally may never buy something from the shops that will be at ‘Buckhead Atlanta’ but the county’s tax base will reap benefits.  The new developer said this about the project:

One of the highest profile developments in the country halted by the economic downturn and financing drought. The new name signifies a departure from the concept of a single destination development and a move toward a mixed-use community that will fit seamlessly within the existing Buckhead Village

Atlanta Grants Siemens Contract for 4 Atlanta Streetcars - Green Building Chronicle

image: SiemensThis is a $17M+ contract with Siemens.  The city is expecting delivery of the first car in September 2012 with revenue service starting up in early 2013.  The Siemens facility in Alpharetta will be doing much of the work on the propulsion systems for the new cars.  

Bike Trails Proposed along GA 400 - Reporter Newspapers

image: Reporter NewspapersThis is a win in the Buckhead area.  Buckhead is great but it does have Atlanta’s lowest acreage of parks per capita.  The trail system is a partnership between several organizations including the PATH foundation, Buckhead CIT, Atlanta City Council and others.  The trail will begin at Loridans Drive just south of the toll booth and will continue 4.5 miles into Midtown also connecting with the Beltline trail system.  

GA400/I-85 Interchange Work Set to Start - Atlanta Business Chronicle

image: GDOTWill we finally be able to go northbound on I-85 from GA400 South?  Will those traveling south on I-85 be able to get on to GA400?  Looks like it’s happening.  You can thank the GA400 toll for this one.  

Plans for Upscale Apartment Tower at 12th & Midtown

image: Midtown PatchThis looks like a nice project.  It’s interesting to see another tower going up in Midtown in this environment.  The economics of apartments are definitely different than those of condos/lofts right now.  I’ll be interested to see how this one pans out.  Midtown is obviously doing well but I’m not sure it needs another tower right now.  However, it’s definitely better than a surface parking lot.  

Regulator Calls for 20-30MW Solar Projects - Atlanta Business Chronicle

The Georgia Public Service Commission would like to see plans in place to significantly increase the state’s renewable capacity given the increasing volatility in traditional energy markets.

The Atlanta Streetcar Vision+

For those of you who are interested in the Downtown Streetcar concept, you may want to check out this link from the Revision Cloud blog.  It is a fantastic piece showing how the proposed streetcar could be expanded to better connect neighborhoods, the Beltline and MARTA.  

A Streetcar Named Opportunity - Revision|Cloud

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.