Elements of Urbanism: Atlanta

[Metro Jacksonville]

Elements of Urbanism: Atlanta



Metro Jacksonville takes a trip to the downtown of the New South's largest metropolis: Atlanta.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-apr-elements-of-urbanism-atlanta

[fsujax]

so many great memories! I used to love going to DT Atlanta when I lived there. They have some pretty neat old buildings, especially around the 5 Points MARTA station.

[jaxlore]

Was just in Atlanta two weeks ago. It was quite an eye opener. Such a diverse city. The new buildings look fresh, not this plain jane crap we have all over. Great food, culture and nightlife everywhere you go.

[mtraininjax]

Comparing to Jacksonville to Atlanta is not fair, by any means. The disparities are endless. Atlanta has over 40 colleges in the metro area, which is 40+ counties large. Atlanta has had these a college presence for over 100 years, and boasts the world's largest airport, numerous super bowls and sporting events. There is probably 1,000x the money there than in Jacksonville, but there is 1 drawback to Atlanta that Jacksonville does have: Water.

Atlanta would pay dearly for the water and water access of Jacksonville, both the river and the ocean. Full flights between both cities show that Jacksonville is a destination for folks of Atlanta. We'll never be Atlanta in Jacksonville, and that is fine with me.

[copperfiend]

I know it is the sprawl king but I love Atlanta. My brother in law lives in Smyrna, so we make it up there whenever we can. So much to do and some really great restaurants.

[Lunican]

Atlanta does have a lot going on, but I've never been a fan.

[thelakelander]

Comparing to Jacksonville to Atlanta is not fair, by any means.

Sure it is, although that's not really the purpose of the Elements of Urbanism series.  Nevertheless, you can compare the basic components of urbanism on any scale.  For example, urban Charleston, SC is significantly more walkable than Atlanta or Jacksonville despite the its smaller size.  Both Atlanta and Jacksonville could learn a ton of good techniques (from Charleston) on how to cluster complementing uses within a compact setting to stimulate urban synergy and vibrancy in manner that improves the city's tax rolls and its resident's quality of life.  Speaking of Atlanta, one simple thing we can take from them is how to design an urban park space that contains a mix of uses, which gives it the ability to attract people on an around the clock basis.  Such a concept can be applied to a space as large as Atlanta's Centennial Park, Jacksonville's Hogans Creek and Shipyards sites or one as small as Hemming Plaza.

[thelakelander]

Atlanta does have a lot going on, but I've never been a fan.

I'm not crazy about Atlanta but I do admit its urban core has come a long way in the last 10-15 years.

[TheProfessor]

Atlanta is one place I will never miss. 

[simms3]

This segment just focused on downtown, which to me is not the focus of Atlanta any longer, though it is coming back in a strong way.  I would say that Buckhead or Midtown are Atlanta's current focal point and I hope you got to spend time in those areas (as well as West Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park, and other East Atlanta neighborhoods).

Downtown is still kind of rough around the edges, but there are some nice spots, especially around Centennial Olympic Park.  I lived two blocks from there when the big tornado came through a few years ago and you would not recognize it then from today.

There are some big things happening downtown currently.  In addition to Central Atlanta Progress, downtown's official community improvement district, the area is served by three tax increment financing districts (collectively known as TADs here in Atlanta).  The Eastside TAD covers the Grady Curve, Georgia State, King Memorial, and the government areas.  This area has just secured all of the funding necessary for Atlanta's first streetcar in a really long time (will be over 2 miles straight through downtown and into the Edgewood area).  Big developers have long eyed the area (Novare, Hines Interests, and smaller but higher profile developers).

Eastside TAD Project Photo Gallery

The Westside TAD encompasses most of downtown and has already spurred huge developments.  See some great photos of completed or UC projects directly spurred on by the Westside TAD here:

Westside TAD Project Slideshow

Central Atlanta Progress: Atlanta's Downtown Community Improvement Authority

Just since I have been in Atlanta, downtown has added a new aquarium (with Dolphin expansion soon to officially open as we speak), a new world of coke, Twelve Hotel, Twelve Centennial Park 40 floor condos, W Downtown, 55 Allen Plaza (14 floor office), Ellis Hotel, several new restaurants and bars, a renovated Macy's department store (now event space and mixed use), several new Georgia State buildings including new dorms and whole new colleges, new hotels and condos around Centennial Olympic Park, etc etc.

The 5-8 year outlook is great, too.  The Thrashers may not be playing in Phillips within a year, but the Falcons may be getting a new state of the art stadium.  Cousins was just awarded the downtown redevelopment project of the decade, the Gulch, and has plans for an up to 70 story tower to anchor the project.  The streetcar will soon break ground and will connect Centennial Olympic Park with the Edgewood Historic District.  Allen Plaza is still in the hot seat of the development world.  Suntrust is always trying to do stuff.  The outlook is good, overall.

FYI, aside from Suntrust Plaza and 191 Peachtree, downtown office space is largely what I would consider A- to Class B or lower (though would definitely be "Class A" in Jax).  Most of the Class A office space is concentrated in Midtown and Buckhead, and each of those submarkets in addition to Vinings and Perimeter are basically every bit as large as downtown (Midtown is now larger in almost every way except overall office space...much more Class A though).

[simms3]

And as an aside about parks, Atlanta is definitely a park city.  If one wanted to know where the best residential investments would be, one would need to look no further than a few blocks off of any of Atlanta's main parks, for which there are many.  This weekend alone is the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park (will be there Saturday running a Beltline booth) and Sweetwater 420 Festival in Candler Park (will be there Sunday to drink beer and see bands and eat food with many of my friends).  This is one weekend, and Dogwood pulls in hundreds of thousands of people and 420 Fest attracts thousands, maybe tens of thousands.

[DemocraticNole]

I have never been a huge fan of Atlanta because the metro area has some of the worst sprawl known to man. However, it is impressive how much they have going on in the center of the city for an area where most live in the suburbs. One take away from Atlanta that Jacksonville and my home city of Tampa could learn is get a train or light rail. A buddy and I flew up from Tampa to Atlanta so that we could see FSU in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. We got into the airport, quickly hopped on MARTA and were in downtown within 20 minutes. It cost all of like $2.00 for the fare. When we got downtown, we basically walked everywhere very easily. This definitely saved us money by not having to take a long cab ride or paying for a rental car and then for valet at the hotel.

[thelakelander]

This segment just focused on downtown, which to me is not the focus of Atlanta any longer, though it is coming back in a strong way.  I would say that Buckhead or Midtown are Atlanta's current focal point and I hope you got to spend time in those areas (as well as West Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park, and other East Atlanta neighborhoods).

I'm pretty familiar with Atlanta and actually stayed in Buckhead this past trip and in Midtown a few months ago.  I've been following it, development wise, since my older brother lived Vinings back in the late 80s/early 90s.  However, I'm an gritty urbanist at heart and tend to gravitate towards walkable waterfront and industrial cities, which explains why the ATL is not higher up on my list of excitable urban environments (love the industrial lofts and modern architecture of ATL but don't like the density or feel at street level for the most part).  Nevertheless, over the last couple of trips, I have taken several images of some of the neighborhoods you've mentioned and some others such as Cabbagetown, Castleberry Hill and the West End around the cluster of HBCUs and see many areas where Atlanta has excelled that Jax would be smart to follow.

In addition to Central Atlanta Progress, downtown's official community improvement district, the area is served by three tax increment financing districts (collectively known as TADs here in Atlanta).  The Eastside TAD covers the Grady Curve, Georgia State, King Memorial, and the government areas.  This area has just secured all of the funding necessary for Atlanta's first streetcar in a really long time (will be over 2 miles straight through downtown and into the Edgewood area).  Big developers have long eyed the area (Novare, Hines Interests, and smaller but higher profile developers).

I think this is something that urban Jax should explore.  Short of deconsolidation, TIFs may be the way to go for the urban core to get the type of quality of life improvements it needs in a city/county dominated with suburban interest.

[wsansewjs]

However, I'm an gritty urbanist at heart and tend to gravitate towards walkable waterfront and industrial cities, which explains why the ATL is not higher up on my list of excitable urban environments (love the industrial lofts and modern architecture of ATL but don't like the density or feel at street level for the most part).  

If someone can build those 'cloud cars' from Star Wars, would you live there anyways? 

-Josh

[billy]

The implementation of the Beltline and the redevelopment of the former City Hall East/Sears property
on Ponce by Jamestown/ Green Street Properties is going to be incredible.....

thank goodness for GSU, a lot (more) of downtown would be a ghost town without it....