Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • MARTA to Roll Out Fleet of Articulated Buses in 2016 (Decatur Metro)
  • New Bike Lanes Open in Downtown Atlanta (WSB-TV)
  • Cobb BRT Fails Federal Requirements For Traffic Congestion Mitigation (MARTARocks!)
  • Ryan Gravel’s Blog Features Beltline Promotional Video From 2003
  • Development Booming on Charlotte Light Rail Extension That’s Still Two Years Away (Charlotte Observer)
  • Four Days in to New Service, Charlotte Streetcar Has First Crash (Charlotte Observer)
  • Charleston County Moves Forward With Bike/Ped Plan Called “People to Parks” (WCSC)
  • Nashville Looks to Other Southern Cities to Measure Their Failures in Transit (Nashville Biz Journal)
  • Southern Mississippi Asks If Uber and Taxis Can Coexist (Sun Herald)
  • West Palm Beach And Fort Lauderdale Stations Will Accommodate Tri-Rail Extension (Sun Sentinel)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • Tampa City Council May Shift Impact Fees to Transit, Bike Lanes, and Sidewalks (Tribune)
  • AAF Expects a Lot of Tourist Travel Between Orlando and Cruise Ports (Travel Weekly)
  • Motorists Can’t Manage to Clear Atlanta Streetcar Tracks, Pols and WAGA Blame Streetcar
  • MARTA Riders Want Bus Shelters in Clayton County (WXIA)
  • North Georgia Transportation Planning Org Wins Award From FHWA and FTA (TI News Daily)
  • Indy Week Reports the 10 Things Learned from Raleigh’s Rezoning Public Meetings
  • Franklin Transit Authority Looking at New Transit Options to Reduce Car Traffic (Franklin Home Page)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

via ATL Urbanist

After 35 Years, Still Waiting for Transit-Spurred Development in South Downtown

By ATL Urbanist | | No Comments
A planning document from 1970, found on the Planning Atlanta website adds an interesting piece to the story of the city’s South Downtown neighborhood – one that has not experienced the investment seen in other parts of the city’s center over the past couple of decades. Above, you can see the assessment of South Downtown from planners from that era. “Relative isolation” hurts the place, but it is full of “potential;” so what’s the prescription for helping it develop? See the image below, also from that document:The area needs “residents, probably high rise” that could be spurred by a strong catalyst like a “rapid transit station.” Good plan. And about 10 years after, that transit station arrived: MARTA’s Garnett Station. But the development did not. Almost 35 years since the station opened, we’re still waiting for that catalyst to have an effect. Garnett cost $12 million to build. Adjusted for inflation that’s $30 million in 2015 dollars. You may have read my previous post about this problem: http://atlurbanist.tumblr.com/post/120708595324/martas-garnett-station-top-photo-aAnd you can also see a post I made years ago about the loss of urban fabric around Garnett with demolished buildings being converted to parking lots: http://atlurbanist.tumblr.com/post/82700627928/paving-decisions-in-atlanta-the-top-image-is A catalyst like a transit station is similar to a garden – it can produce great things, but only if you take care of it and give it the nurturing environment it needs. City government did not do that with Garnett. In regard to its potential for spurring growth, it’s turned into a waste of money because of the lack of care taken to give it a proper environment for growth.Here’s what it looks like now, from above. A city that sits back and waits for the market to work is not doing everything it can to help the station fulfill its potential. Imagine what could be here.

Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • FTA Chief Cites Charlotte Streetcar as Model for Federal Funding (The Hill)
  • Georgia Traffic Deaths Spike With 20 Percent of Victims Walking and Biking (Augusta Chronicle)
  • Truck Driver Kills Man on Bike and Valdosta PD Has “Safety Tips” for Cyclists (Daily Times)
  • Walk Score: Georgia State Is Atlanta’s Most Walkable ‘Hood, Bikeability Improves Overall (Curbed)
  • Macon Receives National Grant to Revitalize Mill Hill (GPB)
  • Florida Cyclists Catch Road Rage Incident on Camera (News Press)
  • NOLA Restaurant Expanding in Anticipation of Streetcar Business (Advocate)
  • Former CATS CEO Saw Streetcar Opportunity on Bus Lines With Highest Ridership (Naked City)
  • Armchair Planner Creates Dream Rail Map of Atlanta (Curbed)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

via ATL Urbanist

Pub-Shed Matters So Shut Up and Accept It

By ATL Urbanist | | No Comments
Pub-shed matters so shut up and accept it. I’ve heard people hating on the concept of pub-shed – meaning a measure of pubs in walking distance from where you live, as an aspect of urban livability. People have dismissed it as being a hipster appropriation of livability metrics. Thpthpth, I say. As I type this, I am what Dean Martin would call “gassed” (thanks to the excellent beer selection at Anatolia Cafe – from which the above pic was taken). To get home, I don’t have to get in a car. I don’t even need MARTA. And considering the sudden downpour that’s hit Atlanta, I’m very thankful that home is a block long sprint away. Pub-shed means something. Shut up. I reserve the right to delete this post when I sober up, BTW, in case it looks stupid in the morning.

Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • All Aboard Florida Gears Up to Develop Fort Lauderdale Station (South Florida Biz Journal)
  • All Aboard Bonds Not On Agenda of Florida Development Finance Corp Meeting (Palm Beach Post)
  • Baton Rouge to New Orleans Commuter Rail Line Has Strong Support, Needs Funding (Times-Picayune)
  • Charlotte DOT Announces Permitting Process for Parklets (Plan Charlotte)
  • City of Marietta Buys 1,300 Low-Income Housing Units to Raze and Sell to Developers (City Observatory)
  • Chattanooga Wins Federal Award for Bike/Ped Spending, Transit Expansion (Saporta Report)
  • North Charleston Amtrak and CARTA Hub Scaled Back, to Open in 2017 (Post and Courier)
  • TDOT Assistant Commissioner: “We Can’t Build Ourselves Out Of Traffic” (Nashville Biz Journal)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • Charlotte Gold Line Streetcar Debuts Today (Observer)
  • New CATS CEO’s Biggest Challenge Will Be to Find Funding for Planned Expansions (Observer)
  • With Clayton County Residents Packing Buses, MARTA Plans New Routes (News Daily)
  • Lowndes County Commission Refuses to Help Fund Transit Study (Mass Transit)
  • Ben Hill County Residents Can Now Reserve Transit Service 24 Hours in Advance (WALB)
  • Orlando MPO Says Education and Enforcement Program Is Paying Off (Florida News Time)
  • BikeWalkLee Campaign for Street Improvements Gets the Media’s Attention
  • Charlotte Light Rail Gives Montgomery County, Maryland, Officials Hope for Future (WTOP)
  • Louisiana Passenger Rail Feasibility Study Results to Be Released This Week (KTBS)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

via ATL Urbanist

Does Atlanta Have Mega-Event Syndrome?

By ATL Urbanist | | No Comments
Does Atlanta have Mega-Event Syndrome? The above photo of Downtown Atlanta shows the Georgia Dome, in the middle, with the shadow of the in-construction Falcons stadium that will replace it to the left, and Philips Arena on the right. Behind that (out of view) is the Georgia World Congress Center. In front, where cars are parked, is a section of the Gulch – a vast sea of concrete that may get turned into an MGM casino if lawmakers and voters allow. Having all of these events facilities centered in one spot is a problem. With such a singular type of land use – one that brings in a mass of car traffic from the car-centric, sprawling region all around as people attend events here – it’s difficult for much of any other land use to thrive. That this difficulty should occur next to the historic heart of the city, with some of its pre-automobile buildings and street grid miraculously intact, is grating; with more accommodating surroundings, there is potential for this walkable grid to act as a showplace for good urbanism in a region that is in need of quality examples of it. Instead, we’ve surrounded and stifled it’s potential with a group of events facilities. An article in City Lab earlier this year defined a malady that I believe Atlanta has: Mega Event Syndrome.“The mega-event syndrome results in oversized or obsolete infrastructure for an inflated price that the public is forced to pay and in an uneven and inefficient allocation of resources. These symptoms repeat themselves, to a greater or lesser degree, in mega-events around the globe.“ Sports stadiums, in particular, have become a racket for millionaire owners. It’s something we’ve come to accept as a society. Local governments shell out huge expenditures to appease the desires of team owners who want new stadiums. We justify the cost by claiming that the end product will generate massive returns that make the effort to build, support and maintain these facilities worthwhile. But many studies have found that the numbers don’t add up for a big return on these investments – very much an “uneven and inefficient allocation of resources.” And beyond economics, simple livability suffers from this central grouping of events venues. One the most harrowing experiences we have as a downtown family is dealing with all of the wide one-way streets that were designed to get masses of cars in and out of the cluster of events facilities nearby. They’re unpleasant to walk along and dangerous to cross. In all, we’ve been very happy living in an apartment in Downtown Atlanta and walking these streets together. The challenges occur when the place gets taken over by cars during big events; I think of the clustering of these events spaces in the historic city center as having been a mistake. It will take a very concentrated, targeted, creative set of efforts to mitigate the damage. To see the neighborhood that took the biggest hit in mobility and livability with the placement of these facilities, look no further than Vine City. The image below (from PEDs) compares the 1911 street grid of that neighborhood with what exists today; a lack of connectivity with the Downtown jobs center and a massive dead space of blank walls and parking structures as a neighbor.

Today’s Headlines

By Ashley Robbins | | No Comments
  • MARTA to Pitch Expansion That Would “Transform the Region” (AJC)
  • Cobb County Circulator Could Lead to Additional Transit Improvements (MDJ)
  • Rome Asks Norfolk Southern to Donate Rail Trail Property (Rome News-Tribune)
  • Streetcar Spurs Development of 550 New Apartments in Mixed-Use Development (Charlotte Observer)
  • Miami-Dade Looks to Give MPO More Authority in Planning Transit Projects (Miami Herald)
  • All Aboard Ridership Study Points to Orlando Station as Most Utilized (Orlando Sentinel)
  • People Want to Walk — Safely — to the New Lee County Wal-Mart (WBBH)
  • Charleston: Transit Is the Solution to Congestion (Post and Courier)
  • Brookings Takes a Look at the Great Urban Experiment That Is New Orleans Resiliency

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

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