Concept Rendering by beltlinegroup
When you first hear its name, the BeltLine already sounds confusing. Are we talking about watching our weight? Is this a new fashion device? It has a funny name and it’s a bit of a mystery for non-Atlantans, as well as born and raised natives. The BeltLine is a comprehensive development project (spanning 25 years and costing an estimated $2.8 billion) that will transform Atlanta from a sprawling, disconnected city into a walkable and more united place.
It’ll accomplish this by converting a 22-mile historic abandoned railroad corridor into segments of trails and parks with multi-use properties (stores and housing)—all highlighted with new light rail and trolley transportation. For those familiar with NYC’s Highline project, it’s basically a giant Highline (although it’s on the ground and not in the sky) around the city with housing, commercial space, and transportation added in. The BeltLine will change Atlanta’s identity, function, and growth rate. It’s Atlanta’s next Olympic moment!
Strange as it may sound, this monster project wasn’t conceived by city planners or fancy architects. It was Georgia Tech student Ryan Gravel’s graduate thesis project. In 1999, Gravel and colleagues Mark Arnold and Sarah Edgens created the project in response to their frustration with Atlanta’s lack of transportation alternatives. MARTA (the city’s current public transportation provider) mainly runs in the central portions of Atlanta and fails to connect outer portions of the city or provide conveniently located stations.
The project aims to address the transportation issue by building light rail technology and modern streetcars that will run along sections of the old railroad and connect to at least four MARTA stations (Lindbergh Center station to the north, Inman Park station to the east, West End station to the west, and Ashby station to the south). These new additions will make the city more accessible and turn public transportation into something Atlantans will truly use and rely on.
Today, Gravel remains a leader on the project. Practicing at Perkins + Will, Gravel is a Design Manager for the firm’s BeltLine Corridor design contract. This contract will determine the overall vision and design details (from trails, parks, and transportation to streetscapes, lighting, and artwork). In short, it will ensure that Gravel’s grand vision isn’t lost amongst the many plans being presented by other companies; the project is very complex—involving public and private entities for funding, design, planning, and implementation. With so many elements to the BeltLine, it can be a migraine trying to understand where the hell this thing is and how it impacts the city!
Let’s back up to a simpler way of looking at it. The BeltLine is a winding circle that goes around Atlanta’s 45 in-town neighborhoods. Some notable ones are: Inman Park, Ansley Park, and West End. It’s essentially a smaller version of I-285, an interstate that literally draws a perimeter around the city.
For those of you who love maps see the 25-year BeltLine Overview Map
Currently, many of these in-town neighborhoods are self-contained pockets with little connection to one another. They’re really only accessible via car (it would take an hour to go five miles on MARTA and walking is out of the question). Basically, each area is an island unto itself. Pretty cool islands, I’d like to add, but driving gets old. One island of interest is Old Fourth Ward (O4W), a nabe near Downtown that boasts a recently completed BeltLine park—Old Fourth Ward Park.
Opening in the spring of 2011, Old Fourth Ward Park is built on the site of the old Ponce De Leon amusement park, formerly a giant wasteland that sat between O4W and Poncey-Highland.
I’m shocked I haven’t been to this park before! How could I miss this? The park is actually below street-level, dug into the ground like a small rock quarry or valley. In the center of the winding paths and plush vegetation is a pond with two waterfalls that’s designed to catch storm run-off. Approaching the opposite side of the park, you’ll walk up several stairs of a grassy amphitheatre into the playground—a mixture of conventional playground items as well as futuristic bouncy apparatuses that make me wish I was six-year-old. Beyond the park is the Foundation Skate Park—a former giant concrete loading block that was adopted by skaters. The BeltLine came in and collaborated with the skate community to make it an official, state-of-the-art skate park.
O4W Park by Jennifer Mummert
O4W Park is a prime example of the phrase“if you build it, they will come.” This area used to be a forgotten useless piece of land. Now it not only connects two major in-town neighborhoods, it also holds useable outdoor space, making living nearby much more desirable and sought-after than before.
There’s more to come too for the O4W/Poncey-Highland area. The Ponce City Market is scheduled to open in 2014, just across the street from O4W Park. This 2.1 million sq. ft. building is currently City Hall East—an abandoned, depressing eyesore that everyone hates. This sad building will be transformed into one of the coolest and craziest developments I’ve seen since Atlantic Station.
The plans include 3,000 sq. ft. of retail space highlighted by food specialty stores—it’ll be a true urban market! Beyond retail, 200-300 housing units will be added, and outdoor pedestrian passages including vertical walk-ups for easy access will be built. To top it all off—literally—is a rooftop urban farm. The idea is to recruit local farmers to run the farm, and a giant, already-existing reservoir in the building will be used to collect rainwater for irrigation. If that isn’t eco-friendly construction, I don’t know what is.
Ok, so we’ve talked about parks, retail, housing, but what about the big-ticket item—transportation?! Right now, planners are completing environmental studies and determining which segments to develop and what technology to use (either Light Rail or modern streetcar).
Sounds a little disappointing that there isn’t something in the works, but the good news is the Transportation Investment Act (TIA) project list was approved on October 13. If the vote passes in 2012, $602 million will be allocated to Atlanta, starting with MARTA stations in Midtown and Downtown and connecting to the east and west side of the BeltLine corridor, cutting through Downtown. This plan will clear up some heavy congestion and would create a major segment of public transportation that, gasp, makes lives more convenient!
Transit Rendering by beltlinegroup
As projects that are a part of the BeltLine plan are completed, the face of Atlanta will start to shift. The neighborhoods we know today may become something different. As neighborhoods continue to connect and improve, the vibe, types of people, and the way we interact with them is sure to transform. To keep up with what’s going on, check out the following resources:
Atlanta BeltLine: a comprehensive resource and the main website for the BeltLine.
The BeltLine Team: great for understanding the subareas of the BeltLine and their respective neighborhoods.
Sounds very exciting! I wish BART for the Bay Area was this cool.