A Crown Jewel for the ATL's Emerald Necklace

Two weeks ago, the city of Atlanta and the BeltLine Partnership announced that the city has plans to acquire the active Bellwood Quarry on the west side of Atlanta as an early and major acquisition along the BeltLine. The quarry, in northwest Atlanta would become Atlanta’s newest and largest park. The new Westside Park will add over 300 acres of greenspace to Atlanta and will surround a reservoir, which the City of Atlanta will use as a drinking water reservoir that could hold up to 1.2 billion gallons of water.

The city of Atlanta plans to purchase the leasehold from Vulcan Materials Company and the underlying property from Fulton County. The Vulcan Materials Company lease runs through 2034 and allows the company to quarry the property. The Atlanta City Council approved the city’s purchase of the land and lease on January 17, 2006 by a unanimous vote. Legislation to approve the sale of the land to the city is still under review by the Fulton County Commission.

Source: BeltLine Partnership

Bike Tunnel Wins Design Award

According to a Jan. 12th Saskatoon Star-Phoenix article, "Architect
Chris Hardwicke envisions a day when you will walk out your door, jump
on your bicycle and commute to work at 40 kilometres an hour (25 mph)through dedicated tunnels suspended above city streets. He calls his idea
Velo-City, a transportation network of concrete and glass tunnels
through which cyclists could race to and from their destinations. 'It's
about building a separate infrastructure, just like a highway for cars.
I thought, why not a highway for bikes,' Hardwicke says.

"Whether Velo-City is practical remains to be seen, but the idea's
merit has already been recognized. The concept recently ranked third in
a competition about winterizing cities held by Toronto's Design
Exchange, a museum and centre for design research and education...'It
was probably one of the proposals that was the most ambitious and
perhaps the most unrealistic on many levels,' says Paola Poletto, the
Design Exchange's director of research and curator of the show in which
Hardwicke's concept appeared..."

...from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking

Bicycle Transportation Systems of Denver, Colorado has been proposing a similar concept for several years...

Wooten on Track

"Move the Department of Corrections to Tift College on I-75 at Forsyth, Gov. Sonny Perdue proposes. Yes. Do it. By all means. The Atlanta-to-Macon commuter rail corridor would make sense --- if prisons, state departments and agencies, and related functions are moved south. A critical mass of potential commuters could reduce subsidies the white elephant would require."

~ Jim Wooten, AJC Associate Editorial page editor. His column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays

Walkable Watkinsville: Forward to the Past

According to a Dec. 28th Banner Herald editorial, "Watkinsville, the
picturesque county seat of Oconee County, is working hard to market
itself as a center of arts tourism, to the point of beginning to bill
itself as the 'Art Land of Georgia.' Perhaps apropos of that,
Watkinsville residents and their city council have themselves been
engaged in something of an 'art' project. With the help of a $15,000
Quality Growth Grant from the state Department of Community Affairs,
the community has for the past several months been exploring the 'art'
of developing a land-use and zoning plan that will help the city retain
and enhance its small-town feel. In a broad sense, the community is
looking to return to the past, when small towns were walkable
communities characterized by mixed-use development that put business,
professional, recreational and residential uses close together...

"Watkinsville's city council and residents have taken a decidedly
different approach, and have spent time developing plans that will
become real guidelines for shaping the city's future. The city is
taking full advantage of the considerable expertise offered through the
Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center, a state agency that
provides technical assistance to governments across Northeast
Georgia...Perhaps one of the best results of the process has been a
commitment to a flexible set of development guidelines. As a result,
the council will be able to work with individual property owners and
developers to 'craft' residential, commercial and other types of
development, rather than just ensuring that development adheres to a
set of inflexible rules..."

Source: CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking

Chamblee Chooses Less Car Congestion and Commuting

Traffic congestion, the bane of metro Atlanta, may actually be having a
positive effect on one DeKalb County city. The daily crush of cars has
led some drivers to consider giving up their vehicles and moving to
more commuter-friendly areas where public transportation, shopping and
living spaces are all within a short walk of one another. That's
exactly how Chamblee wants to be envisioned. This city of about 10,000
residents is positioning itself as a destination for those who want to
live and work without being dependent on their cars. 'We have a golden
opportunity to create a really livable community here,' said Eric
Clarkson, a longtime Chamblee City Council member who takes over as
mayor in January. 'We have this phenomenal location with MARTA plunked
down right in the middle of our city. The people who came before me saw
the chance to develop an exciting district that has all the makings of
a city on the move.'

"The work began a few years ago with a Livable Centers Initiative grant
from the Atlanta Regional Commission. The money provided the spark for
an overhaul of the city's downtown. Construction brought retail spaces
and condominiums along a streetscape of wider sidewalks and more green
space. 'The whole idea was to go back and redesign areas so people can
live without an automobile,' said City Manager Kathy Brannon. 'Instead,
they can use public transportation and walk to shops and restaurants
nearby. People are tired of commuting and, once their children leave
home, they realize there's no need to live way outside the Perimeter.
And young people are probably a lot smarter than we all were: They know
life is too short to spend it sitting in your car.' The concept has
gone over so well that the city is looking to redesign its zoning to
incorporate more livable centers..."

Source: BikeWalk.org