Atlanta Beltline - Page 43

smArTaLlone · #**841** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 4:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by atl2phx

cool beltline vid.

http://vimeo.com/37647202

The park looks awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As a child of the 90s who spent a lot of time at the Masquerade, these improvements are mind boggling. That area was literally a dump not too long ago.

I can't tell you how many times I've driven through this area in the 00's and imagined what it could be. Its crazy to see what is actually becoming a reality.

forj · #**842** Posted **May 18, 2012, 9:43 PM**

this thing is finally coming along.. im interested to see what they do with the landscaping around the trail and what art ends up installed.. unfortunately, transit is a long ways off. but in 10 years atlanta is going to be transformed i have a feeling. im planning on moving within the next two years to be closer to the beltline, marta etc.. i am not 100% behind the T-SPLOST but im definitely voting for it - the street cars will soon come back to atlanta's historic streetcar neighborhoods. one of the worst things atlanta did to itself was to remove its streetcars

https://www.facebook.com/atlantabeltline photos by Chris Martin

https://www.facebook.com/atlantabeltline photos by Chris Martin

smArTaLlone · #**843** Posted **May 22, 2012, 10:54 PM**

Some aerials of the Eastside Trial

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...2430982&type=3

smArTaLlone · #**844** Posted **Oct 10, 2012, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Mayor Kasim Reed will lead the official dedication of the Atlanta BeltLine's most significant step forward yet: the opening of the Eastside Trail on Monday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. at the intersection of the Atlanta BeltLine corridor and the Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark, located at 830 Willoughby Way.

One of the most eagerly-awaited public spaces in Atlanta, the new 2.25-mile long section of the Atlanta BeltLine, running from Irwin St. to 10th St. and Monroe Dr., connects the neighborhoods of Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, Midtown, Poncey Highland and Virginia Highland. It contains a 14-foot wide concrete trail and 30 acres of landscaped greenspace, including spaces for both public art and naturalistically designed exercise station.

http://midtown.patch.com/articles/at...l-opens-monday

echinatl · #**845** Posted **Oct 11, 2012, 2:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by smArTaLlone

http://midtown.patch.com/articles/at...l-opens-monday

Killed my back and got bit by bugs I've never seen before while volunteering to clear out weeds from that trail last week!

smArTaLlone · #**846** Posted **Oct 13, 2012, 6:38 PM**

I find it fascinating that in 1960 the regional transit plan envisioned transit and urban development along the Beltline next to what is now Ponce City Market. Georgia state released these documents that were a part of the Atlanta Region Metropolitan Planning Commission in 1961.

Atlanta Region Comprehensive Plan

smArTaLlone · #**847** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 10:39 PM**

• Video Link

trainiac · #**848** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 11:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by forj

this thing is finally coming along.. im interested to see what they do with the landscaping around the trail

Trees Atlanta is putting in tons of native trees -- most of them 12 to 15 feet tall. I've heard the number 600 for just the section from Irwin to Monroe!

I've been biking the whole length every day ever since they opened the Ponce bridge. It is sooooooooooooo awesome

sunking1056 · #**849** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 12:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trainiac

Trees Atlanta is putting in tons of native trees -- most of them 12 to 15 feet tall. I've heard the number 600 for just the section from Irwin to Monroe!

673 to be exact! About 470 will be installed within the next few days with the other 200 coming in December. The immediate impact is unbelievable. The trail already looks completely different than in the video above. I've spent about 30 hours on the trail the last few days and it has been busy virtually nonstop.

(four 0 four) · #**850** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 3:48 PM**

At the risk of being overly dramatic, I don't think anyone who hasn't seen the trail can realize how much it will revolutionize how people in that area will live. The connectivity between the neighborhoods is already amazing even before links to some of the retail centers, parks and residential are complete.

For those under-a-rock dwellers, the Beltline still offers a free bus tour that follows the path of the Beltline although it books up fast.

http://beltline.org/programs/atlanta-beltline-tours/

smArTaLlone · #**851** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 5:12 PM**

I don't think that is too dramatic at all. I think this is close to a game changer for (at least) this part of the city and we see the amount of development that is already bubbling up around it.

smArTaLlone · #**852** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 5:13 PM**

Video Link

clexmond · #**853** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 12:54 PM**

Took a walk yesterday evening on the Beltline trail and I'd say about a quarter of the trees were planted with the rest staged at various points. Evergreens by the Monroe / 10th entrance, a bunch of oaks around North Ave, Magnolia's and Redbuds throughout. It's starting to look really amazing!

trainiac · #**854** Posted **Dec 13, 2012, 4:40 AM**

Somehow I missed the release of the master plan for the Beltline section from Marietta Blvd to I-75 that was released in March 2012

http://beltlineorg.wpengine.netdna-c...aster-Plan.pdf

They came up with some great ideas! I love the trail/avenue connection of Culpepper St to Trabert Ave through the Water Works. Brilliant!

I love that just a couple 100 feet after you go thru the tunnel under I-75 you're at the completed Tanyard Creek trail that goes by Bobby Jones golf course (if you haven't walked that section yet, do it!). The idea of riding a bike from Star Provisions to the area around Cafe Sunflower in just a few very safe miles is pretty mind-blowing.

netdragon · #**855** Posted **Dec 18, 2012, 9:43 AM**

All this content the beltline is posting related to the East side trail is smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that outside the park in Peoplestown, they aren't doing anything for the Southeast trail except to Glenwood Park. Other than the East-side trail and a PATHs foundation connector, the content on the beltline.org site hasn't really changed much in over a year. They are discussing a new 10 year implementation plan. Perhaps a stalling tactic so they don't have to address why they are making so little action on the Southeast side of the beltline.

Inman Parker · #**856** Posted **Dec 18, 2012, 2:28 PM**

Why would they have to stall?

trainiac · #**857** Posted **Dec 19, 2012, 7:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by netdragon

All this content the beltline is posting related to the East side trail is smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that outside the park in Peoplestown, they aren't doing anything for the Southeast trail except to Glenwood Park. Other than the East-side trail and a PATHs foundation connector, the content on the beltline.org site hasn't really changed much in over a year. They are discussing a new 10 year implementation plan. Perhaps a stalling tactic so they don't have to address why they are making so little action on the Southeast side of the beltline.

There's still active freight rail use from Glenwood Dr south. ROW is not yet secured. After touring the section from Piedmont Park to Lindbergh Station, I can guarantee that's gonna take a long time as well. This is a complicated project.

smArTaLlone · #**858** Posted **Feb 16, 2013, 8:18 PM**

'Now Atlanta Is Turning Old Tracks Green'

Quote:

Until last year, the old railroad tracks that snaked through east Atlanta were derelict. Kudzu, broken bottles and plastic bags covered the rusting rails.

But these days, the two-mile corridor bustles with joggers, bikers and commuters. Along a trail lined with pine and sassafras trees, condos are under construction and a streetcar is planned.

The Eastside Trail, as the path is known, is one of the first legs of an ambitious proposal that has been in the works since the early 2000s — to transform 22 miles of vine-covered railroad into parks, housing and public transit around Atlanta.

Immovable_Media · #**859** Posted **Feb 20, 2013, 4:22 PM**

The Eastside Beltline Trail is truly a gem in Atlanta's crown! I went for a ride down the trail and shot this video: http://youtu.be/YpDbINwr8II

A roundtrip tour of the trail shot from the first person perspective.

Make sure to watch in 1080p HD to see the full beauty of East Atlanta on a clear winter's day.

bigstick · #**860** Posted **Feb 20, 2013, 11:42 PM**

It should be recognized that in the period since the Olympics in the mid-90's, Atlanta has made huge strides in urban development in several areas and has become something of a model for Sunbelt city urbanization. The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium where Muhammad Ali lighted the caldron to open the Games was reconfigured as a 50,000-seat ballpark for the Braves. Dorms built for athletes were later converted into housing for Georgia State University students. Centennial Olympic Park was carved out of 21 acres of abandoned blight downtown and begat projects later on, too, like the Georgia Aquarium, the new World of Coca Cola and a surge of condo and office building. The city is the first in the nation to essentially raze all of its public housing projects and erect more mixed-use developments in their place. The mixed-use, New Urbanist Atlantic Station development replaced a large brownfield site in Midtown in 2005 and received the EPA's 2004 Phoenix Award as the Best National Brownfield Redevelopment as well as the Sierra Club's 2005 America's Best New Development Projects listing. In 2000, MARTA opened two new rail stations – Sandy Springs and North Springs – on the North Line. The 47-acre Lindbergh City Center, a TOD centered around the Lindbergh MARTA station, opened in 2002. The 28-acre New Urbanist Glenwood Park development opened in 2005 on a former industrial site two miles east of downtown and received a Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism in that same year. The 2.7 mile, 12-station streetcar line that will run from Centennial Olympic Park to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site on Auburn Avenue is currently under construction. The Beltline project, which will be a 22-mile public transit, trails, and parks loop around the heart of the city of Atlanta on the site of an abandoned rail and industrial corridor, is a long-range project that has already spawned infrastructure improvements, a new signature park in Fourth Ward, and its first completed trail. Ponce City Market, the largest adaptive reuse project in Atlanta's history, will restore 1.1 million square feet of the massive historic Sears, Roebuck & Company building adjacent to the BeltLine in the historic Old Fourth Ward neighborhood; it will consist of 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 450,000 square feet of office space, and 260 residential units. It will be about twice as large as Chelsea Market in NYC and is scheduled to open next year. Also, historic urban neighborhood villages like Castleberry Hill, Virginia-Highland, and East Atlanta Village have experienced considerable investment and have become popular regional destinations since the early 90's.

So while it's definitely true that Atlanta has some of the worst sprawl in the Sunbelt, it should also be recognized that it also has some of the best urban redevelopment in the Sunbelt also.