THE ATLANTA IDEA THREAD. What are your ideas for ATLANTA's future?

[dante2308]

Question. How many New-Urbanists does it take to think transit in Atlanta will solve everything?

Answer?

Doesn't matter because tourism in Atlanta has nothing to do with expanding the transit network. The aquarium brought more people to the city than five aquarium-worths of new MARTA stops (perhaps two stops) ever could. For example, Las Vegas is one of the most famous cities in the United States. People come form all over the world to see it and keep coming back with other dream of visiting one day. Please don't expect me to believe that transit helped make Las Vegas what it is. All that place needed was an airport and it was set.

You work on your strengths. Atlanta's strength isn't a historic transit system so barely anyone is going to travel here to see our MARTA no matter how big it gets. Better to go to a city like New York where the subway was invented. Atlanta isn't even the kind of city where it is natural to have mass transit, so that it has a heavy rail network is amazing for a Sunbelt city, but it isn't the draw.

Atlanta can work on what it does best instead. That is, have the world's biggest this or the world's busiest that. If we keep creating these monuments, we are sure to make a name for ourselves. Add that to a night life and we should be set. (Yes night clubs and cultural events are equally important to Atlanta's future. Young people come to Atlanta and keep asking, 'what is there to do?' Believe it or not, young people are a huge percentage of the population and should be catered to.)

Music Midtown was a great event until the canceled it. We should continue to host huge cultural events and make a name for ourselves that way. We can also focus on other strengths like the Martin Luther King Museum to celebrate the rich black history of the city. Gay Pride Atlanta, though controversial, but very much a reality, draws hundreds of thousand here too.

If you want Atlanta to become a world-class city, you focus on what you got. No we don't need to create a waterfront through downtown somehow. We weren't built around a river so we shouldn't have one going through our city. If you like water, there is Stone Mountain's water features and Lake Lanier. If you like the ocean, visit the ocean. Tourists don't need to come here and see Atlanta's pathetic attempt at copying other's cities' waterfronts. Believe it or not, our elevation and hilly terrain sets us apart from many cities and is something to be proud of. We aren't merely a grid set upon an endless flat expanse like so many American cities. We have a dynamic road network that curves and twists and intersects a different angles creating interesting street scape possibilities.

Once again, people don't merely visit Atlanta. There are many places that are nice to visit, but you wouldn't want to live in. Atlanta is nice to visit and has the highest in-migration of any city in the United States. We're doing something right. Maybe a lot tourists have just already moved here.

[dante2308]

Originally Posted by smurf

Being closeby, I've never seen Atlanta as anything interesting to visit, nor does anyone I know. Maybe to go to Six Flags or something, but not to be a tourist. Why does Atlanta fail to me? Well, its not exactly got geography working on its side, the area is relativly flat save a giant rock sitting around. Atlanta doesn't try to build anything interesting, they just try to build the biggest dang thing they can. So its the biggest in the world, whoopdeedo, its so big people don't even want to deal with it. Atlanta is a mini-New York. New York gets a lot of attraction due to its sheer size and amount of things to do, which are a byproduct of the size. Atlanta is big, but not big enough to have enough things to do. To me, its just a barrier to go somewhere farther south. Heck, I've never even seen an advertisement for Atlanta, but I have for Savannah.
Yea, I'll be flamed by refuse to accept the truth, but thats ok.

It is a matter of personal taste I guess. For a city with as many things to do as Atlanta to not have anything that interests you makes me wonder what does interest you and why you haven't found it here. By the way, you don't see New York or Paris advertising itself. Some places don't need to tell people that they are great for people to come.

[cabasse]

bringing some sort of a water feature isn't "copying other cities" in the same way that building retail in midtown following cues of other great shopping districts in other cities isn't. it's doing what works; beautifying and improving the city.

i would absolutely love to see peachtree creek cleaned up and put to use for something other than a forgotten-about sewer. that in itself would be a wonderfully creative new idea, something i've never previously heard about before in other cities. other possible areas are the water works, and the bellwood quarry lake; these things bring needed natural gathering spaces. you can't deny the beauty of clara meer in piedmont park - it's just a bit too small. has anyone heard about or seen that photo exhibit about atlanta's forgotten watershed, at the fernbank science center a few years back? Link 1 | 2

as the city matures, it will grow into more of a tourist attraction, by its very nature. i don't think chicago and new york ever planned to become such, it was just an added benefit of becoming what they are now. (tourist attractions) the best thing the city could do for itself is just to beautify and improve in any and every possible way.

also - transit solves the world's problems! it's a cure for cancer! creates world peace! (indirectly, actually!)

lastly, please forgive me if i've stolen any ideas previously mentioned in the past 4 years from other forumers... when i read things, i generally forget where i heard about them first.

[MidtownMile]

Originally Posted by Turbosloth

That's actually a great idea about Peachtree Creek. There's a good bit of it that just has warehouses backing up to it. That would be the portion to target. It's not big enough to get boats on, but that's OK.

On another topic, someone had mentioned monuments. Any ideas for a monument for Atlanta as powerful and recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument or Gateway Arch? Does Atlanta have anything so grand to celebrate? Maybe it does, in conjunction with the Civil Rights Museum. Just a sketch of an idea, but imagine a man with broken bonds facing the Statue of Liberty ... a couple hundred feet tall. Or is architectural the way to go? Maybe an observatory that completely breaks the mold for traditional skewered discs?

Just a thought on this. Atlanta is one of the highest cities and is certainly the highest in the Southeast. Since we have this southern "Renaissance" of sorts going on, why not build the Southern Apex. Just a thought... put it over the connector basically in front of where Allen Plaza is going. Have it be basically a 450' tall square-based "pipe" pyramid. Inside, place a small round tower (nothing more than really a glorified elevator bank) and have discs every 100' or so that get smaller as you rise up the tower. Each of these could be an observation deck (4-5 in total). Then, at the top, install an icon light similar to what Luxor in Vegas has. I know it is cheesy, but it is a way to get noticed. Furthermore, it would tie in quite nicely with the new Allen Plaza look. Have the exit roadways run underneath it and install some nice water and garden features over it so that it connects Midtown and Downtown across the highway.

[Turbosloth]

Originally Posted by dante2308

Atlanta's strength isn't a historic transit system so barely anyone is going to travel here to see our MARTA no matter how big it gets.

Who said anything about MARTA being the attraction? I see it, in its mature state, as easy, pervasive mobility without having to worry about parking.

[Turbosloth]

What about a large fountain/mechanical sculpture on the Connector park which completely changes shape every solstice and equinox, to the accompaniment of live music, fireworks, etc.? Make Atlanta the place for celebrating the passage of the seasons.

[Tombstoner]

Originally Posted by Turbosloth

What about a large fountain/mechanical sculpture on the Connector park which completely changes shape every solstice and equinox, to the accompaniment of live music, fireworks, etc.? Make Atlanta the place for celebrating the passage of the seasons.

nice thought.

[Pillsbury Doughboy]

I don't know. I thought Atlanta already was a regional tourist destination. Will people from Chicago say, "hey guys we're going on our vacation to Atlanta!!!" Probably not going to happen. But you know, it's okay if it doesn't.

Does anyone from Atlanta really just take vacations to Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. Probably not. They're not tourist towns for the most part. They're big cities (and great cities) and they exist for business and pleasure and as magnets for hicks in surrounding areas to go to the "big city." That's what Atlanta exists for. It's there for people all over the region to head up to the big city, listen to some good music, get a little crazy, maybe get arrested, and--until recently anyway--end up passed out in someone's front yard in Buckhead.

Oh, and I'm visiting family in the next few weeks up in the Alpha and I am going to Stone Mountain. If you've never tried it, it's always fun to run as hard as you can straight down the mountain (it's not so fun if you fall though).

[Curious Atlantan]

I remember some time ago an urban planner said that you would not like to visit a place where you would not want to live in. I tend to agree with this assesment with the clear exception of cities like Las Vegas or Orlando where nobody is visiting the cities, but the attractions.
So I think we need to make Atlanta a better place to live in and the tourists will come. Look at New York or Chicago - yes they have nice waterfronts but when I visit in New York I don't dream of spending my time on the waterfront but on the busy and vibrant streets, shops, restaurants, the parks and the museums. A very busy and vibrant street life very important.
Atlanta does have some nice tree-lined intown neighborhoods and we need to capitalize on that by encouraging more mixed-use developments so that people can enjoy them - more neighborhood restaurants and retail. I also think that Atlanta needs more density and public transportation so that both residents and tourists do not need a car to enjoy what Atlanta has to offer, so the Beltline is crucial. A streetcar on Peachtree is also very important. World-class shopping on Peachtree easily accessible to pedestrians. Build all that and I know everybody will want to come to Atlanta.

[Tombstoner]

Originally Posted by Pillsbury Doughboy

I don't know. I thought Atlanta already was a regional tourist destination. Will people from Chicago say, "hey guys we're going on our vacation to Atlanta!!!" Probably not going to happen. But you know, it's okay if it doesn't.

Does anyone from Atlanta really just take vacations to Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. Probably not. They're not tourist towns for the most part. They're big cities (and great cities) and they exist for business and pleasure and as magnets for hicks in surrounding areas to go to the "big city." That's what Atlanta exists for. It's there for people all over the region to head up to the big city, listen to some good music, get a little crazy, maybe get arrested, and--until recently anyway--end up passed out in someone's front yard in Buckhead.

Oh, and I'm visiting family in the next few weeks up in the Alpha and I am going to Stone Mountain. If you've never tried it, it's always fun to run as hard as you can straight down the mountain (it's not so fun if you fall though).

I definitely vacation in Chicago and Philly (am going to Philly at the end of the month, in fact). Great museums, architecture, history. Unfortunately, I'd have to lump Atlanta with Dallas and Houston -- not much of a tourist spot.

[Pillsbury Doughboy]

I guess I mispoke with Chicago and Philadelphia. I just feel that Atlanta is already a regional tourist destination. As far as making it a national tourist destination, maybe a Human Rights Museum that I've heard mentioned a few times would enhance its image as well as capitalize on Atlanta's civil rights history.

[dante2308]

Originally Posted by cabasse

bringing some sort of a water feature isn't "copying other cities" in the same way that building retail in midtown following cues of other great shopping districts in other cities isn't. it's doing what works; beautifying and improving the city.

i would absolutely love to see peachtree creek cleaned up and put to use for something other than a forgotten-about sewer. that in itself would be a wonderfully creative new idea, something i've never previously heard about before in other cities. other possible areas are the water works, and the bellwood quarry lake; these things bring needed natural gathering spaces. you can't deny the beauty of clara meer in piedmont park - it's just a bit too small. has anyone heard about or seen that photo exhibit about atlanta's forgotten watershed, at the fernbank science center a few years back? Link 1 | 2

as the city matures, it will grow into more of a tourist attraction, by its very nature. i don't think chicago and new york ever planned to become such, it was just an added benefit of becoming what they are now. (tourist attractions) the best thing the city could do for itself is just to beautify and improve in any and every possible way.

also - transit solves the world's problems! it's a cure for cancer! creates world peace! (indirectly, actually!)

lastly, please forgive me if i've stolen any ideas previously mentioned in the past 4 years from other forumers... when i read things, i generally forget where i heard about them first.

I do agree with most of this. Though I don't like "Midtown Mile" for it's name. It should be called "Midtown Atlanta" or perhaps just "Peachtree and Midtown." That way we aren't a cheap knock off of Chicago. A famous shopping district is fine. It was already growing there anyway. A tourist trap knock off of another city's with a similar name is not.

Water features are fine, but we don't need to dig a canal where we don't have or need one and pretend we're Fort Lauderdale or something. The Chatahoochee is pristine and beautiful. No need to create a false image for people who only visit the inner core of Atlanta.

I think Atlanta has and will become an attraction if it continues to beautify and grow. Inside the state, it definitely draws many tourists. Inside the region, it draws more still. To the forumer who said that Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas are the same they aren't. Atlanta is on a different axis at the moment. While all three cities are growing quickly, Atlanta is a different animal. It has quite some potential and no matter if people like to lump the cities together or stereotype the south Atlanta will continue to surprise all who visit here as it continues to surprise all who live here.

[CityFan]

Originally Posted by smurf

Heck, I've never even seen an advertisement for Atlanta, but I have for Savannah.

Atlanta doesn't need to advertise. Everybody knows it. If someone doesn't know it, that's his/her problem, just like New York or Sydney that doesn't need advertisements. Daily news and movie scenes advertise for them. How many people in the world know Savannah? They are in two different categories. LOL.

[cabasse]

i agree with your statement regarding the name. i'm not suggesting we follow futurama's example or anything; i just think it would really add something to the city if one was to reclaim it's creeks and focus on them as parkland and development potential. does anyone know anything about these ditches?

1|2

i definitely agree about your statement that atl's on a different plane, for now at least.

lastly, nice avatar avatar, psychomonkee.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by cabasse

does anyone know anything about these ditches?

Yes. That ditch was in the "back yard" of a property that I recently assessed. It's an open-air concrete storm water drainage channel. Storm water flows northwestly (up and to the left) in that image.

[NativeAtlantan]

This is near my house....I think it's basically the Tanyard creek-bed that was turned into a storm drain like SteveD mentioned....the concrete part ends just to the north of the new Bryson Square apartments that you see to your right as you go North (it's actually more West at this point) up I-75.

PATH has proposed to develop some paths along this bed running from the P'tree Battle area all the way down through Bobby Jones Golf Course, Collier Hills, Tanyard Creek park, Ardmore Park and through to Loring Heights and probably through to Atlantic station. Would also connect with the Beltline, if the NW section currently proposed ends up being in the final plan (which I pray happens).

[trvlr70]

Sadly, although Atlanta is an old city in the US, not very much of its history is preserved. Fires and a lack of respect for historic architecture has pretty much destroyed all historical buildings that would have given it more character.

Atlanta has always seemed to me to be a very modern city. The city should embrace this image and try to be even more cutting edge and modern.

[erm1981]

I thought the civil war destroyed a lot didnt it?

[dante2308]

Atlanta isn't an old city. It wasn't really even a 'city' until recently. It wasn't founded until just before the civil war and it was burnt to the ground. Lets not assume to much.

[MarketsWork]

Originally Posted by dante2308

Atlanta isn't an old city. It wasn't really even a 'city' until recently. It wasn't founded until just before the civil war and it was burnt to the ground. Lets not assume to much.

Exactly! Considering that Sherman completely destroyed Atlanta in 1865 and that rebuilding took decades in the midst of post-war poverty, Atlanta is a very young city. Most of what you see has been accomplished by only four generations of Atlantans. That is a very short time.