$billions for bikers
Can
the Atlanta Beltline improve its image? By Nedra Rhone, 4/30/18
Before moving from Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood to Westview,
Takia Lamb did her research. She spent time chatting with residents about the
benefits of living in the neighborhood. Neighbors told her Westview was nice, quiet and close-knit.
The one thing that never came up in conversation was its proximity
to the Atlanta Beltline, the 22-mile loop around the city that aspires to
revitalize neighborhoods, improve transit and connect communities.
Lamb discovered the Beltline by accident when she was driving
home. “I feel like it is literally just for walking or bike riding, and since I
am not into either of those things, I don’t really go there,” said Lamb. She’s
not the only one.
The Westside Trail stretches 3 miles from Washington Park and Lena
Street on the north to Adair Park and University Avenue on the south. It
connects several historically black neighborhoods in Southwest Atlanta,
including Westview, West End and Adair Park.
It overlaps the West End Trail, the first portion of the Atlanta
Beltline constructed between 2008 and 2010. Since the completed 3-mile Westside
Trail opened in October, trail counters at Donnelly and White streets have
tracked a total of about 128,000 users, according to data obtained from the
city of Atlanta.
Compare that to the Eastside Trail, a 3-mile
stretch of the Beltline that runs from the top of Piedmont Park to
Reynoldstown, which tracked more than 845,000 users at counters on Ponce de
Leon Avenue and Wylie Street during a similar time period.
On the Eastside Trail, which touches the gentrified neighborhood
of Old Fourth Ward, massive development in the form of
expensive high-rise apartments, retail, restaurants and Ponce City Market, the
mixed-use property that opened in 2014, made it a metro-wide destination and
increased the already dense population in the area.
Plans are underway for more development along the Westside Trail
that will make it a destination as well, said Beltline officials, but the story
of the Eastside Trail has become a cautionary tale.
A tool for urban renewal — or for
gentrification?
While the Beltline has been embraced and enjoyed by many
residents, critics say it has not delivered on promises of affordable housing
and transit, leaving the impression — real or imagined — that the Atlanta
Beltline was not created with everyone in mind.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently acknowledged those
concerns. “There is this assumption that everybody knows what (the Beltline) is
and everybody appreciates it’s for them too, but they don’t know,” said Bottoms
in Atlanta Magazine, pointing to the need for education, particularly in
African-American communities. Bottoms did not respond to the AJC’s repeated
requests for comment over the past few weeks.
The Atlanta Beltline Inc. (ABI), the entity charged with managing
the implementation of the Atlanta Beltline, has begun tackling its image
problems with two new hires: one to oversee branding and communications and the
other to manage equity and inclusion. On Saturday, the Atlanta Beltline
Partnership opened the Atlanta Beltline Center along the Eastside Trail with
the mission of educating the public about the history, status and impact of the
Atlanta Beltline.
On any given day, the Eastside Trail of the Atlanta Beltline hosts
hundreds of bike riders, walkers, tourists, families, community events, fitness
buffs and more. It has become so congested that users have started to complain.
Old Fourth Ward, the surrounding neighborhood, is more racially
and economically diverse than at any time in recent history. The white
population of the area grew from about 4 percent in 1990 to about 55 percent
white today, according to census data analyzed in a report by the Housing
Justice League, an advocacy organization. The same report showed that median
income has doubled since 1990. As of March, the median home value in Old Fourth Ward was
$268,644, according to real estate website Zillow, and home values have
increased 15.2 percent over the past year. To some, it was urban renewal at its
best. For others, the Beltline had become a tool for gentrification.
Melody L. Hoffman, author of “Bike Lanes Are White Lanes,”
recently visited the Atlanta Beltline during a trip to the city. Hoffman, who
has studied urban biking in cities like Milwaukee, Portland and Minneapolis,
said she had already witnessed the same dynamics play out in similar projects
across the country.
“Cities have realized there is a certain class of people they are
trying to bring in,” Hoffman said. The desired demographic is often mostly
white, upwardly mobile, working in creative fields with disposable income even
if they aren’t the highest users of a certain commodity, she said.
For example, one of the largest groups of bike commuters — Latino
men with salaries under $25,000 — have been noticeably absent from
conversations about the Beltline. “Why aren’t they talking to Latino workers
and asking them where they want their bike infrastructure? That would make the
most sense,” Hoffman said.
Ryan Gravel, the visionary behind the Atlanta
Beltline, drew attention to growing concerns of
equity and inclusion in 2016 when he resigned from the board of the Atlanta
Beltline Partnership, citing
the lack of commitment to affordable housing. An AJC investigation in July 2017
revealed exactly how the Beltline had broken its promises. Following the investigation, Paul Morris, then president and CEO of
ABI, stepped down. He was replaced by Brian McGowan.
A cautious eye toward the future - In April, ABI announced
hires for two newly created positions. Twanna Harris, vice president of brand,
content and strategic initiatives, is charged with making sure the brand and
the messaging of the Atlanta Beltline reflect its vision. Nonet Sykes, chief
equity and inclusion officer, will focus on strategic planning for equity and
inclusion.
“It is really important to address the fact that under our new
leadership, we have completely changed our vision on how we view the Beltline
and how it impacts our communities,” Harris said.
Since 2009, ABI has primarily engaged residents through community
meetings, monthly study groups and CEO coffees, said Beth McMillan, director of
planning and community engagement. ABI recently launched its first-ever online survey asking locals for
input on the Beltline.
McMillan said feedback from community meetings or other sources is
taken into consideration and in some cases, has been sent back to consultants
to incorporate into development plans.
Westside residents have been supportive of the development that
has come to the community, including the two most visible businesses along the
trail, Lean Draft House and Monday Night Brewing’s Garage. “What they saw was the
opportunity to light the fuse. For so long, there had been absolutely nothing
in terms of commercial development along the area that is now the Westside
Trail,” said Jenny Odom, spokesperson for ABI.
But some Westside residents are concerned about how that
development will progress. “We want the trail to represent and reflect the
communities that it comes through,” said Jason Hudgins, president of the
Westview Community Organization. “There are people moving in who have seen what
has happened on the Eastside Trail that don’t want to engage the community as
it is but who want to make it in their own image.”
Hudgins, who moved from the Eastside to Westview two years ago,
acknowledges that he is a product of gentrification, but he also wanted to live
in an area where he could put down roots. Along with his counterparts in
Ashview Heights and West End, Hudgins is determined that legacy residents will
not be swept aside by Beltline development.
“On the Westside, we are very sensitive because the Westside has a
storied history,” he said. “When I look on the Eastside Trail with high-rises,
they are cute, but will they be there? Or will it be another Buckhead Village
that we will tear down in 20 years?”
Businesses like the WeCycle bike shop on White Street and Afrikan
Djeli Cultural Institute on Lee Street have a strong base in the community. As
more development flows along the Westside Trail, Hoffman predicted one of two
outcomes. “I can tell the culture is still there. So either I come back in five
years and all that stuff is the same or I come back in five years and all that
stuff is gone,” she said.
Lamb is hoping for the former. She moved to Westview because of
the neighborhood character, not the Beltline, and if it changes too much, she
isn’t sure she will stay.
“I would love to stay here if the community could be more diverse
in every way,” she said. “But if it gets to the point where it doesn’t resemble
anything like what it looks like now, then I wouldn’t stay. I might as well
move to the suburbs.”
Comments
Atlanta has this multi-use concrete path that enables bikers to
travel from park to park, but utilization is nonexistent. Atlanta also has the
burden of subsidizing MARTA, due to low utilization. The shopping malls are
failing, but the MARTA train tracks and stations remain. Now developers are
trying to figure out what to do with the malls. The city should have never lost
the Braves stadium and they continue to struggle with the Airport.
Then there is the “trolley” that has failed and the “Atlantic
Station” development that failed. Before that it was the Underground Atlanta
project that failed. The City needs to stop this and fix their water
distribution and sewer systems to stop leaks and sink-holes and billing errors.
Development in Atlanta should be neighborhood oriented, private sector services
like grocery stores.
Somebody needs to tell Atlanta that Obama is gone and UN Agenda
21 is dead.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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