By David Pendered July 30 — Survival of the nation’s transit systems may depend on service innovations such as door-to-door service, which MARTA is evaluating, and new revenues such as New York’s planned commuter tax, according to panelists at a recent briefing hosted by the Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research. This inflection point is […]
Short Takes
Correcting Atlanta’s Growth Mythology – Why It MattersBy Mike Dobbins March 9 – As a member of AIA Atlanta’s Architect Principals Roundtable back in 2015, I looked forward to our meeting welcoming Tim Keane as Mayor Kasim Reed’s newly appointed commissioner of planning. His emphasis on elevating design quality as a core value was music to our ears. Leaving the meeting, though, one […]
Short Takes
ATL CFO trial: Guns, wire fraud charges stay togetherBy David Pendered Feb. 1 – Former Atlanta CFO Jim Beard will face charges in the same federal corruption trial on counts involving two machine guns and wire fraud, a federal judge ruled Jan. 24. U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones issued an order rejecting Beard’s claim that prosecuting him in the same trial on […]
Short Takes
MARTA’s low fare revenues a future concernBy David Pendered MARTA’s revenues from fares are at an historic low as remote work remains a norm. MARTA’s not alone. Investors are watching this emerging trend at other transit systems, a New York-based bond researcher said last week. Howard Cure didn’t name MARTA when he spoke in a panel discussion hosted Jan. 19 by […]
Short Takes
Downtown Streetcar to Ponce? A RecantationBy Mike Dobbins Jan. 12 – I first rode the Downtown Streetcar back in 2014, soon after the full loop had been completed. I live downtown, and a friend who occasionally rode the streetcar to the Auburn Curb Market suggested I give it a try. I boarded at the Peachtree and Ellis stop with the […]
Short Takes
Reshaping the BeltLineBy Mike Dobbins Jan. 10 – The BeltLIne trail on the east side has become a treasured community asset. It is likely to gain in popularity as other segments underway hook up with it. Its very popularity, however, has brought stresses not anticipated in the BeltLine’s current long-term plan. Trail functionality, along with safety and […]
Short Takes
Streetcars on the BeltLineBy Mike Dobbins Jan. 2 –There remain a few people who believe that streetcar transit will actually, finally, someday, somehow, arrive on the Atlanta BeltLIne. Their beliefs are well-intended, and their persistence, if not their numbers, is impressive, to the extent that politicians and agencies are loath to deliver the inevitable eventual flat-out no. The […]
Short Takes
Georgia’s budgets prepared for ongoing inflationBy David Pendered Dec. 7 – Gov. Brian Kemp is preparing Georgia’s government to face ongoing inflation, according to an Aug. 10 letter from his chief budget writer to agency leaders. Kemp has ordered state agencies to hold spending to current levels in the requests they’ve sent him to consider as part of the budgets he’ll […]
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Buckhead cityhood: Poison pill in $409 million bond packageBy David Pendered Nov. 27 – The Buckhead cityhood movement is challenged by a poison pill provision Atlanta included in a $409 million bond offerings that closed Nov. 3. Terms of the bonds state that if Buckhead leaves the city, its property taxpayers would have less than two years to pay off Buckhead’s projected share of […]
Short Takes
The Queen’s sheepBy David Pendered Sept. 10 – Jill Taylor loved the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II. Jill must have loved me, too. Or she’d have brained me for speaking ill of the Queen’s sheep. Jill and her husband, Doug Taylor, lived in the West Midlands of England. They were proud of their hometown and its melodic […]
