By David Pendered Jan. 11 – The difficulty of developing affordable housing for seniors is evident in a project that is close to securing financing after more than two years of work by a wing of Atlanta’s development authority and Atlanta Housing, and their private partners. Some residents of a neighborhood south of Greenbriar Mall, in […]
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 […]
Environment
Wind farms, sea life – Feds seek to strike balanceBy David Pendered (Note to readers: The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 1: Soaring Costs Threaten U.S. Offshore-wind buildout.) Dec. 30 – Wind farms to be built in U.S. coastal waters have prompted a coordinated federal examination of how to protect North American right whales and other sea life from the energy systems. On Dec. […]
Affordable Housing
‘Just build more’ won’t curb Atlanta’s high housing costsBy Mike Dobbins Dec. 23 – In Atlanta, housing supply is not the problem. Affordability is. In the last 10 years, about 35,000 housing units have been built on properly zoned sites. The population has grown by about 50,000 people, so about 1½ persons per unit. Virtually none of these units, however, is affordable for […]
Affordable Housing
HUD panel features two Atlanta housing leadersBy David Pendered Dec. 19 –A recent HUD panel on the influence of institutional investors on the housing market featured a Georgia Tech researcher and the mayor of College Park. Their inclusion on the panel underscores HUD’s recognition of the Sunbelt in general, and metro Atlanta in particular, as a hotspot for institutional investors to […]
Environment
New shark fin penalty could hit $100,000 per finBy David Pendered Dec. 16 – Sharks are soon to be granted major protection by the annual defense bill awaiting President Biden’s signature. The legislation makes shark fins illegal to buy, sell, transport or possess in the United States. The federal civil penalty for each violation is up to $100,000. The boat used to cut […]
Women Sailors
Reaching to Cape Horn, woman holds 4th placeBy David Pendered Dec. 14 – The only female skipper racing in the Globe40, the round-the-world sailboat race, is in fourth place as the five-boat fleet reaches toward Cape Horn this weekend, after the tough slog from Tahiti that’s offered winds of up to 50 knots and following seas with waves rising more than 20 […]
Environment
Distracted ship pilots threaten right whales, tooBy David Pendered Dec. 11 –A ship’s pilot distracted by his cell phone grounded a container ship on a sandbar in the Chesapeake Bay. The incident shows how human error adds to the vulnerability of North American right whales in busy shipping areas such as Savannah. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Findings of Concern released Dec. 6 […]
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 […]
