By Howard S. Wertheimer Note to readers: Howard S. Wertheimer, FAIA Emeritus, LEED AP, is a lecturer at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture; former AVP for Capital Planning & Space Management and Institute Architect at Georgia Tech, and former COO at Piedmont Park Conservancy Oct. 6 – There is a fast-growing community of citizens who […]
Short Takes
Better Atlanta TransitBy Mike Dobbins Sept. 10 – There is a great need for better Atlanta transit. The current plans are obsolete. There have been no comprehensive transit plan updates since: Before the 2017 transit referendum; Before COVID with its ongoing disruption of settlement patterns, thus shifting the locations of origins and destinations essential to plan transit […]
Short Takes
MARTA, transit at post-pandemic inflection pointBy 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 […]
Affordable Housing
Ode to Commonsense: Mobility and affordable housingBy Mike Dobbins June 15 – Lower income people, often lacking cars yet more bound to their work locations, suffer greater travel inequities than others. Getting to jobs, shopping, health, education, and other services costs more and takes longer. Shortening the distance and the accessibility both by highway and by transit from home to these […]
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 […]
