construction in May 2016. From City Hall to the front porches of the Old Fourth Ward, there’s a growing confidence that the project will deliver on its promise to boost public health, civic pride, and local economies. In the coming years, feasibility studies
predict the BeltLine will create 30,000 jobs, connect 45 neighborhoods, and boost Atlanta’s green space by almost 40 percent. Behind my old condo, the BeltLine already hosts joggers, walkers, bicyclists—and one lady who diligently practices the violin. Many of my eldest daughter’s stroller rides and first steps took place on this winding ribbon of pathway, this stitch joining neighbor- hoods long cut off from each other by abandoned railway tracks and the accompanying blight. For my family, the trail has validated our optimism for Atlanta’s future—while literally showing us sides of the city we’d never seen.
ON PAPER, it seems a long, slow ride from concept to reality. But on the ground, Atlanta residents can see the pace of change quickening. My own family used to live in a building that butted up against the rail corridor. For much of that time, the proximity was not exactly an asset: I can remember stomping out of the condo’s ground- access gate, angrily searching for my stolen mountain bike, and encountering a wasteland—encampments, discarded truck parts, rampant kudzu, and, once, a horrifyingly huge black lizard.
That was 2011. Just three years after my lizard encounter, the Atlanta BeltLine was named the best environmental reha- bilitation project in the world, receiving the International Real Estate Federation’s prestigious Prix d’Excellence award at a ceremony in Luxembourg. And it’s not even done. The full 22-mile loop remains many
years from completion. But the net- work is growing steadily: a three-mile segment on the west side of Atlanta is scheduled to open in 2017, and an extension on the city’s east side began
WHAT MOTIVATES a city to make this kind of long-term commitment? The potential payoff is huge. Atlanta has long been notorious for sprawl and light on parks, and what green space it has is not equitably distributed—factors contributing to its rank as only 51st in the nation on the ParkScore index, a ranking of urban park systems published by The Trust for Public Land. The BeltLine begins to address that: when complete, it will provide access to green space within a 10-minute walk of more than 50,000 people. For park planners, that convenience factor matters. Easy access to green space contributes to the quality of life that’s key to attracting and keeping
44 · LAND&PEOPLE · FALL/WINTER 2016
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