PRINCESS WILSON, 68, was born and raised in the Old Fourth Ward. As a board member with the Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy, Wilson helps oversee upkeep and plan events at the park—built in part on property protected by The Trust for Public Land. Historic Fourth Ward Park was among the first elements of the BeltLine to reach completion, but its 2011 debut remains recent enough that Wilson and I can both remember what preceded it: a bleak, post-industrial expanse of weedy parking lots and lumpy earth covering construction waste. Today, you’ll find a sweeping, 17-acre space featuring two large lawns, an amphitheater, a wonderland of play equipment, and Atlanta’s first public skate park. The manmade lake is my daughters’ favorite spot for tossing breadcrumbs to the ducks—but it’s also a “detention basin,” helping prevent flooding. The sewer system in this low- lying neighborhood used to become inundated after periods of heavy rain— so badly that stormwater would blow manhole covers into the streets. Now, the lake is designed to handle runoff from hundred-year storms.
Wilson lives just a few minutes’ walk away and makes frequent trips to the splash-pad with her grandkids. Asked if she imagined the park’s success a decade ago, she’s emphatic. “Absolutely not. I remember when they were taking
out the railroad tracks to put the BeltLine in. We’d hold cleanups on Saturday mornings, and even after we’d emptied all of the mattresses and debris, we never thought it would look like this. To see how it has materialized, how every- thing has come together, the beauty of it—it’s wonderful.” Even so, Wilson says, success can be a double-edged sword. As the Old Fourth Ward grows more desirable—as trendy as its nickname, “O4W”—she’s all too aware that the park’s transformation from eyesore to amenity is contributing to higher rents and home prices. “Any neighborhood improvement
project can have ripple effects through- out the community,” says Nette Comp- ton, who studies equity and inclusion issues for The Trust for Public Land. “On the one hand, rising property values can give cities a stronger tax base for social programs. On the other, they can dis- place the very people the infrastructure was intended to serve.” For Compton, concerns about dis- placement underscore the importance of citywide projects like the Atlanta BeltLine—and The Trust for Public Land’s push for a universal 10-minute-walk stan- dard for park access. “We can’t control all the factors influencing local econo- mies, but we can empower residents to get involved in comprehensive park planning—which in turn strengthens their ability to advocate for other improve-
ments and services,” she says. “Everyone deserves nature near their home. If we want to make that happen, it’s not enough to build one or two showcase parks. Cities have to listen to the needs of the whole community—then think holistically about how to meet those needs.”
Atlanta, at least, is making a start. When planning for the BeltLine, officials aimed to mitigate rising housing costs by directing some bond proceeds to- ward 5,600 units of affordable housing near the BeltLine over the course of 25 years. Another incentive effort, the At- lanta BeltLine Housing Initiative Program (HIP), offers eligible homebuyers up to $45,000 toward a down payment for housing alongside the BeltLine’s trails, parks, and future transit lines. Meanwhile, the city’s Department of
Parks and Recreation acquired 171 acres in 2014 for a total of 14 new parks—boost- ing the percentage of residents within a half-mile walk of green space from 50 to 64. Now, Mayor Kasim Reed has charged the agency with expanding the park sys- tem so that every Atlantan is within walk- ing distance of green space, committing $3.5 million in the last fiscal year to the effort. In 2017, the city is prioritizing new park developments and acquisitions in communities where existing green space is limited.
vine city resident tillman ward believes in the value of a park. “Even for people who don’t go to church, they buy homes near
churches because you assume they’re good people. Same can be said of a park where people are healthy, where people exercise.”
48 · LAND&PEOPLE · FALL/WINTER 2016
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