Day 11: Centennial Olympic Park - Atlanta, GA

Eric Fredericks • Thursday July 12, 2007

Today, we head to the South to the land synonymous with sprawl—Atlanta, Georgia. I shot this photo in Centennial Olympic Park last year. I love fountains and water features, and I found this one enjoyable—even on a blustery and chilly day. Overall, while the park has some great features, I feel pales in comparison to Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. To be fair, Atlanta’s park is much more centrally located than Sydney’s and does not have as many of the venues nearby.

I invite you to read my previous in-depth articles about both the good and the bad of Atlanta. You can also see more photos from my visit there.

This article is a part of the Exploring the Walkability of America in 30 Days photo series.

 

Category: Third Places •• Region: Atlanta •• comments [1]

New Research Proves That People Need Our Company

Eric Fredericks • Thursday February 1, 2007

Dr. Larry Frank is a fantastic friend to have.

I’ve never met him before, but he certainly has made life easier for me and others in the walkability field. He is a researcher out of the University of British Columbia. Just about every research project that shows why we need walkable neighborhoods and smart growth seems to have his name (Lawrence usually) attached to it.

His latest research report extensively documents and analyzes the the Atlanta region and produced some interesting results. In fact, the research found what I have been guesstimating myself for quite a while – that about 5% of homes are in walkable neighborhoods, yet the market is such that one third of people would live in walkable neighborhoods if they could (i.e. too expensive, poor schools, etc.). Here is a highlight of some of the interesting findings from the report (My apologies for copying this from the report, it’s just too interesting not to share!):

How Atlantans Travel

Atlantans, on average, drive more miles daily than residents of most other regions of the nation.
The distance driven grows steadily as counties get farther from the urban core. Residents in the central counties (Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Douglas) drive an average of 32.7 miles/59 minutes daily per person, while those in the outlying counties drive an average of almost 44 miles/72 minutes daily.

Daily commutes are often the longest trips people make
The average commute distance in the region is 16.5 miles. Commuters in outlying counties drive far more than that. The average commute trip in Paulding County is 31.6 miles, almost twice the regional average.

People spend nearly as much time in their cars on weekends as on weekdays.
The average distance driven on the weekend is just 6 percent lower than on the weekdays. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Publications •• Region: Atlanta •• comments

An Analysis of Atlanta, Georgia: The Bad and the Ugly

Eric Fredericks • Thursday September 28, 2006

As I had written in a previous article, I made a trip to Atlanta a few months ago. In that article, I wrote about many of the good things I observed during my visit. I also stated that the “bad” of Atlanta outweighed the good and that I would write about it in a future article. Finally, after months of mulling over my observations (or just being incredibly busy), I bring you the rest of my thoughts on the Atlanta area.

Sprawl.

If I could sum up the Atlanta area, this is what it would be. Thick and beautiful forests wiped clear for McMansions, mega highways, and big boxes. The most astounding thing was how spread out it was. Even though the densities are the same in particular neighborhoods when comparing to California regions, the developments are more compact in California. In the Atlanta region, most developments are so spread out it’s impossible to walk to any of them not only because of distance, but you will also inevitably have to cross or walk along a six-lane (or more) highway. There are so many of these highways (most of them state highways) running through cities and towns that you feel like everyone must live in their cars.

I saw massive interchanges on regular state highways (not just freeways, mind you), right in the middle of several towns. At some of these interchanges, a simple but effective roundabout or traffic signal would have been much less costly and less damaging on the livability of the communities. These interchanges effectively render multi-modal transportation a pipe dream. The width and design of streets, roads, and highways made for some of the most uncomfortable walking environments I had ever experienced – even in the most walkable areas of Atlanta such as Midtown, Downtown, and Buckhead (granted I did not get to see everything, but I have the feeling I didn’t need to).

The environment was very sterile and everything looked like gray concrete. Many of the architecturally beautiful office towers were dead zones at the pedestrian level. Little thought seemed to be placed into how the buildings would integrate into the surrounding environment for pedestrians, while automobiles were thoroughly accommodated. Many of the supposed transit-oriented developments were really transit-adjacent developments, since many of them were very inaccessible by pedestrians when walking from transit stops. At times while traveling from stations to TADs, I had to pull my luggage behind me walking down the middle of the street and up hills because there were no sidewalks. Desire lines just don’t cut it for hauling luggage. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Bad Examples •• Region: Atlanta •• Comments [3]

An Analysis of Atlanta, Georgia: The Good

Eric Fredericks • Thursday May 25, 2006

I have been traveling a lot lately – to Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco – and unfortunately it has been eating into my blogging time. Fortunately, however, I have been taking thousands of photos of these places. I also have a lot to write about each of the places and the people I have met along the way.

First on my list to review is Atlanta, Georgia. A few weeks ago, I was in the Atlanta area for a friend’s wedding. I had never really had the chance to roam around Atlanta before, so I wanted to see what was happening in this fast-growing region in terms of walkability. Some other bike/ped experts told me that there was not much to see, with the exception of maybe Midtown. I happen to agree with them almost completely, but I did stumble across some very promising things. Yes, there is some “goodâ€? on the walkable neighborhoods front to report on about Atlanta. Since I am an optimist for the most part, I will focus on the good about Atlanta from my observations. I will follow up with a future article about the “bad and uglyâ€? I observed while there (there was a lot – I will not deny it).

Perhaps my favorite thing in Atlanta was their passenger rail service called MARTA. It reminded me a lot of the BART system in the San Francisco Bay Area, but better (although less expansive). The service also connects to the Atlanta Airport, which public transit connections to airports absolutely thrill me when I travel to other cities (take a hint, Sacramento. The Yolobus is nice, but does not cut it). Along my ride I noticed that most of the transit stops in the southwest part of the city were in lower-density industrial areas, and I was disappointed about that. However, as I traveled north, I became amazed at the number of Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) that were popping up near the rail stations. The trains were very clean, and the stations were pleasant and had several pieces of public art at many of the stops. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Great Places •• Region: Atlanta •• Comments

The Five-Bedroom, Six-Figure Rootless Life

Eric Fredericks • Monday August 22, 2005

This is a fantastic article from the New York Times on community choices made by upper middle class executive gypsies, refered to as relos. This gives some insight to those that have never lived in “super suburbia” (like myself) on the trials and tribulations faced by those that do. The article focuses on a typical relo family in Alpharetta, Georgia, an elitist suburb of Atlanta. While this article goes beyond the realm of typical walkability issues usually discussed here, the underlying hint seems to be that the quality of life is better in walkable neighborhoods. And the story has a positive ending! >>Continue Reading This Article>>

 

Category: Suburbia •• Region: Atlanta •• Comments

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