Our Green Atlanta

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Archive for January, 2009

Support the Atlanta BeltLine! Help Save Piedmont Park!

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 29, 2009

The Atlanta BeltLine and our beautiful Piedmont Park are at risk! Please join the BeltLine Network and friends & neighbors of the BeltLine this Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 2 p.m. for a rally showing support for the BeltLine project, the preservation of some of our most historic intown neighborhoods, and the prevention of a high speed train through the heart of Piedmont Park! The rally will take place on the BeltLine tracks at the intersection of 10th and Monroe (by Park Tavern).

Atlantans are no strangers to having to fight to preserve our neighborhoods and promote a more sustainable way of life. This time, the Atlanta BeltLine, Piedmont Park, and our intown neighborhoods are at risk (not to mention the future of public transportation in Atlanta). At the eleventh hour, the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak have surfaced to try and lay claim to the northeast corridor (the “Decatur Belt” section) of the Atlanta BeltLine with the intention of putting in a high speed rail line. This high speed rail line would result in trains running from a multi-modal transportation hub downtown (which currently doesn’t exist), heading east along DeKalb Avenue and then going into a large curve to turn north along the BeltLine corridor, through Poncey-Highland, through Virginia Highland, across Monroe and 10th, and directly through Piedmont Park on its way out of town.

This would not only include the high speed trains, but would also include massive right of ways, protective barriers put up to keep pedestrians out, and, ultimately, the elimination of the BeltLine project. It also cuts through some of out most historic intown neighborhoods, would divide Piedmont Park in half (ironic considering the massive expansion underway now), and puts Atlanta in jeopardy of not receiving any federal funds for transportation from the pending economic stimulus package.

The real kicker is that Amtrak has no actual funds and no actual plans to support this move – they merely want to “preserve their options” for potential use of the rail later. They’ve been saying this since 1995 and still, no efforts to bring their plan to life. So it appears that they would put an effective end to the BeltLine without actually making progress themselves.

Those of us who so strongly support the BeltLine are clearly accepting of the advancement of public transit, both on a local and regional level, so this opposition is not to Amtrak itself. It’s in opposition to Amtrak’s choice to run this through our neighborhoods at the expense of one of the greatest projects Atlanta has seen in a long time – when there are viable alternatives for Amtrak!

I will be posting more info about these developments coming up (but for now I have to get to work). So what can we do right now? Attend the rally this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Piedmont Park! Share this blog and news articles with friends and spread the word! And here are snippits you can use from Liz Coyle (Chair of the BeltLine Network) to write our legislators, write editorials, write mass emails to people asking for support, etc.:

Please express your opposition to AMTRAK’s proposal to route high speed heavy rail in a corridor slated for the BeltLine’s Northeast rail corridor through Piedmont Park and Atlanta neighborhoods.

Talking Points
Recent actions by GDOT and AMTRAK threaten the viability of the Atlanta BeltLine without respecting the desire of the City and its residents. I support the BeltLine and hope you will, too.

Implementation of the BeltLine is already well underway.

The City, The BeltLine Partnership and other public and private partners already have made significant investments towards realizing the BeltLine vision-and the Northeast rail corridor is vital to those plans. AMTRAK does not need this corridor to operate its intercity passenger service. Other options are available that are more compatible with local and regional land use and transportation planning objectives. The Regional Transportation Plan and Concept 3 Plan accommodate both the BeltLine and intercity transit, while GDOT and AMTRAK would impose heavy rail to the detriment of the BeltLine.

Both AMTRAK and GDOT lack funding and any specific plans to support their actions, but their actions threaten the BeltLine, the City’s ability to plan for a more sustainable future and the region’s competitiveness for federal transit funding.
Suggested Contacts
Governor Sonny Perdue
http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.html
(Note: this is a link to the contact page on the Governor’s Web site)
GDOT Board Members
(Note: address letters to Georgia Department of Transportation Board Members collectively and the Board secretary will forward a copy of your email to each)
U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss
100 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1340, Atlanta, GA 30339
Main: 770-763-9090  |  Fax: 770-226-8633
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson
One Overton Park, Suite 970, 3625 Cumberland Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30339
Tel: (770) 661-0999  |  Fax: (770) 661-0768
Email via web site: http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm
U.S. Congressman John Lewis
The Equitable Building, 100 Peachtree Street, N.W., Suite # 1920, Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 659-0116 Phone  |  (404) 331-0947 Fax

If you have questions, please email me at jenny.p@mac.com! And thanks to Liz Coyle who did a great job moderating the meeting last night with the BeltLine Network!

Posted in Atlanta BeltLine, Community Meetings, Parks, Volunteer | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Georgia DOT threatening the Atlanta BeltLine?

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 27, 2009

What?! This doesn’t make any sense… After the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. fought Wayne Mason and the sliding economy to purchase the huge northeast corridor of the BeltLine, the Georgia Department of Transportation and AMTRAK are coming out of left field in an attempt to lay claim to the rail line that runs through this section of Atlanta… to put in high speed regional rail lines… through compact residential and commercial areas… This completely undermines the logic and purpose of the much-needed initiatives behind improving Atlanta’s infernal transportation issues…

Here is an email that was sent out earlier today by Elizabeth Coyle (with the BeltLine Network) that I wanted to share with you (you can read Mayor Franklin’s letter here to Congressman John Lewis about this issue):

I am calling a special meeting of the BeltLine Network on this Wednesday, January 28, at 4:30pm at Trees Atlanta, 225 Chester Avenue.  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and strategize a community response to a threat to BeltLine transit.  I will provide more details as available at the meeting, but to summarize the situation and get right to the point, AMTRAK has begun condemnation proceedings on the NE Corridor of the BeltLine.  This is in response to Norfolk Southern Railroad (NSR), Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) and Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) pursuing rail abandonment on the Northeast Corridor (aka the “Decatur Belt”) with the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB), a necessary step to advancing light rail transit in the BeltLine corridor.  Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and AMTRAK have filed Motions to Stay the abandonment proceedings.

Some of you will remember that AMTRAK and GDOT had floated the possibility some years ago of putting heavy freight and high-speed intercity commuter rail in this long-inactive corridor to a proposed multimodal station in downtown Atlanta.  However, the Concept 3 Plan recently adopted by regional leaders on the Transit Planning Board (TPB) and supported by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) calls for the AMTRAK commuter rail line (IF it ever happens) to run along the West side of the City in an existing active heavy rail corridor.  AMTRAK’s action to “preserve its options” could delay BeltLine transit planning indefinitely and if not resolved quickly, will hamper ABI and MARTA’s momentum in this regard.  And quite frankly, GDOT’s failure to stand behind the regional transportation plan, which includes the BeltLine, also threatens the region’s competitiveness for federal transit dollars that are tied to local agreement on priorities.

I am confident there will be overwhelming public opposition to heavy rail in the Northeast Corridor, including in Piedmont Park.  I have copied the impacted NPU chairs and other community leaders on this email for that reason.

The Mayor, ABI, ADA, and MARTA with assistance from ARC are working diligently to resolve this matter with STB, GDOT and AMTRAK, while seeking support from Congressman Lewis, Senator Isakson and Senator Chambliss.  A letter from the Mayor is attached.  On Wednesday, we will discuss ways to  mount a strong community response to this threat.  I’m sure many of you will not wait to contact the Governor’s Office and GDOT to express your support for the Concept 3 Plan and the BeltLine while opposing AMTRAK’s unnecessary actions that threaten both.

Liz Coyle
Chair
BeltLine Network, Inc.
1117 St. Charles Place NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
ebcoyle@mindspring.com
404-895-1613 (cell) | 404-815-0853 (office) | 404-815-1563 (fax)

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Greenprints Conference, Sustainable Design, coming March 25 & 26, 2008

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 27, 2009

Southface is a wonderful Atlanta-based organization that promotes sustainable living through architecture and design in both the workplace and home. As Earth Craft homes and LEED-certified businesses stake their claim in Atlanta, Southface continues to educate those enthusiastic about building environmentally-friendly buildings. Last year, I had the good fortune of getting to know more about Southface close-up when they paired up with Whole Foods to present an evening recognizing environmental efforts in Atlanta. I have since attended Southface roundtables, which was a great intersection of non-profits and corporations around Atlanta and Decatur with common interests. Which brings me to their upcoming events…

Greenprints Conference and Tradeshow: This green-building symposium attracts people from all over the Southeast and will be held this year on March 25th and 26th, 2009. The conference brings together experts to explore ways to make Atlanta more sustainable with smart growth including strategies, initiatives based on the latest technology and trends. Check it out here and register soon if you would like to be a part of it at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta this year!

Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable: Once a month, Southface hosts a roundtable that is open to the public (next month’s is on February 6th, 2009). This month’s topics include addressing the budget challenges Georgia faces when it comes to a clean water supply, clean and inexpensive energyand funding for transportation initiatives. How will our elected officials handle these environmental issues? Join the discussion by signing up here!

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Upcoming Atlanta BeltLine Meetings in Southwest & Northeast Atlanta

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 25, 2009

The Atlanta BeltLine’s series of public planning meetings continues with the following events in the next two months. As many of you probably know, the BeltLine’s grand opening was last October 18th, 2008 in the West End. If you haven’t checked out the completed two mile stretch of trail in southwest Atlanta, I encourage you to! This is already a great project and you can just envision how it will affect Atlanta when the trails ring our town. Upcoming BeltLine events…

Southwest Study Group Meeting BeltLine Subarea 1 Master Plan Launch and Orientation

Meeting Purpose: Introduction to the BeltLine, Smart Growth and Master Planning

When: Thursday, January 29th from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Where: Hammonds House Museum 503 Peeples Street, Atlanta, GA, 30310

Northeast Study Group Meeting: BeltLine Subarea 6 Master Plan Draft

Meeting Purpose: To review and provide input on the SA 6 Draft Master Plan

When: Thursday, February 12th from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Where: Hillside 690 Courtenay Dr. NE or 1301 Monroe Dr. NE Atlanta, GA 30306

BeltLine Quarterly Briefing

Meeting Purpose: Update on BeltLine Activities

When: Thursday, February 26th, 2009 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Atlanta Public Schools Auditorium 130 Trinity Avenue Atlanta, GA 30303

Want to learn more about the Atlanta BeltLine project? Visit the website here!
Want to see the BeltLine up close and personal? Take a tour and see where exactly the trails, transit, and parks are going to be and to find out the latest developments! Click here to sign up for a tour!
Already know all about the BeltLine and want to help spread the word and bring the project into reality? Click here to sign up to volunteer!

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Post-race recycling: getting everyone on board

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 24, 2009

An on-going aspiration of mine has been to institute a program that involves gathering volunteers to help recycle water bottles after various road races around Atlanta. This morning while running, I mentioned this to one of the women in our group and she said that what she would really like to see is an awareness program started so that people recognize the impact they’re leaving when they throw away their water bottles.

I think she’s onto something. It takes more than a garbage can with a big sign on it saying “Save Mother Earth.” (While I agree that we should save mother earth, it also seems to have become background noise to some.) People have to want to recycle and participate. Luckily, runners tend to be a bunch that have environmentally conscious people among their ranks, so it would be a matter of how to get it started and spread the word…

Ironically, running in and of itself is one of the more environmentally-friendly activities, we just need to make sure we take advantage of our opportunities to keep it as neutral as possible by recycling the hundreds of water bottles we use. This is definitely something I’ve been thinking about for a while and my marketing mind is working through the possibilities. Do you have ideas / thoughts? Let me know! More to come on this in the future, I’m sure…

Posted in Recycling, Volunteer | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

And another blog is born…

Posted by Our Green Atlanta on January 21, 2009

Just in case we weren’t saturated enough already with online media, blogs, social networking, and the like, I decided to jump in, too. After spending hours at work blogging as my boss’ voice (usually with my own slant, though – can’t help that), I decided there’s just too much information out there for me to write about it all at work. And with more sources of information than I can imagine and such a broad spectrum of topics / issues that fascinate me, I have set out to accomplish a small mission by writing my own blog. And that is to constantly push myself to research, publish, consolidate, connect, scattered information in the hopes of uncovering philanthropic opportunities, networking with others who share similar views, and continuing my personal education.

One of my ultimate goals here? To find ways to support people, places, and organizations that promote the greening of Atlanta through creation and preservation of parks and greenspace, the execution of transportation initiatives, as well as making Atlanta a wonderful place to live through good deeds, a healthy lifestyle, and a motivation to be outdoors.

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