This may be a breakout year for millennials in metro Atlanta because the region’s current leaders are actively encouraging young folks to step into the public realm. One question is the form the relationship will take.
Metro Atlanta civic leaders are seeking to ways to engage millennials such as Sarah Ayres in the public arena. Ayres was in a Midtown cafe while Pony was served on the sidewalk. Credit: David Pendered
Bill Bolling didn’t mince any words in his comments to ...more
Editor’s note: Visit our page Sept. 22 to read more on this subject and the broader issue of millennials in metro Atlanta.
The Atlanta Regional Commission recruited some of the sharpest millennial minds in metro Atlanta to come up with their best solutions to the region’s thorniest problems. The overarching response is that no challenge is too great if folks are willing to try new things and work together.
ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker recorded the slides and videos presented during ...more
Atlanta is poised to adopt a comprehensive plan intended to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and forestall climate change, much like sustainability initiatives at Emory University and Spelman College that have resulted in their ranking among the greenest campuses in the country.
Atlanta is home to at least 85 community and school gardens, and at least 10 urban farms, according to the proposed Atlanta Climate Action Plan, which proposes to expand the city’s food programs. Credit: westsidecommunities.org
Lofty goals outlined ...more
Metro Atlanta could be the poster child for housing policies that, intentionally or not, have concentrated lower income households in non-white neighborhoods that aren’t pleasant places. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Obama administration intend to change the way policies are implemented, and the policies.
The Imperial Hotel, in downtown Atlanta, was renovated in 1995 with funding from the Low Income Tax Credit Program. All 120 rooms were set aside for low income residents. Credit: wikimedia.org
In the world of housing ...more
It turns out that the Atlanta Streetcar will utilize the Breeze Card, despite an earlier report by a top city official that it isn’t cost efficient and resulted in no fares being collected this year. In addition, the streetcar has a new interim executive director, according to a statement issued Thursday by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office.
Atlanta’s streetcar system serves the Downtown area. File/Credit: walkableapp.com
A main reason for interest in the fare technology is that Reed told Central Atlanta ...more
Starting in spring 2016, every GRTA Xpress bus route will be affected by an overhaul of bus routes that’s intended to increase bus ridership.
As part of its realignment of routes in downtown Atlanta, GRTA intends to ensure that drivers follow the law and are courteous toward vehicles and pedestrians. Credit: David Pendered
GRTA intends to revise bus routes in Downtown Atlanta and add service to the Perimeter business district from Cobb and Gwinnett counties, and Cumming.
The purpose of the first ...more
After years of squeezing employees to help balance its budget, MARTA hopes to boost morale by offering a benefits program with interest-free payments, via a payroll deduction plan, on purchases ranging from legal services to computers.
MARTA intends to offer a voluntary benefits program in order to boost employee moral. Qualified employees are to have access to free-interest payments on certain goods and services, and pay via payroll deductions. Credit: wikipedia.org
The program is being ramped up as MARTA’s leadership has ...more
Ridership on the Atlanta Streetcar is exceeding forecasts, although the forecasts were made with the presumption riders would pay for a trip.
Passengers will ride the Atlanta Streetcar for free in 2015 because there’s no feasible method to collect a fare at this time, according to Atlanta’s commissioner of public works. File/Credit: walkableapp.com
Richard Mendoza, Atlanta’s public works commissioner, said ridership in July set the record, at 102,619 passengers. Monthly ridership has ranged from 47,037 passengers to 92,107 passengers, he said.
The ...more
Atlanta is completing the first update since 1952 of the city’s designated truck routes, and one road that is to be removed from the freight map leads to the Goat Farm Arts Center.
The road leading to the Goat Farm Arts Center is to be taken off the list of truck routes in Atlanta. Goats wandered behind a fence in this photo taken in May 2011. Credit: David Pendered
The roadway situation around the Goat Farm speaks to the complexity of ...more
The dredging company retained to deepen the Savannah harbor has won a major contract in Louisiana, which illustrates the company’s depth of experience in handling major earth-moving projects.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Corp. won a $76 million contract to restore Shell Island, off the Louisiana coast. The project involves creating 2.8 miles of beach and dune habitat, and 281 acres of marsh. Funds from the BP settlement of the 2010 oil spill are paying for the work.
The project is anticipated ...more
