JOURNALISM
Award-winning architecture from around world vastly different from Atlanta’s iconic structures
- Georgia Tech has opened an exhibit that offers an alternative perspective to the spectacular architecture that’s so popular among metro Atlanta’s civic leaders. The structures shown in the exhibit whisper, “less is more.” In Atlanta, it sometimes seems that “’more’ is not enough,” as the word “iconic” is attached to future projects ranging from retrofitted bridges over the Downtown Connector to the Falcons stadium. The concepts on display in the Aga Khan Award for Architecture Exhibit include sustainable design and vernacular architecture, ...more
Metro Atlanta's regional rival for global connectivity is in the Carolinas - and it's not Charlotte
- Forget Charlotte. Metro Atlanta’s rival for the title of the southeast’s most globally connected city may well be Greenville, S.C. The BMW plant in Greenville, S.C. contributes to that region’s export strength. Credit: theautochannel.com The Greenville-Spartanburg corridor punches far above its weight in terms of foreign exports. Greenville, by itself, ranks as the 11th most export-intensive metro area in the nation, according to a joint report prepared by the Brookings Institution and JP Morgan Chase for the Global Cities Initiative. Metro Atlanta, on ...more
Stadium communities file wish-lists as limits of city's $15 million promise hit home for community benefits deal
- Time is getting short if a community benefits deal for the future Falcons stadium is to be approved this year. The calendar is filling with campaign events for the Atlanta City Council elections on Nov. 5. The final council meeting of the year is scheduled for Dec. 2. The clock matters because Atlanta cannot provide any of its $200 million in stadium construction funds until after the council approves a benefits deal, and the Falcons are said to want to begin ...more
New study of Georgia’s school funding questions state's ability to provide skilled workforce to business
- A new report on state funding for K-12 education raises some challenging questions about Georgia’s ability to provide a skilled workforce to businesses – especially in areas beyond metro Atlanta. School districts are coping with funding cuts through measures including trimming days from the school year and assigning more students to each teacher, according to the report from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. School budgets are squeezed by shrinking state support and by the declining local tax base caused by ...more
HUD secretary says taxes from rising property values caused by urban renewal can fund affordable housing
- Twenty years ago, the media gathered in Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood likely would have there to report a homicide. On Tuesday, the media was there to cover Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and U.S. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan proclaiming the renewal of the once-blighted community as a national success story about public private partnerships. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan (center) was the keynote speaker at an event in the East Lake neighborhood attended by (left to right) Ed Jennings, regional HUD administrator; Carol ...more
Stadium benefits: Future jobs could be fostered in environment, arts, history – even early childhood education
- The strategic plan to renew blighted neighborhoods near the future Falcons stadium seems to address the issue of local hiring that some advocates hope the Atlanta City Council will include in its stadium funding legislation. “At the heart of the plan is the provision of a road map to sustainable job creation and transformative human capital development for the residents of the Westside TAD neighborhoods,” the plan states. The home of Edward Wachendorff, a German immigrant who moved to Atlanta and ...more
Atlanta plans to plant 4,000 new trees, use goats and sheep to curb invasive plants
- Atlanta’s famed and beloved urban forest is to be expanded by about 4,000 trees before April 2015 under an agreement with Trees Atlanta the Atlanta City Council is slated to be adopted Monday. Atlanta is known as a "city in a forest" because of its extensive tree canopy. Credit: Atlanta BeltLine Sheep and goats are to be grazed on public lands in an effort to combat invasive plants, according to another part of the pending legislation. Trees Atlanta promises that the ...more
Georgia delegation to military: “Keep ... promise” to provide Atlanta vets a commissary at Fort Mac or Dobbins
- Georgia’s two senators and 12 of 14 congressmen sent a letter Wednesday to the Department of Defense, requesting the commissary at Fort McPherson remain open until a replacement is opened at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. The closure is set for Sept. 28. The commissary at Fort McPherson is slated to close Sept. 28. Credit: Defense Commissary Agency “These heroes have earned this benefit through service to their nation. ... Service members and veterans in the Atlanta area deserve access to the ...more
Cousins Properties buys Texas towers in expansion focused beyond Atlanta region
- Cousins Properties, Inc. – a bellwether Atlanta-based REIT – has closed its previously announced purchases of two office projects in Texas for a total cash price of $1.1 billion. The two purchases increase Cousins presence in one of the fastest growing regions of the country, according to urban demographer Joel Kotkin, who’s been including the Third Coast since at least 2011 in his list of the nation’s growth corridors. The Cousins deal includes a 10-building office project in Houston, which Kotkin names ...more
About David Pendered's Journalism
- David Pendered is managing editor of SaportaReport.com, a website that covers the urban affairs of metro Atlanta. Pendered's work has appeared in Urban Land, the magazine of the Urban Land Institute, and several print and digital sites around the region. Pendered is contributing to an upcoming book to be published by the American Planning Association. Pendered is an Atlanta journalist with more than 30 years experience reporting on regional and statewide issues from Atlanta City Hall to the state Capitol. In ...more