By Guest Columnist REBECCA SERNA, executive director of Atlanta Bicycle Coalition
There are billions of dollars of street, highway, and transit projects coming to the City of Atlanta over the next few decades. But there is one project we could undertake right now. It would save lives and have minimal costs — setting a safer speed limit. We could follow the lead of other cities around the country and the world by setting a consistent citywide speed limit of 25 mph.
By Guest Columnist DAVID L. SJOQUIST, professor of economics at Georgia State University
In 1936, Mississippi adopted what is claimed to be the first modern industrial tax incentive program, the objective being to lure northern manufacturing firms to Mississippi. Since then, tax incentive programs have mushroomed across the U.S. as local and state governments compete for development investment. This focus has expanded to include almost every larger development project.
By Guest Columnist CHRIS WOMACK, executive vice president and president of external affairs for Southern Company
Without federal tax policy that fueled sorely needed capital investment in her long-neglected community, Gloria Kitchens might not be where she is today – studying at Tufts University after graduating Drew Charter Senior Academy in 2017.
By Guest Columnist FRED O. SMITH JR., a founding member of BeltLine Rail Now
Trust is a strange thing. It is easy to lose. And once lost, it is difficult to regain. When it comes to transit in this city, an imminent decision by the Atlanta Regional Commission and MARTA officials will help determine whether they retain the citizens’ trust, or squander it. If it is squandered, this could negatively impact transportation in this city for generations. The draft of the 2020 Atlanta Region’s Plan Regional Transportation Plan is in its final public comment phase at the Atlanta Regional Commission, and it will not be revised again for another four years.
Guest Columnist NANCY K. DAVES, retired international specialist, NOAA Fisheries
Every Winter, many North Atlantic right whales make their way home to the ocean off Georgia’s coast to calve, seeking safe and warmer waters to have their babies before the long voyage home to the New England and Canadian waters in the Spring. North Florida and Georgia coastal communities play an important role in the stewardship of one of the largest whales roaming the seas. However, these whales face much danger in their corridor of migration and the time has come to pass federal legislation calling on the federal government to help conserve right whales.
By Guest Columnist JEREMY DEVRAY-BENICHOU, vice president of customer success at UrbanLeap
UrbanLeap is a small company that is among those contributing to a big change in the way cities, nonprofits, and organizations – including MARTA – evaluate new ideas before putting them into place.
By Guest Columnist GIL FRANK, co-founder and executive director of Historic Westside Gardens
In the affordable housing crisis that brews in Atlanta, lower-income people and marginalized populations suffer most.
Historic Westside Gardens focuses on food justice, primarily on the Westside, where it is essential to note at the outset that around 70 percent of residents are lower-income renters. … Historic Westside Gardens chose to focus on the lack of food access, the “food desert” problem, while recognizing that people do not live their life in a silo. HWG is aware that, for residents, food access is not, today, their priority. Housing is their priority. How to link these two rights?
By Guest Columnists STEVE GOTTLIEB and BILL BOLLING, executive director, board member (respectively) of Atlanta Legal Aid
Children in foster care throughout Georgia – and those of us fighting on their behalf to improve their lives – have received some good news about an important program.
As chair of the Judicial Council Budget Committee, Georgia Supreme Court Justice Michael Boggs made the case to the state Senate Appropriations Committee to recommend $375,000 in additional funding to expand Kinship Care, a program created by Atlanta Legal Aid, to the rest of the state.
By Guest Columnist NICK STEPHENS, an Atlanta writer and parks advocate
Earlier this year, over 15 years after it was first proposed, construction on the Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry finally began. The promise of the huge greenspace has been spurring private development nearby. As the area prepares to undergo dramatic rapid change, community activists have been raising concerns, with one major project recently arousing controversy.
By Guest Columnist BETTY WILLIS, president of the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association
As far back as 1961, transportation planners at the predecessor of the Atlanta Regional Commission had the foresight to anticipate where MARTA rail lines would best serve the metro region’s transit needs, years before construction began in 1975 on the heavy rail system.
By KEVIN GREINER, president and CEO of Gas South
If you’re a mature (i.e., middle-aged) music fan like I am, and you happened to show up at Music Midtown last month, you probably asked yourself: What happened to all my people?
Answer: Your friends’ kids came instead.
By Guest Columnist SANJAY PATEL, director of special projects at Soccer in the Streets
It’s Saturday morning in late August and a soccer team from the Garden Hills neighborhood is aboard a MARTA train heading southbound. As the youngsters approach their destination, the recorded announcement on the speaker system exclaims, “Welcome to West End Station, exit here for StationSoccer….”
By Guest Columnist PATTY DURAND, co-chair of BeltLine Rail Now
You’d think if Atlanta leaders had a way to extend reliable rapid transit to dozens of neighborhoods, connecting them to existing MARTA rail at multiple points – and do it relatively cheaply – they’d jump at the chance.
By Guest Columnist TAYLOR DUNCAN, founding commissioner/director of the Alternative Baseball organization
Hello everyone! My name is Taylor Duncan! I am 23 years of age from Dallas, and was diagnosed on the autism spectrum at the age of 4 years. … As I grew older, I faced a lot of social stigma and preconceived ideas from several coaches. … The sport of baseball has indirectly contributed and helped me become more of an independent person today.
By Guest Columnist ED CHANG, founding executive director of redefinED atlanta
Editor’s note: A full statement from the author on the decision by the Atlanta Board of Education to not renew the contract of Superintendent Meria Carstarphen was added to the bottom of the column shortly after the decision was announced.
Like so many of you, the back to school season is one of reflection for me. As a former teacher and principal, it has been a time to hold a mirror to myself to applaud past successes while also acknowledging failure and contemplating growth opportunities and future action.
By Guest Columnist KEVIN H. POSEY, who writes about transportation and has served on related boards in the Washington region. He moved to Atlanta in 2017.
Atlanta’s BeltLine is perhaps the city’s best-known landmark. As with New York’s High Line, travel writers point it out as a key stop for those visiting Atlanta. However, that popularity poses a threat to its viability as a usable transportation corridor.
By Guest Columnist AUSTIN HACKNEY, government affairs director, Home Builders Association of Georgia
For generations, home ownership has provided individuals and families with a path towards economic prosperity, and a strong residential construction industry is known as an indicator of a healthy economy. However, recent restrictions and mandates enacted by some local jurisdictions are infringing on private property rights and adversely affecting home buyers, escalating the cost of new home purchases beyond the reach of some buyers, especially those interested in entry-level and workforce housing.
By Guest Columnist BILL VANDERKLOOT, a film director/producer who attended the event
The late Tip O’Neill once said, “all politics is local.” As a corollary, I believe that all history is personal. That is until it grows and grows and becomes a defining cultural event. Then it is owned by everyone and the memories morph into things almost unrecognizable.
By Guest Columnist DEBRA EDELSON, executive director of Grove Park Foundation
If our Atlanta region continues to grow as predicted, we will have tens of thousands of new residents move in town over the next 10 years. How will they decide what neighborhood to live in? Like many of us, they will look for a community that feels safe, is proximate to good schools, and is accessible to retail and community services. Sadly, across Atlanta, many neighborhoods don’t have these critical characteristics.
By Guest Columnist RYAN GRAVEL, AICP, founder of Sixpitch, Inc.
The latest tale in the slow destruction of Atlanta’s iconic tree canopy might seem like a bizarre aberration. When you see it in context of generational disinvestment in the South River watershed, however, suddenly it’s not so surprising. As it turns out, this tale is not an anomaly, but if you look closely, an elegant and aspirational solution to the larger narrative is hiding in plain sight.
