Author Archives: Delaney Tarr

With two $750,000 grants from the National Parks Service, the Atlanta Business League is taking its first steps in turning the long-vacant Ashby Theatre into a multi-use business and community center in westside Atlanta.  The 91-year-old Atlanta Business League fosters economic empowerment and provides business development opportunities for Black-owned businesses in the metro area. In […]

The Atlanta Regional Commission announced $940,000 in grant funding for five communities on May 8 through its Livable Centers Initiative, a program that helps pay for planning studies and transportation projects centered around walkability, connectivity, and placemaking.  The 25-year-old initiative has invested over $312 million in over 130 communities since its creation, with grants covering 80 percent […]

At a May 8 meeting, Beltline, Inc. board members previewed the draft of a roughly $172 million fiscal year 2025 budget set to be voted on in June.  The annual budget is an 11.8 percent increase from last year’s and part of a steady climb from 2020’s $28.6 million budget. The $18 million change is thanks to the tax allocation […]

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2024 “Changing the Odds” report found that despite some changes since 2019, Atlantans still face racial inequities across education, housing and income.  At a May 2 convening in the Loudermilk Center officials from the foundation and around Atlanta gathered to break down the data revealed in the 2024 report. The “Changing the […]

Atlanta’s festival season continues, with hundreds of attendees flooding the streets of Inman Park for the city’s largest all-volunteer festival featuring over 260 vendors, local food, a tour of homes and a raucous parade. Inman Park Festival began in the early 1970s to draw attention to the historic neighborhood first developed in the late 1800s. […]

Habitat for Humanity is known for its global work building houses for low-income families, but nonprofit leaders say the organization goes “beyond the build” with long-term wraparound services.  A group of volunteers, donors and program participants joined in one of Habitat’s additional programs at an April 25 “Boss Talk,” where a panel of entrepreneurs shared their stories […]

Atlanta officials announced at an April 24 press conference that they’re ahead of schedule on the Southside BeltLine Trail — the completed portion will create 17.9 miles of continuous paved trail ready by early 2026.  The 1.9 miles of Southside Trail stretching from Pittsburgh Yards in southwest Atlanta to Boulevard in southeast Atlanta were originally scheduled […]

A dreary night at the Oakland Cemetery lit up April 17 with a preview of the third annual Illumine installation, a series of light and shadow focused works weaved throughout the historic graveyard for two weekends in April.  The rain or shine art event will run April 18-21 and 25-28, with live entertainment, bars and […]

Since 2020, the disparity between Black and white Americans in prisons has declined by more than 40 percent according to the Council on Criminal Justice. Reform groups say it’s a major step in fighting inequalities, but there is still work to be done to narrow the gap. On April 16, a group of Georgia leaders, […]

Atlanta’s rail system saw continued construction and expansion on April 11, with Mayor Andre Dickens announcing the locations of three new infill stations on the heavy rail line and the MARTA board approved millions in deconstruction funding for the Five Points station redevelopment. At the board meeting, project manager Keli Davis presented a resolution asking […]

Family members of Martin Luther King Jr. held a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the King Center Freedom Plaza to mark the 56th anniversary of the civil rights movement leader’s assassination. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, while standing on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. The […]

Among the blooming tulips of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, hundreds of parks advocates and officials from across the state and country gathered for the 23rd annual Parks and Greenspace Conference on March 25, focused on a “Parks for All” approach to the future. The day-long conference was hosted by Park Pride, a nonprofit working with […]

The Atlanta Press Club continued its Newsmaker Leadership series with a look at the business of sports in the city, Atlanta’s expanding athletics industry and tangible community impacts at a March 27 panel of sports leaders in the region.  Moderated by longtime Atlanta sports journalist Jeff Schultz, the City of Atlanta’s Chief Operating Officer Lisa […]

In honor of its 35th anniversary, Piedmont Park Conservancy is fundraising millions of dollars to maintain the historic park and kickstart a comprehensive master planning effort that will lay out the next decade of improvements.  The City of Atlanta purchased Piedmont Park in 1904, officially creating what Piedmont Park Conservancy President Doug Widener calls “our […]