Author Archives: Maria Saporta

Brian Leary remembers hearing about the Atlanta BeltLine from its very earliest days when he was working on his master’s in city planning at Georgia Tech.

Ryan Gravel, a fellow student, had been working on a master’s thesis about a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircled the inner city of Atlanta and how it could be redeveloped into one of the greatest urban revitalization projects in the city’s history.

“To me, there’s no greater opportunity to positively impact the future of Atlanta and its quality of life than the BeltLine,” Leary said in an interview Wednesday,

By Maria Saporta

The board of Atlanta Beltline Inc. has just selected Brian Leary, vice president of design and development for Jacoby Development and Atlantic Station, as its new president and CEO.

Leary is succeeding Terri Montague, who stepped down Sept. 1, but has remained as a consultant until her replacement was named. Montague was the founding CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc., the public entity in charge of developing the 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta’s

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Streetcar — through the Georgia Transit Connector partnership — is making its best pitch to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A public-private partnership between the City of Atlanta, MARTA, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and the Midtown Improvement District today is submitting its application for federal stimulus funding.

The proposal for up to $300 million for “shovel-ready” funding includes two

By Maria Saporta

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent has lived in some of the greatest cities of the world. So when he talks about Atlanta’s potential, it’s worth paying close attention.

“Atlanta has an opportunity to become a world-class sustainable city defined by smart growth, quality transportation infrastructure and world-class educators,” Kent said. “The greatest cities in the world are moving in that direction fast. Atlanta has an incredible opportunity take a lead.”

Kent spoke those words at Monday’s

By Maria Saporta

Cobb County Chairman Sam Olens and DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis stood like bookends at a recent DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast that provided a snapshot of the region.

Despite being of different races and different political parties, the similarities of the two men is striking. Both are roughly the same age — in their early 50s; both are lawyers. And both appreciate the importance of the region as a critical part of being leaders in their individual counties.

By Maria Saporta

Two buildings face each other across the street — one a symbol of despair, one a symbol of hope.

On the north side of Memorial Drive downtown is the Atlanta city jail, officially known as the Atlanta Department of Corrections. It’s a building that houses broken laws and crippled lives

And on the south side of the street is Welcome House — a perfectly-named place where people are encouraged to rebuild their lives.

None of that symbolism is lost on

By Maria Saporta

More on the 14th Street bridge. Little did I know when I wrote a short item about the reopening of the 14th Street bridge that it would generate such thoughtful commentary from friends and readers.

According to people familiar with the project, the $88.5 million project cost identified by the Georgia Department of Transportation did not reflect the true actual cost.

It cost the state up to $106 million to acquire the right of way for the project,

By Maria Saporta

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to reopen the 14th Street this morning was moved to the nearby Courtyard by Marriott because of rain.

And even after the ribbon-cutting, the bridge would not be opened for a couple of more hours, a disappointment to several folks in cars who were waiting to be among the first to traverse the new bridge.

Speech after speech heralded this new east-west connection between Georgia

By Maria Saporta

Planned Parenthood of Georgia is merging with Planned Parenthood of Alabama.

The merged organization — Planned Parenthood Southeast — was supposed to have begun its operations on Tuesday, Sept. 1, but it has been delayed for a month to dot a “few more ‘i’s,'” according to Leola Reis, the vide president of external affairs for Georgia. The merged territory will cover all of Georgia, Alabama and most of Mississippi.

“Combining our two organizations will

By Maria Saporta

One of the architects of our modern MARTA system has passed away.

Alan Kiepper, MARTA’s general manager and CEO from 1972 to 1982, passed away on Aug. 26 in Annapolis, Md. at the age of 81.

I received an email from one of his successors at MARTA — Ken Gregor — who wanted to make sure Kiepper was recognized for the influence he had on Atlanta’s growth.

By Maria Saporta

DeKalb County and the Clean Cities Atlanta Coalition has been awarded a $14.9 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The grant will fund programming designed to reduce the use of fossil fuels in transportation vehicles.

In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said: “I want to personally thank the Department of Energy and the Office of the Vice President for pushing this

By Maria Saporta

Georgia’s continued lack of progress on building a commuter rail line towards Griffin is costing the state millions in lost stimulus dollars.

Unless the state acts quickly to get the project moving, it is extremely vulnerable to losing the $87 million federal funds already allocated to the project.

Those are two concerns expressed by U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) earlier