Author Archives: Maria Saporta

As the Obama administrations works on its urban strategy, it is turning to Atlanta’s own Catherine Ross to help.

Ross, director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development at Georgia Tech, has been asked to be part of the recently created White House Office of Urban Affairs.

President Barack Obama established the Office of Urban Affairs to give greater emphasis on the needs of cities.

Specifically, the office is coordinating the various federal agencies that impact cities and urban policies. The office also will explore policies that “best leverage the assets of our metropolitan areas,”

Fireworks displays for this year’s July 4th celebrations were scaled down this year because of the economy.

But someone forgot to tell Centennial Olympic Parkl.

Mark Banta, general manager of the park, defied the recession Saturday night by putting on a fireworks extravaganza that was 25 percent bigger than previous years.

It was a phenomenal display. Fireworks of all colors not only sparkled in the sky. But fireworks fired up from the roofs of nearby buildings, creating the sensation of hundreds of shooting stars — creating a candy for the eyes. There

The Peachtree Road Race ended at its rightful finish line today — Piedmont Park.

It was wonderful to be able to see the thousands of runners and walkers return to Atlanta’s common ground as they picked up their T-shirts and accomplished their personal goals for the 6.2 mile (10K) race.

Last year, the Peachtree Road Race was forced to change its route and end several blocks away at 10th and Juniper Street because city officials did not want crowds of people in Piedmont Park because of the drought.

The city’s anti-people policy makes no sense. In a serious drought,

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin deflected credit or congratulations on getting both a 3 mills property tax increase and the 2010 fiscal year budget passed by the Atlanta City Council today.

“It’s good for the city,” said Franklin in a wide-ranging phone interview this afternoon. “It’s our job to do what’s best for the city longterm.”

Had the budget and property tax increase not passed, the mayor said the city would have had to continue furloughs of employees, and it would have had to drastically reduce funding for parks and public works.

The Atlanta Committee for Progress plans to keep going — at least until a new mayor is elected.

The committee, which was put together in 2003 by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, includes the top CEOs in the metro region who serve as a kitchen cabinet to help the city implement its priorities and work through its challenges.

The committee met this morning for its quarterly meeting at the World Trade Center. The mayor had to leave right after the meeting to monitor the Atlanta City Council votes for a mil increase and for the city’s budget.

An interesting juxtaposition occurred at Thursday’s Atlanta Regional Commission board meeting.

First, new urbanism planner Andrés Duany briefed the board about the Lifelong Communities projects that his firm — DPZ — has been conducting in the Atlanta Region. The goal has been to design communities that work best for the region’s aging population.

And then, Mike Alexander, ARC research division chief, presented the latest regional snapshot showing that the metro area’s population will top 8.3 million people by 2040, roughly an additional 3 million residents.

How can I say no to Paul McCartney?

The Piedmont Park Conservancy has just announced that Sir Paul McCartney will perform for its second “Green Concert” on Saturday, Aug. 15. The former member of the Beatles will be the headline act for the evening.

Two years ago, the Piedmont Park Conservancy held its first Green Concert with the Dave Matthews Band and the Allman Brothers. (I couldn’t say no to that one either).

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 29th at 10 a.m through Ticketmaster.

Former Atlantan John Huey has bought the option to make the Pulitzer Prize-winning book — “The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of the Nation” — into a movie.

Huey, editor-in-chief of Time Inc., personally bought the option for the movie rights instead of it being a Time Warner project.

The Race Beat was co-authored by Hank Klibanoff, former managing editor for news for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Gene Roberts, former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

If only Grady Healthcare CEO Mike Young had a hot line to the White House.

Young, speaking at today’s Rotary Club of Atlanta, said the nation’s 55 million uninsured residents could meet all their health care needs with an annual $10 billion infusion from the federal government.

Currently, healthcare reform is the topic de jour in Washington D.C., with a lively debate on how best to insure the uninsured. Estimates for a federal government program have been as high as $1 trillion.

When General Electric decided to move the headquarters of its Power Systems division to metro Atlanta a decade ago, it was attracted to the state’s business environment.

A decade later, company executives have no regrets.

John Rice, GE’s vice chairman who oversees technology infrastructure for the $182 billion company, spoke today at a press briefing for the Atlanta Press Club.

“One of the reasons that we came to Atlanta and Georgia 10 years ago is

Dear Readers,

For the next 10 days or so, I will be out of pocket. That means there will not be daily updates on SaportaReport.

But while I’m gone, you will be in for a special treat.

Lyle Harris, my former colleague at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has agreed to write the next column in the Maria’s Metro spot.

Many of you know Lyle. You have read his editorials in the AJC focusing primarily on transportation, housing,

The Atlanta City Council race for 6th District is about to get hotter.

Longtime neighborhood leader Elizabeth Coyle is expected to enter the race in a matter of days.

Coyle, who has been serving as a city council appointee on the board of Atlanta Beltline Inc., reportedly told executive committee members at a meeting on Friday that she plans to resign from that position at the next full board meeting on June 16 with the intention of running for City Council.

My friends at the Clean Air Campaign are releasing a new video that makes the best case for transit that I’ve seen in a long time.

One of the favorite criticisms that anti-transit/pro-highway folks like to offer is that only a small percentage of folks use transit, so it’s not worth the investment in our communities.

Of course, they often fail to acknowledge that it’s the lack of investment in transit options that limits the number of people who can access transportation alternatives.

Atlanta has a new non-profit headquarters in its midst.

StandUp For Kids, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1990 in San Diego, decided to relocate to Atlanta when it received a generous offer from Ron Terwilliger, chairman and CEO of Trammell Crow Residential.

Rick Koca, founder of StandUp for Kids and a retired Navy officer, said the organization made its decision “when Ron Terwilliger offered us two floors of office space for two years at a dollar a year.”

No hard feelings here.

Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears showed no signs of resentment toward Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during a talk to the Atlanta Press Club on Tuesday at the Commerce Club.

For several weeks leading up to the announcement by President Barack Obama, Sears had been mentioned as a possible nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Execellent. Brilliant pick,” Sears said in