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Category: Columns
Posted inMaggie Lee
Voter-approved Atlanta public works programs $410 million short of promises
“This is more than a program recovery effort, this is an exercise of building and maintaining public trust…”
Posted inColumns
‘Fantastic Beasts’ – an entertaining, yet confusing, sequel
As a trained professional (more or less), I’ve been called on to decipher everyone from Bergman and Tarkovsky to Cronenberg and Lynch.
I wasn’t always successful, but at least I felt comfortable at bat.
Posted inLatest News
Southwire’s future solar array so big it’s to cut costs for other Solarize partners
A Carrollton-based company that produces half of the wire and cable used to distribute electricity in the United States intends to install a solar panel array that’s so large it is to reduce the cost by up to 25 percent of all commercial and residential systems in the local Solarize program.
Posted inColumns
Reform of federal flood policy would reduce impact of disasters, spending after events
By Guest Columnist JOHN ERNST, mayor of Brookhaven
Last year, the City of Brookhaven purchased what is now known as Ashford Forest Preserve, 33 acres of a decommissioned runaway that had grown into a meadow full of mature trees, native plants, and a stream, from the DeKalb County government.
The $5.7 Million purchase was made possible by a Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. This federal loan allowed Brookhaven to increase its greenspace by 10 percent, mitigate stormwater problems and establish a nature preserve in our rapidly developing community. We couldn’t have done it alone and it was a win-win for the state, county and city governments and taxpayers.
Posted inLatest News
Land that barely supported wildlife reclaimed, named Atlanta’s newest wildlife sanctuary
A few acres of land north of the Lakewood Fairgrounds has been transformed from a tract so disturbed that a federal report said it could barely support wildlife to a heavily planted wetland that has been certified as a wildlife sanctuary by the Atlanta Audubon Society.
Posted inLatest News
Dirty Dozen report focuses on ‘politics, policies, issues’ that pollute Georgia’s waters
The Georgia Water Coalition’s latest report on the state’s most polluted waters shifts the traditional focus of the Dirty Dozen from the most polluted places to the “politics, policies and issues” that most threaten Georgia’s water.
Posted inLatest News
Here’s what Georgia offered Amazon: start with $2 billion and “Kindle Rd.”
The contest among more than a dozen cities in the U.S. and Canada to host Amazon’s second headquarters is over and Atlanta didn’t win. But the list of incentives the state offered — and the list of restaurants where they took Amazon — became a public document upon the loss.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta misses likely spike in housing costs as Amazon locates headquarters elsewhere
The good news about Atlanta not getting picked for Amazon’s second or third headquarters is that the region doesn’t face the prospect the wsj.com framed in this headline: Amazon’s Move to Long Island City Sparks Condo Frenzy.
Posted inTom Baxter
Blue Metro: Democratic tide reshapes the political map
Last week’s election did more to reshape the political map of Georgia than any since 2002, when Sonny Perdue’s victory in the governor’s race triggered the shift to a Republican majority in the General Assembly. We can say that, even before the last details of the election have been ironed out.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta plans new subsidized units for the chronically homeless
The city plans to begin developing 550 new units specifically targeted at permanently housing those who are chronically homeless.
Posted inColumns
Let’s hop on board to build an iconic multimodal station in the Gulch
With approvals from the Atlanta City Council and Invest Atlanta, the Los Angeles-based CIM plan to redevelop the Gulch is moving forward.
Now we can dream a little on how we can make the Gulch development a spectacular centerpiece for our city.
Posted inColumns
Downtown Connector’s bridges evolving from spartan crossings to garden-like settings
Atlanta’s Downtown Connector is a bit like a house that’s been expanded with additional rooms, in the form of bridges, and now there’s a lot of conversation about adding a second floor – in the form a platform above the highway that would host greenspace and buildings – and sprucing up the 10th Street Bridge.
Posted inMain Slider
If Democrats didn’t get everything they wanted out of Election Day, neither did Republicans
The day after Election Day, an email arrived in my inbox. Entitled “Victory Breakfast,” it came from the Gwinnett Democrats. Things have changed, but not everything has changed.
Posted inLatest News
$95,000 tickets for Michelle Obama in London; no ATL appearance planned
Michelle Obama’s book tour opens Tuesday in Chicago with Oprah Winfrey as moderator, and Obama doesn’t get much closer than that to Atlanta. Ticket prices are reportedly through the roof – approaching $100,000 for the show in London.
Posted inColumns
‘What They Had’ – a family comes to terms with Alzheimer’s
It’s Christmas and the family has gathered in Chicago. During an otherwise normal holiday dinner, the hostess, Ruth (Blythe Danner), with a sweet smile asks her guests, “And how do you two know each other?”
Given that Nick (Michael Shannon) and Bridget (Hilary Swank) are brother and sister and Ruth is their mom, it’s a bit awkward. It is also a bittersweet reminder that her Alzheimer’s isn’t getting any better.
Posted inColumns
The Gulch – Gulp, what now?
By Guest Columnist MIKE DOBBINS, professor of the practice of planning at Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture and former Atlanta planning commissioner
With the Atlanta City Council’s action to approve the CIM deal to develop the Gulch in Downtown Atlanta, what should city officials and citizens be doing to follow up the many, many complicated steps, approvals, and financial transactions that will now persist over a 20-plus year timeframe?
As it happens, we have a precedent.
Posted inLatest News
Norfolk mayor: Norfolk Southern’s move to Atlanta may not occur quickly
Norfolk Southern’s plan to secure up to $600 million in funding for a new office building from Invest Atlanta, the city’s development arm, was deferred Thursday. In addition, Norfolk’s mayor was quoted Thursday saying the company’s move from Norfolk may not happen as soon as some think, and the company’s latest federal financial report portrays it as being in a strong financial position in the booming transportation sector.
