Posted inColumns

Affordable housing goals meet market realities in proposed Atlanta developments

For starters, the monthly rent is to jump by nearly 50 percent at one proposed apartment complex that’s to replace a planned teardown of duplexes located north of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery. This is just one of several developments that may give members of the Atlanta City Council an opportunity to ponder aloud the city’s state of affordable housing.

Posted inColumns

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley: ‘You can never stop listening’

A fascinating conversation between two public servants took place last week – thanks to ULI Atlanta. It was a conversation that should become a guiding platform for how Atlanta can evolve into a next generation city.

The conversation took place between former Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley Jr. – who has been described as the best mayor in the country, serving his city for 40 years; and Atlanta Planning Commissioner Tim Keane, who worked for Riley for eight years before coming to Atlanta.

Posted inColumns

‘Colette’ – a wobbly #MeToo movie of la Belle Époque stars Keira Knightley

Those of us with a particular fondness for the old “Seinfeld” series might recall the episode in which Jerry and the gang consider going to a movie called “Rochelle, Rochelle: A Young Girl’s Strange Erotic Journey from Milan to Minsk.”

Keira Knightley’s utterly silly new movie isn’t called “Colette, Colette,” but it might as well have been.

Posted inLatest News

Planned Rodney Cook Sr. park hitting bumps in final stages of formation

A bit of push-back is emerging around the planned Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Historic Vine City. One Atlanta resident said Tuesday at a public hearing the name marks it as Confederate memorial park. On Wednesday, the Atlanta City Council’s Finance Committee voted to delay action on a proposal to condemn six parcels of land needed to make the park as it’s currently envisioned.

Posted inLatest News

Confederate Avenue to be renamed United Avenue, may receive historic marker

Atlanta’s Confederate Avenue is to be renamed United Avenue, ending years of debate over what – if anything – to do with a name that holds near mystical power. The former name may be memorialized with an historic marker – in keeping with a multi-national practice of augmenting, rather than removing, a controversial mark of history.

Posted inColumns

‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ – amazing-looking movie with quirkiness

Taken on purely architectural terms, the titular structure in “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” is a cunning cross between the “Addams Family” manse and Mother Bates’ place in “Psycho.”

Cinematically, however, it’s on far trickier turf. Eli Roth, who took torture-porn to new…heights?…in “Cabin Fever” (which I saw and admired) and the “Hostel” movies (I took a pass), makes a bid for Tim Burton territory.  In many ways, he’s successful.

Gift this article