The new documentary “From Rails to Trails” will air in Atlanta on Jan. 29 at the Atlanta History Center, hosted by the Trust for Public Land and WABE, with a live panel discussion of local leaders afterward.
Atlanta is key to the documentary. Across 55 minutes narrated by Edward Norton, the film tells the story of Atlanta’s rail lines. Specifically, it talks about the movement to turn abandoned railroads into pedestrian and bike-friendly paths.
It’s no surprise the Beltline is key to the story. But the city wasn’t always a prime example of the rails-to-trails movement.
“From Rails to Trails” is based on Peter Harnik’s book “From Rails to Trails: The Making of America’s Active Transportation Network.” Harnik also co-founded the Rails to Trails Conservancy.
For Harnik, the Beltline today is the “forward edge” or the trail movement. His story with Atlanta began decades ago, though, in 2000, Harnik released a different book, “Inside City Parks.” It assessed the park systems of America’s 25 largest cities. It was published with the Trust for Public Land.
“Atlanta was dead last,” Trust for Public Land Southeast Vice President George Dusenbury said.
The book evaluated each city on different park elements: how much land is dedicated to parks, how close people live to their nearest park, how far they are from their nearest trail and more.
Harnik said “back in the day,” each city was internally focused. Few mayors and even fewer park directors knew how their systems stacked up against other areas. According to Harnik, Atlanta had a high perception of itself.
“They had no idea how their parks compared with anybody else’s parks,” Harnik said. “They had no idea if they were doing wonderfully or doing terribly.”
To Atlanta’s surprise, the “city in the trees” was ranked at the bottom. Dusenbury said local leaders were shocked to find out their city was behind the likes of Detroit and Cleveland. But the abysmal ranking kicked off a park movement in Atlanta, as mayors continued to commit to greenspace and organizations like the Trust for Public Land made major investments.
It paid off. In 2000, Harnik said Freedom Park and Centennial Park were in the headlines. In 2004, the Trust for Public Land published the Emerald Necklace Study. That study, alongside years of public investment and millions of dollars, fast-tracked a plan to turn Atlanta’s abandoned rail lines into the famous Beltline.
Today, the Beltline is the city’s shining star. It attracts almost 2.5 million visitors annually, and it is on track to be a complete 22-mile loop of path by 2030.
“Not too many places have things aligned as well as they have in Atlanta,” Harnik said.
He continued, “The Beltline has been a very difficult, lengthy process, but it’s a super exciting process that we’re focusing on in the movie.”
“From Rails to Trails” begins the story with the origin: the railroads. It tells the story of America’s once robust rail system and why so many train lines closed over the years. Then it starts with the “traditional rail trail,” which often runs through a rural or suburban area.
“Then it goes through some of the more complex battles,” Harnik said.
The documentary tells the tale of New York City’s High Line, a strikingly similar project to the Beltline with a few key differences. The High Line is too narrow for wheels, and its linear park is elevated above the New York streets.
Harnik said it’s a “mixed blessing,” because the High Line transformed its surrounding neighborhoods. The once-industrial Meatpacking District was transformed into a trendy locale with help from the High Line, and its anchor, Chelsea Market, boosted Chelsea’s popularity.
It had a “tremendous impact” on the housing and commercial values in New York, but it also drew criticisms around gentrification and the displacement of long-term residents who relied on the low rent.
The documentary sees the Beltline as a different approach.
“The movie talks about the Beltline as a way of trying to get ahead of the development challenges,” Harnik said.
He credits the project as a true city-building effort, with concerted attempts around affordable housing and commercial development. George Dusenbury said the Beltline can teach a lesson for other rail-to-trail projects.
“The lessons that I see from the Beltline are number one, the importance of working with the community,” Dusenbury said.
He referenced the city’s land-use planning and on-the-ground involvement as essential pieces. Dusenbury said the other lesson is “when you’re putting in trails and parks, do it holistically, then build upon the success.”
Towards the end, the film looks to the future — to place building, place creation, and place preservation. All through, rails turned to trails.
“It really conveys the power of the railroads, the power of the trails, the difficulty of making a trail and the importance of having these trails,” Harnik said.
After the Jan. 29 screening, Harnik, Dusenbury and Beltline, Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs will join a live panel moderated by WABE President Jennifer Dorian. Attendees must register online.
In 1991, working with numerous local stakeholders Marianne Fowler from the Rails to Trails Conservancy created the Abandoned Rail Corridor Assessment Report for the Atlanta Metropolitan Atlanta (1 of 10 metro assessments they had completed at the time). This is the blueprint to rails to trails in the Atlanta Region. However, the plan states that in 1987, the City of Atlanta conducted an assessment of the 3.5 mile rail corridor from Ansley Mall to Ford Factory for a rail trail but the owner, Southern Rail Road was unresponsive. The Plan assessed miles 360 of rail lines in the region for rail-trail potential. Within the City of Atlanta, it assessed the 7 rail segments, totaling 20 miles and known as the Circle Line encircling downtown. The plan recommended to start planning the railroads to develop the Circle Line as a rails with trails facility and analyze the possibility of combining pedestrian, cycling on other rail corridors. The recommendation for converting the Circle Line to trails is included in the 1992 City of Atlanta Trail Plan.