Downtown residents, business owners, and other stakeholders recently got a chance to meet with the developers of The Stitch — a greenspace that will cap highways downtown — during an open house. The development will be breaking ground on the first of three phases next year, and the developers wanted to get feedback on how […]
Tag: Greenspace
Posted inThought Leadership
A Turning Point: New Beginnings, Inspiration, and Hope
Eli Dickerson, Park Pride’s new Director of Education, has been at the organization for six months. In this contribution to People, Places, and Parks, he reflects on why he’s excited to have joined this team that has been low-key making a huge impact in Atlanta for decades.
Posted inHannah Jones
Moving Atlanta’s Parks Forward: A discussion with local environmental advocates about our city’s needs
By Hannah E. Jones The case for parks is an easy one to make — increased physical activity within the community, lower levels of stress and a healthier urban environment. But in a city with one of the starkest income disparities in the nation, city and nonprofit leaders are working to be intentional about providing […]
Posted inColumns
Family visit weaves views of greenspace, civil rights and hospitality
Sometimes having a fresh set of eyes on where you live helps you better appreciate what works and what’s lacking. For me, those fresh set of eyes belonged to my sister, Elena Saporta; and my niece, Lily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, who came to spend the better part of a week visiting Atlanta and Georgia.
Posted inLatest News
Mayor Dickens advocates for city parks on 404 Day
On Monday, April 4, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens took the stage at the Georgia World Congress Center for his first State of the City Address. April 4 is an unofficial Atlanta holiday — nicknamed 404 Day after the city’s most popular area code — so it seems only fitting that the city’s mayor used the […]
Posted inHannah Jones
Park experts and local leaders say the time is now to invest and activate Atlanta’s parks
Atlanta wants to live up to its nickname — the city in the forest — and local park organizations, city officials and residents are ready to help. On Monday, March 28, Atlanta-based nonprofit Park Pride hosted its 21st annual parks and greenspace conference at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. This year’s theme was “The parks we […]
Posted inColumns
Alycen Whiddon – Atlanta’s unsung visionary city planner
By Guest Columnists JIM KULSTAD, LORI LELAND-KIRK AND CAROLYN H. RADER, environmental advocate, urban planners and friends of Alycen Whiddon
Unsung visionary, landscape architect and urban planner, Alycen Whiddon left a permanent legacy in the urban design of Atlanta that we all enjoy today. Long before linking greenway trails, creating pedestrian and bike-friendly streets and zoning for vibrant urban spaces were commonly accepted concepts, Alycen was their champion.
Posted inColumns
A ‘Green Cabinet’ for Atlanta: keeping our parks, greenspace healthy and safe
What a confluence. The issue of public safety in Atlanta’s parks rose to the surface this past 10 days with two horrific events.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta parks: Mayoral candidates offer ideas; study suggests a park authority
Park Pride discussed Tuesday results of a study that outlined a number of funding opportunities for Atlanta’s parks and recreation, followed by comments from four candidates for Atlanta mayor or their representatives.
Posted inColumns
Town Center CID fosters trail network to connect NW Cobb County, metro Atlanta
The footbridge to be built across an interstate highway near Kennesaw is the latest example in metro Atlanta of a new bridge built solely to help people walk, bike, skate or scoot on a trail system.
Posted inLatest News
Hikes for Health Challenge grew from synergy of region’s parks, greenspaces
The new Hike for Health Challenge, with its $250 incentive from REI, is the latest example of the growing synergy among the leaders of 10 parks and greenspaces in metro Atlanta.
Posted inLatest News
Greenspace purchases with impact fees show big differences: Atlanta, Sandy Springs
In the race to acquire land for greenspace before the land is otherwise developed, Atlanta and Sandy Springs are pursuing projects with plans to pay for them with impact fees that are more than 10 times higher in Sandy Springs than in Atlanta.
Posted inLatest News
Sandy Springs’ feud over billboards illustrates challenges of urban redevelopment
Sandy Springs’ efforts to build a fire station, add sidewalks and relieve traffic congestion in a high-traffic area near the City Springs municipal complex illustrate the challenges of retooling urban spaces when private owners object to the plan.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta City Council presses forward on impact fees to fund parks, mobility, more
The Atlanta City Council seems intent to raise in 2020 the one-time impact fees charged to new developments to raise money to provide the public parks, roads, police precincts and fire stations that serve growth. Frustration mounts as Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration has little to show for progress since Jan. 7.
Posted inLatest News
Park service seeks comments for planned upgrades at park along Chattahoochee River
More improvements are planned near the southern tip of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, including a proposed trail and elevated overlook with views of the river. The deadline for public comment is July 7.
Posted inColumns
A 17-mile trail system taking shape in Sandy Springs to connect parks, neighborhoods, destinations
Sandy Springs is moving forward briskly with planning for an estimated 17-mile set of trails to link parks, Perimeter Center and the city’s central park. The city council has allocated $750,000 to further a plan still on the drafting tables at PATH Foundation.
Posted inhttp://leadership.saportareport.com/people-places-parks/, People, Places & Parks, Thought Leader, Thought Leadership, Uncategorized
Is Better Health Your New Year’s Resolution? Read This.
By Michael Halicki, Executive Director, Park Pride For many people, the new year brings with it the resolve to get fit, get healthy, and adopt a more active lifestyle. Sound familiar? Perhaps you’re planning to hit the gym, buy organic, or dust off your sneakers and pick up jogging. While all of these are great […]
Posted inPeople, Places & Parks, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
#YesOnOne: Vote YES for the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment
Michael Halicki, Executive Director of Park Pride Tuesday November 6th is Election Day, and the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment (GOSA) is the first amendment on the ballot. I am writing to encourage you, one final time, to vote YES on Amendment 1. By voting yes, you will be saying yes to protecting Georgia’s waters […]
Posted inColumns
Windsor Meadows Park latest addition of floodplain turned into greenspace
The exuberant Zoey pulled on her leash as she and her companion, Julie Glasson, strolled around Windsor Meadows Park, the newest pocket park in a metro region where residents clamor for more greenspace. These smaller gathering places are likely the future of public places as land for parks becomes ever more dear.
Posted inHistoric Westside
It Takes a Village to Make a Park
By John Ahmann, Westside Future Fund’s president and CEO Under the leadership of Executive Director Michael Halicki, Park Pride has demonstrated the power of “we” in first leading to develop the Proctor Creek North Avenue Watershed Basin: A Green Infrastructure Vision and then helping to bring that vision to life with the recent ground breaking […]
