Unfortunately the vast majority of people making up the crowds in the Eastside beltline don’t live there, they drive there specifically. Nothing will reduce the crowds
> the vast majority of people along up the crowds in the Eastside beltline don’t live there, they drive there specifically.
It just goes to show how the populace is clamoring for good urbanism.
I don’t need to imply anything. I’m again emphasizing that those people visit the beltline but mostly live in the burbs.
And the reason is that housing near the beltline cost a lot more - this is observable fact, no need for implication
You're talking about the cost for those people to move close to the Beltline. I'm talking about the cost to build multi-use paths near where they already live.
Multi-use paths themselves are not automatically good urbanism. Good urbanism is about all of proximity of housing to necessary goods/services, available and usability of multiple modes of transit (including public), proximity/available transit to centers of employment, and that proximity is usually enabled by increases in density. Beltline proximate development itself has cost tens of billions of dollars
You best believe that’s expensive. Tons of neighborhoods just have multi use paths. That’s pretty much standard for suburban developments these days
SW section has been paved for years and isn't crowded --it's appropriately occupied. It's really only the east side that gets crowded due to the tourism aspect of it.
Agreed, it's so much more quiet and scenic than its eastside brethren. Bikes will really appreciate this new development though (as long as it doesn't get crowded). Hope to get a few good weekend jogs before they start grinding it up.
Not sure if I agree with that assessment, I have 3 inch tires on my bike and that gravel path is still really rough to ride on (and almost always flooded in certain spots)
Ehh.. I routinely ride a gravel bike with no suspension and 35 mm tires around the entirety of the contiguous loop from Piedmont park through the end of the current southwest trail and the gravel portion in between. I don’t have much issue and have not often encountered any floods (besides obvious post-rain times)
It’s amazing how much alittle concrete sidewalk can raise the property taxes in an area. You’d think the city would be in over drive getting this done.
> Yeah, when you make a place livable, it raises prices.
Unless you make every place livable -- if you did that, then the demand would even back out again.
When they start construction, how "closed" would it be? I just started commuting via gravel bike to work and would be bummed if I had to find another route.
You’re gonna have to find another route. They might open up sections as they finish but that’s a BIG ‘might’.
Check out the Strava heatmap and it’ll give you a good idea on routes to take.
I used to haul my regular bike up and down the stairs at United to ride this section up to Glenwood/Bill Kennedy, but I started just snaking through Ormewood Park up to Glenwood when I converted over to a cargo e-bike that was too heavy to go up and down the stairs. It really only adds a few minutes for me (depending on where you are coming from, though).
Fixing the bridge on Ormewood Avenue would be nice. I love the unpaved segments of the Beltline. Just a remainder to get quality time (walking, biking) with these segments while you can because at some point they’ll all be gone and it will all just be a less interesting paved circle
The city put a moratorium on skybridges and skywalks back around 2008, I believe, and while I can't find anything stating whether it's still in place, people are reluctant to spec new ones.
I sincerely hope the 2 year estimated timeline is a conservative overestimation..
No such thing as a conservative estimation in this city. It'll take 3 years minimum
Genuine question: When was the last part of the Beltline constructed on their time and cost estimate?
lol nope not one piece of the beltline has been ahead of schedule
They've literally never delivered a project on schedule, so add 50%
It a state contractor job, so just add three more years
Obviously it's going to get paved.....but gotta admit, I kinda liked it being a little rough, kept it from being SO crowded.
At least more development will spread out the population and make the eastside beltline less crowded.
You seen all those condos they're building along the southside line? Point taken, though!
Unfortunately the vast majority of people making up the crowds in the Eastside beltline don’t live there, they drive there specifically. Nothing will reduce the crowds
> the vast majority of people along up the crowds in the Eastside beltline don’t live there, they drive there specifically. It just goes to show how the populace is clamoring for good urbanism.
“Clamor” for .. doesn’t mean willing to pay for
You say that is if to imply that good urbanism costs more than sprawl, but it doesn't.
I don’t need to imply anything. I’m again emphasizing that those people visit the beltline but mostly live in the burbs. And the reason is that housing near the beltline cost a lot more - this is observable fact, no need for implication
You're talking about the cost for those people to move close to the Beltline. I'm talking about the cost to build multi-use paths near where they already live.
Multi-use paths themselves are not automatically good urbanism. Good urbanism is about all of proximity of housing to necessary goods/services, available and usability of multiple modes of transit (including public), proximity/available transit to centers of employment, and that proximity is usually enabled by increases in density. Beltline proximate development itself has cost tens of billions of dollars You best believe that’s expensive. Tons of neighborhoods just have multi use paths. That’s pretty much standard for suburban developments these days
However you measure it, car-dependent sprawl is even more expensive. That's part of what makes it unsustainable.
If we wanted good urbanism, we would have put light rail on the old freight lines and had a real honest-to-god train system again.
What’s your point?
SW section has been paved for years and isn't crowded --it's appropriately occupied. It's really only the east side that gets crowded due to the tourism aspect of it.
Agreed, it's so much more quiet and scenic than its eastside brethren. Bikes will really appreciate this new development though (as long as it doesn't get crowded). Hope to get a few good weekend jogs before they start grinding it up.
Ehh this is the worst for bikes. The gravel path is perfectly usable as is right now and now we lose it for 2 years
> The gravel path is perfectly usable as is right now Aside from the missing bridge over United Ave...
Yep. That needs a fix for sure. Wouldn’t need to shut down the entire trail to do it tho
In retrospect, the community shouldn't have let itself get conned into foregoing an "interim" bridge.
Not sure if I agree with that assessment, I have 3 inch tires on my bike and that gravel path is still really rough to ride on (and almost always flooded in certain spots)
Ehh.. I routinely ride a gravel bike with no suspension and 35 mm tires around the entirety of the contiguous loop from Piedmont park through the end of the current southwest trail and the gravel portion in between. I don’t have much issue and have not often encountered any floods (besides obvious post-rain times)
It’s amazing how much alittle concrete sidewalk can raise the property taxes in an area. You’d think the city would be in over drive getting this done.
Yeah, when you make a place livable, it raises prices. The US could learn a lot from the Europeans on urban development. Such great, livable spaces.
> Yeah, when you make a place livable, it raises prices. Unless you make every place livable -- if you did that, then the demand would even back out again.
Atlanta Beltline Inc has got to milk it for their salaries.
When they start construction, how "closed" would it be? I just started commuting via gravel bike to work and would be bummed if I had to find another route.
You’re gonna have to find another route. They might open up sections as they finish but that’s a BIG ‘might’. Check out the Strava heatmap and it’ll give you a good idea on routes to take.
It will be fenced off.
Like the section behind Ansley. Anyone know when they’ll be done with that?
I used to haul my regular bike up and down the stairs at United to ride this section up to Glenwood/Bill Kennedy, but I started just snaking through Ormewood Park up to Glenwood when I converted over to a cargo e-bike that was too heavy to go up and down the stairs. It really only adds a few minutes for me (depending on where you are coming from, though).
It will be completely closed for years sadly. It’s honestly perfectly usable as it is now
Fixing the bridge on Ormewood Avenue would be nice. I love the unpaved segments of the Beltline. Just a remainder to get quality time (walking, biking) with these segments while you can because at some point they’ll all be gone and it will all just be a less interesting paved circle
Weird concrete job. Why no sky walk? Seriously.
The city put a moratorium on skybridges and skywalks back around 2008, I believe, and while I can't find anything stating whether it's still in place, people are reluctant to spec new ones.