Letters to the Editor - September 27 2006

Fallout brief, ‘Beltline deal on shaky ground’

Online responses to last week’s issue, which featured “Beltine deal on shaky ground” by Mara Shalhoup. Comment on this week’s stories at atlanta.creativeloafing.com.

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.com-ments are edited for space, not content, punctuation or grammar.

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blinders on the eyes...

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Surely Wayne Mason or any of his subordinates pushing for the rezoning have not had the opportunity to observe the snarl that chokes 10th and Piedmont Ave during the evening rush. Just imagine an influx of thousands of suburban minded condo owners, all too reluctant to give up their four wheels despite the convenient proximity of a Beltline stop and the walkable destinations along its length. How are we going to set forth the wheels of understanding in motion before the tires go flat?

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-- Chad K

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Such hostility!

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I’m a little concerned about the breakdown in negotiations. Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with high density developments near parks... after all, the park is there to be enjoyed by people. New taxes will be collected to maintain and improve the park. That helps everyone. If they aren’t across the street, they’ll otherwise have to drive cars to get there. Look at Central Park... it’s completely surrounded by tall buildings... just like any successful urban park must be. The road situation can be fixed by converting 10th Street to a one-way avenue. Just do what is done in high density areas of every other city in the country. This isn’t rocket science. However the city of Atlanta is known to be hostile to property owners... just look at the recent property tax scandals.

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-- Paul

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High Density is exactly what we need!!!

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Atlanta is never going to work- and we are never going to get our traffic/public transportation issues under control without significantly higher density. Piedmont Park is a City asset (not a local neighborhood asset) be utilized to promote the long term success of the City. I am sick to death of the rich and privileged thinking that Piedmont Park belongs to them. They need to stop being so daggone selfish and think about the enormous benefit that the Beltline will bring to other Atlanta neighborhoods. Just because you own a big old house, and have the time and money to support a powerful neighborhood association doesn’t mean that you can expect the City- or your own neighborhood- to never change. Oh, and by the way: we WANT people to use the park that their taxes pay for- so either start letting them park in your driveway or stop fighting the parking deck!

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-- Alex

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Density

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Loaf and the AJC editorials both seem to have been captured by aliens from Cobb and Gwinnett, who are defining - really distorting - the concepts of smart growth and density for those of us who actually live in Atlanta. How absurd to “improve” Atlanta by overshadowing its small but only central park with two giant towers, and creating traffic havoc at Monroe intersections that already have a wreck a day! NYC’s Central Park is several times larger than poor little Piedmont. The towers in Manhattan are all across wide streets from the park, unlike the Mason monsters that would be built right on the Meadow. And unlike Wayne’s Gwinnettish plan, NYC’s towers don’t have 7 stories of car parking in them. The Mason scheme made a mockery of the entire rationale for the Beltline. 1. It would harm Piedmont Park in order to have some possible parks in hard-to-reach parts of town 2. It would flood Monroe Drive with cars because there can be no Beltline transit for decades and the site is too far from existing transit. The good news, if only Loaf and AJC would catch on, is that Atlanta is getting smart growth and density without Mason and his gun-for-hire Barnes. Centennial Park towers, Castleberry Hill, condo towers up and down Peachtree, W Peachtree, and Piedmont from Downtown through Midtown to Buckhead. These condos are smart because they are accessible both to MARTA and, on foot, to major office buildings, and they are on major roads that can take extra traffic.

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-- jaybee