{"272361":{"#nid":"272361","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech at Epicenter of APA Special Issue on Atlanta","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn April, planners from across the country will converge on Atlanta for the APA\u2019s 2014 National Planning Conference. The conference offers the fast-growing Southern metropolis a chance to showcase the abundance of planning projects taking place all-around the host city. To tell the story of Atlanta\u2019s planning past, present, and yet to come, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/\u0022\u003EAPA released a special issue\u003C\/a\u003E of its monthly magazine \u003Cem\u003EPlanning\u003C\/em\u003E. And it comes as no surprise that, like with many of projects unfolding in Atlanta, Georgia Tech finds itself deeply rooted in the magazine\u2019s narrative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe special issue kicks off with a two-page time lapse photo taken by recent alumnus \u003Cstrong\u003ESinan Sinharoy\u003C\/strong\u003E (MCRP \u201913), marking a streak of light created by, not headlights of passing cars, but pedestrians enjoying a summer evening along the BeltLine\u2019s Eastside Trail.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, Georgia Tech finds itself intertwined with the city\u2019s history in \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/nextchapter.htm\u0022\u003EAtlanta, the Next Chapter\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d as the author jaunts through the region\u2019s colored past. \u201cTo me, the big story in the long sweep of things is that this place has typically been pragmatic,\u201d says \u003Cstrong\u003EBruce Stiftel\u003C\/strong\u003E, chair of Georgia Tech\u2019s School of City and Regional Planning. \u201cThere has usually been a bipartisan way to figure out [how] to go forward despite the fragmented jurisdictions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBarbara Faga\u003C\/strong\u003E, a planning doctoral student at Georgia Tech and coeditor of the forthcoming \u003Cem\u003EPlanning Atlanta\u003C\/em\u003E, explains that the city\u2019s willingness to get things done without much governmental infighting has more to do with a lust for development dollars than an enlightened political sphere. \u201cPlanning follows projects,\u201d says Faga. \u201cIt\u2019s like the new (Falcons) stadium. Did we do a plan for the stadium?\u201d While this method of large-scale development projects being hammered home by a motivated political leadership leaves planners scrambling to \u201cmake it work,\u201d one member of Atlanta\u2019s old guard of planners believes it is also what saved the city.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Olympics came at the moment of greatest need for the city,\u201d says \u003Cstrong\u003ELeon Eplan\u003C\/strong\u003E, former planning commissioner and development in the 1990s. \u201cI can\u2019t prove the cause and effect... All I know is that people were moving back to the city, converting offices to housing, and it all started at the time of the Olympics after 40 years of decline.\u201d Georgia Tech, where Eplan served as the director of the university\u2019s planning program, benefitted directly from a number of new sports venues and dormitories left over after the end of the 1996 summer games. Following a cycle of decline and rebirth through selected investment, Georgia Tech now sits at the center of the city\u2019s growth. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENo better example of Georgia Tech\u2019s role in Atlanta\u2019s latest reincarnation as a healthy, walkable urban center exists than the BeltLine. In \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/emeraldnecklace.htm\u0022\u003EAt the Beginning\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d Ben Smith recaps the BeltLine\u2019s humble start as a 1999 Georgia Tech master\u2019s thesis and the impact it has had on its creator, \u003Cstrong\u003ERyan Gravel\u003C\/strong\u003E (MCRP\/March \u201999). Thirteen years after sending his thesis to a bevy of elected officials, Gravel is now an urban designer at the architectural firm in charge of designing the 22 mile stretch of trails, transit, and parks that make up the BeltLine. \u201cSome people like it because of the transit. Some people like it because of the trails. Others like it because of the parks, or the public art. But they all see it as part of a larger vision. That\u2019s what makes it politically durable,\u201d says Gravel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, for every feel good story of growth in Atlanta comes the inevitable flip side of the coin. \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/waterwars.htm\u0022\u003EFighting the Water Wars on a Different Front\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d chronicles Atlanta\u2019s efforts to deal with decaying water infrastructure. \u201cIn the mid \u201890s, every single time it rained in Atlanta there was raw sewage and material from bathrooms flowing into tributaries,\u201d says \u003Cstrong\u003ESally Bethea\u003C\/strong\u003E (MCP \u201981), executive director of the nonprofit Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and alumna of Georgia Tech\u2019s city planning program. \u201cWe had a Third World sewer system. And it was impacting public health and property values.\u201d A lawsuit shouldered by Bethea, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and the EPA forced the city to address its aging wastewater system. As a result, current Atlanta residents are footing the bill to update its extensive underground water network through a spike in water and sewer rates. For its part, Marsha Walton writes that the \u201cGeorgia Tech campus has accomplished a 30 percent reduction in water use since 2007, with low-flow fixtures, an irrigation master plan, rainwater collection, and changes in the way water is used by its many laboratories.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother instance of Atlanta playing catch-up is highlighted in \u003Cstrong\u003ELaurel Paget-Seekins\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E (MCRP \u201907; CEE PhD \u201911) piece on \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/cityonthemove.htm\u0022\u003ETransportation and Equality\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d. As a transit advocate in Atlanta for five years, Paget-Seekins writes that poor transportation access and economic segregation have limited opportunities for upward mobility for Atlanta\u2019s low-income residents. \u201cBy 2010, more than four-fifths of Atlanta\u2019s poor lived in the suburbs, where transit and non-motorized trip-making is difficult. Unfortunately, there is still a perception that transit is a social service for poor (black) people and not a vital transportation infrastructure investment. This contributes to the refusal of the state of Georgia to fund transit and the failure of the transportation regional sales tax in 2012.\u201d The solution, as with most things, comes down to funding. More specifically, it comes down to making a decision as a region to not accept Atlanta\u2019s ranking near the bottom of nearly every study analyzing various metrics related to equality, writes Paget-Seekins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis spring, as planners flock to Atlanta and its warm weather, they will undoubtedly cross paths with Georgia Tech, its students, alumni, and educators. The APA National Planning Conference provides an ideal backdrop to continue the discussions offered in January\u2019s special issue of \u003Cem\u003EPlanning\u003C\/em\u003E, and one can expect the Georgia Tech community to be listening and waiting for ideas to write the city\u2019s next big story.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn April, planners from across the country will converge on Atlanta for the APA\u2019s 2014 National Planning Conference. The conference offers the fast-growing Southern metropolis a chance to showcase the abundance of planning projects taking place all-around the host city. To tell the story of Atlanta\u2019s planning past, present, and yet to come,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.org\/planning\/2014\/jan\/\u0022\u003EAPA released a special issue\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of its monthly magazine\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPlanning\u003C\/em\u003E. And it comes as no surprise that, like with many of projects unfolding in Atlanta, Georgia Tech finds itself deeply rooted in the magazine\u2019s narrative.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech finds itself deeply rooted in the APA magazine\u2019s special issue on Atlanta."}],"uid":"27714","created_gmt":"2014-01-31 02:16:31","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:47","author":"Kyle James","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-01-31T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-01-31T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"277701":{"id":"277701","type":"image","title":"APA Magazine, Special Issue on Atlanta #2","body":null,"created":"1449244151","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:11","changed":"1475894968","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:28","alt":"APA Magazine, Special Issue on Atlanta #2","file":{"fid":"198825","name":"capture_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":34609,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture_0_0.jpg?itok=opfdaEue"}}},"media_ids":["277701"],"groups":[{"id":"1224","name":"School of City \u0026 Regional Planning"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"50731","name":"american planning association"},{"id":"3531","name":"APA"},{"id":"489","name":"atlanta"},{"id":"177","name":"planning"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}