Atlantic Station is an example of designed “driving preference”
If you're measuring your appreciation for infill density (or alternatives to driving) by this standard, you're doing it wrong.
Atlantans: please don’t measure your appreciation of urban density and mixed-use developments – or your so-called ‘preference’ for driving – by the standards of Atlantic Station. It’s an impressive example of brownfield redevelopment in some ways, but it’s also highly problematic.
This development on a former industrial site is cut off from the city by interstate highways and railways, creating an island effect. It’s also built on top of several layers of parking decks, sending a signal to Atlanta that this is a drive-to destination.
Another major impediment is that we didn’t add high capacity transit to the place – just a bus lane that we didn’t bother to paint red in order to let drivers know it’s not for cars. You can see one of those bus lanes here in the second photo of 17th Street, beside a tiny “bike lane” that’s a strip of paint.
Better urbanism can be retrofitted into Atlantic Station and I trust that it will be over time. I served on an advisory group for an master plan to revise AS a few years ago, and there’s definitely an understanding of what needs to be addressed (unfortunately, none of the great fixes proposed for 17th Street has been funded as of yet).
My point is not to malign this project. It’s an impressive development in many ways and its definitely worth a visit if you’re an urbanist in town checking out the city. My point is to say: don’t consider this to be the best we can do with dense urban infill, or with driving alternatives.
Your 'preference’ for driving to AS (and elsewhere) is essentially designed – it was put here years ago by leaders who look at Atlanta with a windshield perspective that biased their decisions.
I believe that perspective is slowly changing for the better. It would be very encouraging to see better urbanism in Atlantic Station some day as a guidepost for how much progress Atlanta has made.
I worked there for 5 years and yeah, it's pretty icky in so many ways. And yet, the shame/irony is, it has to be celebrated in at least some ways for its density and brownfield reclamation.
One thing about the transportation aspect. Most certainly they could have, and still can, provide much better transit amenities and signaling about that (by painting bus lanes and such). But it's worth noting that they have always had a free shuttle that makes it easy to jump on and land at the Arts Center MARTA station.
I would suggest including that in any discussion of AS and transit because, I mean, if for instance there were a free shuttle running from other big office buildings in Midtown to a train station, I imagine that would be a huge incentive for ATLiens to make the switch.
For me, I'd always rather just walk; I rarely took the AS shuttle. But I know that's ableist of me to say. The problem with ATL denizens, methinks, is not only do we love our cars, but we don't love to walk; which is why I make the observations above about "meeting folks where they are" on that issue instead of battling it.
I biked one time on one of those bike lanes and it was very unpleasant experience. It's a shame they just built it for cars when it could've been so much better.