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.
Thank you for that info! And I'd say that also speaks to why we should consider making our transit free like some other cities. The "free" aspect has to be part of the reason for the usage stat you reference.
And by the way, you two (along with Darin here) are legends in terms of ATL urbanism and pedestrianism - thank you both for all you do.
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.
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.
Years ago former Planning Commissioner Mike Dobbins told me that the AS shuttle had one of the highest usage rates of all bus routes in metro Atlanta.
Thank you for that info! And I'd say that also speaks to why we should consider making our transit free like some other cities. The "free" aspect has to be part of the reason for the usage stat you reference.
And by the way, you two (along with Darin here) are legends in terms of ATL urbanism and pedestrianism - thank you both for all you do.
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.