OVERVIEW

There are only two other projects in the history of Atlanta with an impact on par with what the Atlanta BeltLine will deliver. One is Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the other is the 1996 Olympic Games.  In other words, the BeltLine is a big deal.  It is in year 3 of a 25-year project, with an estimated $20 billion in economic development opportunity. This 22-mile loop of abandoned rail is much more than a place to walk, bike and jog.  It will connect 45 different neighborhoods, increase parks and green-space by 40%, and eventually have a pedestrian-friendly rail transit system that will put Atlanta top of class with other major cities like Denver, San Diego, Dallas, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Sydney, and Madrid to name a few.

However, despite the gigantic impact the BeltLine promises, very few Atlantans have any real clue about it.  A common question among Atlantans right now is, “when is the BeltLine starting?”  As of the airing of this episode of Sidewalk Radio, over $230 million in development is currently underway.  It’s not a question of when.  It is now.  Let’s take a look at a “Past, Present and Future” glimpse of the BeltLine through images:

There are many facets to The BeltLine: art, architecture, community, parks, planning, development, design, financing and so on.  But, to truly understand where you are going, you have to know where you have been.  For Atlanta, it all begins with trains.  Yep, trains.

Sidewalk Radio’s November Show, “All Aboard, The BeltLine” focuses on transit, specifically Atlanta’s relationship with rail – past, present, and future.  One of the nation’s leading authorities on the Civil War, Gordon Jones, Senior Military Historian at the Atlanta History Center, discusses how Atlanta’s rail of the 1800’s historically impacted our city and set the stage for today’s BeltLine.

Brian Leary, President and CEO of the Atlanta BeltLine, also joins host, Gene Kansas, to share his vision about how the BeltLine’s proposed pedestrian-friendly rail transit system will unite our neighborhoods, and improve our communities for the future.

Train artist, Robert West, and architect Jeff Morrison, add colorful perspective to this whistle-inducing show.  Railroad music intermixed, of course.

Take a look at Morrison’s installation “Cribbing” for Art on the Beltline and understand what it’s all about when you tune in. It’s gonna be a long, strange trip folks.  Let’s get rolling.  ”All Aboard, The BeltLine.”