Greenways can help Atlanta restore its regional luster

Wel­come to Sep­tem­ber, BC4C! Con­grat­u­la­tions to all those return­ing campers and “boomerangs” that joined us for Base Camp #3.1. That’s a fast one!

As you may already know, the PATH Foun­da­tion is one of our char­i­ta­ble part­ners for this month. To learn more about the PATH Foun­da­tion, please enjoy this recent arti­cle from the AJC, authored by Ed McBrayer, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the PATH Foundation.

By Ed McBrayer, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the PATH Foundation.

Is Atlanta in a funk? Is our star dim­ming, as cities across the South like Dal­las and Austin, Texas, use smart tran­sit to pol­ish their images and pull in jobs?

While Atlanta is still a great city with big oppor­tu­ni­ties, there’s no ques­tion we have seri­ous short­com­ings in trans­porta­tion. The upside is that we’re in a great posi­tion to make some cutting-edge devel­op­ments that put pos­i­tive atten­tion on our city again.

What we have is a beau­ti­ful sys­tem of green­ways and trails. What we can do is quickly — and cheaply — expand this sys­tem to truly make Atlanta the envy of every city in the South, and per­haps the nation.

Dur­ing the past 20 years, the PATH Foun­da­tion, in part­ner­ship with all lev­els of gov­ern­ment, has qui­etly con­structed 150 miles of green­way trails in and around Atlanta. Today, the strands of this labyrinth are just wait­ing to be con­nected. Once they are, we’ll have a world-class green­way sys­tem that will be a boon for every­one from bicy­cle com­muters to recre­ational users.

Imag­ine a net­work of con­nected green­ways and trails for walk­ers, run­ners and cyclists weav­ing through almost every Atlanta neigh­bor­hood. It would touch parks, shop­ping areas, neigh­bor­hoods and employ­ment cen­ters. Pic­ture tree-lined spaces where tod­dlers learn how to ride a bike and adults meet to play chess, con­duct out­door classes, pic­nic, read, study and get to know their neigh­bors. Con­sider the joy of bik­ing or walk­ing to the office each morn­ing rather than the has­sle and expense of dri­ving a car.

We are much closer to real­iz­ing this vision than you might think, because we’re adding to our green­way sys­tem every day.

A green­way trail sys­tem will be a mag­net for jobs, encour­ag­ing employ­ers to locate in a city that is rich with ameni­ties and smart enough to find a green answer to traf­fic woes. There’s no rea­son peo­ple need to imag­ine Port­land, Ore., when they think about trails. Atlanta can be a great city for trails, too — and not just freeways.

Bicy­cle and walk­ing cor­ri­dors such as the ones cre­ated for the Atlanta Belt­line Trail and the Geor­gia 400 Trail already are becom­ing pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tions for new busi­nesses and res­i­dents. In those areas, new homes are being built, exist­ing homes sell rapidly, and shops and busi­nesses thrive.

It’s no mys­tery why a house near a bicy­cle and walk­ing trail is worth 10–15 per­cent more. Trails look great, pro­vide a vari­ety of recre­ational ameni­ties and encour­age good folks and fam­i­lies to recre­ate and social­ize outdoors.

When we are a fully greenway-connected city, desir­able addresses will be defined by their prox­im­ity to trails rather than the inter­state. More peo­ple will choose to live on the green­way rather than fight­ing their way in from the sub­urbs, allow­ing us to com­pete with other cities on qual­ity of life.

Atlanta has always been about growth and the future. But other cities have taken some of our lus­ter. What bet­ter way to regain the spot­light than by fin­ish­ing a net­work of green­ways and trails? We can link the Atlanta Belt­Line Trail and Cen­ten­nial Olympic Park to most Atlanta neigh­bor­hoods, giv­ing us some­thing no other city has.

Build­ing a net­work of trails will not solve all the prob­lems fac­ing our city. But this is a prac­ti­cal, afford­able pro­gram that many busi­ness and com­mu­nity lead­ers already sup­port. Most of the plan­ning tools are in place, and fundrais­ing ini­tia­tives are ready. This vision just needs to be adopted as a pri­or­ity so imple­men­ta­tion can begin and we can win back our place as the South’s most-admired city.

You can help Atlanta make this bold move. Tell your pub­lic offi­cials to sup­port park and green space fund­ing. Make a dona­tion to PATH to help us match pub­lic funds. Other cities don’t have assets like the Atlanta Belt­line project, the PATH Foun­da­tion and city lead­ers who have a thirst to get back on top. The com­bi­na­tion is a for­mula for suc­cess. Let’s con­nect Atlanta with green­ways and show the South we are still No. 1.

Arti­cle orig­i­nally pub­lished by the Atlanta Jour­nal Con­sti­tu­tion.