Atlanta|Dreaming Thread I
 

What do you think Atlanta should have to make this place a better city? Taller towers,Las Vegas like district,Eiffel tower, lake or etc.

Feel free to post your dreams, please be descriptive, use pictures, videos or anything to describe.....

http://journalofhumannutritionanddie...-you-think.jpg

Cover the connector from Int. Blvd. to the 75/85 split and connect streets on both sides. One long park, well lit, with occasional statues, fountains, restaurants and other toys. This would not only add a new great park but would comment Downtown with Midtown, East side with Westside.

Well, to begin Atlanta lacks the destinations and public spaces around which to build deeper community appeal. We lack a beach front or monumental rivers or mountains, nor are there the man-made attractions to create a social identity. (ie: We're neither Vegas nor Orlando) So in order for Atlanta to take the next step up the ladder we need to enhance our urban spaces and hope that the development around these fulfill our desires for iconic and appealing design.

So I'd start off with more plans like the Beltline and all of its affiliated parks plus I'd push real hard for the many ideas from Central Atlanta Progress to become a reality:

Here's Perkins and Will's variation on the Central Atlanta Progress idea for a park space stretching from Five Points to the proposed multi-modal station. I like how they frame the front of Philips Arena at the end of one vista.
http://www.perkinswill.com/sites/def...lan_main_2.jpg

Couple that with CAP's vision for a bridge/plaze reaching over the connector next to the State Capitol:
http://imageshack.us/a/img855/3961/i91.png

Personally I'd prefer a design that fosters a more axial alignment from the building, but regardless now you've created attractive and iconic spaces around which people can gather and celebrate the city.

Then of course there's Historic Mims Park as being pursued by the National Monuments Foundation, which has a nice preview video shared elsewhere on this board.

I'd also love to take many of the existing attractions and relocate them into a cluster closer to downtown. Fernbank, ATL History Center (paired with the Cyclorama) and a relocated Center for Puppetry Arts. Would love to see the ImagineIt science museum also traded in for a larger and more formal Museum of Science and Engineering, like a smaller kin to the Museum of Science and Technology in Chicago.

Now if we could indeed cover the connector through midtown (The Big Lid!) then we could cluster these attractions and others along that linear park, and suddenly you have a truly magical space that people will want to use everyday.

That's a start.

Great idea for a thread.

I'm totally on board with the cover the connector idea. It would have as much impact as the Beltline on livability in the city and other than financing probably wouldn't be that hard to do.

The cost to cover the Connector would be in the Billions. I would rather them complete the Beltline and extend the streetcar from Downtown to Buckhead.

For those in favor of covering the Connector, what exacting are you expecting with the additional land? Park-space?...Piedmont Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country. More developable land?...do we not already have an abundance of surface lots that need to be developed?

I for one think its a good thing that people who travel through our city (via the Connector) can look our their car, truck, minivan and/or SUV window and see our beautiful city as opposed to diving through a smoggy 2 mile tunnel.

But that's just me. To each his own.

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Thought maybe a listing would help for long-term referencing. Please edit as needed.

Existing Proposals
CAP's Park and Open Space Plan (which includes the Greenline and Capital Gateway Mall)
Beltline & Parks
Mims Park
Downtown Streetcar
Multi-modal Station

Established Visions
CAP's Connector makeover
Expanded rail service

Other Ideas
The Big Lid (covering the connector with parks)
Give Olympic Cauldron nicer space or move to Centennial Park
Greenway linking Grant Park to Piedmont Park
Relocate Southern Railway Museum (MARTA accessible; Possibly overlook rail yard)
New/redone/clustered museums and attractions
Bring ATL Farmers Market into city
A permanent, midway-like space (Navy Pier) (Would be good next to Farmer's Market)
Atlanta Spire (ASpire!) Something akin to CN Tower

Personally I enjoy the view, as well, and don't want them to chase this instead of other projects with more bang for the buck. But the connector is an open wound that severely damages Atlanta's pedestrian appeal, making destinations seem further apart and limiting the creation of appealing spaces.

When Boston did the Big Dig the bulk of new land recovered was given over to simple greenspace, but this improved the value and appeal of the adjoining development and now it's a destination contributing to the city's tourist appeal. Imagine if Atlanta had some nearly 1 mile long park running through midtown and Georgia Tech? Put some new attractions and commercial or residential activity adjacent to that and it would be an instant hit. It could help relieve pressure on Piedmont Park and encourage more outdoor activity among residents. And imagine the views of the skyline from that park setting, as opposed to simply whipping by in the car.

Yes it's far fetched, but great cities have an abundance of great spaces. Any city would love more, but Atlanta especially is lacking. We're 2/3 the size of Chicago but have, what, 1/5th the greenspace?! Covering the interstate would create a great space, without dislocating existing structures or residents.

:tup: I see both points but I am more agreeable with your perspective. Instead of covering the Downtown Connector, I would rather be see it turned into a grand boulevard with free-access (not a limited-access freeway with exits). By creating a free-access boulevard it would re-connect all of the streets that it disconnects currently which would accomplish a great deal of advantages of both perspectives.

Well my Idea/Dream for Atlanta is Awesome:
World longest skyline from downtown to perimeter maybe to cobb.

Okay I will start off having something huge;

Atlanta will start off of having a Big Time Square like area!!!!We will take every billboard down in the heard of the city make it creative in many ways to put in Our time square adding exspensive stores (namebrand live outdoor entertainment and art.

Vine City Area: Since the Falcons are getting a new stadium We should make this Surrounding area a Vegas like district or maybe near turnerfield. With all the casinos family fun places and etc with greenspace.

For the Connector WE will cover the connector add the river on top of it, Yes the bridges will still be their but their height will be a little taller also it will be decorated with lights. This river will be called Atlanta River this River will be moved to our huge proposed lake for people to go jet skiing boat riding and etc. Call Atlanta lake with the beautfil bright sand, manmade waves atleast (20 feet waves) clear blue water, (panama, hawaiin stylish) with a proposed towers 30-50 stories,This area will bring a near by water park.

Near Centennial Park- Since Sky view is across from centennial park I will add a theme park roller coaster go everywhere,adding that area to that area, More hotel and probably residential towers with ground level retail space.

New City rules will be conducted : every tower proposal etc. will have underground parking.And probably towers will have to be 45 + stories or taller

WIDEN SIDE WALKS MORE TRANSPORTATION FOR GROUND STREET LEVEL ALMOST EVERY ST IN THE CITY. more marta train stops in the city also, add a meglav or skytrain. More pedestrian,

Also change the WSBTV TOWER INTO A STRUCTURE LIKE EIFFEL TOWER OR SKYTOWER AND ON TOP PUT A RESTAURANT ON THE TOP FLOOR...MORE STORES AND RESIDENTIAL,,,, AND A CHINATOWN AND MORE OTHER THINGS. AND SKYSCRAPERS.


LAST FOR NOT LEAST MORE GREENSPACE : MANMADE LAKE OR MOUNTAIN WITH A WATERFALL WOULD BE NICE

How would you physically do this given that the highway is at varying elevations different from the local streets? And how would you capture the incoming freeway traffic?

That would be quite the structural load to handle anything other than a knee-deep reflecting pool along that length. However, here's one man's idea for a new reservoir/lake just west of downtown. Not the most functional location for tourists but does consider environmental goals.

I seen that it a lot of times I at-least look at it twice a month, she should go to COA with this, that is a great idea , but I think she should go farther down more north of where she is planning, because you wont be able to see the skyline probably

And for to Cap over the connector add towers on top thats what they think at one time.

1phase of Cappin connector is later this year.

Any other dreams or Ideas....??

I didn't intend to go into great detail and I didn't say it would be easy. But it's called engineering. Not so long ago, I remember a Georgia Tech study that examined such a scenario.

Just as elevations (crossings) were engineered for the construction of the Downtown Connector thus creating limited access, engineering could be done for intersections to meet at grade to create free access. As for traffic management, there may be many combination of options - instead of merging I-75 and I-85, merge them with I-285 or dissolved them into grid / secondary streets amongst other things, etc which is similar to how Washington DC freeways are designed.

No doubt capping the entire Connector would be costly and, in my opinion, is totally unnecessary. I think you can still achieve the same goals -- stitching together the urban fabric of areas of town divided by the Connector and providing park space -- by targeting portions of the Connector that, for the most part, already sit below grade and don't have much in the way as far as exits, existing roads, etc. go.

Look to the areas between 14th and North Avenue as well as the portion between West Peachtree and Piedmont. Those two areas, coupled with the Capitol Park project (capping the Connector by the Capitol building leading into Memorial Drive) that is in the works would be sufficient. Those projects can be broken up into individual works that would be much more possible to fund.

Some wide (lets say 200 feet) pedestrian plazas and parks at strategic crossover spots on the connector would be interesting though.

GDOT a couple of years ago was still keen on the idea of building the freeway that went through the east side of atlanta, except in tunnel form. considering the scope and expense of this project, it doesn't seem too extreme to consider tunnelling the connector.

i think the downtown connector should be tunnelled from the north end of the beltline to the south end of the beltline. I-20 should also be tunnelled from gresham park to hamilton e holmes. the street grid could be reconnected, and the new lots could be sold to offset the cost of the project. you could potentially sell the new lots in midtown for a total of billions of dollars.

This is on target. Many cities around the world, in Canada in particular, have tunneled major fast roads as they intrude into the built up areas. Even 400 does it for a brief moment in ATL through Buckhead. Yes the expense of doing it is very high, but it will never get cheaper if one waits. Also the construction labor itself adds many benefits to the area. In addition, in the longer run, the costs are recovered with revenues from new buildings and amenities built near or on top of these tunnels. In addition, when one looks to the future of increasing use of electric cars and less polluting vehicles, the problems of providing clean air in these tunnels is lessoned. And, if one used a mix of open and closed on the connector, this might not be such a problem at all.

keep in mind i'm specifically talking about *tunnelling* the connector; not just capping it like others have mentioned. this way, a new street grid could be established where the connector was, and potentially could support high rise buildings on top.

I agree! Total tunneling is preferable, because infrastructure of significance can be built over it. Costs are high though and I don't know how much rock lies under the connector and at what depth. One can look at the MARTA tunnel at Peachtree Center to see that going deep might be quite an undertaking. I guess this is something for the techies to figure out. I think of the huge and long auto and train tunnels through mountains in Europe which managed it.