The Renaissance

During class several weeks ago I brought up an "interesting" neighborhood sign. It was not until recently I was able to swing by the neighborhood, located on Sewell Mill Road near Piedmont Road in East Cobb, to take a few pictures. They are posted below with a photograph of what the some of the actual houses look like. Though the homes are huge and nice, it seems the theme has gone a bit overboard. Home styles range from Italian Villas to Palaces on the Grand Canal to Castle-like homes.

Woodstock Downtown: An Award Winning New Urbanism Project

Hedgewood Properties, along with master planners Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates, are currently developing Woodstock Downtown. The project is a 64 acre mixed-use community in the heart of historic Woodstock, Georgia (located about 30 miles north of Atlanta.) When completed the New Urbanism development will feature 976 new homes, 110,000 sq. ft. of shops and restaurants, 11 acres of new parks and opens spaces (ranging from common greens to a neighborhood amphitheater), pedestrian pathways, and the preservation and adaptive reuse of several historic structures. The new homes will consist of single family homes ($400s-$600s), town homes (high $200s), and luxury condos (low $180s). All homes are EarthCraft House certified.
The goal of Woodstock Downtown is to strengthen the City of Woodstock’s downtown without compromising its historic character. The Congress for the New Urbanism, an international organization, seems to think the project is doing just that. The organization awarded the development the 2008 Charter Award for excellence in architectural, landscape, and urban design especially in relation to physical and social context. This is the only Georgia development to win this award. Woodstock Downtown was also named the 2006 Development of Excellence by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
A representative for Hedgewood Properties says the project as “transformed Woodstock’s central business district into a high energy downtown with an exciting day and night life.”

Websites:
http://www.hedgewoodhomes.com/neighborhoods/profile.aspx?cid=9
http://atlanta.daybooknetwork.com/story/2008/03/06/8466woodstock-downtown-wins-cnu-award.shtml
http://www.cnu.org/node/1763

New Urbanism Development: Johnson Ferry East

The proposed Johnson Ferry East is a cooperative development between the NorSouth Company and the Housing Authority of DeKalb County (HADC). The potential development is located near the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Donaldson Drive in northeast Atlanta. The NorSouth Company is also known for the other senior-oriented new urbanism development of Princeton Park in College Park.

Currently the 50 acre site is owned by HADC. The site contains:

• 498 Units
• All units are public housing
• Over 50% are occupied by seniors
• Represents a concentration of low income households
• 

Stated design principles include:

• Architectural styles that is compatible with and connects to the surrounding community
• A mixed income community
• An economically and ethnically integrated community
• Greenspace and “pocket parks”
• Preserve as many mature trees as possible
• Traffic calming
• Safe walk to Publix across Johnson ferry
• Safe access for all age groups
• No big box more neighborhood retail
• Mix of housing types not all town homes

new urbanism in edgewood

A few pictures from the Edgewood Retail District - see below for discussion:

"Main Street"

Shoe Factory Lofts

Columbia Senior Residences
townhouses

an older Edgewood home next to new development
examples of big-box parcels within Edgewood Retail Center

The Edgewood Retail District combines some aspects of New Urbanism with other characteristics of more mainstream development (most notably the heavy concentration of big-box retail, including Target, Lowes, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, and Barnes and Noble). On its own website, Sembler, the development company responsible for the Edgewood Retail District, emphasizes other aspects of the complex: "The center’s 'Main Street' element with its blend of local boutiques, friendly eateries and exciting national retailers has become a thriving hub of neighborhood activity for families and singles alike. As a way of blending the old and new environments, an existing historic building was converted to contemporary residential lofts, thus making the entire project a true live-shop-play community." While some neighbors have complained about traffic, and many people initially protested the development, most residents of the area now seem to have embraced the Edgewood Retail district, as one neighbor commented on the opening of Target: "the prospect of buying a package of socks without travelling across town is a genuinely exciting situation."

http://larryfeltonjohnson.typepad.com/atlantalarry/2005/03/the_edgewood_re.html

http://www.sembler.com/gallery.php?id=7

New Urbanism and Crime in Atlantic Station

Many older communities in Atlanta have been completely transformed into upscale, urban communities. Atlantic Station opened in 2005 and was marketed as a "Live, Work, Play" community with high end condos and apartments and upscale retail stores. Many people believed that because of the area's exclusivity, crime would be virtually non-existent, until its first murder in March, 2007. An associated press news article noted that just because the high price ranges of the residences prevent people from lower incomes from living there, it doesn't prevent people from lower incomes from venturing into the area for recreational purposes. Coincidentally, I ran into a couple of guys from my hometown while in the area taking photos and it seemed that they were indulging in the same "activities" I remember from nearly 20 years ago. I'm not saying that they were commiting crimes, however, they weren't exactly shopping at Jos A Bank either. One of the officers in the article stated that these areas are viewed as literal playgrounds for criminals who also assume that because they don't live there, it will be more difficult for them to get caught.



Atlantic Station now features its own "Milennium Gate." (Looks a tad familiar...) The bridge provides a nice aesthetic touch and connects some of the residences with the commercial part of the community.



I can say with a large degree of certainty that most of the people I saw walking around the area were probably not residents of the community, but the large variety of amenities attracts many visitors. A good view of the rest of the city can be seen from various locations in the community.

Construction, construction, construction, EVERYWHERE. It will be really interesting to see how this community shapes up when it's finally finished.





This is the street behind Atlantic Station where many of the homes are up for sale and more construction of new homes is taking place across the street. Appears that Beazer homes was the lucky developer in this area.

Ethnoburb shopping

All of the signage pics were taken along Buford Highway. As I was driving on Buford Highway I noticed the signage for the developments. Not only do the names of these places sometimes give a clue to the intended community but I think the languages posted reflect exclusivity to their business. I can't read Chinese so I don't have a clue what some of these places are marketing. Granted many times they have English as well, but I wonder if it is meant for ethnicities other than Asians for example or if instead it is attempting to draw those Asians who have no understanding of Asian languages. Obviously their are many places listed in the photos that are focused on community services like dentists, insurance agencies, mortgage companies, and salons just to name a few. The Asian community along this part of Buford Highway is very intent on establishing businesses for their group. It is somewhat odd however that the Asian community as a whole is so inclusive with Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese all incorporated into these pan-Asian shopping centers. I also find it amusing how all of these ethnicities found along Buford Highway co-exist side by side and not concentrated more into one section. Although this isn't always true of the shopping centers, there seems to be a fairly common mixture of Hispanic and Asian businesses.

Out of all of the pics I would just like to point out one. Treasure Village must truly be a treasure. It had the most diverse listing of businesses. They have a restaurant, an ice cream shop, a billiard hall, a laundry, a bilingual XXX movie theatre (parejas son gratis "couples are free") and an Asian strip joint. I believe the existence of an Asian strip joint is either the extreme case of ethnic communities supporting all of the needs for their group or the case of a specialty fetish business. Alas, I didn't stake the place out to analyze the patrons, but that would be very interesting.

Atlanta Business Chronicle on Anti-Sprawl movement

As I was reading this week Bruegmann's history of sprawl and the anti-sprawl campaigns I was struck by the attached article, "Transurban Opening Atlanta Office," which appeared in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday. The group's move signals a growing effort to reduce traffic congestion in the Atlanta metro area and the southeast. How does this fit into Bruegmann's argument? Is this part of the latest campaign against sprawl?

Here is a company that focuses on combating the traffic congestion associated with sprawl and is recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as one of the world's most sustainable companies, yet ironically constructs HOV lanes and toll roads around the world! Can it possiblely be part of the anti-sprawl campaign which took off in the late 1990s? The existance of this company demonstrates the complexity of the anti-sprawl campaign and its "cost of sprawl" and "automobile dependence" arguments. Bruegmann explains that the reality of sprawl often means the construction of more roads. "It might make perfect sense to build relatively inexpensive and up-to-date new schools or roads for new residents at the suburban edge, allowing the existing roads or schools in the central city to better serve a reduced population until gentrification and rising land values make possible the very expensive renovation of the old infrastructure." (p. 139) In the same chapter, Bruegmann also examines "one of the most important arguments against sprawl...that it leads to automobile dependence and that this is turn leads to congestion, longer communites, more pollution, and the depletion of entergy sources." (p. 140) While Bruegmann provides a well-research account of this argument that connects the decentralization of housing and jobs to additional and less congested roadway capacity at the periphery, he fails to take into account what happens when the highways at the periphery are congested by communters from the ever expanding low-density sprawl of more and more suburbs farther out. What companies like the Transurban Group show us is that concepts like sustainable growth and "smart growth" will become more and more common in both the everday jargon of Atlanta residents, businesses, and newspapers.

Bruegmann end that same chapter by describing Atlanta as "a kind of new Los Angeles, contempoaray American's prime example of sprawl." (p. 159) For my own research interests it is Bruegmann's linking the urban and suburban explanations for sprawl to the current anti-sprawl movements arguments, which best explain why even if one is focusing on in town neighborhoods, a metro scale is needed.

Sources:

http://www.skycomp.com/Atlanta/HTML_Slides/regional-maps.html

http://www.transurban.com/

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/03/31/daily47.html?f=et50&ana=e_du

Friday, April 4, 2008

Transurban opening Atlanta office
Atlanta Business Chronicle

Australian toll road investor and manager Transurban Group has picked Atlanta for its fourth U.S. office and hired Bill Berry to run it. The company said the new office is part of its increased focus on Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama. Transportation expert Bill Berry has been named vice president of market development for the Southeast. Transurban said Berry is an expert in public private partnerships (PPP) who was involved in industry and political efforts to draft and pass legislation to enable PPPs in Georgia. He served as local project manager and political leader for the development and submittal of Georgia's first PPP proposal -- Georgia 316.
"Like the company, I am passionate about finding and promoting sustainable solutions to the growing congestion problems facing the nation, working in true partnership with the state and the community," Berry said.

The Booming Edge City

"GTRA officials announced that they are planning a $93 million bus transit station over I-75, just south of the perimeter, next to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. The station will sit 25 feet above the interstate, it will span two football fields in length and have room for 18 bus bays, 9 on each side of the interstate.

This will be the southernmost station connecting the Cumberland Mall / Galleria area with the Town Center Mall in Kennesaw. Two more stations will be built along side I-75 and two other will be elevated to sit above I-75, similar to the Cumberland Mall Transit Station.

The structure will be approximately 75,000 square feet and will be connected to a parking garage on the westside of the highway by a pedestrian bridge. Also, near the parking garage, negotiations are running currently for a developer to purchase the 5 acre tract of land and build a 15 story office building an 18 story hotel / condominium tower, and ground level restaurants and shops underneath one or both structures.

The terminals would service this rail like service that uses buses, instead of train cars, that will travel via HOV lanes. Construction could begin as early as 2009 as officials are still searching for $300 million in funding to match the $300 million already promised by the state of Georgia to complete the whole stretch from Kennesaw to Vinings. Also, in the planning stages is another bus transit line to connect this one to some other point across the top end of the perimeter. Whether that point is Ga 400 or I-85 near spaghetti junction is unknown at this time."
-cobbrealestateblog.com

The edge city of Smyra has developed since the time of the Garreau article and many locations are now being redeveloped into mixed use communities. The secondtwo pictures show proposed mixed use developments designed by HOK around an existing John Portman building near the Perimeter and the lower picture illustrates the expanded Jonquil Village in Smyrna that is currently under construction. Jonquil Village to include: 300-355 condos,
185,000 square feet of office & retail, parking for over 1300 cars (1000 of which will be underground).

When reading the article by Garreau, I thought that my post from last week about the ritzy ethno-burb of Le Jardin. Though, I wonder if the residents of Le Jardin would really be considered middle class. Surely many would be considered at leas upper-middle class. I think it would be interesting too, if the same author had written the article today rather than in 1991. Would people have different attitudes toward each other? Would African Americans say they feel that separations are more along lines of race or class? Would Caucasians or people of other races agree? I wonder if there isn't a greater separation between the areas in which Hispanics live that that between whites and blacks now?

I looked too for vestiges of the neighborhoods and places discussed in the article, the club Dominique's and the Peter Calabro development on Camp Creek Parkway. I could not find evidence of either. Certainly, the club was swallowed up by the rapid development of the Cumberland Mall area, and the neighborhood development may never have gotten off the ground.

The G Word and the African American Community

Founded in 1930, Lynwood Park was the first black suburb of Atlanta and located in the predominantly white north side of the Atlanta metro area at the end of the trolley line. The neighborhood developed to accommodate blacks who served as personal servants for people living in nearby Brookhaven and Buckhead. The community is currently being threatened by aggressive land development and appears to be losing the gentrification battle. The modest homes that once made up the community are being razed to accommodate large 3500 square foot homes that start in the $5oos. There has been a large increase in the amount of white residents in the community as well as Asian and Hispanic; however, the black population is decreasing as many of the homes have been condemned or are deemed uninhabitable.



This image was more of the norm rather than the exception. I was blown away by the number of homes like this that had been boarded up and/or for sale.



The streets were very narrow and the homes were very close together which made it difficult to take the type of picture I wanted without a wide angle lens, however, I am attempting to show how the new homes are slowly overtaking the neighborhood leaving very little of its original character. This is a portion of Mae Street, but indicative of most of the community with modest homes in the midst of the larger, more expensive homes. A close up of the above picture will show all of the for sale signs in nearly every yard on the street.



The pink and white boarded up house is located on Mae Street in between the large homes pictured above. The other picture belongs up top and was supposed to be next to the other boarded up home, but does not appear to want to move from that position and therefore will be allowed to remain there to keep the peace.



More Mae Street

These homes are next door to one another.






Source: "Ethnography, Demography and Service-Learning: Situating Lynwood Park" by Monica Gaughan Critical Sociology 2002

For this entry about edge cities, I chose to focus on the area around North DeKalb Mall. This area has a large Indian population. This is demonstrated by the strips malls that pop up along the major roads. This particular mall is on DeKalb industrial. Along with the shops there is also a large temple. There are often events at the temple. On those days there are cars parked all long the street and DeKalb police officers directing traffic. This population extends down DeKalb industrial and down Lawrencville Hwy. In the mall, many of the kiosks are owned by members of this population and cater to the audience.



Side note

I went to Montreal over spring break, and we attempted to visit Chinatown. Here are some pictures. Unfortunately it was getting dark and cold so they are a bit blurry.