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Darin Givens Profile
Darin Givens

@atlurbanist

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Following
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Volunteerism: Co-founder of ThreadATL, urbanism advocacy. Profession: web developer at GA Tech. רָפָאֵל🪬

Atlanta
Joined January 2011
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
I hate this: single family houses are largely zoned for streets with low speed limits, while apartments (like where my family lives) are largely zoned for streets with higher speeds. My kid is not less deserving of a safe walk to the bus stop because we live in an apartment.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
6 years
The snark I feel after spending an hour on Twitter reading stuff about cities.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
With suburban zoning, you can live in a house that's 400 feet from a grocery store, but it requires a 1.2 mile drive to get there. Or you could walk, if you're up for a death-defying journey on a large arterial road. Roswell Road, Cobb County, GA.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
Beautiful old condo building in Midtown on Piedmont Avenue. The Elliot, built in the 1910s. Looks like it's been taken care of very well for a 100 year old structure.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
Street grids in Atlanta. How it started, how it's going.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
It's been over seven years since I first posted this pair of images on Tumblr. They show the way that parking has devastated the urban fabric around Garnett MARTA Station in Downtown Atlanta. No need to update it. Nothing has changed since then.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
5 years
This photo. There's an e-scooter rider about to navigate a narrow sidewalk on Boulevard b/c there's no bike lane on that street. Meanwhile, in the background, the bike lane that *does* exist on Edgewood is unusable because a car is parked in it. There's your damn problem.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Ugh. This is the gross stuff you can expect from the people who oppose Cobb County joining MARTA, which is potentially going to the ballot again. "We might become DeKalb" is one of the loudest dog whistles yet.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
I'm not anti car. I'm anti car-dependency.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Can anyone recommend a city I can move to where enough people drink coffee after 3pm that coffee shops stay open later than that? All I know is that Atlanta is not that city.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Protected bike lane in Chattanooga, with parking to the left. Good stuff.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
Most of metro Atlanta is a carpet of sprawl, where anyone who can't drive a car to destinations is screwed. I don't care that some folks prefer this lifestyle. The domination of this design has too many bad consequences for society. The system that produces this must be changed.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
@PlanningAutumn Downtown Atlanta. I shaded in blue the old structures left after the surroundings were obliterated to build parking lots. Nothing important happened in the remaining buildings. They're not elaborately beautiful. Preserving them still matters due to the context of demolition.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
I realize that the placement of Atlanta's Amtrak station is not among the worst in the nation, but I'll still use this chance to moan about how far it is from a MARTA rail station (and how close it is to a stupid chasm of interstate lanes).
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@the_transit_guy
Hayden Clarkin
1 year
Which is the worst-located train station relative to the geography it intends to serve?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Before & after, Pryor Street in Downtown ATL. A parking deck replaced the magnificent Kimball House. More decks were built all around, creating dead spaces. This is why I scrutinize every new development in Downtown for great urbanism; there's so much damage to repair. 1/2
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
This lovely old condo building in Midtown Atlanta, on Piedmont Ave, was built in the 1910s. Whatever systems we’ve produced that have rendered this type of beautiful, sidewalk-oriented, human-scale density obsolete from our development trends – those systems need to be changed.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
11 months
Anyone ever think it's weird that billions of dollars have been made by movies that were filmed in Atlanta, with our public streets blocked for many film shoots, and yet we don't have enough money to fund a functional DOT or maintain sidewalks?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
I s*** you not, people. This actually happened this morning. On the down side, we got caught in the rain. Worth it.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
It would be sweet, sweet justice if the late John Lewis' so-called "crime infested" district in Atlanta (a vile reference made by Trump) was the one to deliver Georgia to Biden, as the votes roll in.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Carroll Street, Cabbagetown Atlanta. The most loveable streets in Atlanta have houses, multi-family buildings, and stores mixed together in a pedestrian-oriented format. This should be legal in more neighborhoods. Some zoning districts are restrictive, allowing only homes.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
This is fine (*sips*)
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
5 months
The changes on Howell Mill Road at 14th Street, across 11 years, are dramatic.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
11 months
"MARTA plans to drop the shells of two rail cars off the Georgia Coast, where they'll serve as artificial reefs for marine life" Adaptive reuse! Nice. Also, it turns out even marine creatures are less scared of MARTA trains than some suburbanites are.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 month
The mayor of Atlanta was spotted riding MARTA to work for the first time today, admitting afterwards that it was not as troublesome as previously feared..."I may do this more often."
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Who remembers this Krog Tunnel classic? "continental breakfast is not real breakfast" What are some other Atlanta graffiti classics?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
It makes me smile to walk past this construction site on the Eastside Beltline. The developer requested $22.5 million in tax breaks, but Invest Atlanta didn't support it. The thing got built anyway, and we'll actually be collecting taxes on this property for the public good.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Sadly, we ban small apartment buildings in many Atlanta districts, while favoring blocks made of nothing but detached homes. Instead, we should allow these everywhere AND create financial tools to help developers build them, priced for a mix of incomes.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Data shows that homes in Atlanta are selling for 51% more than they're worth. According to a recent analysis, Atlanta has the most overpriced housing market in the United States.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Auburn Avenue, Atlanta.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
11 months
Peachtree Center MARTA Station feels like something left over from a mythic past when the U.S. built grand tunnels for trains. It's hard to imagine this being built in Atlanta today, isn't it? 1/
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Eastside Beltline at night, with the storefronts facing it. 20 years ago, stores like these would probably have been built so that they face a parking lot, or street parking. It's good progress.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 months
Atlanta is putting a homeless shelter one quarter of a mile away from my home and I approve. I think it's a good thing. Just wanted to put my two cents out there early, since alternate opinions are probably forthcoming.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Sweet fancy Moses! MARTA's real time tracker for buses is now on Google Maps! I can now check bus location in the same place that I do my direction planning. This is the future I've been waiting for.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
7 months
Well said. If you're a local leader who "can't use MARTA" b/c your "schedule is too busy" you need to be speaking out constantly on the need for better transit service in the city. Because many of the rest of us are busy too, & are reliant on transit b/c we can't drive.
@mwgarbett
Unplanned Atlanta
7 months
One of my top pet peeves from elected officials/city workers: "I can't take MARTA. I have a busy schedule." Yes. All the people on MARTA aren't busy. They're just relaxing. Not going to work or home or shopping or to a meeting. Just, you know riding around.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
8 months
Same view of Downtown Atlanta, before & after freeways destroyed city fabric, displaced residents, and established a car-centric framework. I highlighted City Hall & the Capitol. I post this not to make everyone depressed, but to emphasize how much work we need to do. 1/1
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
7 months
What a huge difference this is: the southward view of Spring Street, from 14th Street, over 9 years. This looks like one of those spots people are referring to when they say things like, "I used to live here 10 years ago, and now I don't recognize the place when I visit." 1/2
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
If I was going to make a coffee table book called "Atlanta Apartments that I Love," this Midtown beauty might make the cover. So pretty. Palmer Apartments, 1907.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
This is how I can tell I'm going to lose my s*** over this pothole initiative: Literally in the background of this corny photo op with Mayor Dickens, someone is pushing a baby stroller on a street where *the sidewalk is disappearing and they'll have to walk in the roadway*.
@jdcapelouto
J.D. Capelouto
2 years
The mayor of Atlanta is filling potholes this morning
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
On the left: a shopping center filled with stores, fronted by a sea of parking. On the right: homes that sit 100 feet from the stores, with no direct connection for walking. This is in Kennesaw, GA, but it's also all over. Dependence on cars, enforced by zoning.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
10 months
If it's not wide enough for the icon to fit inside, it's not really a bike lane, @GADeptofTrans Glenwood Avenue
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
13 days
Just to be clear, he wants to see some level of product that can loosely be described as "transit" on the Beltline at some undefined point, after yet another needless analysis is done (following 20 years worth of analysis). Hope that helps.
@PatrickQuinnTV
Patrick Quinn
13 days
JUST NOW: Mayor Andre Dickens just clarified his stance surrounding transit ON the BeltLine. "We want transit on the BeltLine, that's my interest. I want folks to be clear about that because it seems like there's some uncertainty about where my interests lie." @ATLNewsFirst
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
The evolution of Atlanta’s old streetcar network reveals a city that was literally built around mass transit lines in a format for walking to transit stops. I feel like a lot of folks aren’t aware of it. Think about this when you encounter the wide car-sewer roads of today. 1/5
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 month
Let's put this lovely scene on the Atlanta Beltline! Also, notice the wonderful rail-supportive density. These buildings aren't skyscrapers, but they are connected to each other & to the sidewalk. And they aren't separated by parking decks. Be sure to fund affordability too.
@the_transit_guy
Hayden Clarkin
1 month
The future I want:
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
5 years
Buses suit Atlanta well geographically & they're quicker to implement than rail. Saying that "Atlanta's deadly, climate-killing, car-centric ways will have to persist until we get matching funds for building billions of dollars worth of new rail, b/c eww, buses" is ridiculous.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 years
Atlanta looks awesome from a train window.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
This is cool -- an architect named Lucas Roberts saw my Instagram post about Courtland Street being a sad car-sewer of a road and sketched what an improvement could look like, over my photo!
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Well that was awesome. I left my wallet on a MARTA bus like a dummy, so I tracked the bus on the MARTA app in order to could catch it when it came back around. A passenger had given it to the driver, who was holding it for me in front and remembered me. 🚌 💕
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Any assumptions you have about a "preference" for driving in Atlanta are worthless. When sidewalks near bus stops (and the Beltline) look like this, while the roadway is fully paved, you can't truly measure preference. We haven't given alternatives a chance to succeed.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Man, Piedmont Park was gorgeous tonight.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
5 months
The $206mil redesign of Five Points MARTA station will close it to all bus & ped traffic for 18 months. And at the end of that expense & pain, all we gain is a different canopy/plaza with no development on top of the station. It's mind boggling to me.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
24 days
This is nuts. 100's of trees have been cut down on I-20 -- trees that serve an important air-filtering role next to this car traffic. GDOT reports that it's for 'vegetation mitigation'. We need a 'GDOT mitigation' plan, methinks.
@ClaraTGreen
Clara Green
24 days
I want to cry in rage. @CityofAtlanta or @GADeptofTrans has cut down hundreds and hundreds of healthy trees along I-20 and now EVERY SINGLE ONE of the trees on our exit is gone. The first picture is what it looks like during the winter. The second is now. How is this okay??
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
The most loveable streets in Atlanta have houses and stores mixed together in a pedestrian-oriented format. This should be legal in more neighborhoods (some zoning districts are restrictive, allowing only homes).
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 months
Trump says Atlanta is a war zone of violent crime. It's a lie. Violent crime is at historic lows in almost every NPU in Atlanta. The Buckhead area, which threatened to secede due to fear mongering about crime, remains the safest part of the city.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
In John's Creek, GA you can live a stone's throw from a grocery store but the only access to it as a pedestrian is a 1.1 mile walk. This is the zoning that many people want, to "protect" single family homes from the scourge of walkable mixed-use urbanism.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 months
Much of our language about housing treats renters as second-class residents. Like the way we say 'starter homes' only for home purchases. Why is an apartment not a starter home? Is a place only a 'home' when a mortgage downpayment is involved?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
9 months
Every time I pass this intersection of Spring and 8th Street I recall that about 10 years ago this was just a couple of giant parking lot with a few trees on the border.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
I'm a fan of this pedestrian bridge in Castleberry Hill, over the freight rail tracks. Very nicely done.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Bicyclists in Downtown Atlanta in 1897! They're in front of homes on Ellis Street, just west of its intersection with Courtland. I wonder what's in that spot now? Maybe a restaurant? If so they could put this photo up on the wall. Here, I'll do a Google search OH NOOOOOOO!
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
7 months
Say it louder for the people in the back! The general footprint of MARTA's rail lines is absolutely comparable with those in many major cities. Yes, expansion would be great, and infill stations too. But our main problem is the low density of development near stations. Fix it.
@dougnagy
Douglas Nagy
7 months
@JordanMSpires MARTA would be a top 20 Metro system by length in Europe, longer than Metros in Rome and Amsterdam for example. The main issue is low density land use areas are hard to serve well with transit.
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Darin Givens
1 year
This new development at the Eastside Beltline and Ralph McGill Boulevard offers some vistas that are like none I've seen before in Atlanta.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 months
Someone recently asked me if Atlanta intentionally fumbled the rail-transit & affordable-housing components of the Beltline so it could largely become a tool for upmarket real estate & also a drive-to attraction. That sounds incredibly pessimistic. But yes, it also feels true.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
7 months
Atlanta's Amtrak station is an adorable little thing. But yeah, this one super-limited rail line is a sad state of affairs for a major city. We don't need to be Berlin, but we do need more than this.
@the_transit_guy
Hayden Clarkin
7 months
These are the main train stations of two metro areas of nearly equal populations. Don't need perfection, just better.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Atlantans: "The home prices in this desirable neighborhood, where no new housing has been built in decades, have skyrocketed. Who can afford this?" Same Atlantans: "And now they're proposing an apartment building. Here comes the gentrification."
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
4 months
The parking deck for the new Ten Twenty office tower is daunting. Over 1,000 spaces. People will rationalize these decks. Bottom line: thousands more car trips on Midtown streets = a bad thing. No parking is required by the city on this property, but too much is being allowed.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
9 months
I worried that the closure of Atlanta Medical Center would affect the Highland Ave CVS. Sure enough, it's closing in October. We're losing a walking-distance pharmacy. We'll be fine, of course: it just stinks to lose a thing that helped this place feel like a real neighborhood.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
5 years
Atlanta's Fifth Street bridge is an urban-design treasure.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 months
Five Atlanta things I missed when I was in NYC this week: > Escalators at subway stations > Airport MARTA train > The Beltline; there's nothing like it in NYC and the Highline doesn't compare > Sidewalk trees. Way too many blocks in NYC have none > Atlantans
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 months
Why is there no mention of @MARTAtransit in the @ATLairport while walking to the station from baggage claim? If you didn't already know it was there, you'd have no clue. Atlanta is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. with a metro station at the airport. Promote that crap!
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
The renovation of the Hotel Row buildings on Mitchell Street looks lovely at night! I'm glad the owner (Newport) has put lights on them so they can shine. These were in disrepair for a long time.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Taking a walk through East Atlanta Village on a cold and windy night. The sight of this great old building warmed me up a bit.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Reading complaints from drivers about potholes on Atlanta streets makes me wonder -- how many times has this popular transportation route needed to be repaved since 2014?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
6 years
As long as catching a bus on the outskirts of Atlanta looks like the top pic, land use in the center of the city will continue to resemble the bottom pic. When walking to transit is awful, people will choose driving. It's not all about changing behavior. Road design matters.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
Median home price in ATL's Cabbagetown: $463K In 2011 it was $168K This neighborhood is protected via landmark status. Meaning: no construction is happening. Yet it's still unaffordable. *Stop believing that gentrification only happens with new development*. Just stop it.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
Aamar Indian restaurant has got to be one of the best things to happen to a Downtown Atlanta parking deck. After operating a small storefront for several years, they've expanded a bit, w/ seating inside the deck. They have sidewalk tables too! I love walking past this scene.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 years
I took a final pic of the Atlanta Medical Center sign last night. Today, the hospital is officially closed and the signs are being taken down. What kind of country is this where a hospital that's been here for over 100 years can close because it isn't turning a profit?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
I love this view of Five Points MARTA Station, seen today while getting to an afternoon appointment. That facade comes from the Eiseman Building, which was demolished during MARTA rail construction. The facade was painstakingly disassembled and then reassembled underground.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 months
The conversion of parking lots to homes, in the Summerhill neighborhood, has been amazing to watch over the last few years. Here's the before and after on Bass Street... 1/2
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Cars are fine. They have a place. But when we let them *dominate* cities, we hurt the people who need transportation alternatives. Transit, walking, and biking aren't as safe (or efficient) as they should be when cities prioritize the movement and storage of cars too heavily.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Biden is voicing support for a high-speed passenger train b/t Atlanta & Charlotte. The proposed line would run from ATL's airport & Downtown to Charlotte's. Trains would run at 220mph (!) for a 2hr trip. Read more from Citizens for Progressive Transit:
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
30 days
Broad Street is a (gorgeous) ghost town on Sunday & it shouldn't be. I'll die on this hill: Downtown needs many thousands more permanent residents to fix the problem of hot-and-cold vibrancy, where too many streets are empty outside of the Mon-Fri GSU activity & big events. 1/2
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
The saddest part: I made this image about 10 years ago and there's no need to change it because those parking lots are still here. In fact, barely out of view is a property where an old building was hit by a car a couple of years ago & got demolished. It's now a parking lot.
@StrongTowns
Strong Towns
1 year
The top image is from a 1919 map of downtown Atlanta and the bottom is a photo of the same area from 2014. Only one 3-building cluster of this entire multi-block area remains today. Most of the productive architecture has been replaced by wealth-sucking parking lots.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
8 months
Quick reminder: The common misperception that Atlanta has gotten ‘too dense’ with development is about cars, not people. Atlanta's population density is comparatively low. We need *more* people, but *less* driving. (AKA "let's grow up and be a city.")
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
Atlanta's Cabbagetown is a lovable place.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
10 months
A past MARTA chief said the system was built to run trains as 90 second intervals. Which is kinda mind blowing. We've got this incredible potential for growth adjacent to high-frequency rail, yet we get parking podiums in the core and NIMBYs on the edges, preventing goodness.
@DaveEderer
Dave Ederer
10 months
@JeffDelp The larger point is that MARTA heavy rail is a huge asset to the Atlanta region and it’s comically underutilized. If we developed land adjacent to stations properly and ran frequent reliable service, we’d get a lot more value out of the system.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
A large tree sacrificed itself today, in protest of the urban sprawl enabled by Atlanta highways. Rest in power, comrade. We hear you.🌲
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@FOX5Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta
1 year
A large tree has fallen across southbound lanes of GA 400 just past Northridge Road causing traffic delays, according to Sandy Springs Police.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
3 years
The before-and-after on Memorial Drive is striking. First image: 2017 Second image: tonight Both are of the same view, facing west from Atlanta Dairies. Has any street in Atlanta seen this big of a change in the last four years?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
9 months
Little Five Points is a good place with some fine local businesses. I enjoy my visits. Yet I can't help but wonder: how much nicer would it be if cars weren't such a heavy visual presence on these blocks? And if sidewalks were a bit wider?
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
7 months
I've overcome my long illness/surgery & I'm on my first solo MARTA/walking adventure in six weeks! ❤️ I was surprised by a gorgeous restaurant in the lobby of the Healey Building in Downtown called Lobster Banh Mi. I got a lovely Vietnamese coffee. Please visit! 57 Forsyth St.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
2 months
Rail on the Beltline is a 19th century concept. Why aren't we exploring emerging technologies like autonomous, EV wiener mobiles that carry 6 people + a hotdog kitchenette? Studies show this is 1/6 the cost of rail. Visit "Neighbors Say Put Some Mustard on it ATL" for more info.
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@atlurbanist
Darin Givens
1 year
DeKalb Avenue. Cars fly by mere inches from my elbow w/ no trees as a barrier. It's hard to get excited about the upcoming resurfacing as a pedestrian. I want this to all get scraped away & transformed into something more befitting of a street with several MARTA Stations on it.
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Darin Givens
10 months
I love it when Atlanta streets make me feel like I've wandered into a mountain town.
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Darin Givens
11 months
During a long walk, we stepped into Trader Joe's to buy something cold to drink. One of the staff members recognized me and shook my hand, saying he lives in Midtown w/out a car, walks to work, and enjoys following me online. It was a good Atlanta day. I needed one. 👍
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Darin Givens
2 months
Top: Midtown Atlanta in 1980, facing west, with Colony Square in the lower left. Georgia Tech is in the upper left in the background. Bottom: same view now, by Google Earth. I've highlighted Colony Square in yellow for comparison. Archive image source:
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Darin Givens
2 years
Mayor Dickens has already pissed me off, by caving in to the bullying of a Downtown property owner (Richard Bowers) who opposed the great Shared Street project on Peachtree. It's being dismantled before it could even get to phase 2. That "before" pic will become the "after."
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Darin Givens
9 months
What's the one change you'd make to MARTA's rail system? I'll kick things off with my choice: I'd change the 'More MARTA' spending to include infill stations. I was bummed when those were taken off the list. A lot of good could come from new stations built on the existing lines.
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Darin Givens
4 years
I need everyone who writes anything about cities to take several walks to *actual destinations* with babies or toddlers in tow. Or else alongside folks who have mobility impairments, or physical disabilities. And don't just make those walks in the high-rent districts.
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Darin Givens
2 years
Long ago, you wouldn't see this many people outside in Atlanta unless there was a major festival going on. But this is just an average Sunday on the Eastside Beltline, in beautiful weather.
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Darin Givens
1 year
People say: "Atlanta is a driving town & always will be" But I say Atlanta can lead the charge for creating excellent, walkable urbanism out of the wreckage of car-oriented sprawl. Given that this is one of the more sprawl-damaged places in the U.S., it would be poetic justice.
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Darin Givens
5 years
The view of Midtown from the Georgia Tech library today.
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