Despite its reputation as a city of wall-to-wall subdivisions, office complexes, and shopping centers, Atlanta's not a complete stranger to matters of green. At the time of its mid-19th century founding, in the woods at the end of a railroad line, it was called the "City in the Forest." And in the early 20th century, the city created the 185-acre Piedmont Park in Midtown (currently ballooning to add another 50 acres).
Since then, of course, the Atlanta of urban planning lore has descended: traffic-choked, overdeveloped, polluted, with a major water crisis and few public transportation options, in a state where 100 acres of open space are gobbled up every day. And while the city has certainly earned that reputation -- Atlanta was ranked the fourth-most-sprawling of 83 metro areas by Smart Growth America -- a greener Atlanta, one that jibes with its bucolic roots, is peeking from behind the veil of smog, giving the city both an environmental makeover and an economic boost.
"Atlanta has gotten so much recognition about being the poster child for sprawl and its legendary love affair with the car," says Will Herbig, director of urban design at Midtown Alliance, which has spearheaded the revitalization of one of the city's core neighborhoods. "We've all realized the status quo cannot continue. There's got to be another way."Read More
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Sprawling Atlanta Seeks New Routes to the Future
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Outer Limits
By Robert DiGiacomo
Grist, 5/14/08
Straight to the Source
