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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 17h

The craziest part: this is one block from the Peachtree Center MARTA Station!

People assume that our high parking supply has no negative effect on transit ridership. Yet there are literally decades worth of studies showing it does.

Image source (me):

www.instagram.com/p/DHmKM7Tun_s/

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 18h

"Improving the experience of being in a car" is not the crucial win I'm looking for when it comes to building a more sustainable growth model.

We need to devote *less* road width to cars, even as population grows, to truly improve infrastructure for bike/ped/transit trips.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 1d

Shifting many trips to other modes is crucial.

We must expand transit lines & create great pedestrian/bike paths everywhere. But it's equally important to increase the density of affordable housing & destinations near the transit/bike/ped infrastructure that exists.

Act like it's a city.

/end

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 1d

To prepare for the future, we have to look beyond road expansion and beyond cars. Because if everyone who moves to Atlanta uses cars to the same extent as the current population, we'll have a huge problem. We can't sustainably increase car trips at the same rate as population growth.

2/

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 1d

We're not going to widen this interstate and we're not going to build a double-decker expansion. Politically and financially, it's not happening. This is the fullest capacity we'll have for cars on I-75/85 through Midtown Atlanta. The same can be said for most roadways in the city.

1/

car congestion on about 15 lanes of highway

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Reposted by Darin Givens

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 2d

California's governor has signed SB 79, a large-scale upzoning of land near transit throughout the state's largest counties.

Joe Cohen @cohenhouse.bsky.social · 2d

WE DID IT!!!

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Reposted by Darin Givens

Ray Delahanty | CityNerd @nerd4cities.bsky.social · 2d

I guess California really does know how to party

California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 2d

[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed SB 79, which will make it legal to build multi-family housing near high quality transit!

Our statement:
cayimby.org/news-events/...

cayimby.org

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 2d

Fascinating article -- I'm embarrassed to admit I was unaware GA had coastal oyster farms. Thanks for sharing this.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 2d

I have no understanding of how it happened but I'm going through a big Genesis phase right now, mostly post-Gabriel stuff. It's partly nostalgia I'm sure, but there's some really good music in there.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 2d

This race will be decided by ping-pong balls.

"Malhotra said he would be an independent voice and a new generation of leadership that is willing to be bold and transformative. Overstreet said she would be a leader that is both principled and proven & and wouldn’t allow for any ping-pong balls.

Griffin Wasdin @heflinhollis.bsky.social · 3d

I really need someone to make a gif of “It seems like the ping-pong balls really hurt your feelings” lololol.

City Council President race reaches boiling point over public safety - SaportaReport

Read City Council President race reaches boiling point over public safety by Delaney Tarr for SaportaReport here.

saportareport.com

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 4d

I guess if we absolutely have to keep a statue of a vocal white supremacist (Henry Grady) on Marietta Street in Downtown Atlanta, the fact that it's sandwiched between two ugly data-center towers is at least a kind of just reward. But I'd rather not keep it.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 4d

It never stops amazing me that when I'm standing here, I'm standing above 15 lanes of interstate highway. I can't even hear it. 5th Street Bridge.

A green space with trees and a street in the middle.

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Reposted by Darin Givens

Nathaniel William Horadam @horadam.bsky.social · 6d

Cities with a higher violent crime rate than Chicago:

Houston
Dallas
Lubbock
Amarillo
San Antonio
Corpus Christi

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 8d

Continuing to use this much land for surface parking -- next to MARTA's only significant expansion of high capacity transit (Summerhill BRT) in 25 years -- seems like a ridiculous waste.

We have to get serious about matching transit investments with growth in walkable density in Atlanta.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 10d

Bizarre story! And it highlights the problems with GA's laws about LLCs: we can never really know who owns property in the city because the state offers them so much protection.

Knowing who owns land is important for cities. Meaning: this is another way the state prevents cities from succeeding.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 11d

The image from 2002 highlights the old parking lots at GA Tech. It almost looks like a suburban commuter school.

The second image is the same view of the modern campus, with parking lots turned into green spaces, pedestrian paths & new buildings. What a great transformation!

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 12d

1999 video about light rail in ATL!

I hate to be a naysayer on rail-expansion, but making a huge investment in rail in these low-density areas feels wrong; especially from a modern view, when we have many needs for rail expansion in higher densities.

h/t ATL Joe

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnmt...

Light rail vehicle traveling in a suburban place

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 13d

Bikes and pedestrians don't do this kinda damage. There's a reason cars need to be treated as dangerous devices by our laws and our urban design.

Spotted on North Avenue (and reported to ATL 311).

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 13d

Here's the view facing south on West Peachtree Street (from 13th Street) today, and 15 years ago. It's quite different today.

No skyscrapers. A parking lot and some small buildings.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 16d

European cities don't hold a monopoly on pairing urban density with good options for transit/biking/walking -- we've got examples here in Atlanta! Here's Tech Square in Midtown today. What a beautiful sight. Let's see more of this!

Pedestrians, cyclists, and a Stinger bus with buildings all around.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 17d

The promise of the Beltline as a program for equitable, sustainable growth + rail expansion was intoxicating 20 years ago.

Sadly, too many leaders have allowed it to be exploited primarily as a wealth-building tool for privileged property owners, even at the expense of schools. Let's change that.

Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 17d

Apparently Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO argues extending Beltline TAD/TIF would help city adapt to declining federal $ to city.

That’s almost exactly wrong & more reason NOT to extend TAD. Why give control of $125M+/year in revenue to one largely unaccountable entity spending $ in narrow district? 1/2

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 17d

One of my favorite things about walking on Peachtree Street at night: getting to see the lights on the beautiful facade of the Imperial Hotel building (1911). It currently serves as supportive housing for the formerly homeless and other persons with special needs.

The ornate brick facade of an 8 story building completed in 1911.

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 17d

On the bottom:
The transportation mode that established Atlanta as a city.

On the top:
The mode that was prioritized so heavily that it has choked Atlanta's ability to do what cities do best.

It doesn't have to stay this way.

(Viewed from a MARTA train)

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 21d

I get it now. I see why powerful property owners + Beltline CEO Clyde Higgs wouldn't want to follow through with building rail on the Eastside.

What a hideous nightmare this is!

Putting little pod cars on concrete would be sooooo much better.

😭😭😭

www.tumblr.com/communities/...

East Berlin urbanism has its gems.

www.tumblr.com

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Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 23d

Wow, that's awesome! Well done.

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