January 2010

What's the Big Idea?

Compiled and edited by Steve Fennessy, Elizabeth Westby Florio, and Jackson Reeves

This month Kasim Reed becomes Atlanta’s first new mayor in eight years. He takes office at one of the most challenging periods in the city’s history. But tough times can spawn great ideas. We canvassed dozens of Atlantans to find the most intriguing. [Click on name to jump to response.]


Peter Grundy
John Morse, contemporary artist and writer
Matt Ruppert, owner of Noni’s Deli
Sally Flocks, president and CEO of PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety)
Sean Sobottka, student at Emory University School of Law
Jay Pratte, lead keeper at Zoo Atlanta
Peggy Barlett, Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University
Darian Cole, North Metro Career Center, Georgia Department of Labor
Susan Bridges, Whitespace Gallery
Bob Amick, Concentrics Restaurants
Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit
Carl E. Sanders, governor of Georgia, 1963–1967
Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition; mayor of Atlanta, 1970–1974
Andisheh Nouraee, columnist at Creative Loafing
H.C. Warner, Alcove Gallery
Tom Key, executive artistic director of Theatrical Outfit
Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington of Fulton County
Matthew Cardinale, news editor, Atlanta Progressive News
Gina Simpson, president and CEO of Hands On Atlanta
Wayne Robertson, president of Energy Ace
David A. Jackson, president and CEO of the Center for Working Families
Volkan Topalli, criminologist at Georgia State University
Lain Shakespeare, executive director of the Wren’s Nest
Anita Beaty, executive director of Metro Atlanta Task Force
Raya Tobler, Campbell High student, age sixteen

John Morse, contemporary artist and writer
The Connector splits Atlanta like an open wound. Imagine that sunken eyesore—from Memorial Drive to Atlantic Station—completely covered by an undulating, tree-lined promenade with outdoor cafes, bike paths, fountains, soccer fields, dog runs: four long miles of new parkland in the heart of Atlanta! Expensive, yes, but profits from selling slim parcels at the park’s edge for low-rise development would cover the cost. Best of all, this verdant ribbon would finally stitch together our serpentine urban core. Cities around the globe have covered thoroughfares and rail lines to transform blight into beauty. So can Atlanta.

Matt Ruppert, owner of Noni’s Deli
Downtown needs to incorporate more demographics and full-time Downtown residents into the daily mix. A great place to start is Underground. I propose we knock down that pigsty and erect in its place a skyscraper called High Ground. On ground level, we’d have an open, authentic street food vendor market. The bulk of the building’s space should be residential. The High Museum could use the roof to showcase sculptural exhibits amid a landscape of flora designed by the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 

Sally Flocks, president and CEO of PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety)
Atlanta residents are fed up with drivers who threaten pedestrians’ lives by speeding through residential areas and school zones. The city should install speed radar signs on neighborhood streets. Radar signs show drivers how fast they are going. They also collect useful traffic data. Unlike speed humps, they can be used on collector streets and bus routes. They’re effective at getting drivers to slow down.

Sean Sobottka, student at Emory University School of Law
On a drive from Emory to west Midtown, I hit every light on Ponce de Leon between Briarcliff and Juniper. What Google Maps estimated as an eighteen-minute trip took over half an hour in light traffic. Synchronizing traffic lights would be an easy fix to ease congestion.

Jay Pratte, lead keeper at Zoo Atlanta
The most poignant impact this city has had on me since I moved here was the trash one sees in public. Some areas are very clean compared to others, but all of Atlanta should be beautiful. Place new trash and recycling receptacles with a logo at key problem points. Provide an incentive—a tax break or financial reward program—for people to participate in “Clean Mile” sections of the city, promoting ownership and pride in the appearance of our great city.

Peggy Barlett, Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University
There is a lot of unused land in Atlanta that could be used to strengthen our local food system. The city could grant some tax incentives to encourage landowners to develop an urban farm or a community garden. That’s good for quality of life in the neighborhood, and it produces healthy, fresh food, which helps us combat our declining health standards. Another thing is to use tax incentives to encourage grocery stores to locate in underserved areas. If people don’t have access to a car, it is sometimes extremely difficult to eat healthily.

Darian Cole, North Metro Career Center, Georgia Department of Labor
The train system and just MARTA period needs to run twenty-four hours a day. Some people get eliminated from a job if the job starts at five in the morning, because MARTA doesn’t run at the time.

Susan Bridges, Whitespace Gallery
I recently went to Toronto to attend Nuit Blanche, an all-night art show. People stood in line at 3 a.m. to get into venues held in vacant buildings, grocery stores, and on tops of buildings. Everything was free and the entire city was into it. This “art show” draws about 1 million people into the streets. Atlanta has so many open spaces and so many amazing artists who want and need to have a more active and supportive community. How can we make our great city a cultural center as well? Through education and public art.

Bob Amick, Concentrics Restaurants
The city ought to look into the privatization of the whole process of licensing and inspecting projects within the city of Atlanta. The city has not proven that it can do that efficiently and do that well. You have to spur development and have people want to be there. Development and money coming in creates diversity, which drives all the other pieces of the pie. Plus, all the one-way streets Downtown need to be done away with; everything’s been developed to create a huge exit from Downtown at four o’clock in the afternoon, and that’s counterproductive.

Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit
We need to build Atlanta’s Regional Vision for Transit plan. It includes electric streetcars, electric light rail, diesel commuter rail on existing tracks, and the potential for high-speed rail at a passenger terminal Downtown. Rail vehicles on the BeltLine would serve Atlanta’s intown neighborhoods. Representatives of eleven metro counties have approved this plan. The next mayor should lead the push for regional funding. This is a crucial investment in Atlanta’s future.

Carl E. Sanders, governor of Georgia, 1963–1967
The Atlanta City Council should give the new mayor of Atlanta a 100-day honeymoon, similar to what the U.S. Congress gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which allowed him to create and propose programs that enabled the country to come out of the Depression.

Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition; mayor of Atlanta, 1970–1974
Thinking big is our mantra, but I wish we would come back down to earth for a while. I would freeze all tax increases, all bond issues, all new programs, and all capital projects (not judicially mandated) until our city has returned to a balanced economy—a growing economy that generates enough income to pay for our needs. When governments increase taxes, they never come back down, but reduction in services and facilities can be reinstituted. Do like your personal family does—tighten your belt, Atlanta.

Andisheh Nouraee, columnist at Creative Loafing
Treat critics with respect instead of as enemies. Honor responsible homeowners by cracking down on serial code violators whose derelict properties are magnets for criminals. Create an Office of Transparency and empower citizen watchdogs by putting every new government report and document online in real-time. Admit the BeltLine is a park with a bike path, not a mass transit project. Require large parking lots to install secure bike racks. Mobilize Atlanta business leaders against rural GOP lawmakers who revel in hurting the city. Hire more cops, and tell the ones directing traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson to stop being such dicks.

H.C. Warner, Alcove Gallery
In New York City, artists can go out anytime, set up their work, and paint outside. Right now in Atlanta, there’s no main place where local artists can get together and just line the streets and just paint—unless it’s a festival, brought to you by Budweiser. It would be great for the economy and the artists to just have a row of land where it was highly populated, where people walked through.

Tom Key, executive artistic director of Theatrical Outfit
We should provide—on the model of the Manhattan Plaza in New York City—housing for artists in the Downtown Fairlie Poplar District. The Manhattan Plaza was started in the seventies. Working artists live there, and because artists’ incomes fluctuate, they pay a percentage of their income as rent. If we can give creatives affordable housing in the center of the city, it will help stabilize Downtown and provide jobs for artists who bring so much back to the economy. And low-interest business loans would encourage art galleries or theaters or jazz clubs in the Fairlie Poplar District, generating a nightlife. If we have a vigorous nightlife, it gives a feeling of safety and enjoyment of our city 24/7, instead of people evacuating after work hours. Having housing for artists and those kinds of loans would be a critical element in the success of Downtown.

Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington of Fulton County
It’s estimated that the City of Atlanta spends more than three times the amount the county spends, per capita, for police services. A study of forty-eight U.S. cities with populations between 188,000 and 700,000 revealed that Atlanta had the fifth-largest per capita police expenditure. We have both the opportunity and the obligation to move beyond turf rivalry. It was once projected that taxpayers could save as much as $160 million annually if the City of Atlanta and Fulton County were to consolidate their duplicated services. We must now explore ways to use our available resources more efficiently and effectively. The solution might be found in consolidation.

Matthew Cardinale, news editor, Atlanta Progressive News
The concerns of Atlanta’s working poor were almost completely absent from the discourse of the mayoral race. As long as candidates have to raise megadollars to be successful, they will inevitably craft their platform in a way that appeals to wealthy donors. A Poor People’s Political Action Committee would organize Atlanta’s working poor families, bundle their dollars into sizable checks, and then allow Atlanta’s working poor to directly select as recipients the candidates who actually care about their needs.

Gina Simpson, president and CEO of Hands On Atlanta
If we’re truly going to make Atlanta a better place, having a stronger culture of volunteerism is key. I’d challenge every business to give employees time off for service or offer a financial match for time served. I’d also suggest our new mayor and City Council set a tone of leadership by agreeing to participate quarterly in a service project that touches on the three areas of greatest need: economy, environment, and education.

Wayne Robertson, president of Energy Ace
Require that all buildings—new and resale, residential or commercial—install low-flow dual-flush toilets and low-flow water fixtures. Newer technology makes these devices even better, and the water savings are substantial. A family of four today can save around 15,000 gallons a year for indoor use alone. In addition to water conservation, you preserve more of your paycheck as the cost savings add up.

David A. Jackson, president and CEO of the Center for Working Families
Atlanta needs a sustainability strategy that includes tax credits for weatherization of homes and businesses, and a concerted effort to give those jobs to low-income individuals. Such a program could front the cost of the work, enabling property owners to afford energy retrofits. They would repay the full cost over time, but their total energy usage would be reduced enough so that the loan payment on their energy bill will be less than what they saved, yielding a net saving. Local contractors, meanwhile, could expand their crews, creating new and permanent jobs in green construction.

Volkan Topalli, criminologist at Georgia State University
The city needs more control over zoning. Right now you’ll have a condo next to a nightclub next to a daycare center next to another condo next to a strip joint. That kind of design increases criminality. We need a separate entertainment district for the nightclubs and a residential area for the residents. Better city planning would mean more mixed-income property and more mixed-use property. Neighborhood residents need to be educated on what good city design is so they can approve things based on what they want the neighborhood to look like, so that you don’t end up with blighted properties.

Lain Shakespeare, executive director of the Wren’s Nest
Atlanta’s best idea is already at work: the BeltLine. The BeltLine’s potential addresses many of Atlanta’s problems so effectively, there’s no reason not to follow its lead. By focusing on what people need to thrive instead of exclusively on what cars need to thrive, Atlanta will become safer, healthier, and more competitive. Expanded transit, connected neighborhoods, affordable housing, and complete streets will foster denser and more vibrant communities.

Anita Beaty, executive director of Metro Atlanta Task Force
Include everybody who is a citizen in this city in housing opportunities, in healthcare opportunities, in transportation availabilities. Over the past twenty years, the policies of the city have been policies of exclusion—machinations that restrict access to Downtown for people who are poor or homeless with the excuse that the appearance of these people is detrimental to business. It’s past time for this city to live up to its nickname, the City Too Busy to Hate.

Raya Tobler, Campbell High student, age sixteen
Want a way to make the city better? Put the mayor in it, literally. Mingling and talking with the people of this community is essential. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw Shirley Franklin around Atlanta just talking with the people. Atlanta authorities have to do one better than leading the city; they need to become a part of it.