Tag: Modal Citizen

If you’ve paid attention to news out of MARTA the past several weeks, you’ve no doubt heard the phrase “transit-oriented development.” That’s urban-planner speak for the development of land surrounding transit stations. Lindbergh City Center, with its mix of residences and retail, is a prime example. MARTA has lately secured developers for massive mixed-use projects at the [King Memorial][1] and [Avondale][2] stations and solicited proposals for [Edgewood/Candler Park][3]. Seven other stations have made the [working short list][4] for similar projects.

As an employer program manager with the Clean Air Campaign, Lettie Hernandez Ongie works with state agencies such as the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Governor's office to encourage their employees to adopt clean modes of transportation. But her job took on a more personal significance when her daughter, born prematurely two years ago, was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease.

The Atlanta Streetcar has always been a tough sell on paper—even before construction challenges delayed its projected opening a year, to spring 2014. Just 1.3 miles end to end, the route passes through blighted city blocks and is book-ended by the tourist hubs of Centennial Olympic Park and the King district, leading skeptics to wonder how ordinary Atlantans will benefit.

Standing on the platform of the Dunwoody station one late January morning, Keith Parker looks every bit the high-ranking executive—camel overcoat, dapper gray suit, trim goatee—except for one small detail: a broken-in leather briefcase that appears to have seen the floors of a few train cars.