Where does the Atlanta BeltLine go from here?

A timeline of the Atlanta BeltLine (so far)

Photograph by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for New York Times

December 1999
Ryan Gravel proposes a nearly 23-mile transit vision to connect 45 intown neighborhoods.

August 2001
Then Atlanta City Councilwoman Cathy Woolard teams with Gravel to promote the BeltLine to neighborhood groups.

Photograph by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Entertainment Industry Foundation

July 2005
Mayor Shirley Franklin creates the BeltLine Partnership to raise private funds.

July 2006
Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. is created to build parks, trails, and transit.

February 2008
The Georgia Supreme Court rules that the BeltLine can’t use school taxes—one-third of its funding—for construction.

October 2008
The BeltLine’s first bike path—the West End Trail in southwest Atlanta—opens.

Photograph courtesy of Atlanta Trails

June 2010
An estimated five hundred people march in the first Lantern Parade, which now attracts tens of thousands.

Photograph by Christopher T. Martin/courtesy of the BeltLine

October 2012
The Eastside Trail kicks off a wave of mixed-use developments (and rents increase).

July 2013
The Atlanta Police Department creates a 15-officer force to patrol the BeltLine.

May 2014
The International Real Estate Federation calls the BeltLine the best environmental rehabilitation project in the world.

November 2016
Residents approve a sales tax increase to build BeltLine transit and bike trails.

July 2017
An AJC investigation finds BeltLine officials failing to meet the project’s affordable housing goals.