Many people know the Atlanta BeltLine as a wide path that connects some of the Northeast intown neighborhoods’ hot restaurants and shopping venues. But what many may not realize is that the BeltLine is more than just a conversion of abandoned train tracks into a walking path. In fact, the current trail is just one small part of a total re-imagining of Atlanta’s urban core industrial intown loop around the city’s center.
Here’s an aerial rendering of the entire BeltLine from 2013. The area highlighted in the neon green circle roughly marks the section most people are familiar with which runs between the Krog Tunnel and Ponce City Market. You can see Freedom Park and the Carter Center just below and to the left of the highlighted area.
This map really helps illustrate the scale of the thing we call the BeltLine. It is not just a park but is a major citywide transportation initiative that has been in the works for decades. The original idea came at the end of the last century, 1999 to be exact, and it was slow to catch on. But as it gained traction and as Atlanta evolved into a hub of the Southeast United States, the project has taken shape. It has been a herculean endeavor involving dozens of neighborhoods, non-profits, city departments, state and federal agencies, multiple city-wide votes, and countless hours of work and money to get us this far. The vision — which always included a light rail component — is designed to make the BeltLine useful and accessible for everyone.
But without the rail component, it will remain nothing more than a linear sidewalk park.
So, before you say “NOMBY!” (Not On My Beltline Ya’ll) And before you join a fight to dismantle this beautiful idea, please take some time to understand it. Stick with me for a minute and let’s go back to when it all started being built. Back to when the walking path was a new thing. So many people at that…
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