Several years ago, the Beltline project appeared to have gone astray.
Construction was slow on the 22-mile trail looping the entire city of Atlanta, and some unhappy homeowners filed lawsuits claiming the city improperly seized their property. Meanwhile, housing advocates raised concerns about affordable housing, gentrification, and displacement around the Beltline that were not getting addressed. Two members of the Atlanta Beltline Partnership resigned in 2016 — including Ryan Gravel, who dreamed up the idea as a graduate student in 1999.
The following year, Dan Immergluck, an urban studies professor at Georgia State University, called the Beltline an engine of “environmental gentrification,“and the Housing Justice League petitioned for an Affordable Housing Policy Package as part of its BeltLine for All campaign.
But the Beltline’s story is back on track, says Clyde Higgs, the Beltline’s CEO since 2019. While other city of Atlanta transportation projects may suffer from an “execution problem,” the multi-use trail is entering a period that is “like nothing we’ve ever seen in Beltline history,” Higgins says – as far as building the outstanding sections and ensuring that some of the new housing along the Beltline is affordable.
As proof, he adds: They’ve hit over half of the project’s goal to provide 5,600 units of affordable housing and the rest should be completed by the longtime goal of 2030. Developers building apartments in the Beltline Tax Allocation District set aside a portion of units as affordable in exchange for property tax breaks.
So far, 16 miles of the Beltline trail have been built or in the works, since the project kicked off in 2006. The Beltline started paving a 1.2 mile section of the Southside Trail and a 1.3 mile section of the Westside Trail in March.
Following these back-to-back groundbreakings, Atlanta Civic Circle spoke with Higgs to find…
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