I just found this web site for Charles Brewer’s (former Mindspring CEO and Mullet-head) new development project, Glenwood Park.
This development is located very near our old house in a disused section of urban Atlanta and, quite frankly, looks really kick ass. One could dis for the “theme park” quality, but hey, it’s better than a bunch of cheesy, shitty condos.
Of course, trying to make a real city from nothing is a bit of a challenge, and the results certainly won’t make Atlanta like Portland without the rain, but at least we’re heading in the right direction in many cases.
I’d also like to know where they think they’re getting a light rail/trolly from (as shown in the renderings).
10 responses so far ↓
1 pumpinCAD // Jan 30, 2003 at 9:40 am
It’s a very ambitious project and can only be pulled off by someone with Brewer’s financial clout. He also put in much of his own money, which most developers don’t do- they don’t want the risk. I guess it’s a testament to Brewer’s confidence in the ideas he admits he’s only recently been turned on to.
I am getting a little sick of the catch-phrase ‘new urbanism’, although I generally agree with the philosophies. It can be very Disney-esque (like Seaside, FL), but some of the architectural firms already contracted to design the residential portions are really kick-ass in the industry, so I have pretty high hopes. I think he’ll have trouble filling those offices, considering the state of that market here in town…
2 scotty the body // Jan 30, 2003 at 9:48 am
I agree that the offices might be a tough sell. The access in this part of town isn’t amazing, and no public transit exists currently within an easy walk of the place. Atlanta still does not have the critical urban mass to make transportation to and from the site something that is inconsequential. people are going to have to commute from the ‘burbs and out to the ‘burbs.
3 pumpinCAD // Jan 30, 2003 at 10:26 am
Property values have already started to climb and people are already moving to the area in anticipation of the development.
The ultimate goal of ‘new urbanism’ is a self-sustaining neighborhood where ideally a person could live, work, and play without leaving it’s neat little confines. To me it’s like trying to change the world wide web by designing a kick ass site- it’s great within it’s own right but doesn’t do much for the overall (ie Atlanta) community.
With that said I still think it’s a good idea and experiment.
4 nic // Jan 30, 2003 at 10:51 am
Why would one WANT to live, work, eat, shop, etc in the same place? Arlington tried that concept and produced the eerily post-apocalyptic Crystal City, where you can live, work, shop, etc without ever going outside.
5 scotty the body // Jan 30, 2003 at 10:58 am
the key, to me, is being able to combine at least a couple of those. live-eat-shop or work-eat-shop. not ALL of them, although I certainly don’t like 45 minute commutes, either.
quite frankly, it’s rare, even in REAL cities, that people can do all of the above.
my ideal world would be a daily subway commute for work, and then having lots of shops, restaurants and markets in my neighborhood to take care of feeding, clothing, medicating, examining and entertaining myself.
I can almost do it in my neighborhood now, but we need more eating and shopping and a doctor, dentist, barber or any/all of the above.
6 pumpinCAD // Jan 30, 2003 at 11:34 am
the trend is to stop the urban sprawl phenomenon so people don’t HAVE to commute and can live in self-sustaining areas. I think the ideal would be to integrate mixed use buildings into a larger contextual part of town, like a Midtown or Buckhead, instead of creating smaller areas like a street or neighborhood which become isolated little theme parks
7 scotty the body // Jan 30, 2003 at 11:44 am
absolutely correct. that’s what I mean by “real city.” Midtown is probably our most urban, but the Inman Park/Poncey Highlands area is, to me, our most liveable.
8 nic // Jan 30, 2003 at 12:55 pm
Right now I work in an office park in the middle of nowhere and have to drive to get lunch. We aren’t even all that close to the Metro. So, I agree about having lots of stuff near my office. And I like having lots of things going on near my home as well. I just don’t want my office near my home. I have a nice 15 minute commute that goes against traffic; it is ideal.
As for the dreaded urban sprawl, I like grass and trees and parks and owning lots of land. I’ll admit that I couldn’t stand living to far away from DC, but you couldn’t get me to live in some urban village thingy either.
9 blotto blotto // Aug 8, 2003 at 6:52 pm
don’t be fooled, these developers are writing this stuff themselves. no one else cares.
10 Larry Felton Johnson // May 5, 2004 at 6:11 pm
I’ve been doing progress photos
on my blog at http://larryfeltonjohnson.typepad.com
I update pretty frequently. I live about six blocks from the development (on Haas in East Atlanta) and take photos about every three days, depending on whether much new buildout has been done.
Leave a Comment