Everyone who lives near a city knows all too well how much location – specifically, proximity to the commuter rail — matters. The shorter the drive is to the station, the better. And the ability to walk there trumps just about everything.
Such convenience is about to come to thousands in Atlanta. That city’s metro system MARTA has started making real estate deals to build housing to unused transit parking lots. MARTA plans to turn the space at the King Memorial, Edgewood, and Edgewood/Chandler Park stations into combination residential and retail developments.
“People have been looking at these parking lots for decades wondering why they were just sitting there,” Amanda Rhein, senior director of transit-oriented development at MARTA, told City Lab.
Now, that is finally changing — and it’s not only helping commuters, but also the railroad itself. Without state funding, MARTA’s bottom line is very easily impacted by the ups and downs of the economy. So, when Keith Parker took over the agency in 2012, he decided that a bold project like this is what was required to keep it competitive. The development will not only produce revenue from all the train riders, but also with each unit sold, will raise money for the transit system that it can use for improvements.
And so far, Parker’s decision is looking like a good one. MARTA has successfully leased land to developers for mixed-use buildings that are focused on the adjacent transit opportunities, including a project on a four-acre unused parking lot that features 13,000 square feet of retails space and 386 housing units.
The boon does not only belong to the railroads, though; it is the entire community’s as these projects could decrease traffic on the roads. And on top of that, there is more to the new spaces then one might think. Beyond all the great new housing and shops, each development will also feature a public park as well as have at least 20 percent of the units dedicated to affordable housing.
While construction has yet to start, there’s already hope for more in the future since this model is good for both the city of Atlanta, its citizens and the transit system itself.
“We’re going to make the stations themselves and the surrounding areas more pleasant and more easily accessible, and we’ll be providing amenities to our riders and to the surrounding community. So I think people will realize that and give MARTA a chance,” says Rhein.
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Tag: Commuting
Volunteering Enables Low-Income Ohioans to Get Their Own Two Wheels
When it comes to low-cost transportation and exercise, nothing compares to a bike. But you’re more likely to see people commuting to work and school in high-income communities than in low-income ones.
Toledo Bikes! is looking to change that dynamic by spreading the benefits of cycling to people of all income levels.
The Ohio nonprofit recovers used bicycles and refurbishes them while also teaching low-income kids and adults how to make repairs. People can volunteer in the repair shop, and once they fulfill a certain number of hours, they are given a bicycle of their own. Last year, the center racked up 848 volunteer hours, and 44 people earned their own wheels.
Toledo Bikes! also donates bicycles to community organizations and sells them at affordable prices, using the profits to keep its programs running.
This year, Toledo’s Hawkins Elementary School held a bike-themed essay competition. The 12 kids who wrote the best compositions explaining why they’d like a bicycle got to ride one home, supplied by Toledo Bikes! Even those who didn’t win one were able to enroll in one of the center’s build-a-bike or bike maintenance classes.
Erik Thomas of Toledo Bikes! told Eric Wildstein of WNWO that kids who start out taking classes are apt to return to the bike shop. “A lot of them we see coming back over the years as they’ve grown up,” he said. “They’ve gotten their first job, they need transportation, they’ll come in here and earn some hours.”