Atlanta's Downtown Has No Soul

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution features an in-depth assessment of thepedestrian's experience along Marietta Street, Peachtree Street, andLuckie Street, three important walking routes through downtown Atlanta. It waswritten by three AJC reporters (city columnist Colin Campbell,commercial real estate reporter Tony Wilbert, and architecture critic Catherine Fox), and prompted by the recent decision to locate the proposed Georgia Aquarium within the downtown core and adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, rather than in the Atlantic Steel brownfield development a few miles away as previously planned. All the routes discussed in the article will likelybe used by tourists walking among downtown hotels and destinations. (Thanks to Rich Mintz on the The Practice of New Urbanism listserv for the summary.) From the article: "Nevertheless, much of downtown still suffers from ills that began decades ago. It's a pedestrian district that mistreats pedestrians. If Bernie Marcus' $200 million gift is going to perk up a central city still aching for people, investment and things to do, the city will need to improve things fast."