Newspaper Page Text
CLANG, CLANG WENT THE TROLLEY
* a t,o* Ac
Sr *Te s _
——decM u
l»ll» 1
r5??rro^
UJH -.
Ufesw- 64 ^
*1. £»«*•'
f|ss=s5^
OTltej sysw®
noeVboAoo^ r 8 ® ample. ,
^SS^
, §?i§£^
* &**»*■
revive
‘ oseoU J™nd4^ wwnA r;
jSS3*3ESffl
%%2&SZ V
^SSSS^t
AflanM s*> a tel * ** buses *»
SlsSr^
t&zs?.—
S^SSS—" 1 '
*"?,SfcnW
““ Se®"* 1
— woW®”?,™-
M| 3SS.»jj*
H tTC- f
IP b**: f
■h-T-
BL not seen for ^
Vrtte" Ml flB ' a
anddw 1
usingfltt^. MpMT-
cn-d b «““■ **' iMyn
wouWC T£*- nt|il^
become Ute bach ■IBlM
ss&~ mm£m
IfWl
*aS»««
I i!5fi2&*-
\ sstfSSssss*
| gsSSs-
,million pw’
^ mile® be
.old be about
n mb'ro3nono fleae
li§3g§&
SsSK - —-
* r I.ANT,
"A^IOUtZ
pea chine
The return of streetcars to Downtown was a decade in the making
By Collin Kelley and Ann Taylor Boutwell
INtown first wrote about the potential
return of steetcars to Atlanta for the cover
story of our October 2003 issue.
That’s when former Atlanta City Council
President Cathy Woolard was touting a
plan created by Georgia Tech graduate
student Ryan Gravel called “the belt line.”
In line with Gravel’s thesis, she envisioned
new trolleys connecting to MARTA via a
“network of old train tracks that crisscross
the city that are no longer in use.”
That plan eventually became the Atlanta
BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of abandoned
rail circling the city that is slowly being
reclaimed as walking and biking paths.
Light rail is planned to complement the
paths in the BeltLine in the future, but the
city’s first real streetcar is expected to begin
ferrying passengers around the Downtown
core later this month.
The Atlanta Streetcar’s 2.7 mile loop
from Centennial Olympic Park to the King
Center and back is the first installment of a
larger vision of bringing trolleys back to a
city which abandoned them in 1949.
Back then, a network of streetcars
connected the city’s neighborhoods and
business hubs. You could hop on a streetcar
and take it all the way to Decatur, which
also had a streetcar system. After 1949,
the city utilized the same overhead power
lines that ran the streetcars for a system of
electric buses. Those were discontinued for
gas-powered buses in 1963.
Before the “Great Recession” hit at the
end of 2008, a number of plans were floating
in hopes of recreating Portland, Oregon’s
successful re-launch of streetcars to its
downtown streets. MARTA floated the idea
of a “flex trolley,” essentially trains running
on tires in HOV lanes and dedicated paths
along city streets. There was also a plan to
run a streetcar line down Peachtree from
Buckhead to old Fort McPherson.
The Peachtree line might eventually
come to fruition, but for now, all eyes are on
Downtown and the big blue streetcars that
are set to begin rolling any day now. 03
ahahja
It’S rRS £
m AbOM'i
.. •.« Atlanta bn 8
Special
Above left: Streetcars traverse Alabama Street
in Downtown in the 1920s near the old Atlanta
National Bank Building in this historic postcard.
Above right: We first reported on the potential
for the streetcars’ return along with something
nicknamed ‘‘the belt line” in the May 2003
edition.
Left: The Atlanta Streetcars have been on the
2.7-mile loop through Downtown for testing in
October, and opening day is scheduled before
the end of this year.
Harry Norman, Christie’s
r IMTCDM ATIAM AI DEAI CCTATC
REALTORS*
Since 1930
INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE
NEY HINOTE
NORMAN. REALTORS' THE INTOWN OFFICE
LISTING AGENT OF THE YEAR SINCE 2004
ENT: THE INTOWN OFFICE
Harry Norman, REALTORS® The Intown Office | 1531 Piedmont Avenue NE, Suite B | Atlanta, GA 30324 | Mike Wright, Sr.VP/Managing Broker | www.harrynorman.com
Information is believed to be accurate, but is not warranted. Offers subject to errors, changes, omissions, prior sales, and withdrawals without notice.
(404) 786-9562 | (404) 897-5558
www.RodneyH.com
Rodney.Hinote@harrynorman.com
PENDING PROPERTIES:
3102 Kingsdiff Way
958 Lindbergh Drive
880 Glendale Terrace # 11
2304 Strathmore Drive
SOLD PROPERTIES IN 2014:
943 Peachtree Street #2005
970 Mount Paran Road
905 Juniper Street #321
3674 Charles Drive
871 Penn Avenue
77 Peachtree Place #411
2236 Melante Drive
195 I4 ,h Street #TS8
3031 Park Street
958 Lindbergh Drive
933 E. Rock Springs Road
2693 Northbrook Drive
924 Garrett Street
653 N. Highland Avenue #7
3127 Lenox Road #16
412 4* Street
4700 Magnolia Circle
375 Ralph McGill Blvd #804
2828 Kimmeridge Drive
1687 Briarcliff Road #7
1445 Monroe Drive #C22
696 Greystone Park
905 Juniper Street #320
471 Pine Tree Drive
2417 Glenwood Avenue
1382 Sheffield Glen Way
1259 Village Run
327 6 ,h Street
338 W. Hill Street
AtlantalNtownPaper.com
November 2014 | INtOWll 15
