Atlanta, GA

How Atlanta Became a Walkable City

Published

1 year ago

March 11, 2025

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Books & the Arts

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March 11, 2025

Atlanta’s Beltline and the effort to re-create pedestrian cities.

The Beltline and Georgia’s experiment in pedestrian spaces.

A restaurant on Atlanta’s BeltLine trail.(John Greim / Getty)

To me, Atlanta has long been the invisible city. Like anyone who flies with regularity (as I used to do pre-Covid), I’ve changed planes too many times at Hartsfield-Jackson airport. My joke about it is that no one has ever seen the outside of its seemingly infinite terminals—that, like certain freaks of topology (Google “Klein bottle”), it has no exterior.

In truth, though, I have occasionally escaped the confines of the endless terminals and ventured into the city itself. I once spoke at a conference at the AmericasMart (né the Merchandise Mart) in downtown Atlanta, but I can’t recall a single thing about what the place looked like, inside or out. Prior to a weekend in Atlanta this past October, my previous visit to the actual city was in 2003, and I can only reconstruct the details of that trip by reading what I wrote about it at the time.

I live and breathe cities. My memory is a vast trove of urban places, famous and obscure, large and small; I can go on at length about the graffiti-filled tunnel through which Little White Oak Bayou in Houston sneaks under a massive highway interchange, or the water tower that’s also the world’s tallest free-standing Corinthian column, found smack in the middle of a St. Louis intersection. So it is a little weird that, until I visited Atlanta again this past fall, my visual recall of the city was almost nonexistent. This is especially peculiar not just because I’ve found reasons to respect and admire even the most chronically unloved American cities, but because the first work of architecture that truly moved me was by a man who was, for a considerable time, Atlanta’s one noteworthy homegrown architect and developer: John Portman.

In the mid-1960s, Portman began the project of rebuilding a 2.5-million-square-foot chunk of downtown Atlanta (which eventually mushroomed to almost 19 million square feet) in what became his signature style: masonry towers that are inert on the outside and, seemingly, like the airport, all interior and no exterior. Portman’s theory, circa 1967, was that urban life as it once existed—the hustle and bustle of pedestrians visiting local shops and socializing on the pavement—was over. Streets were inherently dangerous and ugly, and what was needed instead were “total environments” in which “all of a person’s needs are met,” preferably without ever leaving the building.

As an 18-year-old college student on a summertime jaunt to San Francisco in the 1970s, I wandered into Portman’s brand-new Embarcadero Hyatt, with its dramatically raked 17-story atrium. To me, it looked like an M.C. Escher drawing come to life, and more than the other architecturally noteworthy buildings I’d previously visited—mostly museums like the Guggenheim or the monuments in Washington, DC—it instilled in me a sense of extraordinary possibility.

Of course, Atlanta isn’t John Portman’s city anymore—at least not entirely. One long, circular stretch of it is has been radically transformed by a very au courant piece of urban design: A linear park known as the Beltline, built incrementally since 2008, now encircles much of the city and has spawned new clusters of residential development along its path. The concept would be familiar to Portman, who believed he was building pedestrian-oriented villages—except his pedestrians were supposed to do their walking indoors, in corridors and across sky bridges, while the Beltline is outdoors, a long, narrow environment tracing the path of an old freight rail line. When it is completed, the main loop will be 22 miles long. And though it hasn’t yet inspired Atlanta to make its ordinary streetscapes more hospitable to pedestrians, the Beltline has become a magnet for walkers and bicyclists (who often drive to get there). Like New York City’s High Line, Detroit’s Joe Louis Greenway, or Dallas’s Katy Trail, the Beltline doesn’t just provide a recreational conduit; it changes the way people live in the city around it.

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My interest in the Beltline was sparked in 2017 when I interviewed Ryan Gravel, whose graduate thesis at Georgia Tech proposed repurposing the disused freight line that encircled downtown as the site of a linear park and light rail line. After his graduation in 1999, he began the work of making the concept a reality. With the initial support of a single Atlanta councilwoman, Gravel and a growing number of planners and community activists gradually built momentum and found financial support for the project in the form of a Tax Allocation District, meaning that the project is now supported by the development along its path. The TAD also funds affordable housing along the Beltline.

Invited to speak at a conference at Georgia Tech this past fall, I finally got a chance to see it. After getting my bearings, I arranged to meet Gravel at a spot along the Beltline so we could explore it together. I also invited a fellow conference participant, Maurice Cox, whom I had last spoken to when he was head of Detroit’s Department of City Planning, a role he would subsequently play in Chicago. Among other things, Cox is remembered in Detroit for meeting with a group of activists in 2016, soon after his arrival the year before, and declaring that he wanted to make the Motor City “America’s best city for bicycling.”

We rendezvoused outside a food hall called Krog Street Market, after which Gravel walked us south, through the graffiti-filled Krog Street Tunnel and alongside the Hulsey railyard, a disused 70-acre CSX facility that may someday be redeveloped as a walkable neighborhood and a major stop on the Beltline’s light rail loop. Gravel no longer has any official ties to the project, but he’s still concerned with its future, particularly whether the light rail line he envisioned will ever happen. He also pointed out that there are very few spots along the Beltline’s path that have blossomed into full-fledged public places, with the landscaping and infrastructure you’d expect from a real park.

Nonetheless, the section of the Beltline we walked, on Atlanta’s affluent Eastside, appeared to be an overwhelming success. Everywhere there is new housing, both market-rate and affordable. We were also impressed by the intensity of the activity all around us: the sheer number of people taking pleasure in walking, biking, riding scooters (Cox tells me that his Atlanta relatives habitually head to the Beltline to get some exercise after big holiday meals), or dining in, say, an open-air taco shed. And unlike New York’s High Line—which, because it’s elevated and painstakingly crafted, feels like someplace very precious—the Beltline is at street level and looks, in most respects, very ordinary. This elemental piece of infrastructure, with some stretches paved and others not, mostly feels organic. If I didn’t know better, I would think it had always been there.

Not all of Atlanta is like this. On my first morning in the city, I’d set out on a pilgrimage: I began walking down Peachtree Street from the vicinity of Georgia Tech to Portman’s Peachtree Center. But I was spooked by the almost total absence, on a lovely Friday morning, of other human beings. So I decided to ride MARTA, Atlanta’s version of a subway, which wasn’t much more populated than the sidewalks.

When I emerged from the train station, I felt like I was in a badly designed video game surrounded by unmarked buildings. This was the mid-20th-century American city as envisioned by Portman. I was in a sea of taupe concrete; Google Maps was stumped, as was I. I finally asked a man on the street where the Marriott Marquis was, and he told me that it was right in front of me—that if I took a few more steps, I’d bump into it.

What impressed me most on this quick Portman field trip wasn’t the vertigo-inducing spectacle of the Marriott atrium (once I’d found it), but the remarkable deadness of the streets outside. While New York City’s own Portman-developed hotel, the Times Square Marriott, has been retrofitted in recent years with enough signage and lights to make it look like a good Times Square neighbor, this complex was still deeply mired in the 1960s or ’70s. Though Portman died in 2017, his disdain for street life lives on around Peachtree Center and on the pedestrian-free thoroughfares all over town.

Meanwhile, the Beltline is signaling that a very different city is possible. After Cox and I said goodbye to Gravel, we stopped by a Kroger supermarket. This might not sound like an architectural or urbanist landmark, but the Kroger had a shaded front patio where you could buy a beer from a takeout window and drink it at an outdoor table. It was a genuine pleasure to linger outside; it was as if we were dallying in Paris’s Tuileries Garden or Madrid’s Parque del Retiro. OK, it’s not quite so lovely or so formal, but the supermarket’s front porch is a spot where people take obvious pleasure in just being in public. To me, it’s the clear antithesis of Peachtree Center and Portman’s Atlanta: It’s the Atlanta that Gravel and the Beltline’s creators saw as the city’s future. It is precisely what 21st-century urbanism is all about.

As it happens, the supermarket also offers a splendid view of the new Fourth Ward project, an urban place that owes its existence the Beltline. It was developed by a man named Jim Irwin, who is as much a product of this moment as Portman was of his and is now president of his own company, New City Properties. Initially, Irwin, an Atlanta native, working for a developer called Jamestown, headed up the conversion of a disused Sears warehouse into a bustling destination called Ponce City Market, a massive flea-market-cum-food-hall. Irwin subsequently acquired a nearby site of about 17 acres along the Beltline from Georgia Power and, working with the planner Cassie Branum of Perkins & Will (who was also involved with the overall design of the Beltline), corralled an idiosyncratic, international group of architects to landscape the site and design its buildings. Neither starchitects nor the kind of safe choices to which many developers default, the firms Irwin selected have brought a finely honed eccentricity to the project, one that was inspired by, and contributes to, the vitality of the Beltline.

The most eye-catching new building is the Forth Hotel, which opened in June of last year. It’s a 16-story glass tower girdled with a dramatic concrete exoskeleton known as a diagrid. Designed by the New York–based architect Morris Adjmi, the startling structure brings to mind a Buckminster Fuller dome or the concrete frames designed by the Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi. (The exterior of Nervi’s 1963 George Washington Bridge bus terminal in New York City is an unexpectedly great example.)

The other major new building is an office complex by Olson Kundig, a Seattle firm best known for its idiosyncratic minimalist houses. The 1.1-million-square-foot office complex—clad in black glass and covered with louvers—consists of two mid-rise buildings linked by a sky bridge (à la Portman) but also connected at ground level by lush landscape (courtesy of Brooklyn’s Future Green) and a public stairway that joins the Beltline to the nearby park. Like many staircases these days, this one also doubles as a sort of lounge: It is to the Beltline as the Red Steps are to Times Square.

During a panel discussion at the end of the conference I was attending, Irwin said this about his development: “I almost want to re-create the feeling of looking at your phone in real life.” Which struck me as brilliant, perverse, and very revealing about the present moment. I appreciate that the developer sees the place that he’s willed into being as a remedy for a society “fixated on this little eight-inch piece of glass.” It’s definitely a place worth looking at (and, inevitably, it’s become a popular backdrop for TikTok videos).

Like Portman, Irwin is using architectural razzle-dazzle to address what he perceives as the social malaise of the moment. As Portman wrote in his 1976 book The Architect as Developer: “I decided that if I learned to weave elements of sensory appeal into the design, I would be reaching those innate responses that govern how a human being reacts to the environment.” Similarly, Irwin is trying to awaken a generation of sleepwalkers.

Portman’s Atlanta was built on the assumption that street life was a blight, that it undermined the value of the real estate itself. But the version of Atlanta that emerges from Irwin’s work and the Beltline is pure alchemy, transforming street life into social and economic gold. After a couple of days spent exploring and discussing the Beltline effect, I left convinced that even a city as wedded to the automobile as Atlanta could evolve and become walkable and (somewhat) car-free. I plunged back into Hartsfield-Jackson carrying indelible images of the city outside.

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Karrie Jacobs

Karrie Jacobs is a veteran critic and observer of New York City’s architecture and development and a strong advocate of conducting research by walking around.

Play Fair ATL kicks off ‘The People’s Cup’ in Candler Park

Published

1 hour ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Play Fair ATL kicks off ‘The People’s Cup’ in Candler Park

While the world’s eyes are on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a local coalition is making sure Atlanta’s residents aren’t left on the sidelines. Play Fair ATL launched a three-day push for community accountability today with “The People’s Cup,” a vibrant soccer tournament and cultural celebration in Candler Park.

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Atlanta, GA

New York hosts Atlanta with 1-0 series lead

Published

13 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

New York hosts Atlanta with 1-0 series lead

Atlanta Hawks (46-36, sixth in the Eastern Conference) vs. New York Knicks (53-29, third in the Eastern Conference)

New York; Monday, 8 p.m. EDT

LINE: Knicks -5.5; over/under is 216.5

EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Knicks lead series 1-0

BOTTOM LINE: The New York Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference first round with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Knicks won the last matchup 113-102 on Saturday, led by 28 points from Jalen Brunson. CJ McCollum led the Hawks with 26.

The Knicks are 35-17 in Eastern Conference games. New York has a 9-4 record in one-possession games.

The Hawks are 27-25 in Eastern Conference play. Atlanta is third in the league scoring 18.1 fast break points per game. McCollum leads the Hawks averaging 5.0.

The Knicks are shooting 47.8% from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points higher than the 47.4% the Hawks allow to opponents. The Hawks are shooting 47.4% from the field, 1.4% higher than the 46.0% the Knicks’ opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds for the Knicks. Brunson is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.

Dyson Daniels is scoring 11.9 points per game and averaging 6.8 rebounds for the Hawks. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is averaging 21.3 points and 2.9 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Knicks: 6-4, averaging 110.4 points, 40.7 rebounds, 26.2 assists, 8.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.9 points per game.

Hawks: 5-5, averaging 117.2 points, 43.5 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.0 points.

INJURIES: Knicks: Tyler Kolek: day to day (oblique), Mitchell Robinson: day to day (ankle), Karl-Anthony Towns: day to day (elbow).

Hawks: Jock Landale: out (ankle).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks prediction, pick for Game 1 of 2026 NBA Playoffs first round

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks prediction, pick for Game 1 of 2026 NBA Playoffs first round

Sean Barnard details his preview and prediction for Saturday’s Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks matchup in the NBA Playoffs.

The NBA playoffs are officially underway with a loaded opening round. Taking place in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks will take on the New York Knicks.

You can check out the full series preview on DraftKings Network here.

Looking at the odds for the series opener, the Knicks enter as 6.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Hawks are +205 underdogs with the game total set at O/U 218.5 points.

This article will look at a preview and prediction for the Eastern Conference series opener.

Hawks vs. Knicks prediction, preview

The Atlanta Hawks went through a midseason transition, moving on from Trae Young after he headlined the production for the franchise for the past eight years. The Hawks have not missed a beat amid the major midseason shakeup, finishing as the sixth seed in the conference with a 46-36 overall record. On the season, Atlanta has gone 44-38 against the spread, and the game total has gone 41-41 to the over/under.

Jock Landale is the only player set to miss the matchup tonight. Jalen Johnson headlines the production, posting averages of 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game. Nickeil Alexander-Walker has had a breakout season in a new location, adding 20.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game. CJ McCollum adds 18.7 points and 4.1 assists across his first 41 games with the organization, while Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu, Jonathan Kuminga, and Zaccharie Risacher also play notable roles.

Quin Snyder’s group scores 118.5 points per game, which ranks sixth in the NBA. The Hawks also rank 14th in offensive rating, 13th in field goal percentage, and fifth in three-point percentage. Defensively, opponents are scoring 116.0 points per game against Atlanta, which ranks 18th in the league. They also rank ninth in defensive rating, 18th in opponent field goal percentage, and 12th in opponent three-point percentage.

The New York Knicks entered the season with legitimate title aspirations. They have had some notable ups and downs, but now face this opportunity. New York finished the regular season with a 53-29 record and sit in third place in the East. The Knicks have gone 44-39 against the spread, and the game total has gone 38-45 to the over/under.

The Knicks enter this matchup with a clear injury report and a large sample size of the team playing together. Jalen Brunson headlines the production with 26.0 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, while Karl-Anthony Towns pitches in 20.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists of his own. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges are responsible for the production at the wing positions, while Josh Hart sets the tone for this team from a hustle standpoint. New York also did an impressive job building out the bench unit this season, with players like Jordan Clarkson, Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, and Tyler Kolek capable of serving as X-factors off the bench.

As a team, the Knicks are scoring 116.5 points per game, which ranks 10th in the NBA. New York also ranks third in offense rating, 11th in field goal percentage, and fourth in three-point percentage. Defensively, opponents are scoring 110.1 points per game against the Knicks, which ranks fifth in the league. They also rank seventh in defensive rating, fifth in opponent field goal percentage, and 20th in opponent three-point percentage.

Hawks vs. Knicks pick, best bet

These are two teams at different stages of their timeline, but neither will be afraid of this playoff spotlight. The Knicks pushed their chips in around this core and are hoping to be rewarded for it. They fell to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals last year and have made the postseason in four consecutive seasons. Atlanta missed out on the playoffs in back-to-back years and turned a new page direction with Jalen Johnson now leading the charge. Without Trae Young, the Hawks now lean on more of a defensive-minded identity and have a roster loaded with athleticism.

During the regular season, these teams faced off three times. They split the first two matchups, which took place on December 27th and January 2nd. New York picked up a narrow 108-105 victory in the most recent game, which took place on April 6th. Both sides were aware that this was a potential postseason matchup, and this game had some major seeding implications. It was an evenly matched game in which neither team was able to extend a lead beyond 10 points, and the rebounding battle was separated by just one board. The biggest discrepancy came with the Knicks shooting 50% compared to the Hawks shooting 40%, and New York outscoring Atlanta 52-34 in the paint.

While there are higher expectations for this Knicks team in the postseason outlook, the Hawks stack up fairly well in this matchup. Jalen Brunson will be at the heart of the offensive attack for New York. But his biggest weakness is when he is guarded by high-level athletes with a size advantage over him. The Hawks have built out a roster loaded with this archetype of player, and there is not a clear matchup for Brunson to hunt in most lineup combinations.

Brunson has enough experience and savvy to will settle in over the course of the series. But expect some growing pains in the early parts of this matchup, and for this to be a huge hurdle for this Knicks team. I am backing the Hawks to cover the 5.5-point spread and would not be shocked if they steal the opening game. This is a series in which neither side should be expected to pull away by major margins throughout. Count on Atlanta to have defense success and have a clear gameplan for limiting the impact of Brunson. Expect this matchup to come down to the wire and take the points in the series opener.