Resources
From Our Library
For an overview of how parking shaped Los Angeles and other cities, including Atlanta, listen to this 99% Invisible podcast. It also has an interview with Paving Paradise author Henry Grabar. We discussed his book in January 2024.
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Good Advocacy
For a look at how good advocacy works, read this article about how transit advocates in Los Angeles helped persuade local leaders to increase the number of bus lanes.
Local Sources
Georgia Tech offers a set of video interviews with urbanist thinkers about the challenges of cities in the 21st century and how cities should deal with them. Some who are interviewed are local leaders, some are national (architect and planner Peter Calthorpe, for one) and international urbanists (Danish architect Jan Gehl). Several have written books we’ve discussed at AUBG.
The Atlanta Studies Network is an interdisciplinary group of researchers, students and instructors who study Atlanta issues, history and culture, and sponsor meetings, publications and presentations. It holds an annual symposium plus informal meetups. All who are interested in Atlanta are welcome.
Atlanta Civic Circle is a nonprofit news organization that promises to focus on issues important to the Atlanta area. It is starting with housing affordability and democracy. Why should urbanists be interested? Because ACC’s aim is to “build a better educated, more involved” readers. In other words, not just citizens who know what is happening, but are civically engaged.
One thing we’ve learned in our reading is how important it is to measure problems and solutions. Neighborhood Nexus may be the single best source of data about issues facing the Atlanta area. It has hundreds of community indicators from a multitude of sources, down to the neighborhood level. The website and its data are free to users.
It’s important that urbanists know what has worked in Urban Atlanta in the past. For more than 20 years, one of the region’s most influential forces in creating lively, walkable places has been the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative. To learn how LCI has quietly shaped many of our most loved downtowns, commercial areas and mixed-use places, visit its website.
National Sources
If you’re looking for an overview of what “smart growth” is and how it benefits cities and their residents, this paper from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in Canada offers it. It focuses on how compact growth reduces costs for cities and residents. And it reminds us that realtor surveys consistently show that walkable neighborhoods with mixed uses are what most people desire.
Brookings Metro is a research program of the Brookings Institution focused on innovation in cities. Its focus is wide, from economic development to infrastructure, placemaking to equity. The link below will take you to Brookings’ work on cities and how they could work better.
How can we pay for transit improvements and other forms of urban infrastructure? The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Boston does some of the best research on this topic. It has a report on how “land value capture” could help finance infrastructure and make cities stronger.
Our Partners
The DeKalb County Public Library has added to its collection every book we’ve discussed at the Atlanta Urbanist Book Group and all we plan to discuss in the months ahead. Some are in ebook format, but most are physical books. The library has created a special link that AUBG members can use to find past and future books. Click this link to see what’s available. The DeKalb County Public Library’s main website is below.
The Atlanta Urbanist Book Group has a bookstore partner. It’s locally owned Virginia Highland Books at 1034 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta 30306. Virginia Highland Books has our current books in stock and many of our past books. For others, the store can order them for you. Not sure of the title? Booksellers have a list of AUBG books, including those we’ll be reading in the months ahead. So please ask for help, in person or by phone. The number is 470-819-4705.