“Mayor Reed Transfers 10 Property Deeds to APS”

Saporta, Maria. “Atlanta Mayor Kasim Agrees to Transfer 10 Property Deeds to APS.” Saporta Report. N.p., 04 Feb. 2016. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://saportareport.com/53810-2/>.

The article “Atlanta Mayor Transfers Property Deeds to APS” by Maria Saporta is important to our studies of the rhetoric of built environment for many reasons.  Saporta  aims to inform the readers of Mayor Reed’s plans to make amends with the Atlanta Public Schools over their budget cuts taken to help fund the Atlanta Beltline. Because the schools took budget cuts to support the Beltline, the schools were promised repayments which would be generated form the Beltline’s tax revenues. Because rthe city had not sent these repayments as they had promised, “the Atlanta Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the City last spring to gain control of the deeds of four former APS schools”. The Atlanta Public School system planned to use the vacant schools to sell to private firms who would revamp the school or land it was on. This is important because the turnout of the vacant schools could prove to help the area or add on to the built environment. Positively it could allow for new economic growth in the generally low-income areas, or it could lead to more gentrification and marginalized citizens having no other option but to leave their homes.

“The Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail”

image8*750xx3000-1691-0-160-2

Pittam, Rod. The Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail. 2010. Atlanta. The Atlanta Business Chronicle. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2015/12/city-of-atlanta-and-aps-closer-on-beltline-tax.html>.

This image is a perfect depiction of the Atlanta Beltline as it showcases the Beltline being a mixed-use trail. The Atlanta Beltline in this picture shows local residents, biking, running, and walking and a very diverse age range of people utilizing it. Many people use it for commuting to work, going shopping, exercise, or even for leisure time. This picture is also important because it includes a view of the once up and running business in the background which usually stands today as apartments or businesses along the Beltline. The revamping of these abandoned warehouses has proven to only expand the success of the Beltline by bringing in tax revenue and also bringing in new residents to the area. The revamping of local warehouses to bring revenue into the Beltline is exampled by the renewal of the Sears, Roebuck & Co. building in Atlanta into the Ponce City Market.