“Atlanta’s Popular BeltLine Trail Still Has Miles to Go”

Mehrotra, Krishna. “Atlanta’s Popular BeltLine Trail Still Has Miles to Go.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 31 July 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fatlantas-popular-beltline-trail-still-has-miles-to-go-1406837184>.

Krishna Mehrotra’s article entitled “Atlanta’s Popular BeltLine Trail Still Has Miles to Go” is very influential for my studies of the Atlanta Beltline. The author includes a few hints as to how the Beltline is contributing to the built environment. Because legislation has allowed for the Beltline to be funded partially by taxes, money is being sourced from important aspects of Atlanta’s budget such as the Atlanta Public Schools. This legislation was “an agreement [using school property-tax revenues] between the city, the county and the public-school system, the BeltLine receives a portion of those parties’ property-tax revenues”. This agreement led to issues because the school system did not receive the revenues that were supposedly generated by the Beltline. The article also mentions that gentrification is taking place and parallels the Beltline to the Highline in New York City. Gentrification is occurring because “housing costs will be too high for current residents to remain” which runs lower income families out of their homes. I chose this article to represent my studies because it frequently shows how the addition of the Beltline may harm lower income families but also because it showcases some of the perks of the development of the Beltline. This article has light flaws because it lacks praise for the Beltline. The only statement made which was positive is when Mehrotra states “Skip Engelbrecht said business has tripled at his furniture store, Paris on Ponce, since he opened up a backdoor entrance from the BeltLine 2½ years ago” and a short intro of a woman praising her lack of need for a car because of living in such proximity to the Beltline. Otherwise the article rambles on the expense of the Beltline and ridicules the city for investing in such an expensive project.