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Atlanta’s built environment: Walkability/Bikeability

Mar23

The claim: Atlanta’s exterior built environment is transitioning from a car-centered infrastructure to one that is more walkable and bikeable.

Two scholarly sources:

  1. Sarah Schindler’s article about Architectural Exclusion mentions the  the placement and size of public transportation and how it affects the public. She does mention Atlanta’s MARTA train transportation and compares it to a much bigger impactful public transportation system like New York’s. In Atlanta, there have been discussion of it’s expansion; however citizens of certain neighborhoods do not want this to happen because they do not want lots of outsiders near their homes. This means in Atlanta, it is hard to just depend on train transportation because it it limited to certain areas causing cars to still be a major form of transportation.
  2.  The annotated bibliography created by qmcclain2 talks about bike lanes in Atlanta. It states evidence showing how Atlanta is trying to incorporate bike lanes throughout the city. The lanes benefit not only the bicyclists but everyone else too.It provides more safety for the bicyclists and drivers of cars. The downfall of bike lanes are the city’s struggle to pay  for the cost.

Two popular sources:

  1. This website talks about the reasons for the construction of the Atlanta Streetcar. The name of the website is Central Atlanta Progress; Atlanta Downtown Improvement District which means that this information is coming straight from people who report improvement projects in Atlanta. The article goes on to say what the city of Atlanta have planned for the streetcar. One goal they described they wanted for the Streetcar is to decrease the dependence on cars. Thereby, promoting walking to get to certain popular destinations. The city also wants to promote the MARTA by having the Streetcar routes connect to certain transit stations. The audience of this website would be citizens of metro Atlanta; people who work in Atlanta, people who live in Atlanta, and people who visit Atlanta.
  2. This website promotes the accommodation of walkers within cities. It emphasizes the importance and the benefits of making cities walkable through street design. Walkability is explained to be inexpensive, healthy for residents, and beneficial to natural and economic resources: overall wellness. This website is clearly biased in that it only provides visitors with the advantages of walkable environments. An argument is vaguely stated, but it not fully reliable because of the lack of evidence and a counterargument. Therefore, the visitor can conclude that the website is to advertise the inclusion of walkable streets in cities in order to further accept people who rely on their feet as a means of transportation.

Evidence:

  1. Atlanta’s streetcar promotes walking through the city instead of driving your car to and from popular places in Atlanta. We choose this source because it relates directly to our topic and shows how Atlanta is becoming more walkable and bikeable. Atlanta residents and tourists can walk, bike, and skate to the streetcar pay a single dollar and ride to a particular destination in the city. The streetcar advances the walkability and bikeability of Atlanta.
  2. Bike Lanes are being constructed in certain areas to allow safe transit for bike riders. Most bike lanes are near major tourist attractions and parks. All bike lanes connect the attractions that they are near. For example, traveling from Freedom Park (King Center area) to Centennial Olympic Park isn’t a problem because of the connection of bike routes.
  3. MARTA is a great way for people to ride around Atlanta from place to place. Though MARTA has its flaws it is better than the Streetcar because it goes to more destinations in Atlanta. People are able to walk, bike, or skate to MARTA and bring these things on the train. This relates directly to our topic because it shows how MARTA enhances the walkability and bikeability of Atlanta.
Walkways in Centennial Park by

Walkways in Centennial Park by bjulmisse1

This picture shows how Atlanta is trying to adapt the culture of walking. Centennial Park is a popular park for tourists and residents. This park has walkways and bike routes. Residents have been known to walk or ride through and around this park. This park is surrounded by popular Atlanta attractions like The World of Coke, The Georgia Aquarium, The CNN Center, and many more.

Bibliography:

  • Goines, Tay. “Streetcar- Downtown.” Web log post. Tay Goines Blog. WordPress, 13 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • McClain, Quintia. “Annotated Bibliography 4: Bicycle Lanes.” Web log post.Qmcclain2s Blog. WordPress, 24 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • “Atlanta Streetcar.” Atlanta Streetcar. Central Atlanta Progress, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • “Bike Lanes, Cycletracks and Sharrows.” Central Atlanta Progress. Geocentric, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • “Walkable Communities.” Walkable Communities, Inc. Walkable Communities, Inc, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • Bjulmisse1. Centennial Olympic Park. Digital image. BrandonsBlog. WordPress, 9 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
  • SCHINDLER, SARAH. “Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination And Segregation Through Physical Design Of The Built Environment.” Yale Law Journal 124.6 (2015): 1934-2024. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Dec. 2016.

 

 

Unknown Phenomena of Atlanta: APEX Museum

Mar4
APEX Arc

The APEX Arc

Located on Auburn Avenue, the APEX museum was founded in 1978 by Mr. Dan Moore Sr. This museum was created to display culture and contributions of the African American community in the United States and especially in Georgia. The museum features artifacts, paper tour guides, group presentations, video presentations, and children’s shows. The APEX museum is special because it tells the African American experience (past and present) through the eyes of African Americans in a historically African American neighborhood.

There are two visible doors for entry. The front door is on the side of the building with a highly emphasized red colored walkway. It is indicated as the front door because when entering a visitor will be greeted at the front desk by a tour guide. The exit door is in front of the building that faces Auburn Avenue. The indication that this door is the rear door is because of the gift shop area that is normally at the end of a museum tour. This style can be confusing for a new visitor because of the placement of doors. Consequently, the museum isn’t that big. Visitors can only walk through three rooms; a main room with a gift shop, the Trolley theater room, and the arts/achievement hall room. All of the rooms are connected by a hallway.

 

The exhibits are about African kings and queens, the middle passage, slavery in the United States, and African American businesses and inventions. The exhibits are small but very informative. An ideal tour of this museum would be when entering from the front door, a tour guide will escort you through the main room to the Trolley theater room, passing a few exhibits along the way. In the Trolley theater room is an elevated seating area, the Trolley, with the style of pews. Visitors will sit down and watch two original videos about the history of Auburn Avenue and the African journey to the United States. After that, visitors will be given a paper tour guide that is mainly constructed for the main room around the rows of chairs. Afterwards, visitors can back track by walking to the arts/achievement room that is across from the theater room. Like the theater room, the arts room has two doors so that visitors can walk through the room and walk back up through the hallway to the gift shop at the front of the main room. Additionally, while walking through the hallway, visitors can look at the exhibit of African American inventions.

As of 2016, this museum is 38 years old. It is remarkable that it is still in its same place. The museum displays excellent exhibits and programs however the museum can often be referred to as a historical landmark than a public museum. This could be so because of the lack of space that limits the capacity of information presented. Plans of expansion are prominent but due to financial issues, that dream has been pushed further back.

Location of the APEX Museum

Location of the APEX Museum

Ultimately, what makes the APEX museum so significant is not the information it displays but rather the symbolic aspect of itself. People go to this museum to see it’s content but also to experience the museum itself. After all, it was respectfully considered the world’s largest African American Museum.

APEX Logo

Sources –

  • apexmuseum. The APEX Museum, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
  • Murray, Brendan. “Bank forecloses on property owned by APEX Museum” Atlanta Business Chronicle,  2 Dec. 1996. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

APEX Museum Pictures

Mar4

Original pictures taken by Kimberly Oglesby on March 4, 2016