Tag: Annotated Bibliography

“Gentrification in America Report”

sfortune3 on

Maciag, Mike. “Gentrification in America Report.” Governing: The States and Localities. E.Republic, Feb. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. <http://www.governing.com/gov-data/gentrification-in-cities-governing-report.html>.

All across the United States, urban areas are experiencing an influx of well-off residents in areas which were previously underinvested. This influx is tagged with the name gentrification. Because of the affluent moving to the area, the housing process in the area begin to increase dramatically which displaces the residents. Statistics have shown that almost 20% of low income area in the the US have experienced gentrification. Cities that experienced gentrification in the most places were New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Chicago, IL. The researches also found that neighborhoods that went through gentrification saw losses of the minority population and went through population increases while the opposite was seen in areas that failed to undergo it. Atlanta specifically has gentrified more than double of what it did from 1990-2000, going from 13 areas to 30. The city of Atlanta also noticed an increase of bachelor’s degrees held by adults in the areas increasing as gentrification. They also suffered a slight increase of poverty rates in the portions of the city that did not undergo gentrification. This article defines gentrification and gives specifics of where it has occurred around the nation.

“Demolition of Georgia Dome Scheduled for 2017”

sfortune3 on

Tucker, Tim. “Demolition of Georgia Dome Scheduled for 2017.” AJC. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 30 Jan. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. <http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/football/plans-in-works-to-decommission-the-dome/nqFFh/>.

Recently it was decided that the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will not be opened for business for an additional 3 months after the original date intended. Because it had been previously decided that the dome will close in March of 2017, local vendors and employees of the Dome are worried about not working for three months as the new stadium’s opening date is not June 2017. The construction company in charge of the Dome’s demolition stated that in order to have the significant amount of parking needed for the new stadium’s large attendance, they need to begin the implosion as soon as possible. The takedown of the dome is predicted to take from 6 to 7 months, which would not be in time for the 2017 NFL season. The parking decks would not be prepared in time due because of the time it takes to build such massive parking structures to hold such weights and the MARTA tracks that are so close. This opening date push back and not opening of the dome during the over lapped dates will mean that the Atlanta soccer team will not be playing in their new stadium or the Georgia dome for the first three months of their first ever season. Conclusively, there has been no revisiting of the demolition date of the Georgia Dome and it can potentially backfire locals and their sports teams.

“Mayor Reed Transfers 10 Property Deeds to APS”

sfortune3 on

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.

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

sfortune3 on

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.