Regenerating the Red Zone
(research.) I had the good fortune to be invited to Christchurch, New Zealand to participate in a series of conversations supporting the re-imagination of the city’s residential red zone – […]
Gravel > Our Mississippi Moment.
(ideas.) I think it is important we acknowledge that our current national crisis is playing out exactly as expected. Although shocking, the news from the last few days is only […]
WABE > “If you look up on the horizon, the change that is coming is a tsunami.”
(press.) I had another chance to talk to WABE’s Rose Scott and Jim Burress on A Closer Look about Atlanta’s population growth and its role in our affordability crisis. “BeltLine […]
Atlanta Magazine > “The shelves of City Hall sag with grand plans gathering dust.”
(press.work.) It has been an honor to work with Commissioner Tim Keane on this remarkable aspiration for Atlanta’s future. It’s called the Atlanta City Design – Aspiring to the Beloved Community and Thomas Wheatley captured this brief synopsis for Atlanta Magazine. “Ryan Gravel and Tim Keane are sketching a smarter […]
CityLab > “In hindsight, it might be obvious, but…”
(press.) In Atlanta, we talk a lot about the Atlanta Beltline’s role in the economic and cultural forces of gentrification, but it’s helpful to put it in context with projects in other cities across the country. New York City’s High Line emerged at the same time as ours, and in […]
Gravel > Let’s build a wall of diversity.
(ideas.) I was talking with a friend about the political power of intolerance the other day. She was making the case that our national election exposed the prejudice of a […]
Gravel (live on the TED stage) > “We are the lives that we’re talking about.”
(ideas.) Here’s the TED talk I did in New York in October 2016. > “When we look today in wonder and disgust at the metropolis sprawled before us, we wonder […]
Gravel > Real Life vs. Reality Life
(ideas.) Nearly three weeks later and I’ve successfully spared you my take on the debilitating results of our national election. I’ve been grappling with the populist sentiment that seems to […]
Gravel > Vote down-ballot for Atlanta transit – literally – all the way down at the end.
UPDATE > GREAT NEWS! Both ballot referenda passed on election day. While there remains a lot of uncertainty about our national politics, at least locally we will have solid resources […]
Next City > “Atlanta’s river is different.”
(press.) Writing for Next City, Jen Kinney compares worldwide riverfront revitalization efforts to an emerging effort by Chattahoochee NOW. In “Atlanta’s Waterfront Access May Soon Improve,” she outlines the group’s […]
Landscape Architecture Magazine > “An unprecedented testing ground.”
(press.) To be clear, I’m not walking away from the project itself, and I never framed progress as an “either/or.” But in “A Beltline Champion Walks Away,” writer Zach Mortice well describes for Landscape Architecture Magazine, inherent tensions between the benefits and challenges of change. Excerpt: “Most of all, Gravel […]
Sixpitch > Discover Your Hidden Riverfront.
(work.) In early 2016, Sixpitch founder Ryan Gravel completed a collaborative effort with the staff and board at Chattahoochee NOW that culminated with “Vision53” – a document that outlines a […]
Sixpitch > Aspiring to the Beloved Community
(work.) In early 2016, Sixpitch founder Ryan Gravel began working with Tim Keane, Commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of Planning and Community Development, on the Atlanta City Design. Supported by urban […]
Sixpitch > Looking for part-time contract urban designer.
(work.) We’re looking for a talented, reliable, self-starting urban designer able to work part-time contract on cool projects. Work is mostly graphic, (Adobe Creative Cloud), including district plans, diagrams, and renderings. Style is important. Atlanta preferred but not required. Meet during business hours. Rates are starting-range but negotiable. Send inquiries […]
The New York Times > “Nobody said progress was easy.”
(press.) New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman pens “In ‘By the People,’ Design for the Underserved and Overlooked” – a review of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum’s latest […]
FAQ > why did you leave the ABP board?
(faq.) Yesterday, after weeks of deliberation, Nathaniel Smith and I resigned from the board of the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. He’s the Founder and Chief Equity Officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity. While this was not an easy decision for either one of us, our earnest hope is that it […]
FAQ > are we willing to settle for less?
(faq.) Related to my recent “Our Beltline” post, here’s a specific example. Below is my letter to the Inman Park Neighborhood Association Board regarding the redevelopment of 670-690 DeKalb Avenue and the future Atlanta Beltline tunnel. >> Ryan Gravel UPDATE > Thanks to an amazing collaboration between North American Properties and […]
Gravel > “Our Beltline.”
(ideas.) The question of whose Beltline we’re building in Atlanta keeps coming up among my friends and on social media. It’s a fair question – especially when some recent decisions […]
CityLab > “Building Infrastructure for More Inclusive Communities.”
(press.) With the release of Where We Want To Live, CityLab’s Richard Florida and Ryan Gravel engage in conversation about “Building Infrastructure for More Inclusive Communities.” Excerpt: “I get the fear of big ideas, but I think it’s more about a distrust for our ability to implement big ideas according […]
Atlanta Magazine > “History is full of sensible proposals that went nowhere.”
(press.) In anticipation of the release of Where We Want to Live – Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities, Atlanta Magazine published two pieces in their March issue. […]
BOOK LAUNCH SAVE-THE-DATE & LINKS TO BUY MY BOOK.
(work.) We’re counting down the days. After many years, “Where We Want to Live – Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities,” launches March 15! Your first chance to get a signed copy is at the launch event the very next day. On MARCH 16 at 7:00 pm, A […]
New York Times > “American infrastructure is deferred home maintenance on a massive scale.”
(press.) New York Times contributing columnist Allison Arieff, who is also the Editorial Director at SPUR in San Francisco, penned this Op-Ed in early 2015, “What Happened to the Great […]
Gravel > “I learned how to be a pedestrian.”
(ideas.) This text first appeared as a letter in the Terminus issue of Art Papers, (January/February 2016), for which I was a guest co-editor. The original, along with a letter by Art Papers Editor and Artistic Director Victoria Camblin, can be found here. Also check out the entire Terminus issue […]
City-Stitching with the ERC.
(research.) Deb Eddy came to town in the summer of 2015 just to check out the Atlanta Beltline. By her account she was inspired – and she went home to […]
Sixpitch > Introducing Six Picks.
(work.) Six ideas worth reading about, every six weeks or so. Get your fix with six links to stories and ideas about the future of cities. That’s it. Sign up here. >> Ryan Gravel The first issue will be posted here after January 1, 2016.
Mile-High Seventy-Mile High Line Canal.
(research.) It took me a little while to figure out what I was looking at when I took a short trip to Denver and saw the 130-year-old High Line Canal. […]
Loop Network in Baltimore.
(research.) The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy asked me to meet them in Baltimore to share our Atlanta Beltline story. Also inspired by similar projects across the country, RTC and some civic leaders there are looking at a 35-mile loop around the city. Starting right at the Inner Harbor in the heart of […]
Riding the Rickenbacker.
(research.) Bernard Zyscovich told me about his “Plan Z” idea for the Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami, so on my next trip, I made a point to tackle it. It’s a […]
Looking at Ludlam.
(research.) Some of the controversy in Miami around real estate development in the railroad that might one day carry the Ludlam Trail reminded me of an early challenge we had on the Atlanta Beltline, but I hadn’t seen it for myself. I finally made it out there on a borrowed […]
Autumn in the Alleghenies.
(research.) We took our kids on an autumn trip to see Fallingwater, the masterpiece by Frank Lloyd Wright. While we were there, we visited the nearby town of Ohiopyle and […]
Blast from the Past.
(videos.) A few weeks ago, as I was digging through a decade and a half of Atlanta Beltline memories, I came across a digital memory of our early movement in […]
A Beerline is My Kind of Artery
(research.) I went to share our story in Milwaukee as part of Newaukee’s YP Week and while I was there, I met with some people working on a reclaimed section of the old “Milwaukee Road” railroad just north of downtown. Roughly half its 1.2-mile length has already been converted into […]
Urban Milwaukee > “messing with people’s expectations.”
(press.) Leading into Newaukee’s 2015 YP Week, Urban Milwaukee published “How the Beltline Project Is Changing Atlanta” by Andrew McCann. Excerpt: “As a public space, the Beltline is already performing a variety of functions. The first and most significant is its rapidly developing role as a connective structure between Atlanta’s […]
Under the Line
(research.) One of the hottest things in Miami can’t be found in South Beach. Extending south-easterly from Brickell to Coral Gables and South Miami is a 1980s-era elevated transit line. […]
Seamless & Endearing
(research.) Singapore is an island, a city, and a nation all in one. It’s at the southern end of the Malaysian peninsula, and there’s a railroad that crosses a bridge […]
Coca Cola Journey > “messing with people’s expectations.”
(press.) Our story is recounted for Coca-Cola’s internal media, “Inside the Beltline: How a Grad School Thesis Became an Engine for Urban Revitalization and Economic Growth in Atlanta,” by Jay Croft. Excerpt: “Atlanta prides itself on being known as the home of Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1996 Olympic Games […]
USA Today > “on the verge of a renaissance.”
(press.) Nice article by OZY writer Sanjena Sathian – USA Today picked up her story, “The transit makeover of Atlanta” at the close of 2014. Excerpt: “Everyone, from my mother to the mayor to environmentalists to the White House, proclaims that this unlikely city, with its long history of segregation […]
Georgia Trend Magazine > “the small sights stick in your mind.”
(press.) In its December 2014 cover story, “Unbroken Circle” by Susan Percy, the case is made for the Atlanta Beltline as “a unifying force, built on the very railroads that […]
Gravel > Learning From Sprawl
(idea.videos.) Here’s a short video (00:03:04) that my colleagues and I put together called “Learning From Sprawl.” It explores the cultural motivations for today’s sprawl, then connects the dots to […]
Gravel > “Our 22-Mile Thanksgiving Table.”
(ideas.) With the undeniable success of the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail and this November’s groundbreaking of the long-anticipated Westside Trail, we have much to be thankful for. Of course behind […]
Gravel > “if we learn to see equity as our goal…”
(ideas.) This text first appeared in ideas+buildings. “Equity Through Sports + Art: A Design Dialogue in Atlanta.” Read the whole thing here and watch short video of excerpts from the event. Excerpt: “I think this kind of thoughtful and inclusive transition toward a better decision-making process – beyond just sports […]
We’ll Just Run it Over Here.
(research.) I’ve been to Austin a few times in the last year or so, and I love exploring the trails around Lady Bird Lake. The coolest part of the 10-mile […]
FAQ > “why is everybody going in circles?”
Q: Where is everybody going? Where’s the there there? (faq.) A: Some people seem to always be missing the point with the Atlanta Beltline. That’s fine, I guess. It […]
Bridging More Than a River.
(research.) I was in Washington DC to speak at the Eco-Districts Summit and took some time to ride down to the Washington Navy Yard along the Anacostia River. I wanted […]
AJC Atlanta Forward > “one of the boldest public health experiments.”
(press.) Nice perspective on the role of the Atlanta Beltline in rethinking the relationship between our health and the world around us. Author Michael Eriksen is the Dean of the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. He wrote this for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Atlanta Forward blog, “Project provides civic […]
Rails to Trails Magazine > “a project explicitly designed to connect us is about as transformative as it gets.”
(press.) This article for Rails to Trails Magazine was written by Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. It goes beyond the Atlanta Beltline to describe a culture that is “Transforming Atlanta.” Excerpt: “The BeltLine, as Woolard puts it, “is the one forum where it all comes together: […]
FAQ > “what about the westside?”
Q: What should we expect with the opening of the Westside Trail? How will its success compare to the eastside? (faq.) A: The communities on Atlanta’s eastside are benefitting directly […]
FAQ > “who benefits?”
Q: What about gentrification? What is being done to protect people from displacement? (faq.) A: In a growing economy like ours, things like roadside clean-ups, better schools, reduced crime, the […]
Loving Lafitte
(research.) Not only am I from Louisiana and therefore somehow obligated to check in on the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, but this project is getting built fast, so I […]
Indy’s Cultural Speedway
(research.) It was a big honor to be sponsored by MailChimp to go to Indianapolis and speak at the third and final We Are City Summit. Between breaks with local popsicles, gourmet fortune cookies, and craft beer, we learned about cool things going on in the world of cities and […]
