Gravel > Aspiration and the Atlanta Prison Farm
(ideas. work) It’s been a tough few years for aspirational city-building. With all the intolerance and polarization in our country, combined with COVID-19, many of us are in survival mode […]
FAQ > “why do the police want to train here?”
Q: Why does the Atlanta Police Foundation want to build a Public Safety Training Center at the Atlanta Prison Farm? (faq.work.) A: I don’t know. A report by the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) doesn’t really offer a reason except that it is free land, and the size of the site […]
FAQ > “what process would we expect?”
UPDATE 9/3/21: Since first announced in May, there have been three Zoom public meetings about the Atlanta Police Foundation’s proposal to build a public safety training center at the city-owned […]
Gravel > all this talk of racist highways.
(ideas.work.) Much has been made recently of the fact that many of America’s highways are racist. It started when USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg told April Ryan in an interview with […]
Gravel > You don’t know what’s coming next, but you’re ready.
(ideas.videos.) On the morning of May 7, I had the huge honor of giving the commencement address for PhD graduates at the Georgia Institute of Technology, my alma mater. I […]
FAQ > “are you giving up on transit?”
Q: The SSD prioritizes the Beltline’s trail – are you giving up on transit? (faq.press.) A: Back in January, I wrote an op-ed in the AJC supporting the SSD, […]
Atlanta Magazine > “friendly and clean and nice.”
(press.work.) In “One of Atlanta’s largest remaining forests has been saved. Now what?” Josh Green covers the latest news on the City’s acquisition of Lake Charlotte, a 220-acre forest in southeast Atlanta. It’s the first piece of a much larger puzzle that I’ve been working on with The Nature Conservancy […]
Gravel > what’s an “appropriate” Confederate memorial?
(ideas.) Following my op-ed in The Guardian about an idea for what to do with the Confederate carving at Stone Mountain, I connected with a growing and diverse group of […]
Photo Essay > Atlanta’s South River Forest
(work. ideas.) I’ve had a rough week, so this morning I went hiking on a tract of land that hopefully will one day become part of the South River Forest. […]
Gravel > do something now.
(ideas. press.) Georgia law protects Stone Mountain’s racist Confederate carving but there are still things we can do now. I wrote this Op-Ed for The Guardian and they ran it […]
Gravel > listen to better ideas
(ideas.) We didn’t get to this place in American history by chance and we’re not going to get out of it easily. We’ll never move forward if we only listen to the people who built and support the systems and institutions that hold us here. We need new ideas. We […]
Gravel > pride & destiny
(ideas.) I hadn’t thought much about flags until I saw a tweet from Marian Liou suggesting Atlanta needed a new one. Following that was a link to a TED Talk […]
Sixpitch > Loving Lake Charlotte
(work.) This post first ran under the headline “Future Earth Days Will Be Different” in the Saporta Report’s leadership blog. I wrote about the City of Atlanta’s acquisition of a […]
Gravel > give me some space.
(ideas.) Like a lot of people, about two and a half weeks ago my calendar was essentially cleared of meetings and travel. I’m lucky – the only impacts so far […]
AJC > “a hub for the arts and Atlanta’s black middle class.”
(press.) The AJC’s Raisa Habersham covered our latest news on West End Atlanta. “New renderings released in Mall West End redevelopment” Excerpt > “It’s hoped the new development will revive […]
WABE > “if we watered it down”
(press.) I sat down with Rose Scott at 90.1 WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station, for an update on West End Atlanta. Listen to “Closer Look: Ryan Gravel Shares The Latest on the West End Mall Re-Development.” My interview comes at minute 18:30 but keep listening to learn about a new $2.8 […]
Elevator > West End Press Roundup
(press.) Someone told us the project was too hyped up. I replied that West End Atlanta deserves all the hype that it gets. “It’s aspirational because it needs to be,” […]
Next City > “the deep end of the economic development pool”
(press.) I met Oscar Perry Abello at the SOCAP Conference in San Francisco last September where there was a lot of talk about the federal government’s new and controversial “Opportunity […]
Georgia Tech > “twenty years ago this month…”
(press. video.) “Twenty years ago this month, Ryan Gravel submitted a master’s thesis that would transform Atlanta,” begins Georgia Tech’s Stacy Braukman for an article titled “The Man With A […]
AJC > “his life has become interwoven into his dream.”
(press.) A friend of mine saw my name and the byline and thought, “Oh no, he’s going to rip Ryan to shreds.” Bill Torpy is known as a tough columnist at the AJC, but even tough guys love a great story. Thanks, Bill for continuing coverage of this incredible journey […]
GRAVEL > a bigger better loop.
This December marks the 20th anniversary of my Atlanta Beltline thesis (dang!) and, as I’ve said, even with all of its challenges, I’m damn proud of the progress we’ve made. […]
Gravel > 20 years later, damn proud.
(ideas.) Twenty years ago, I never imagined we would actually build the Atlanta Beltline. I just wanted to graduate – which I did. I finished my Beltline thesis in December […]
Gravel > Catalyzing Our Evergreen Future
(work.ideas.) This column first appeared on the Kendeda Living Building Chronicle to celebrate the completion of the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech. Read more from this […]
WABE > transit week
(press.) It was transit week and WABE’s Rose Scott was out on the Atlanta Beltline for a special edition of A Closer Look called “From The Northside Trail To The […]
Sixpitch > South River Under Siege.
(work.) This post first ran in the Saporta Report’s leadership blog: “Along the South River, Large Tracts of Tree Canopy Under Siege.” I wrote about how Atlanta’s South River watershed has been a dumping ground for generations – and even today, crazy things still happen down there. All the damage […]
WFAE > “yes in my back yard”
[press.] Charlotte’s NPR Station came searching for YIMBY advocates – Yes In My Back Yard – people fighting FOR density in their community as a critical approach to addressing the escalating costs of housing. David Boraks found some YIMBYs planning the future of Hulsey Yard on the Atlanta Beltline. “Finding […]
WABE > “what does progress look like?”
[press.] Rose Scott met me and my business partner, Donray Von, to discuss the future of the West End Mall. She starts out at minute 3:48 asking, “What does progress […]
Collective Knowledge > “you’re seeing something that I’m not seeing.”
(press.videos. ) I enjoyed sitting down with Gail O’Neill and Felipe Barral for their show Collective Knowledge. Our wide-ranging conversation is captured in this half-hour episode: first up is Paris […]
Gravel > it was the future because we made it so.
(ideas.) I’m in Los Angeles to participate in the Ford Motor Company’s “City of Tomorrow” event. My panel is called “Take Back the Streets” and like so many other titles I encounter at symposiums like this, it begs the question, “for who?” For who should we take back the streets? […]
Sixpitch > Atlanta’s Old Prison Farm is the keystone for greenspace expansion
(work.) A version of this post first ran in the Saporta Report’s leadership blog: “Atlanta Holds the Key to Dramatically Increase Needed Greenspace.” It describes how the City of Atlanta’s […]
AJC > West End site to become “a media and technology hub.”
[press.] Scott Trubey took the time to introduce Elevator City Partners and our plan for the West End Mall. Check out his story “Beltline visionary part of team seeking redevelopment […]
National Geographic > “not what the future wants.”
[press.] Robert Kunzig’s cover story for National Geographic’s April issue was this hot take on the future of cities: “These five cities are taking bold steps to rein in sprawl.” Ok, so nobody is surprised to hear that Atlanta is the poster child for sprawl, but it’s a big surprise […]
Gravel > testing the market
I think there’s a market for real estate development that does good in the world. When you look at the scale of unbridled growth that is transforming our cities, not […]
Gravel > time for Generator.
(ideas.) At the end of this post, I’m going to ask you to help Generator get off the ground with a tax-deductible donation. I believe in this concept more than […]
WABE > “where names don’t matter but ideas do.”
[press.] Jim Burress found us hanging around the future Generator and recorded this interview for WABE 90.1 – Atlanta’s NPR Station, titled “Ryan Gravel’s Next Big Idea: Eat, Drink, Save […]
Atlanta Business Chronicle > “Gravel [called] it a sham.”
(press.) It’s a time-tested strategy to make sure community engagement delivers the recommendations you want. MARTA’s project evaluation, handful of meetings, and unscientific online survey were designed to do exactly that, and it worked. Amy Wenk captured my initial reaction in this story for the Atlanta Business Chronicle: “As vote […]
FAQ > “does transit fit?”
Q: It looks too tight – how does transit even fit on the Atlanta Beltline? (faq.) A: Transit has always been central to this concept. In most places, transit is […]
Reporter Newspapers > “Another reason Buckhead Beltline rail matters”
[press.] People talk about the Atlanta Beltline like it’s a single project impacting a single community – but it’s a much larger project than that. The Atlanta Beltline’s northside stands […]
Gravel > Beltline Means Business.
This article was first posted as an op-ed in the Atlanta Business Chronicle: Ryan Gravel Viewpoint: Speak up now if you want transit on all of the Beltline (ideas.) I travel all over the world to talk about the Atlanta Beltline. From Singapore to Sandy Springs, the broad vision that frames […]
Gravel > Connect-The-Dots Transportation Planning Will Not Work.
(ideas.) With advance apologies and love for my hard-working brothers and sisters in transportation planning, the more I look at the More MARTA plan, the madder and sicker I get. […]
Gravel > Two Thirds Not Served.
(ideas.) This was never the plan, but two thirds of the Beltline may forever move forward without transit. That’s because MARTA is only committed to one third of the long-promised […]
FAQ > “how does Beltline transit advance equity?”
Q: How does transit on the Atlanta Beltline advance equity in Atlanta communities? (faq. ideas.) This is the question that frustrates me the most. For the physical project to be […]
Gravel > Our Moral Imperative.
(ideas.) Dear City Hall, Dear MARTA. Dear decision makers, dear agency staffers, dear community organizers, dear ordinary citizens who may not have been around when we got started in 2001. […]
FAQ > “what do you think about the More MARTA plan?”
Q: What do you think about the More MARTA plan? (faq.) A year and a half after the November 2016 referendum, MARTA released its draft plan for how to spend $2.5 billion of City of Atlanta taxpayer money on transit – a plan dubbed “More MARTA.” I guess since I was […]
Gravel > Beltline Call to Action
(ideas.) This call isn’t only about transit. It’s a much wider call-to-action because without transit – soon and urgently – we won’t get the Beltline we’ve been talking about all […]
FAQ > “can you remind me the history of Beltline transit?”
Q: Can you remind me the history of transit on the Atlanta Beltline? (faq.) Our collective memory of the Atlanta Beltline’s story is important – especially regarding its more […]
Gravel > A New Threat to Beltline Transit.
(ideas.) Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that we need to make our case for transit again, but I am. Honestly – we’ve been putting colored dots on maps, hand-writing community […]
FAQ > “why not just put BRT on the Beltline?”
Q: Why not just put BRT on the Atlanta Beltline? Wouldn’t that be cheaper? (faq.) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a high-capacity mode of transit that employs many train-like features to improve service efficiency and passenger experience. These include traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection, multiple-door boarding, platform-level boarding, […]
Saporta Report > “You can see the river disappear under the airport.”
[press.] At the Southface Energy Institute’s Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable on October 6, I joined Hannah Palmer, author of Flight Path, to discuss our books, the future of Atlanta’s southside, and […]
Co.Design > “A place filled with human decency, love.”
[press.] Inspired by the Atlanta City Design’s inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement, Diana Budds pens this thoughtful piece for Co.Design – “Atlanta Is Fighting Urban Inequality–With An Idea From […]
