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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Gravel > You Deserve Better Infrastructure.
(ideas.work.videos) The kind of infrastructure we build matters to the way we live our lives. If we build single-purpose transportation infrastructure that only works for some people some of the […]
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 […]
Gravel > “planning a more forward southland.”
(ideas.) Gravelblog original. “Planning a More Forward Southland.” Atlanta will open its arms this Saturday for a national gathering of over 5,000 city planners, elected officials, students, consultants, and various […]
Gravel > “isn’t this exactly what we wanted?”
(ideas.) Gravelblog original. “The Vulnerability of Car-Dependency.” I spent some down-time during our snowy debacle thinking about how two inches of snow brought metropolitan Atlanta to its knees, leaving thousands […]
Gravel > “we need the Arts to drive the discussion.”
(ideas.) Gravelblog original. “Claiming Space for a World Class Cultural Infrastructure.” As I’m writing my book I am constantly reminded how the Atlanta Beltline came to life through a powerful […]
Gravel > My favorite picture in 14 years working on this thing.
(ideas.) I took my kids out for a bike ride on a beautiful day last spring and the trail was mobbed. I was taking pictures with my phone, including this […]
Gravel > Gravelblog; Let’s see where this goes.
(ideas.) Launching today (quietly for beta testing). The future of cities will require a global dialog. This is my take on our story. Gravelblog. Pronounce it like “travelogue.” Let’s see where this goes. >> Ryan Gravel
Gravel > Ever Walked in Sprawl?
(ideas.videos.) This road is somewhere. But it could be anywhere. It is designed for cars, not for people, and it creates something opposite of “place.” Upon investigation, however, at a […]
Gravel > “a situationist playground for the modern flâneur.”
(ideas.) This text first appeared in ideas+buildings. “A Case For the Modern Flaneur: Transforming Atlanta One Wanderer at a Time.” Even before Spring fever has set in completely, the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail […]
Gravel > “a catalyst for changing our cultural expectations.”
(ideas.) This text first appeared in ideas+buildings. “The Atlanta Beltline: A Catalyst for Urban Sustainability.” As one of the most sustainable city infrastructure projects underway in the United States, the Atlanta […]
Gravel > “perhaps it should be expected here.”
(ideas.) This text first appeared at CNN Opinion. “Turning urban sprawl into sustainable cities.” Also, here’s a related story on CNN International – Link: “Abandoned Railway Turns Urban Sprawl Green.” It may seem ironic that one of the most sustainable city infrastructure projects underway in the United States is taking shape in […]
Gravel > “automobiles were the mobile devices of yesterday.”
(ideas.) This article first appeared in Co.Design by Fast Company. “What The Atlanta BeltLine Can Teach Us About Urban Revitalization.” It’s time to move away from automobile-oriented infrastructure and invest in public […]
Gravel > This Walk Was Epic.
(ideas.videos.) On Saturday, February 11, 2011, over 450 people showed up to see the southern end of the old Southern Railway for the very last time in its raw state. The idea for the walk started with Angel Poventud, one of the Atlanta Beltline’s biggest fans. He organizes hikes along the […]
Gravel > “les changements d’Atlanta seront tout à fait dramatique.”
(ideas.) Translation: “Atlanta’s changes will be quite dramatic.” This text first appeared in the Saporta Report as a guest column. “Atlanta can gain inspiration from the “little belt” in Paris.” It was […]
