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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Next City > “A strategic realignment of existing plans.”
[press.] Following the September 2017 unveiling of the Atlanta City Design, Jared Brey covered what it means for Atlanta in this article for Next City. “New Atlanta Planning Book Takes Cue From Martin Luther King Jr.” Excerpt > Atlanta City Design, unveiled earlier this month, is meant to inform and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The New York Times > “Full of high hopes.”
(press.) With the tongue-in-cheek headline “A Glorified Sidewalk, and the Path to Transform Atlanta,” New York Times’ Richard Fausset digs into a cultural shift brought on by the Atlanta Beltline, […]
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 […]
The Globe and Mail > “This is a powerful idea.”
(press.) Alex Bozikovic writes this book review in one of Canada’s most widely read newspapers: “Ryan Gravel’s Where We Want To Live explores contemporary city-building.” Excerpt: “Gravel makes a case – as cogent as any I’ve seen – for why governments need to favour this form of development and stop […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
Monocle > “take a barrier and turn it into a gathering place.”
(press.) Cool coverage by Jeff Chu in international design and business journal, Monocle titled, “On the Right Path.” Excerpt: “In 1999, Ryan Gravel – then an urban planning student at Georgia […]
Indianapolis Star > “a word that sums up the initiative nicely: Infra-Culture”
(press.) Awesome, unexpected first headline to include the working title for my book after speaking to this group in Indy. The Indianapolis Star reports, “We Are City seeks to build ‘Infra-Culture.’” […]
I Think We Should Talk > “in other words, it’s a game-changer.”
(press.) Nice long-form blog Q&A for I Think We Should Talk by Paul Sternberg: “Ryan Gravel.” Excerpt: “In other words, it’s a game-changer for a city like Atlanta. … Ryan and I talked recently about process, which goes well beyond having a radical idea. It’s about going places, seeing things, and meeting people. […]
Spacing > “what are Toronto’s most promising arteries for transformation?”
(press.) Here’s a follow-up Q&A to the first story – an interview with Claire Nelischer of the Centre for City Ecology and Anna Hill with Park People, “Infrastructure and our way of life: lessons from the Atlanta BeltLine.” Excerpt: “AH: From what you’ve seen and heard during your time in […]
Spacing > “we should consider these projects from a city systems perspective.”
(press.) Insightful story by Claire Nelischer of the Centre for City Ecology in Spacing. Link: “The Atlanta BeltLine: Catalyst infrastructure and city systems.” Excerpt: “The positive impact of parks investments […]
Atlantic Cities > “it was something they could fight for instead of against.”
(press.) Great update by Rebecca Burns in Atlantic Cities. Link: “Can Atlanta Go All In on the BeltLine?” Excerpt: “I was immediately taken by it; not because I am brilliant but because Ryan’s idea was brilliant,” recalls Woolard. At the time, constituents would call her “constantly” to complain about the […]
Planning > “the project has changed Gravel’s life.”
(press.) Nice profile in Planning, the journal of the American Planning Association, which held its 2014 national conference in Atlanta in April 2014. Link: “At the beginning” by Ben Smith > article runs after the headline story, “Emerald Necklace, Southern Style” by Alexander Garvin. Excerpt: “Mass-mailing a graduate student thesis to […]
Curbed > “the thesis was the easy part.”
(backstory.press.) Here’s a Q&A update for Curbed Atlanta in late 2013. Link: “A Chat With The Guy Whose Thesis Birthed the Beltline.” Excerpt: Curbed: “So how has your life changed since “the thesis” started to become a reality?” Gravel: “The thesis was the easy part. Since then, I’ve changed jobs several times […]
NationSwell > “the boarded-up, abandoned strip had been transformed.”
(press.) Nice post in NationSwell, a new media outlet that wants to introduce you to people renewing America. Link: “What’s ‘the Country’s Best Smart Growth Project’? You’ll Be Surprised.” Excerpt: “Years later, when he returned to Paris as a graduate student, he found that the boarded-up, abandoned strip had been transformed into […]
Architect > “it’s like tactical urbanism on steroids.”
(press.) Architect Magazine wrote a story about the role of tactical urbanism in cities. Link: “Newest Urbanism.” Excerpt: “It’s like tactical urbanism on steroids,” Gravel says. “We built this amazing groundswell of support, even though, over the years, there have been challenges to the direction of the project—its vision, funding, ownership, […]
GOOD > “until our politics catch up.”
(press.) From GOOD Magazine‘s “GOOD 100” in 2013. Link: “Meet Ryan Gravel, Building A Better Future.” Excerpt: “For a lot of reasons, this country is changing its cultural expectations for how we live—we’re modifying our American Dream,” Gravel says. “But until our politics catch up with the big policy changes required to […]
On Doers > “it’s more about the experience.”
(press.videos.) The Atlanta Beltline is more than a sound byte. This long-form (27:13) interview at On Doers with Scoutmob co-founder Michael Tavani covers the story. “Episode 002 / Ryan Gravel.”
New York Times > “business has increased tenfold.”
(press.) Project update from the New York Times. Link: “Now Atlanta Is Turning Old Tracks Green.” Excerpt: “Skip Engelbrecht owns an antique furniture store, Paris on Ponce, that backs up to the Eastside Trail. He said business has increased tenfold over the past two years as the trail opened. “It’s unreal. We used […]
CNN International > “green space is kind of the living room of the city.”
(press.videos.) My dog Jackson tagged along for this 2012 interview on CNN International. Link: “Abandoned railway turns urban sprawl green.” Also, here’s a related piece I wrote for CNN Opinion – Link: […]
