(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.
(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. […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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. […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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.’” […]
(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. […]
(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 […]
(research.) While visiting Toronto to speak at the 10th World Congress on Design & Health, I felt an electromagnetic pull toward a power transmission corridor outside the central city. Canadians […]
(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 […]
(research.) I joined the bikeshare in Toronto and made a beeline for the first phase of the West Toronto Railpath, a multi-use trail alongside active railroad tracks just west of the center city. It was cool to see commuter trains passing and then discover a new station under construction along […]
(research.videos.) I was in Salt Lake City to speak at the Public Interest Design Institute and took a couple of hours to check out a section of the old Denver […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
Here are video clips from various bike rides. “Spring Saturday Afternoon on the Atlanta Beltline.” (videos.) 2014/04. Video (0:9:19) of an average weekend afternoon on the Atlanta Beltline. It’s mobbed. Runs the full length […]
(videos.) I went up to Washington D.C. this past week to attend a ceremony at US EPA, which awarded the Atlanta Beltline its “Overall Excellence in Smart Growth Award” for 2013. I made this short video diary (7:30) to share the experience with you. Here’s the video that EPA […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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
(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 […]
(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 […]
(research.) I got to know Debra Edelson after she moved to Atlanta and was working on the Atlanta Beltline for the Trust for Public Land. In a previous life she worked for CSX as a partner in the effort to build the High Line in New York. In December 2013, […]
(research.) One of the many brilliant things about the High Line in New York City is its plant collection. I’ve had the opportunity to experience it several times and I think […]
(research.) I was in New York in October 2013 and tested out CitiBike, the city’s new bikeshare system. It’s easy and convenient, but the most surprising thing was how much smaller it made the city feel. I used it to zip from my hotel to our office at Union Square, […]
(research.) When I first heard about the Harsimus Stem Embankment in Jersey City, also known simply as “the Embankment,” it was caught in legal disputes about its ownership. I’m not […]
(research.) …get a crazy answer. Can you make some magic tubes that bring natural sunlight down into an abandoned subway terminal, sufficiently to permit photosynthesis in plants and transform the space […]
(research.) After welcoming the 2013 National Brownfields Conference to Atlanta and highlighting our city’s signature brownfields project, Lena Young introduced herself to me. She was excited by its similarity to an idea she has been working on in Tampa called the Green Artery, a 20-mile loop greenway that for over […]
