eloralee.bsky.social
Academic in Housing & City Planning. Views are my own. Atlanta via Boston + Apia. 🇼🇸🇦🇸 she / her / ia
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Because of Trump's DEI EO, Will's story, Black History & the very existence of the Freedmen's Bureau Project is being threatened.
But when I searched every document NARA has compiled since Trump took office, I couldn't find a single doc that defines DEI.
That's because there isn't one.
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Wtf
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To me the beltline has always had this visual/aesthetic/symbolic approach to thinking about equity. It's a fantastic piece of urbanism/urban design, but the equity impacts have never materialized, in fact we've seen the opposite.
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I also think it's telling that none of the community based orgs that do work on equity in ATL have really come out in favor of beltline rail as being a good investment of tax dollars that would help people. If you're serious about transportation equity in ATL, broaden the coalition.
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I think it's an empirical question, and if you're serious about equity and beltline rail, you should be reading the literature on how light rail would impact the SW beltline neighborhoods and thinking about mitigation with affordable housing, and also reading the transpo equity literature.
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For my part, I rode the 102 to GT today and once I finish grading will take it home too. $5 RT is too high but it's cheaper and more enjoyable than parking.
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Transpo isn't my area but I believe it's called the affordability paradox. By contrast the studies I've seen on BRT show less of an impact, or mixed results. It's also cheaper to build so you can create a more comprehensive network. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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It's context specific/there's no exact rule, but there's many studies showing that the greater the amt and permanence of investment in transit, the greater the impact on adjacent land values. Fixed rail being the most permanent, most expensive, you'd predict having the most impact on land values.
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"services for low income people will always be politically low priorities" but we have a mayor who is willing to make it a high priority. Good for him! I support Mayor Dickens 100% on this.
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a broad BRT network that meets the material travel needs of low and moderate income people at an excellent price is equitable. far more equitable than an expensive, gentrifying fixed rail that would primarily serve the needs of upper middle class people who tend to drive anyways.
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I think the answer is there are no service workers helped by this plan, and existing transportation surveys say that low income peoples transportation needs would be better served by bus improvements done regionally, particularly BRT
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A) for myself, I was working on affordable housing issues in ATL the beltline was put in place b) How does train *on* the beltline help get workers from other parts of the region to the beltline? Where are these service workers - have they been asking for this, are there surveys or outreach?
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Are low income communities in ATL clamoring for Beltline rail and I've missed it? Are there studies I haven't read? Happy to be convinced otherwise.
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What would BRT or fixed rail on the beltline would do to enhance equity in this city? Never seen any evidence or studies to explain how this a good use of funds. Seems to me trains are expensive, aggravate gentrification, and aren't useful for ppl you claim to want to help.
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But think about why it's expensive to live on the beltline. Before 2011, O4W was a very affordable place to live, same with every other neighborhood in SW ATL along the beltline. Equity means thinking about the impact of public investment on affordability AND access AND service provision.
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Got it, so it's Hans Klein. You can add me to that list - I have never seen a good argument that beltline rail is good for equity, especially if there's a credible plan to use BRT more broadly/purposefully to solve existing transpo equity concerns instead. Always willing to listen tho.
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How do you know what low income communities want, BRT or beltline rail? Is there a study or survey or series of charettes that points to strong support of low income ATL communities for beltline rail?
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Alex Karner, one of the best transportation equity academics in the country, opposed beltline rail as GT faculty. Curious who you're referring to here.
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Check out and share this letter, signed by multiple lawyers and law professors, intended to give legal backing to universities to resist the anti-DEI executive order.
subject: DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent
https://tinyurl.com/nxk42mb