Focusing Growth amid Sprawl: Atlanta's Livable Centers Initiative

摘要

A turning point may finally have arrived in the Atlanta region's famous infatuation with sprawl. The opportunity stems from widespread concern that present development patterns are unsustainable, and that to do nothing is to risk the region's future desirability—and potential for continued economic prosperity. Today, a new consensus is emerging among citizens, developers, design professionals, and local officials that focuses on channeling new development into existing centers and corridors. Atlanta's new approach recognizes the need for strategies that will create places with distinctive design quality and character. Prominent among these is the five-year-old Livable Centers Initiative. LCI was created by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) as a way to restore the region's eligibility for federal transportation funding after the region was found to be out of compliance with air-quality standards. Today LCI provides both planning and implementation funding for projects aimed at retrofitting declining areas into higher-density, mixed-use, livable places.