User of 17th Street Bridge Finds Barriers
Recently I had occasion to find one of the silliest outcomes of the 17th street bridge project.
You can’t use it. That’s right. If you’re trying to get to a location on the west side of connector and you’re on the east side of the connector, the bridge is useless. My specific tumult was in taking the bridge to get to State Street and 16th. I took the bridge across, turned left, but when I found State street, there were barriers. The city of Atlanta has decided that no one should be able to turn down the street. This is nuts. We, the tax payers of Georgia, spent $38 million on this project and it won’t serve its primary function?
‘But what about preserving Home Park?’, I hear you cry. Home park is worth preserving, but to cry about it because of the bridge is folly. First, many of the homes are run down and have been subdivided into apartments. In fact, according to ‘Creative Loafing’, 75% of the property is for rent. Young families are not buying homes there.
Want to revitalize the neighborhood? Wouldn’t an improved transportation corridor help with that? Isn’t that why the City and State just worked to complete the connection of 17th Street to Northside Drive? According to Tim State, head of the Home Park Community Improvement Association, local residents don’t want their streets cut off. “This is not a cul-de-sac environment. It’s a neighborhood with a different feel, designed for people who want the benefit of living in town without the commute..”, says State.
So, if the residents don’t want the cut-off, who does? I’m guessing Real Estate professionals: both the Slumlords who currently control most of the rental property and those who covet it to build expensive homes. The slumlords know that if connectivity is increased, people with larger incomes will move in who, upon discovering the shoddy quality of their environs, will call lawyers. Developers know that an exclusive, limited access urban enclave for the wealthy will bring in the bucks.