Bloglanta

Bloglanta: It’s a funny name but it works. But what is it about?

The Catchphrase: For fans of everything ITP. That’s “inside the perimeter” for anyone unfamiliar with the local jargon.

The Inspiration: It started when Robert was walking around Cabbagetown and thought it would be a great idea to evaluate the neighborhoods of Atlanta from a planning/architecture perspective, then blog about it. Robert then went into action and immediately called me on my cellphone while I was in the middle of a meeting in the Rampway office. As usual, my response was, “Yeah. Uh huh. Sure. That would be cool. {{Thought bubble: Robert, as always, you’re crazy, but that’s why you are so loved.}}” After mulling the idea in my head and thinking of ways to expand on it I decided to get to work and start thinking of what this blog would be called.

The Name: As it turned out, the domain name “bloglanta.com” wasn’t taken. I took it. So there.

Why ITP: Of course the City of Atlanta has its own set of political boundaries, but political boundaries don’t matter that much from a pragmatic point of view (at least, not for this blog). The area ITP is bigger, contains more cities, and exhibits a more diverse and interesting set of political, social and economic realities than the City of Atlanta alone.

Random Bit: The area enclosed by the perimeter represents approximately 310 square miles. If the entire population within the 10-county metropolitan area were to move ITP, the resulting population density would still be lower than that of Tokyo.

Categories: This will be addressed more fully later on, but here is a taste of what you can expect to see:

• Looking at the Past: A look at a neighborhood or street or some other particular place from a historical perspective. How did this place get its name? Why is it shaped that way? How did it get to be the way it is?
• Stupid Development Tricks: Real estate developers love to do things that they think will make them money. The problem is, the myopic focus on money means they forget about what’s really important.
• Venues and Events: How can anyone look ITP without looking at the arts? Concerts, galleries, artists, musicians … The list goes on. Perhaps a look at a side of the arts in Atlanta no one has ever seen.

Can You Help? Perhaps this blog will turn out to be nothing. Perhaps, instead, the ideas tossed around here will in some little way bring about some of the changes that are needed to enhance the quality of ITP life. If you’re interested in blogging here, sign up here. Also, I could really use some help in designing the site, creating some graphics, etc. If you would like to help out to make this site something cool and interesting, I would love to hear from you!