When the most detailed expenditure of proposed TAD funding is $155M to The Stitch, another giant sparkling project that doesn't really qualify as necessary infrastructure (we could use a lot more 5th Street bridges)... well, doesn't really make one lean towards the TADs as responsible does it?

Just a regular reminder that renters are almost always considered 2nd class citizens.

dropped off some stickers and a pile of How I'd Fix Atlanta Season Two for @burnaway.org's first annual BOOK/ZINE fair. it's gonna be so awesome. if you're in ATL tomorrow, make sure to head over to The Goat Farm and check it out: burnaway.org/programs/boo...

Related to this post (which you should read & the link to the full document): 1) Does anyone know the assessed value of the Krog Street Market properties that just sold for $220M? and 2) Does anyone have an explanation why the city, APS, and county aren't up in arms about the commercial assessments?

I'm not asking so I can be critical. Just curious. What does it mean to be an "International City"? I'm pretty sure there's not a correct or single definition. What do you think an International City means and what do you think Atlanta's power structure means by it?

@danimmergluck.bsky.social @julianbene.bsky.social how do you stay sane with everything you know about this stuff? I've looked at TADs before but I'm doing a shallow dive into the TADs in D12 and I just want to bang my head against the wall.

Honestly, Dan and Julian are probably the smartest people in the room to talk about this and Sean the ablest journalist to cover it. Worth a read of the whole thread and exchanges.

I love how the TADs are being treated as if they are free money, money that will vanish if the TADs dissolve. That's not how it works.

Ok, a little help needed. @atlantabeltline.org keeps saying that the $1B they've spent on the trail has generated $9B in economic development. But I can't find where that number comes from and what means were used to generate it. Anyone see it anywhere?

The studies on the different modes of transit for the Beltline. drive.google.com/file/d/1AZYR..., drive.google.com/file/d/1KWl9..., drive.google.com/file/d/1qcRQ...

I'm not entering into the drawing since I have a copy (would love to have it signed) but this is an amazing book about homelessness. I just wish he had some copies to give Atlanta elected officials who really, really, really need to read it.

I cannot count how many times at meetings, events, forums, from the mouths of city business groups and their CIDs/BIDs, and employees and elected officials the words, "We hope to have this project completed by the World Cup." This, to me, is a fundamental aspect of the "Atlanta Way." /1

Want to join me for an interesting excursion this Saturday, noon-1PM? Meet at The Last Meter Statue in Piedmont Park (near the 14th St entrance) and we'll walk to a site that most of us probably barely register. For 5 minutes we'll extend our attention in silence, just focusing on what we see /1

Must read from the @atlpresscollective.com atlpresscollective.com/2025/09/05/a...

Finished Red Hot City by @danimmergluck.bsky.social. Little odd for me since I was present for a good portion of the book (how we didn't cross paths during the Beltline opening, Ft. Mac, and Turner Field is beyond me). I'm gonna put this up there as a 5 star regarding really essential reading /1

I'm rereading @danimmergluck.bsky.social's Red Hot City and it struck me how similar the first chapter of books that are tied to issues of race in Atlanta are. "Here's my version of how we got to where we are before I get to what this book is about." Now, I read a lot of books about this topic. /1

Amazing book. If you're in DC I'd go. Hopefully he'll be speaking in Atlanta soon.

Thanks as always for @thexylom.com for doing this work. Support them if you can.

Important read: www.bisnow.com/national/new...

Freshly sliced melon (any type) with just a sprinkling of good salt on it is really one of the most refreshing possible things on a hot August day in Georgia.

Seizure medication, wheelchairs, Social Security cards, dentures, urns of ashes, work uniforms — just some of what's been thrown away during cruel, degrading, utterly counterproductive homeless sweeps. A good time to revisit this gutting @propublica.org story:

1st endorsement of 2025 ATL City Eleections Juan Mendoza for post 1 at Large. He brings much needed expertise to budgeting, accounting, financing, and he's plenty enough of a good urbanist for me. He's actually already read some of the books I recommended www.juanforatlanta.com

Meet and Greet with @rohitforatlanta.bsky.social at the Atlanta Preservation Center in Grant Park. Get out and meet the candidates!

Pet peeve or am I doing it wrong. Say it's Saturday & I say "I'll see you next week." I don't mean this approaching week. That's "this week." "Next week" means the following week. Happens when giving directions, 2. "You'll want 2 turn right @ the next turn. No, u turned right @ this turn. NEXT TURN

Sick to my stomach. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/o...

This is why Atlanta is broke to the tune of BILLLIONS w/a B in debt to unfunded maintenance. By the time the Stitch needs capital repairs everyone sitting up their front and center patting each other on the back, some giving BS speeches about economic impact based on made up numbers some intern /1

Hmmm... while I have everyone's attention I got some reading done on bus trips this week. Scarcity was good. If you're into behavioral economics you might enjoy it. How the Other Half Eats by by Priya Fielding Singh is a great read & should be required reading for politicians looking for the /1

There is No Place for Us by @brian-goldstone.bsky.social is 1 of those exceptional books that should be in every house, in every library, in every school. I won't say it should be required reading b/c it's so well written, so well researched, filled with humanity & empathy o will WANT to read it. /1

We could just preserve our natural places, preserve and renovate our historic charming towns, and build our cities as somewhere people would just like to go. Make that the ice cream and the tourist attractions just the sprinkle on top. Not the other way around.

Not saying I'm for #copcity but this spreadsheet from @atlpresscollective.com regarding settlements darn sure demonstrates our police need better training on how to drive their vehicles. atlpresscollective.com/city-of-atla...

I'm just gonna put this out there. All tax abatements and bond issuances by our development authorities should b put up for referendum on the nearest election ballot. Let the boards, made of unelected and mostly untrained people, simply make the decision if this action is worthy of a public vote.

So, was the Transportation Dept having a meeting & they were, "How do we improve road safety?" "Best idea I got is reminding the LGBQT community we don't like them. Ban rainbow crosswalks." "Yes! I love it!" www.advocate.com/news/sean-du...

I am officially old enough that if I can't find a pair of reading glasses I'm freaking out. I found a pair. Now I can read again. I'm also old enough that while I use my computer a lot I like to hold books in my hands.

Question. I think we're all familiar with the high cost of free parking and that we should charge for parking. But what about when the revenue generated from charging for parking enables the owner to not develop the land? It's easy money and just hold onto it waiting for a lottery offer. /1

BREAKING: @ajc.com obtained body camera footage from the June 14 arrest of Spanish-speaking journalist Mario Guevara by the Doraville Police Department while he was livestreaming "No Kings Day" protests in suburban Atlanta Guevara is now in ICE custody and may be deported to El Salvador.

I don't think I can support any city official (elected or hired) that says, "Oh, we're not addressing this long standing issue b/c of the World Cup." Atlanta is like my house. It's a mess until I have to clean up for company

I'm catching up on things. Mainly Atlanta politics. I'll say it It sounds vain. But if you don't know who ThradATL is & none of us know who you are that's not good. Thread has been around for a decade & has people everywhere. If you're a community 'activist' & none of us know you... not a good sign.

Community engagement in Atlanta is a Potemkin Village. Prove me wrong.

Books to add to your reading list. World Without End by Martha Park The Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy How the Other Half Eats by Priya Fielding-Singh The Ethics of Invention by Sheila Jasanoff

For my money the books to read on the modern conservative movement are @rickperlstein.bsky.social quadrilogy. There are great books about presidents. But few that document so well the rise of the conservative movement that has taken us here. Would love other recommendations to read.

"I don't like renters. They don't have a stake in the n'hood. How long are they going to be here?" "You're 85. I gotta be honest, they have a lot bigger chance of being in this neighborhood longer than you if we allow this development."

Having attended 100s of meetings over the last 15 years here's a take. Learn history from your elders but their opinion and vote is no more important than new residents & younger voters. Renters r as valid as homeowners. People w/out children can have an opinion on our schools.

"I'm 81 and I've lived here for 30 years and I'm against this." "I don't care." "We need more housing." "That's literally what this rezoning is allowing." "I'm old and I don't like it." "Yeah,This is literally allowing residential on vacant property." "I don't like it." "I still don't care."

One of the most bizarre experiences in my public life was serving on the board of a park that was attempting to raise money for shade structures while opposing buildings next to the park because they would cast shadows on the park. I'm sitting there thinking, "They're providing housing and shade."

“The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar, in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle, is actually the right to destroy the city.” - Lewis Mumford

Given Chaos, I don’t expect anyone to notice the hearing for head of Federal Housing Finance Agency. But FHFA is one of the most consequential agencies that most folks have never heard of. And chief on its agenda will be full privatization of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Here’s why that’s very bad. 1/5

On a recent podcast, he was talking about how small town with tiny budgets struggle against the scale of modern infrastructure costs, and he said no major American city would approve a single project that is the size of their entire annual budget… … and uhhh yeah that’s just the Stitch. $2B vs $2B

The first time I met @atlurbanist.bsky.social (it came up in conversation with a journalist today). Probably our finest work. I think everything we've tried to do, with many others, over the last 10 years started here. I hope we've done something good atlurbanist.tumblr.com/post/1027940...

One of the things I find amazing is that professional athletes are required to appear at press conferences and elected officials and their staff can just decline to comment.

I like trees. I don't like trees as a means to oppose dense, affordable housing. And yes, dense affordable housing is greener than a tree. And I don't like trees as hyperbole. Seriously, show me where in NPU-Y "hundreds of trees" were cut down for a development. HUNDREDS!