Wow! This is very well done... BEEPTHROAT An independent public-records project documenting the Atlanta BeltLine's turn from voter-approved light rail toward autonomous shuttles. Every allegation links to a source. www.beepthroat.com h/t @alexip718.com

The Atlanta City Council votes to approve the extension of most City (old) TIF/TAD districts until 2055. (State legislative counsel has argued this is illegal.) Only 2 members of council vote against. Meet the new boss, same as the… So much for a more independent council. #AtlantaWay

Looks from this thread like Council is not rolling over for all of Andre’s TAD power grab. Thanks, ACPC, for covering this in real time for those of us unable to be there to watch the “fun”.

Ugh! Dickens appears to have taken thousands of dollars from the Affordable Housing Fund and used it to pay consultants who pushed for his TAD renewal initiative. Also: support local journalists! @atlpresscollective.com did great work on this.

Atlanta was supposed to do this but Mayor Andre Dickens rejected millions in earmarked regional funding and the pleas of local businesses and residents to dismantle Shared Peachtree, directly leading to two pedestrian deaths. It was rumored he did this to appease a single Republican oligarch.

Curious about the impact of the impact of the Mayor's updated Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative (NRI) on Atlanta Public Schools? I built a #shinyapp where you can see how changing TAD closures impacts future Atlanta Public School revenue. Check it out here - nickspiva.shinyapps.io/tad_app/.

Owners of large commercial properties should not be exempt from blight penalties! If Council passes this, the city's tax bill on the skeletal Campanile tower, which has blighted Midtown for several years, would go from $91,000 to nearly $2.3 million. www.ajc.com/business/202...

If a city tells you they have $100M to construct the largest police training facility in the country in the middle of a global pandemic, but the only way to fund grocery stores, hospitals, transit, and schools is to borrow money from your children’s futures…it is OK to have questions and concerns.

The level of dishonesty coming from this administration and the Beltline Inc. is unmatched www.ajc.com/news/2026/06...

Big kudos to Julian Bene for being such a great advocate for getting big commercial properties (including data centers) valued properly for taxes! This means millions more dollars for public services like schools.

Never forget... "We will create a more equitable transportation network in our city. We'll add bike lanes, sidewalks, complete streets, and yes, rail on the Atlanta Beltline." -- Mayor Dickens' inaugural address to Atlanta youtu.be/NiRDrSYbL14?...

This is pretty spot on. www.facebook.com/share/v/1FTZ... #Atlanta #TIFs #TADs

Here's a welcome sight: this new 1070 Dill development puts 22 affordable townhomes a short walk away from Oakland City MARTA Station, with *zero parking* -- very progressive for Atlanta's urbanism! Households have to earn less than 100% Area Median Income to qualify. 1070dill.com/atlanta/dill/

This is great! We've heard these public toilets are only a pilot project, launched during this World Cup year, but hopefully this leads to permanent ones. Please read Hannah Palmers excellent writeup about the importance of public toilets to cities: how-id-fix-atlanta.ghost.io/how-hannah-p...

Urbanize Atlanta reports that several of MARTA's new CQ400 railcars will launch revenue service for the general public on Thursday of next week. This follows a recent AJC report from @saraegregory.bsky.social about the long delays on the launch. atlanta.urbanize.city/post/new-mar...

Well said! If the City of Atlanta is going to market TAD extensions by using the language of equity -- and visions of uplifting lower-income residents -- the TAD ordinance should *reflect that* by guaranteeing the money won't be spent on tentpole real estate ventures.

Thanks to the Atlanta Business Chronicle for including our thoughts about the BRT project on 400. It's an exciting project, with GDOT and MARTA partnering to bring rapid transit further into the suburbs. But... 1/2

The chairman of Cox Enterprises, parent of the AJC, is using their news outlet to condemn Beltline rail. That's ridiculous. City leaders need to realize it as such. Arguing against rail transit in a city that's starved for its growth, and that is already funding it with a tax, is bad enough. 1/

Housing density advocates fear Atlanta’s zoning code rewrite will deliver more of the same “It’s definitely not an overhaul, and that’s pretty much by design. They’re not trying to upzone."

Atlanta: The bus network redesign for MARTA that we worked on for many years is finally running, and is expanding access to opportunity. My overview: humantransit.org/2026/05/atla...

Good news: Axios Atlanta reports that Councilmember Mary Norwood has pulled her proposal to build separate bike and scooter lanes on the Atlanta Beltline — which could threaten future rail plans. www.axios.com/local/atlant...

Reminder for this weekend's Inman Park festival (and every other big event in the city): MARTA rail is *free* to ride until May 2nd! If the lack of a Breeze Card has held you back from trying rail, now is your chance. [Buses are not free, though, so keep that in mind.]

This is such a win for not just the practical usefulness but also the comprehensibility and emotional dependability of MARTA’s bus system. If I’d known I could count on the 107 (now 21/22) every 15 min or better when I lived in Atlanta I would have been a regular rider.

For this new episode, we chat with Andrew Pofahl, a MARTA Project Manager, and Andy McBurney, a MARTA Service Manager, about what this weekend's new MARTA bus system redesign means for riders (and why some of us are pretty nervous about changes). open.spotify.com/episode/7k9v...

Meet the Phoenix Line: a proposed rail transit line that converts existing, underutilized freight tracks into a high-capacity passenger transit corridor for Atlanta. Thanks much to Nick Durham for sharing this fascinating concept through a new guest post! www.threadatl.org/blog/hiding-...

Join us this Saturday for a discussion about the data centers coming to Atlanta, with a group of independent experts moderated by King Williams. 6pm at Connections Metropolitan Church

Using the MARTA Tracker & Trip Planner, you can now set your departure time for a trip as April 18th (or later) and see what your trips will be like when the new bus system goes into effect on that date. tracker.itsmarta.com

Local architect & builder Eric Kronberg is sharing smart criticisms of Atlanta's concerning new zoning rewrite. Most residential areas are maintaining their suburban-style restrictions (large lot sizes, no new density). That's not good. More on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/posts/eric-k... 1/3

"Only 8% of the zoned land in metro Atlanta allows housing to be located alongside non-residential uses. People can’t walk down the street to grab a coffee or stop into the office. They have to get into their cars to do virtually everything." GIFT link: www.ajc.com/opinion/2026...

On a new ThreadATL Podcast episode, Patrick King of the Natural Resources Defense Council shares wisdom on transportation & environmental-justice issues in Atlanta. open.spotify.com/episode/5tKG...

The transformation of the Georgia-Pacific office tower in Downtown will include more than 130 apartments rented at below-market prices; that's according to a new AJC article (paywalled): 1/ www.ajc.com/business/202...

Years worth of studies for a potential MARTA line on the I-20 corridor have resulted in nothing but frustration for its under-served communities. An analysis of those ideas, spearheaded by Zachary Starbuck, aims to help turn studies into projects that get built. www.threadatl.org/blog/i20corr...

The high costs of rents came down in Austin, TX after the city: > Tweaked zoning to allow large apartment buildings near jobs & transit > Used a $250 million bond to repair affordable housing > Reformed permitting processes to speed development and reduce costs. 1/ www.pew.org/en/research-...

Higher loan payments, insurance, gas, & maintenance have boosted the cost of owning a vehicle by a whopping 40% since 2020. Yes, building rail is expensive & creating walkable density is hard. But don't pretend that car-dependent urban design is cheap. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/b...

Atlanta DSA seems to be the only org with guts to speak out *against* Atlanta mayor’s proposal to extend all (old) tax increment financing districts (TADs) until 2055. Most of the tax base in TADs has been growing for years. Will just divert $ from schools & basic services. Sighs in AtlantaWay

Nice choice! Atlanta City Studio has picked "Atlanta Underground: History from Below" by Jeffrey Morrison for its March 2026 Book Club meeting. Monday, March 16, 6:30pm - 8pm Location info and registration at the link: www.eventbrite.com/e/march-2026...

The hosts of the popular "War on Cars" podcast will talk about their new book, "Life After Cars," at the Plaza Theater on Friday, March 13 at 8 PM, along with special guests. Tickets are $30. Presented by Propel ATL. givebutter.com/lifeaftercars

Good news! Despite pushback from people in the neighborhood, a Kirkwood church's effort to use its property for 47 units of affordable housing for seniors was approved last night by Atlanta's Zoning Review Board! The proposal goes next to City Council. www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...

This was approved by the Zoning Review Board tonight!! That's great news. Next it goes to a Council committee for a vote, then to Full Council.

Today at 6pm, Atlanta's Zoning Review Board will consider a Kirkwood church's request to use some of its property for affordable housing for seniors -- a great idea! Sadly, the proposal is opposed by some Kirkwood residents who want to block the rezoning. www.axios.com/local/atlant...

ADA Listening Session this week! Atlanta's DOT invites members of the disability community to explain the barriers they experience on city streets. Thursday Feb 5 MLK Recreation & Aquatic Center 110 Hilliard Street There's an online option listed: atldot.atlantaga.gov/resources-2/...

Thanks to Jason Dozier and to all who voted for this! Atlanta City Council has introduced legislation banning new storage facilities in the Beltline overlay! This is great news. Improving the land-use around this future transit route is essential.

The GOOD news: MARTA trains are still running this weekend during the winter weather! Rail to the rescue. The BAD news: almost all bus routes are cancelled beginning Saturday morning. Only these eight will be in service. More info: itsmarta.com/marta-implem...

Great reporting from @saraegregory.bsky.social on a sad subject: A committee representing the City, the Beltline, and MARTA secretly voted to halt all work on Eastside Beltline rail several months ago, bypassing the required step of a public vote from the MARTA board. Atlanta deserves better.

The best excuse for Atlanta’s $1.9B Gulch giveaway was jobs. NS would only move staff from Norfolk if residents forked over $$$ for CIM to buy NS dirt. What a fiasco! ://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2025/12/19/norfolk-southern-union-pacific-merger-filed.html?

Take a look at the latest draft of the city's new zoning code at atlzoning.com Planner Caleb Raciot reports that the new code prohibits front-facing parking, blank walls, super-blocks, and other auto-oriented patterns.

This video critique of the Atlanta Streetcar is getting a lot of views and comments. What are your thoughts about it? One issue that doesn't get enough exposure in the video is land-use. 1/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OFS...

The Transit Guy has an excellent post about the success of the Plane Train inside Atlanta's airport. This is the train system that takes passengers to and from terminals. By ridership, it's one of the 15 busiest train systems in the nation! 1/ thetransitguy.substack.com/p/the-busies...

Urbanize Atlanta reports that Microsoft is giving 22 acres near Bankhead MARTA Station to the City for development. This is part of the land Microsoft purchased several years ago with hopes of putting a major headquarters on it -- hopes that fizzled. 1/2 atlanta.urbanize.city/post/microso...

It's not open yet, but the bike lane under construction on Juniper Street looks pretty impressive. The wayfinding signage seems like a nice touch.