to the downtown community,

December 1, 2017

After a full year of planning and meeting, mapping and imagining, and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District are excited to present the Master Plan, a blueprint for the next fifteen years of growth and change Downtown.

In many ways, this plan, and the collaborative, community-driven process we embarked on together to develop the plan, embody CAP and ADID’s reasons for being. For more than 75 years, CAP and its many partners have worked to envision the best path forward for Downtown, build support for that vision, and then coordinate efforts toward a Downtown that reflects our aspirations; for the past 20 years, ADID has been our tactical arm—working each day to make sure everyone’s experience in Downtown Atlanta is a pleasant one.

Put simply, we at CAP/ADID bring people together to digest data, dream, make decisions, and take action. Over the past year, in the context of the Downtown Atlanta Master Plan, we met with you, your colleagues, clients, customers, neighbors, fellow students, and guests visiting Downtown. We listened, paired research and data with stories and anecdotes, and together arrived at a new vision to guide our work going forward. To be certain, we remain committed to fostering Downtown as the vibrant heart of the region, host to a robust economic climate, a livable environment, and home to our diverse Downtown community.

But new priorities have emerged too, namely a desire to cultivate Downtown as a collection of neighborhoods that offer the best of city living—housing choice within close proximity to good jobs; walkable and bikeable streets; access to arts, culture, history, and local restaurants and retail showcasing the best of Atlanta; and a greener, more active public realm that invites all who live, work, or are just passing through Downtown to linger and fall in love with Downtown for the first time, or all over again. In the years to come, we will use this plan to guide advocacy efforts and policy decisions, redevelopment projects and infrastructure investments, all calibrated to help Downtown Atlanta thrive in the context of the region’s projected growth, and do to so in ways that remain true to the community’s vision.

Thank you to everyone who made time over the past year to think about the Downtown of tomorrow. Whether you took a survey, attended a meeting (or several), shared an idea (or many), or served on a committee, your contributions help ground this plan for Downtown’s future in the voice and vision of our community. As you will see, your words (and in some cases your faces) populate the pages of the Downtown Atlanta Master Plan.

Without your commitment to the heart of our city and the energy you brought to the planning process, the Downtown Atlanta Master Plan would fall flat. Much like the planning process, implementing our shared plan for Downtown will be a collective effort. Together, with our many planning partners and your sustained involvement, we will work to make this plan’s vision a reality as Downtown becomes a thriving full-service neighborhood—a place for everyone and where everyone wants to be.

With gratitude and anticipation,

A.J. Robinson, President Central Atlanta Progress, Inc. / Atlanta Downtown Improvement District

ii to thedowntown atlanta community,

DRAFT Introduction 1 Vision & 41 Goals Downtown 23 Today

Cover Photo by Lauren Holley Source) Central Atlanta Progress Strategies 46

go ig with the small stuff Implementation 279 uncoer, celerate, and resere downtowns heritage grow downtown neighorhoods

reinforce downtowns role as the entrereneurial and economic center

reate a irant and actie uran forest

offer real choice in transortation list of figures

PAGE 3 Figure 1. Why now? 149 Figure 34. Coworking & makerspaces in Downtown map 5 Figure 2. Base Map 154 Figure 35. Pedestrian experience map 8 Figure 3. Map of Existing Plans 157 Figure 36. Existing and suggested commercial corridor map 9 Figure 4. Map of New Investments 158 Figure 37. Ground floor development diagram 28 Figure 5. Population and Employment Forecasts 165 Figure 38. Existing Ground Floor Commercial Map 32 Figure 6. Map of Population Distribution 167 Figure 39. You be the planner - community ideas for Whitehall Street 33 Figure 7. Map of New Permits, Citywide 168 Figure 40. Existing condition of Whitehall Street with public input 49 Figure 8. Part 1 Crimes by type 2016 169 Figure 41. Potential approach for redevelopment and investment along Whitehall Street 50 Figure 9. Survey Results: What do you dislike about Downtown? 171 Figure 42. Community ideas for programming and events Downtown 56 Figure 10. Map of homeless shelters and beds 177 Figure 43. Benefits of landscape 57 Figure 11. Open House priorities 178 Figure 44. Forest cover map 64 Figure 12. Arts, Culture & Preservation in Downtown today 183 Figure 45. Existing Central Avenue street section, looking North 66 Figure 13. Arts, Culture & Preservation mapping exercise. 183 Figure 46. Proposed Central Avenue street section, looking North 67 Figure 14. Arts, Culture & Preservation exercise. 185 Figure 47. Open space walkability map 69 Figure 15. Potential wayfinding along 186 Figure 48. “Blah-za” typologies 70 Figure 16. Potential wayfinding along Edgewood Avenue, looking west 187 Figure 49. “Blah-za” map 73 Figure 17. Potential 20-minute walking itineraries for Downtown 189 Figure 50. Proposed Decatur Street - State campus improvements 86 Figure 18. Susceptibility to change map 190 Figure 51. Plaza in front of Grady Hospital on Jesse Hill Jr. Drive: existing and proposed 94 Figure 19. Key Downtown neighborhood needs identified by Downtown neighbors 192 Figure 52. Existing Central Library entrance 108 Figure 20. Downtown’s potential “Residential Backbone” 193 Figure 53. Proposed Central Library entrance improvements 109 Figure 21. Test fit: how many units could be built in the Downtown core? 195 Figure 54. Proposed Central Library entrance improvements 111 Figure 22. The link between transit, parking and development in Downtown. 197 Figure 55. Proposed Peachtree Street & Forsyth Street public realm improvements 112 Figure 23. District parking explained in South Downtown 198 Figure 56. Existing Georgia Plaza Park 117 Figure 24. You be the planner - community ideas for the Civic Center 199 Figure 57. Proposed Georgia Plaza Park improvements 119 Figure 25. The Civic Center today 200 Figure 58. Existing Garnett Station 120 Figure 26. Proposed option 1 for the Civic Center 201 Figure 59. Proposed Garnett Station improvements 121 Figure 27. Proposed option 2 for the Civic Center 202 Figure 60. Five Points Station brainstorming activity from public forum 2 124 Figure 28. You be the planner - community ideas for Five Points 203 Figure 61. Existing Five Points Station 125 Figure 29. You be the planner - community ideas for the Gulch 204 Figure 62. Proposed Five Points Station improvements 128 Figure 30. South Downtown and vicinity today and potentially tomorrow 205 Figure 63. Proposed Five Points Station at night 133 Figure 31. Existing income-restricted housing in Downtown 206 Figure 64. Existing Peachtree Station 146 Figure 32. Primary jobs in Downtown Atlanta 207 Figure 65. Proposed Peachtree Station improvements 147 Figure 33. Key words from residents about their future for Downtown 209 Figure 66. Green gateways map list offigures PAGE 211 210 276 272 268 261 260 257 256 254 253 252 251 250 249 248 247 246 243 239 237 232 231 231 229 215 213

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