Snow Jam '14 reminded the nation that metro Atlanta isn't very inhabitable. This seems to happen every three or four years. Remember the golden days of 2007, when all we had to worry about was running out of drinking water?
It's better to be thirsty at home than shivering on Clermont Road, right? The water fiasco landed Atlanta front-and-center for The History Channel's "City of the Future" competition. AECOM's Design + Planning practice envisioned our city in 2108 and came up with a concept to "realign the urban form of the city and create a new identity." Yeah, sure.
An instantly famous Politico piece this week gives the impression it might be too late for realignment around here. We're entrenched in our past mistakes. It's funny: Atlanta's major catastrophes, unlike hurricanes or earthquakes, seem to require an element of the city kicking itself in the face. Something for outsiders to ridicule. Anti-regionalism and lax planning, scheming with God, caused Snow Jam 2014 and its predecessor in 2011. Unbridled growth was the culprit in Drought Scare 2007. Who knows what'll come next. But for all the negativity, this uninhabitable place can't stop attracting more people.
· Atlanta 2108: The City In The Forest [AECOM]
· The Day We Lost Atlanta [Politico]
· On National Scale, What 'Tier' Does Atlanta Deserve? [Curbed]
Loading comments...