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| The 4th Ward Stop |
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| Charlie Harless, Me and Brady |
While in Atlanta this past weekend we took a city bus tour and one of our stops included a look at and a short walk along the Atlanta Beltline. Above photos were taken where our tour bus stopped to let us access the Beltline. We walked under the old trestle overpass that was once part of a stove factory and then turned left onto the trail.
The Atlanta Beltline is a 22 mile walking and biking trail that circles the city. Think Beltway only with no vehicles zooming around on it. Parts of the Beltline are still being developed, but this video will give you an idea of what it is like. (Note that when the narrator mentions the old 4th Ward area and the skate park, that is the section that we briefly walked.)
Our tour guide informed us that the Beltline came about as the result of a college student writing his master’s thesis about it in 1999. Ryan Gravel researched and learned that old rail road corridors circling Atlanta were still around and then laid out how they could be used to construct a continuous trail around the city. I found this interview with Ryan where he discusses the origins and building of the trail (click here.)
Ryan also discusses how the trail created opportunities for developers to site their restaurants, condos, and other businesses, such as tour bus stops, adjacent to the trail. The irony is that the Beltline has now brought more car-centric traffic to parts of the Beltline. Guess this is just another case of if you build it, the developers will come following the scent of money.
Music-wise we did not see anything like the following in our brief visit to the Beltline but this video is pretty good. The Human DJ brings it for an extended period of time (3:00 mark Celebration is great.) However, if nothing else, be sure to check out the end message included on the power of music:
You saw different races, different genders, different ages, And probably we all have different religious beliefs… But we had one thing in common, which is we all had a great time, dancing, clapping to him, singing…. we were all smiling and having a good time together and we always can If the governments/media don’t push racism, gender issues, Left/Right paradigms, etc..
and only if we allow ourselves to feel our hearts…..