By Dan Reuter
Chris Leinberger was in Atlanta on May 24th to present a report completed by the Brookings Institute, Robert Charles Lesser (RCL) Co., HDR and Bleakly and Associates to document the economic potential and possible financing options associated with passenger rail from Atlanta to Macon. Chris Leinberger worked as the President of RCL and ran its Atlanta office for 15 years. In 1999, Chris famously described the Atlanta region as the “fastest growing human settlement in history”.
The May 2010 passenger rail economic study provides an excellent overview of the potential to support passenger rail operations and provide new economic benefits to middle Georgia but it also could create unique development opportunities in many small towns and communities along the line. Chris Leinberger has a related article in the June 2010 Atlantic Monthly on the history and potential of neighborhoods supported by rail transit. See the following link: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/06/here-comes-the-neighborhood/8093
Chris Leinberger and Brookings Institute also produced a report in 2007 that compared the Atlanta region to the 29 largest metro areas in the U.S. in terms of the number of transit enabled, walkable urban locations. The report ranked Atlanta 14th with a whopping total of four (4) walkable urban places: Midtown, Atlantic Station, Decatur and Buckhead. (more…)
