Old Fourth Ward: Land Use and Urban Design

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OLDFOURTHWARD

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MASTERPLAN•HEALTHASSESSMENT

Smallenest«MSCandidate,CityPlanning,GeorgiaTechLadyRogue«MSCandidate,DigitalMedia,GeorgiaTechfsumahogany«MPHCandidate,EmoryUniversity

CapstonePartI|HealthyCities|Fall2009

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1.LANDUSEANDURBANDESIGN

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OldFourthWardisanareaofITPAtlantawithmanyuniqueelementswithinits763acres.BorderedonthenorthbyPoncedeLeonAvenue,theBeltlinetotheeast,Decatur/Dekalbstreettothesouth,BoulevardDrNE/FreedomParkwaytothesouthwest,andPiedmontAvenuetothewest,theOldFourthWardposesachallengetocityplannersduetoitsuniquecombinationofelements.

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HistoricbuildingsintheMartinLutherKingJr.districtalongAuburnAvenuerequirepreservationalongwithrevitalizationoftraditionalsmallbusiness.

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PoncedeLeonAvenue,NorthAvenue,andDekalbareallmajorroutesofeast‐westtransportinthecity,andatthedateofwritingalreadysufferingfromseverecongestion.

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BoulevardDr.islinedwithpublichousingtracksandabandonedbuildings,whichaddconsistentfoot‐traffictothenorth/southtraffictransversingthecity.

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HistoricelementsandgentrifiedmixedusedevelopmentsarerifeintheareaconsideredHistoricOldFourthWard,southofHighlandAvenue.

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FreedomParkwayservesasanexpresswaytransversingthenortheastofthecity,butitsconstructioninthe1960srequiredlargescaledemolitionofthesurroundingarea,andwalkabilityacrossitsswathhasnotyetbeenestablished.PartsoftheOldFourthWardrightlyhaveareputationforcrime,andcommerceliningBoulevardnodeislimitedtothelikesofPizzaHutandFamilyDollar.Theland,whichisdividedinto2,000parcels

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ishometoadiverserangeofAtlantansandfeaturesaparticularsetofneedsthatmakesitscontinueddevelopment–anditsimpactonthehealthofitsresidents–acomplicatedissue.

OldFourthWardHistoryandLandOwnership

OldFourthWardisthelastremnantofAtlanta’sWardsystem,whichwasinstitutedinthecity’scharterin1854,andabandonedonehundredyearslaterin1954whenthecurrentcitycouncildistrictswereputintoplace.

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Theareahassufferedaseriesofdisplacements,whoseeffectsechointhecurrentlanduseoftheneighborhood.Thesedisplacementsimpactthehealthchallengesofthecommunitymovingforward.

Image1.HistoricWardsinAtlanta

1917sawthedisplacementof10,000peoplewhen2,000structuresburntdown,mostlytothewestoftheBoulevarddemarcationline.Inthewakeofthefire,thecitypassedanordinancebanningtheuseofwoodshingles.Theemptiedlandswereeventuallyrebuiltwithsignificantlydifferentstructuresthantheirpredecessors:commercialstripsalongEdgewoodandAuburnalongthestreetcarroutes,low‐incomehousingdevelopmentssouthofNorthAvenue,andtwoandthreestoryapartmentbuildingsalongBoulevarduptoPonce.

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Thesebuildingdecisionsshapethemodern‐daycharacteroftheneighborhood.

Image2.1917fireinAtlanta’sFourthWard

Image3.FreedomParkway

Inthe1960s,theGeorgiaDepartmentofTransportationbegantoacquirelandfortheeventualconstructionofFreedomParkway–aprojectthatlayvacantforover20yearsduetotheprotestsofneighborhoodleaders.Over500homesweredemolishedinthisprocess.

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ThemodernownershipoftheBoulevardhousingprojectsisofsignificantimportwhenassessingthehealthassessmentofthecity’sMasterPlan.ContinentalWingateboughtmostofthehousingtractin1974–inasweetheartdealthatensuresthecompanyreceivesfederalrentsubsidieswithouthavingtorehabthebuildingsforamodernhousingmarket.

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Publiclyaccusedofoperatingslums,Wingate’sownershipofthehousingcorridorposesachallengeforadoptionoftheMasterPlan.

OldFourthWardDemographics

Accordingtothemostrecentinformationavailablefromthe

Atlanta-JournalConstitution,

theOldFourthWardpopulationisaround24,150citizens,withamedianincomeof$29,397.

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Forty‐sixpercentofthehousinginventoryisrented,and23percentisvacant.

OldFourthWardandCrime

WhenYoungJeezyreferencesBoulevardinhishiphopsongs,heisspeakingoftheOldFourthWard–anarea

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thatgenerallyfallsonlybehindneighboringDowntownandMidtownintermsofcrime

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.AtlantaCrimeReport.org,anonprofitwebsitethatcatalogues

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