As the city grows, Atlanta will have to address Buckhead’s “shortcomings,” including sprawl and threats to the tree canopy, Tim Keane, the Department of City Planning commissioner, said at a Buckhead Business Association breakfast July 27.
While many cities have grid road systems with high density, much of Atlanta is more spread out, including Buckhead. Buckhead urban development is instead spread along one “spine,” Peachtree Road, with neighborhoods and tree canopy running alongside it, Keane said.
“We will have to be protective of both those environments,” he said.
To grow sustainably, more than just Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown will have to be developed, but Atlanta has to encourage that while also protecting neighborhoods, Keane said. People will need to move into other areas of the city than those currently seeing the majority of development, but protecting the tree canopy in neighborhoods is also vitally important, he said.
Keane, who has been serving as the commissioner for two years, is leading the effort to create the “Atlanta Transportation Plan” to guide the city as the population may rise from half a million to a projected 1.3 million. The plan will provide a guide for how to get more people using transit or alternative transportation, as the roads won’t be able support more drivers.
“We are on the threshold of a period of change gives an opportunity to shape the city we haven’t had in a long time,” Keane said.
Even though the city is growing and more people are projected to move to Atlanta, that doesn’t mean congestion has to get worse, Keane said.
“This notion that a growing city is a less mobile one is not correct,” Keane said.
Cities can, and have, grown without becoming completely gridlocked, Keane said, but do to that, the city needs a future to work toward. The plan will provide a guidebook for the future that all city departments can use to work toward an Atlanta people will want to move to, he said.
Another priority is continuing to expand the city’s Relay Bike Share system, which was recently expanded from 100 to 500 bikes in April, Keane said. Keane hopes to soon bring that number to 1,000 bikes, not only helping more use cycling as an alternative form of transportation, but also making cycling in the city safer, he said.
“One thing that makes cycling safer is having more cyclists,” he said.
Some bikes installed during the next expansion may also be electric bikes, which use power to assist cyclists, Keane said.
How can Keane say we need to protect Buckhead’s tree canopy when the city just gave permission to the developer building Peachtree Hills Place permission to remove hundreds of trees???
Mr. Keane is a little late.
Peachtree Hills has been demolished by Ashton Woods and Isakson Living. Not to mention Ashton Woods was allowed to go through our PUBLIC PARK (Peachtree Hills Park) with basically a street for their private storm water.
Mr. Keane, please stop talking and start protecting.
Tim Kean also gave Ashton Woods, the development across from P’tree Hills Place, permission to destroy hundreds of trees, and clear-cut the entire parcel of land, including ripping out ALL of the mature crepe myrtle trees along the street. Keane may say that he’s for tree conservation, but his voting history certainly says otherwise!
Atlanta will have to address Buckhead’s “shortcomings,” including sprawl and threats to the tree canopy, Tim Keane, the Department of City Planning commissioner, said.
“Peachtree Road, with neighborhoods and tree canopy running alongside it, Keane said. “We will have to be protective of both those environments,” he said.”
“…protecting the tree canopy in neighborhoods is also vitally important, he said.”
While emphasizing preserving the tree canopy x3 in this article, the recent clear cutting of trees in Peachtree Hills, under Keane’s watch, indicates something different.
Oh, how enlightened and intelligent Mr. Keane sounds and his actions are the exact opposite. He gave the green light to the barren landscape created by clear cutting for the benefit of Ashton Woods and Isakson Living. We can’t even vote him out of office but instead are paying him a very nice, job-secure salary with our tax dollars. Pls send Mr. Keane back to Charleston where he is known as “developers best friend” and spearheaded destruction of so many barrier islands’ natural beauty.