Beyond the Interstates: A Young Urbanist’s Vision for a Connected Atlanta

Public Space Adjacent to the Beltline

As part of CNU Atlanta’s ongoing commitment to elevating young voices in the urbanism movement, this op-ed comes from Maxwell Watkins, a local senior whose perspective reflects the daily realities of growing up in Metro Atlanta’s car-dependent suburbs. In this piece, Maxwell explores how limited transportation options shape the lives of young residents and why a more connected, transit-oriented Atlanta is essential for the city’s future.

I-285, I-20, and I-85. This trio gets me to school, lets me visit family, and allows me to explore the city’s entertainment scene. These are the main corridors I take when traversing Metro Atlanta, and subsequently the only parts of the built environment that I commonly interact with. But, make no mistake, this isn’t by choice. Growing up in Rockdale County, a suburb akin to any other, I’ve been conditioned to its car-dependent culture. Most roads, being state routes, lack sidewalks, and public transit is nonexistent. Our closest alternative to driving is walking along the county-wide nature trail designed for recreational use (meaning it was not intended to supplement car usage). By default, cars are the sole mode of transportation in my area.

Despite the region’s car dependency, I’ve had my fair share of experiences perusing the city on our heavy-rail metro. When going to a local football game, my family and I park at one of many metro stations and ride the train downtown. When I was leaving for a debate trip with my school, I rode the train to the Airport. Using transit throughout my life, I’ve seen how service quality and frequency really shape whether people can rely on it.

Many people find public transit unreliable for them simply because they lack access to it. However, expanding regional transit requires collaboration and vision across jurisdictions. As a community, we must collectively move beyond the notion that public transit attracts crime and undesirable individuals. We need to focus on the benefits of transit access rather than its drawbacks. And when we do begin to focus on the peaks, a future of transit and transit-oriented development is certain.

While my public transit trips were memorable, cruising the city’s trails side-by-side with my brother is what shaped me. At times, as I rode my scooter past new developments, I couldn’t help but notice the well-manicured areas of greenery adjacent to the path. Like a missed spot when painting, these areas were free from development. I’ve come to realize that open spaces along the corridor can be opportunities for future transit or development. 

Light rail, for example, would provide an affordable alternative to cars, just what younger generations like me are looking for. As the housing shortage increases living expenses, cheap transportation is needed to balance the cost of living for future generations. As we know, lower prices induce demand, and rapid demand would draw attention from local policymakers. This would continually pressure municipalities to invest in public transit, whether it’s expanding their infrastructure or routinely maintaining it. 

If cities embraced the principles of connectivity, I wouldn’t rely solely on congested interstates to get to school. Instead, I would have the option to ride commuter rail into the city or bypass local traffic on a Bus Rapid Transit line (hopefully with median-separated bus lanes). These supplemental modes of transportation would reduce society’s reliance on cars, making it safer for pedestrians, or scooter-users like my brother and me, to navigate sidewalks and crosswalks. I hope to see improvements to our built environment by widening sidewalks, raising crosswalks, adding curb bump-outs, and installing flashing traffic beacons, to name a few, all to increase visibility of pedestrians. 

A more connected Atlanta means seeing walking, biking, and riding public transit as more than alternatives.

Follow Maxwell Watkins on LinkedIn HERE