One West Courthouse Square Gets Schooled
Decatur Metro | May 23, 2008
Let’s talk about another office building for a change.
This morning’s AJC profiles the transformation of One West Courthouse Square from an office building evacuated by the CDC to a downtown educational hub thanks to the addition of The Arts Institute of Atlanta-Decatur and DeVry.
Not much new information in the article, but its a good read, and gives the city’s hypothesis on how an influx of students will change downtown in the coming years.
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Oh, but the traffice those two schools are going to cause and the burden on our infrastructure. Mercy!
This might be a good time to stress a particular distinction, given all the talk about traffic congestion.
Though the word “congestion” is typically only used pejoratively, it actually refers to two distinct phenomenon.
The first, more common understanding, is the traffic which stands between you and where you want to be. Think suburban arterials or 285 at rush hour. It’s where infrastructure is overwhelmed and the result for the end user is frustration and time loss with no apparent benefit. Such congestion is an impediment to economic development and is typically addressed with road widenings.
The second scenario, however, is that which results from actually being a place where people want to be. This congestion results in increased energy and opportunity for those within it and is a catalyst to economic development. It is typically addressed with increased pedestrian infrastructure and the creation of more endearing public spaces.
We need to acknowledge this distinction when discussing these issues. In my estimation, Decatur falls firmly in the second camp. I have to assume our downtown retailers do not view such “congestion” as a negative.
I’ve posted too much lately and will try to zip it for a while.
I hope you realize my comments, Scott, were in jest and I was just referring to how Wardell (in another post) used the fact that the Arts Institute and DeVry moving in as reasons that the city’s infrastructure can’t support more residential.
Obviously, I think that is a preposterous idea! Quite the oppisote, we probably need more affordable residential housing so that some of these students, teachers, and administrators can afford to live in Decatur!