Darin Givens (ATL Urbanist)
Urbanism advocate focusing on transit, safe streets, land use, and the connections between city design and transport outcomes.
Chaotic Yet Functional: The Eastside Beltline‑Lake Dance
What's your opinion of the intersection of the Eastside Beltline and Lake Avenue? Sometimes I'll sit and stare at it, watching the often-precarious interactions between cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter riders. I can't decide if it's a stressful mess or a glorious example of human behavior at its best (given the lack of constant, bloody collisions). It's both, I guess.
Car Ownership Costs Surge 40% Since 2020
Higher loan payments, insurance, gas, & maintenance have boosted the cost of owning a vehicle by a whopping 40% since 2020. Yes, building rail is expensive & creating walkable density is hard. But don't pretend that car-dependent urban design is cheap. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/business/car-ownership-prices-interest-rates.html
Atlanta Needs Rail on Beltline, Not More Trees
Um, this seems largely due to the fact that the Beltline is basically the largest transit project in the U.S. with no trains on it. If we pay Trees Atlanta to plant stuff in places other than the Beltline (like parking...
Board Appointments Aren’t Guarantees—Stay Engaged, Advocate.
This is a hilarious report from the MARTA Board meeting today, and a sobering reminder that just because someone has been appointed to a City board or committee, that doesn't mean they're particularly qualified or productive (if I get real...
Parking Fees Could Boost Pedestrian Safety Around Beltline
Yuck. Ralph McGill Blvd, next to a staircase leading to the Beltline. Maybe if we charged for parking on streets like this, we could improve pedestrian conditions around the City. Then people wouldn't feel compelled to drive to the Beltline to...
Transit Switch Offers Peace of Mind Over Speed
I love to see it! For those who have access to MARTA, switching from a car commute to a transit (or hybrid) one can be a real relief. Is MARTA going to be faster than driving all the way to work?...
Easy Transit Access Makes Downtown Evenings Better
Pics from a trip to Downtown this evening. I took the 899 bus to get to the streetcar and rode that to Woodruff Park to meet my wife (she rode the train in) for some food and beer at Anatolia...
1947 Map Reveals Roots of Atlanta’s Racial Sprawl
Mr. Gilmore's Official City Map of Greater Atlanta and Suburbs, 1947. Back when the area didn't go much further than Buckhead, and anything more than 2 miles from the center of Downtown was a suburb. They had no clue how...
North Avenue BRT Delayed to 2035 Amid Funding Shortfall
Remember the plan to put Bus Rapid Transit on Atlanta's North Avenue? I liked that one. It was a key part of the More MARTA expansion plan, but in 2023 it was deferred to "2035 or beyond" due to "financial constraints." I...
Council Member Calls Beltline a Failure without Rail
💯 "I believe that the Beltline is a failure without rail." — Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, addressing MARTA interim general manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt at Wednesday's Transportation Committee https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-atlanta-684bd7a0-bcc0-4b89-ace7-5d7bcfdb784a.html
Transit Expansion Must Pair With Near‑Line Density
Atlanta's freeway damage, its 1970s-era MARTA rail footprint, and the way forward...Expanding transit is worth the enormous cost, but realistically we need to put an equal weight on adding density near existing transit lines. https://atlurbanist.substack.com/p/atlantas-freeway-damage-its-1970s
Supreme Court Blocks Trump's Transit Tariffs, Saving Agencies
The U.S. Supreme Court just now struck down Trump's tariffs, saying that he overstepped his authority. 🙌 Among other things, this is good news for transit agencies which were faced will big increases in the costs of vehicles. https://www.planetizen.com/news/2025/11/136296-trumps-10-tariff-buses-could-raise-transit-costs-across-north-america
Atlanta Expands I-285, Razes Homes for 1950s Vision
Destroying homes in order to add new capacity for an Atlanta interstate. The dream of the 1950s is alive in Georgia in 2026. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/dekalb-county-residents-working-roadblock-multi-lane-expansion-i-285/SWUIGAK62JAXZFU4A67C647REQ/
Atlanta's Downtown Interstates: Unnecessary, Damaging Urban Planning
Two images of the same section of Atlanta, before and after the freeways. It’s probably inevitable that we'd have one expressway in the middle of the city. Even the U.S. cites that avoided the worst of interstate damage still have...
Atlanta Needs More Walkable, Transit‑adjacent Shopping Experiences
I enjoy my visits to Toco Hills Shopping Center because there are some great stores there. But my wife has to drive us, and walking through the parking lot to get from place to place is really unpleasant. Meanwhile, the...
Give Bikes and Buses Priority to Beat Car Dominance
Imagine if bikes and buses had priority on all major streets in the city, allowing them to be truly competitive with solo car trips. Scenes from my walk to the MARTA station this evening after work.