Georgia Tech Announces New “Creative Quarter”

Georgia Tech recently unveiled plans for a new “Creative Quarter” on the Southwest side of Tech’s main campus. The previously announced “Science Square” has been underway for a while now, but there’s a big problem: it lies on the other end of the tracks from the Tech campus, and the only way to get to it as a pedestrian is via a sidewalk of North Ave, a horrible 4-lane stroad, under a dingy tunnel.

That’s all set to change however, as Tech is also building a large Pedestrian Bridge that will connect both sides of the tracks in a perfect way for pedestrians. These railroad tracks are more than an inconvenience; they have been a barrier that has separated West Atlanta from the city center for as long as the city has been around. To the North of the planned bridge, there isn’t a single pedestrian crossing of the tracks that isn’t attached to a stroad at least 4 lanes wide. To the South, you have to go all the way to the Georgia World Congress Center to find anything better for pedestrians.

My biggest question, however, is what lies beyond Science Square? Sitting to the southwest of the Tech development is a little under 60 acres of completely unutilized land. Well, half of it is unutilized; the other half is parking for….. something. When the Falcons play the lots fill up, but most of the rest of the time they lie completely empty; dozens of acres of wasted space. But with Tech expanding into the area, and connecting the area to the main campus via the pedestrian bridge, could this be a new chapter for this area?

And I’m not just talking about Tech itself developing the land; this is a perfect place for student housing. But students need food, jobs, and entertainment right? It could be that, 10 years from now, the area is bustling with development, similar to how the Summerhill district is booming now that Georgia State has moved into the area.

But this post is titled after the Creative Square, so what’s the deal with that? Well, Tech have recently bought a plot of land that used to be a construction company, and, well…. let’s just call it unsightly…

It’s the ideal piece of land to expand into. A dirty, ugly, fenced-off abandoned lot. No need to displace people, no trees to tear down, just reimagining a concrete lot. It’s perfect for redevelopment. Hats off to Tech for choosing this location, and hats off to the previous owners, Randall Brothers Construction Materials, for selling it.

And there are even more opportunities abound. Just to the west of this area is the Atlanta BeltLine connector, which will undoubtedly prove to be a key connector between Atlanta’s revolutionary BeltLine and the city center. If Tech and/or the City of Atlanta are smart, they will use this new development as a way to steer pedestrian traffic and locals to the BeltLine. In my opinion, this section of North Ave, and especially the intersection of North and Northside, should be redone to allow a direct pedestrian connection between the BeltLine and this new Tech bridge. Only time will tell if that actually happens, though.