Our West End Newsletter “Creating a Vibrant Community”
September 2019
Issue 76
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Sidewalk Stories wrecks on this half mile stretch of road.
By Brent Brewer What to do with a failed highway effort running through a residential neighborhood? According to our neighbor, Amber Taylor, the City needs to put that fat six –lane road on a (road) diet immediately.
The problem is speed. Excess lanes and few cars encourage fast driving
With intersections like these, can we really afford to speed?
According to Langhornstreet.com, in the 1960s-1970s, a plan to turn Langhorn Street into the West Side Freeway began. Along the westside of the street, the historic houses were knocked down to widen the twolane road to six lanes to become a freeway. On the eastside, citizens pushed back through relentless protests known as the Atlanta Freeway Revolts. Squashing the freeway project. What’s left is a sixlane road connected to Interstate 20 through residential Sells Avenue. Despite two traffic intersections at Ralph David Abernathy Blvd and Lucile and a pedestrian crossing at Greenwich, Langhorn has had the most heinous car
Slower driving speeds significantly improve driver’s perception and reaction time, making it easier to avoid a crash and significantly changing the crash outcome.
Fast and furious driving also drifts onto connecting streets. Langhorn feeds Cascade Avenue and Ralph David Abernathy, two streets on the High Injury Network (HIN). HIN streets account for the highest number of severe injuries and deaths due to traffic collisions. Have you tried crossing Industrial White Street lately by bike or foot? Not fun. Langhorn feeds Industrial White Street where cars regularly exceed the 35 mph speed limit. On Sunday, September 29, 2019 ASA-SW event, we will slow the street down and advocate for safer streets on Cascade, Langhorn and Ralph David Abernathy.
Publisher’s Corner Sidewalk Stories As a native Oregonian, I am fed up with Atlantans putting Portland on a pedestal for their vast safe streets network. Truth be told, Portland only fast-tracked safe streets advocacy after the black population had significantly migrated from the inner-city to the suburban outskirts in the 2000s.
no less hopeful. The collegeeducated, newlyweds came to Portland from the segregated South for well-paying government job opportunities afforded by the Civil Rights Movement. It was a time of safe streets filled with neighbors who looked out for one another.
Unequivocally, black Portland’s hey day was the late 1960s to 1970s. Black Portlanders bustled around an active and thriving business district on Williams Avenue with black churches, businesses, social service organizations and nightclubs. At that time, my parents were new to Portland but
Born in 1974, I never experienced a time where it was fun to be Black while hanging out on Portland streets. First, the Atlanta Child Murders kept children from straying too far from their front porches (I recall only being able to play outside to a distance within view of the front porch, even in Portland). Crack epidemic permanently reduced the streets to transportation corridors. By not prioritizing their most vulnerable
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population, Portland inadvertently let the neighborhood turn into an inhospitable place. Since 2002, I have been a card carrying member of The Black Portlanders Bright Flight club with a longing desire to have a moment in my predominately-black neighborhood where it was fun and safe to hang out on the streets with my family. I have found that experience in Atlanta at Atlanta Streets Alive/ Music in the Park. I am appreciative of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition for organizing ASA-SW and mobilizing the community in support of #Respect Cascade to advance safe streets for all people.
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We Sell Bikes. We Fix Bikes. We Rent Bikes. 1384-B Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW Atlanta, GA 30310 Tele: 404-594-4205 Email: info@clutchbikeshop.com
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Can W.E. Handle Our Freedom? Similar to Patty, Mickey and Liza Sue, the outside world appears to be passing our charmed boxed life by. The long-promised Fort McPherson development has fizzled. Residents in Southwest Atlanta have greater exposure to severe or fatal injuries from traffic collisions. Despite higher rates of walking and transit usage, neighborhoods in Southwest Atlanta have some of the lowest sidewalk coverage in our city.
By Brent Brewer Patty and Mickey and Liza Sue Live in a big brown box. It has carpets and curtains and beanbag chairs' And the door has three big locks.
Often criticized for a charmed existence of tree-lined blocks filled with centurion boxes (houses) by our SWATL neighbors, this year West End has been an unruly bunch. West End Neighborhood Development, Inc. (WEND) voted in favor of creating intown Atlanta's first open container district and a multi-hundred-million dollar town center project at the West End Mall location.
Oh it's pretty inside and the windows are wide With shutters to keep out the day. They have swings and slides and custom-made beds And the doors open only one way.
W.E. has escaped our charmed existence through the one-way door and there is no use looking back. Our sleepy neighborhood has put out the welcome mat for the rest of Atlanta to visit in droves on a daily basis.
-Toni Morrison, The Big Box , published 1999
Only time will tell whether fortune favors our unruly behavior. For now, we plan to celebrate our freedom at the Sunday, September 29 Atlanta Streets Alive– Southwest event.
The late Toni Morrison’s first children's book, The Big Box, is an apt parable for current times in Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods. The Big Box is about three very energetic children "who just can't handle their freedom." To make these children abide by their rules, the grown-ups create a world inside a box, a world with toys and games, treats and gifts, and all kinds of stuff they think kids need to be happy and carefree. There are three locks on the door, which opens only one way. At the end of the story, kids choose to escape their box. Southwest Atlanta has always had something to say but we live a charmed boxed life. Box-shaped houses in secluded neighborhoods. Boxed cars driving outside the neighborhood for work and commerce. A comfortable life inherited from parental expectations. In boxed life, everybody can’t be on top.
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Atlanta Streets Alive opens streets for people by temporarily closing them to cars, creating a vibrant street experience and demonstrating the benefits of safe streets. Safe streets improve connectivity to transit, jobs, schools, social and recreational destinations, healthcare, and other services. Residents in Southwest Atlanta have greater exposure to severe or fatal injuries from traffic collisions, and all the streets in our city must be safe for all people.
Atlanta Streets Alive: Southwest Ralph David Abernathy Blvd/ Cascade Ave/ Georgia Ave-3.4 miles From Donnelly Ave (Cascade Ave) to West Ontario Ave to Hank Aaron Dr (Ralph David Abernathy Blvd/ Georgia Ave)
Sunday, September 29, 2019 Opening Ceremonies & Parade: 2:00 pm-2:30 pm Starts at the intersection of Cascade Ave and Donnelly Ave
Program: 2:30pm—6:30 pm Street Closure: 12:30pm—8:00 pm Local Access: 12:30 pm—1:30 pm and 7:00 pm –8:00 pm Note: Cross streets will be accessible to car traffic (Residents, churches and businesses directly on the route have local access.)
For More Information Visit: https://www.atlantastreetsalive.com Questions: Contact Sagirah@AtlantaBike.org, 404-881-1112 Free and family-friendly. Walk, bike or roll—Everyone can participate! @AtlantaBike @ATLStreetsAlive #AtlantaStreetsAlive
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Kokopelli will return at Atlanta Streets Alive– Southwest Route! Be there to witness the magical whimsy created from social interaction. West Hunter Baptist. 1040 RDA Blvd SW
Sunday, September 29, 2019, 2:30-6:30pm,ASA-SW
West End
About The Newsletter
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The newsletter is published monthly. Copies are handdelivered, free-of-charge, to all residents in the Historic West End neighborhood. Copies are also available at Gallery 992 and West End Print Shop.
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Our volunteers: Adah Pittman-DeLancey, Brent Brewer, Peter Gorman (inspiration), and our many neighborhood distributors.
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To submit stories or distribute, contact Brent Brewer at 404.447.0282 or ourwestendnewsletter@gmail.com.
Our West End News
Issue 76