Inman Park Traffic Update

You may have noticed some work being done recently at the corner of Lake/Austin and Elizabeth. If you are like me, you were probably reminiscing about the rogue crosswalk, observing the new ADA curb cut, and wondering what the heck is going on. We have good news on this and other traffic improvements.

1. The city has agreed to install a scramble light at the corner of Lake/Austin and Elizabeth. This means all lights will turn red when a pedestrian presses a button and we can cross in any direction we choose—yes, even diagonally. They have started this work and we are all eager to see this come to completion.
2. We should be seeing pedestrian crossings at both entrances to Inman Quarter and Inman Park Village Parkway at North Highland. These crossings will include beacons.
3. We have been working on getting a completed study for the intersection at Irwin Street and Krog Street. Good news is that the latest study supports installing an all way stop. This will greatly improve pedestrian safety.

We don’t have any confirmation on when these projects will be funded or started. We will continue to keep everyone in the loop as things get moving.

Inman Park, A New Atlanta History Center Exhibit

On July 2nd the Atlanta History Center will open a new exhibit entitled Gatheround: Stories of Atlanta. Inman Park is one of the communities featured. Highlights from the Inman Park installation include stories from the neighborhood’s revitalization beginning in the late-1960s, origins of the Inman Park festival and the ‘Road Fight’. “Prominent artifacts include the recently retired 9 foot long festival parade butterfly wings (gifted to the AHC by the Parade Committee), Road Fight t-shirts, “Stop the Road” sign, video footage of protests, and a slideshow of images of the trolley barn throughout the years “ said Jesse Garbowski, AHC’s Neighborhood Exhibition Project Manager.

Inman Park resident Bill Goodman donated the audiovisual work and almost all images and artifacts have come from former and current Inman Park residents as well as the neighborhood association’s archives. Content for the exhibit was developed with help from members of IPNA in collaboration with Garbowski. Garbowski emphasized the importance of neighborhood involvement in telling the Inman Park story for the exhibit.

When asked about the significance of the exhibit past president Dennis Mobley said: “Since moving to Inman Park in the late 1990s, Faye and I were steeped in the tales of the Road Busters, and have since called them Inman Park’s “Greatest Generation”. It’s one thing to read the Settlement Agreement and hear anecdotes about the Road Fight, but thanks to the Atlanta History Center exhibit on Inman Park, to see TV news footage of the civil disobedience, the neighbors in trees or with arms locked, chanting “We have a right to be here…….” was incredibly moving. My admiration for those who fought and won the good fight has grown immeasurably as a result of this vignette. I heartily recommend all Inman Parkers come see this exhibit!”

Walkable Inman Park Neighbors’ Stroll

Join us on Saturday June 18th at 8:00 a.m. in Poplar Circle for a stroll through Inman Park. Come celebrate healthy living and promote safe sidewalks as we walk through our neighborhood. Help call attention to the importance of maintaining and replacing Inman Park’s sidewalks.

Everyone is welcome to participate regardless of age and we will Coffee and Carbs. Bring those adorable children in strollers. Show off your cute canines. Chat with your friends. Meet neighbors.

Most importantly... walk, enjoy our neighborhood and Support our sidewalks with the purchase of a Walkable Inman Park t-shirt ($20) available at the Stroll or place an order by emailing [email protected]

Annual IPNA Fourth of July Celebration

Join us for a couple of hours to celebrate Independence Day - it's a great place to visit with your Inman Park neighbors or just show off your new Peachtree Road Race t-shirt!

Come celebrate American's birthday - all Inman Park neighbors are welcome. IPNA will provide chicken and beverages. Please bring a covered dish to share.
Monday, July 4 from 4 pm - 6 pm at the Trolley Barn - rain or shine

Event Coordinator: Carol Mitchell 404-659-2579

Atlanta's second largest park wasn't supposed to be a park. What is now Freedom Parkway was conceived as a limited access, multi-lane toll road with 5 bridges over neighborhood streets to connect downtown to Stone Mountain Expressway and allow traffic to flow rapidly through "blighted urban neighborhoods". In the 1960's and early 70's, 219 acres of land, including approximately 600 residential housing units, commercial spaces and churches, were condemned and bulldozed.

In 1972, a Blue Ribbon Panel commissioned by Governor Jimmy Carter, declared that the road would not be built "at this time." The following years produced many plans and ideas of how to use the land, labeled the Great Park. One plan involved museums, an amphitheatre and housing.

The cleared land lay idle, overgrown with kudzu, until 1981 when ex-president Jimmy Carter, Mayor of Atlanta Andy Young and Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Moreland struck a deal to create the Presidential Parkway, locating the Carter Presidential Library in the right-of-way. This new version of the expressway had amenities including "Tot Lots," playgrounds just a fence away from the high-speed, multi-lane road. Five bridges would go over neighborhood streets. Brown pavement would be used to "soften its appearance." Or, as the neighborhoods saw it, "lipstick on a pig". The same old pig.

The Friends of Ponce Library Book Sale

Friday, May 6, 4-6 pm Members Only Preview Sale
Memberships are available for purchase at the door for $5/person and $10/family

Saturday, May 7, 10 am to 2 pm 
Open to the public.

Books will be priced at $1 for a hardback and 50 cents for a paperback. Coffee table books are $2 and higher.
Membership proceeds and book sale proceeds all benefit the Atlanta Fulton County Library branch at 980 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta 30306. These funds are used to purchase books and supplies for the branch as well as support community programs hosted at the library.

Friends of the Ponce Library is a non-profit volunteer organization to help promote and support neighborhood library. We meet the fourth Wednesday of every month to discuss ways we can fund raise and work with the library staff to ensure the library continues to be a great community resource.

We encourage library patrons to become members of the Friends Group. Applications are available at the circulation desk and at all library books sales. If you've checked out even one book from the branch, then you've covered the $5 cost of an individual membership. Family memberships are $10 and you receive a Friends magnet for your car!

Believe it or not, the Inman Park Sidewalk Committee formed in late 2001 to salvage our deteriorating sidewalks. Through our council woman, Debi Starnes, we secured an initial grant of $57,000 to jumpstart our program. We started with a long swath of sidewalk on Lake Avenue and from there began offering subsidies to Inman Park neighbors. Once the grant ran out, IPNA established a budget to subsidize the sidewalk program. To date, we have re-laid over 150 individual sidewalks and five community sidewalks on almost every street in the neighborhood.

We are particularly proud of the streets like Alta, Austin, Euclid, Hale and Waverly where so many neighbors have participated in the program that we have entire blocks that are new and more walkable. That has been by design: the subsidy rewards contiguous neighbors who get their sidewalks repaired by granting higher subsidies. The standard subsidy is 50%, but 2 contiguous neighbors receive a 55% subsidy, and 3 or more contiguous neighbors receive a 60% subsidy.

Here’s how the program works:

Those of you who know me realize I seek amusement at every turn. Whether it be during IPNA meetings or slinging Festival trash while wearing a khaki cap bearing three butterflies, in my self-proclaimed role as Supreme Commander of Trash & Recycling.

I stole the latter title from no less than Dwight Eisenhower, who was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, and Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers). World War II? You’ve heard of it?

Upon his retirement, General MacArthur gave a memorable speech to Congress. I will unabashedly paraphrase his remarks by saying to you, the readers of this column, that “old (trash) generals don’t die, they just fade away”.

Inman Park’s Gang Of Three (a.k.a.) The GutterSlopes

One facet of IP’s Lifelong Committee’s Sidewalk Subcommittee undertaking includes surveying all our neighborhood’s sidewalk ramps – or lack thereof. This is being done in conjunction with a Georgia Tech Sidewalk study and utilizes GT’s expertise and equipment. It’s a significant undertaking that may take several months to complete, as there are many ramps or potential ramp sites to be surveyed.

Your neighbors Melissa Miller, Sandy Hoke and Marge Hays, sporting safety vests and toting measuring devices, have begun congregating at various corners for this purpose. Based on one of the measurements to be taken, we have dubbed ourselves The GutterSlopes. We measure up and we’re on the level!

What can you do? Actively Participate!

Summary of Proposed Revisions to IPNA By-Laws

 This is the first proposed set of revisions to IPNA’s By-Laws in several years. It is offered in support of IPNA’s expanded website and membership management capabilities, and in recognition of the fact that our lifestyles have all been impacted by the Internet.

The highlights of the revisions are as follows:

The revised By-Laws begin with provisions customary to those of well-organized non-profit organizations by referencing the Georgia Non-profit Code, which prevail in instances of conflict. The name of the organization and the boundaries of the neighborhood are delineated. The latter now ties to City of Atlanta maps, and replaces mention of the Southern Railroad Line with “Atlanta Beltline/historic rail bed”.

Walking the Walk

By Dennis Mobley    [email protected]

At the February meeting of the Inman Park Neighborhood Association (IPNA), we experienced not one but two examples of how we all might better “walk the walk”.

Our first example was an outgrowth of the remarks made and questions answered by Atlanta’s exciting new Planning Commissioner, Tim Keane. Of course the tenor of many attendees’ comments and questions were regarding traffic and pedestrian safety. (After all, it WAS an Inman Park meeting). In response, Tim (as he likes to be called) made a confession. He does not own a car. He also in effect issued a challenge: He cited statistics that calculate the average number of car-trips made per day by suburban households: Twelve (12). Further, he revealed the corresponding average for America’s truly great, urban, walkable cities is seven (7). He said that here in Atlanta we will not thrive as a genuinely great urban city if we simply “out-suburb the suburbs”.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW WEBSITE!

This is the very first web log (aka “blog”) that I, Dennis Mobley, have written in my year-and-a-half as Inman Park Neighborhood Association (IPNA) President. I thought it fitting that I write something to acknowledge the debut of our new MemberClicks®-powered website. So WELCOME TO OUR NEW WORLD!

What is significant about this new infrastructure is that the shiny new web pages are the front end of a robust Membership Management platform that will make it easier for each of you to join, support and STAY JOINED to IPNA!

Look out for our email!