Dear BRN Supporter,

In this latest Rail Writers column, we hear from downtown resident Lauren von Hollen, who gives a perspective on commuting by bicycle to the BeltLine from her downtown home. We haven't featured this perspective before, and it is an important one as there are thousands of others like Lauren who live downtown and who will benefit from the Streetcar East Extension, which entered the final design phase with MARTA consultant HDR last month. Read on for her perspective.

— Rail Writer Lauren Von Hollen

I am a Downtown Atlanta resident and have been a daily bike commuter out to the Eastside BeltLine for years. My husband John and I live about a six-minute walk southwest of the Woodruff Park streetcar stop. We are not far from the BeltLine, but it could feel so, so much closer. 

Riding to work every day, I am very familiar with the area that the streetcar currently covers and will run along on the BeltLine. I bike in the rain; I bike in 25 degrees and 95 degrees. It’s usually an enjoyable and refreshing time. But keeping things in perspective, I also race ultra-marathons. So I recognize this is not for everyone.

Downtown is poised to get an influx of new residents in the coming years. The streetcar expansion to the Eastside Trail would effectively connect a node of residents, jobs, and amenities to another, linear node of residents, jobs, and amenities. And open up many new opportunities in between. 

The streetcar would allow anyone to make the trip I do. My neighbors could now follow this same commute, my family could seamlessly visit me from Inman Park, or a group of friends from around the metro and I could meet for dinner at Ponce City Market and then pop over to Edgewood Avenue for drinks. And I would personally love the option, on some of those really cold, rainy winter evenings, to hop on the streetcar from my BeltLine workplace and ride it to within a few blocks of my Downtown home. 

The area inside the BeltLine has enormous, almost unlimited, potential for Atlanta. It’s true that walking from our home in the center of Downtown to the BeltLine (whether East, West, or Southside Trail) takes about 40 minutes, which isn’t convenient or comfortable for everyday errands. But a “walking-plus” option, like the streetcar, could completely unlock the area. 

Did you know that, by bike, it takes about twelve minutes to get from the heart of Downtown to the Eastside, Westside, or Southside Trail? 

To make this very clear, most people living, working, or hanging out anywhere inside the BeltLine are less than a twelve-minute bike ride to the trail itself. That’s less distance than Trader Joe’s to Ladybird, a regular route for many Atlantans and visitors. Everything inside the BeltLine is very close. In contrast, driving a private vehicle to the BeltLine—walking down to the car, driving, parking, and then walking to a final destination—takes way more time for us. 

Sounds like a pretty good place to be, huh? Well, as luck—or actually, geometry—would have it, there’s a ton of space inside the BeltLine! And the more people who live here, the better it is for everyone! South of North Avenue (the official northern boundary of Downtown, as well as the southern border of PCM) and north of I-20, there are over seven square miles of land inside the BeltLine. That’s more than ten times the land area of the Midtown Garden District, the leafy, mixed-use neighborhood south of Piedmont Park that currently houses 8,000* people.

The catch here is that not everyone can or wants to bike. In Atlanta’s heat and with our rolling hills, twelve minutes is more than enough time to build up some sweat. Families may be traveling together. Or a group of friends might be visiting from OTP. So biking does not make sense for all people or all trips.

The streetcar makes these trips possible. It makes them less of a workout and a more practical way to get around central Atlanta. Without parking, waiting at lights, or paying for a ride-share to go less than two miles (ouch!). With a short walk, I could start from my home or, really, anywhere inside the BeltLine and get to my favorite destinations on it—or work. On behalf of my Downtown friends and neighbors, who have voted several times to support the streetcar expansion and BeltLine rail, we can’t wait.