On the heels of receiving the EPA’s National Smart Growth Award in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, today’s AJC featured op ed columns from local celebrity chef Kevin Rathbun and Heather McTeer Toney, the EPA Region 4 Administrator, on how the Atlanta BeltLine is good for local business and a national model for smart growth. Here are some excerpts:
“When we opened Kevin Rathbun Steak seven years ago in Inman Park, we never could have predicted the transformation of the abandoned rail corridor next door. We knew something good would happen. But the thousands of people who walk and cycle past the restaurant on a daily basis are proof that the Atlanta Beltline is working for residents, visitors and businesses like mine.”
Three of four of Kevin Rathbun’s restaurants are adjacent to the Eastside Trail – Kevin Rathbun Steak, Rathbun’s, and Krog Bar.
Stories like Kevin Rathbun’s are helping draw national attention to the Atlanta BeltLine. In her column, Heather McTeer Toney, describes how the Atlanta BeltLine brings more jobs to the community and gives people the opportunity to live and work in close proximity:
“To date, more than $400 million in new private real estate development has been invested within a block of the Historic Fourth Ward Park borders, and $775 million in new development has been invested within a half mile of the Eastside Trail.”
Read the both pieces in their entirety on the AJC website.
