Wednesday, January 30, 2008
News Ideas for Atlanta's future include -- of course -- "pod-like vehicles"
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Atlanta -- the water-deprived, sprawl-ridden capital of confusion -- was selected for a History Channel series about what cities can do in the future to alleviate their major woes, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports. Eight teams of local designers, architects and planners competed for a chance to win $10,000 and be crowned national champion for the most innovative ideas. Mentioned in the article are Eric Bishop of design firm EDAW -- the series' winner -- and Ellen Dunham-Jones, a Georgia Tech professor.
From the article, some of the ideas:
Landscape architect Eric Bishop of winning team EDAW said the city could benefit in the year 2108 by moving its network of streams from the city's antiquated sewer system back above ground where it could be filtered and cleaned.[Dunham-Jones'] team believed Atlanta's existing web-like network of freight train rail lines could be used to create a commuter transportation network where high-density development would be built in "nodes" where the lines intersect.
Water could be conserved by separating the city's stormwater and sewage water, properly treating it and returning stormwater back to the city's lakes and reservoirs, she said.
Other teams examined building large, multi-story tall "beakers" that would collect rainwater, the creation of deep water wells and pod-like vehicles that would replace cars.
Oh, dear God, no. Weren't "pod-like vehicles" featured in Logan's Run? What's next, futureheads? What other grotesque plans do you have in store for us? Renew! Renew!
Comments (5)
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When I walked downstairs to check out the ideas yesterday, it was pretty clear in the first fifteen minutes of the competition who the winners were going to be. There were two teams that were working off ideas that were understandable and realistic: GA Tech and EDAW. Most of the others might as well have been proposed by starchitect-wannabes. The good news: at least there were no flying cars.
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Flying cars get a bad rap. I think the Pothole Posse spreads misinformation about the aerial chariots so they can keep their jobs.
My team's proposal for having everyone drive around in those Napa Auto Parts trucks with the yellow hats on top didn't win this year.
Christa, you gotta stop trying to do that every year. It's becoming, like, a stain on your name in the planning community.
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