Hey Atlanta, I’ve got a question for you – what do you get when you combine the reliability of car travel, the rider capacity of a railway, the convenience of a bike, and the savings of those shareable scooters? It’s Glydways – an autonomous transportation network capable of revolutionizing mass transit and BeltLine travel for the better. How Does It Work? The concept of Glydways is simple. By using a system of autonomous vehicles that travel within the space of a bike lane, we can … [Read more...]
Coffee, Crandwiches, and Croquet! Oh My!
Happy Autumn, Beltlandia! As the weather improves drastically from the endless heat of summer, my leisurely sojourns through the city have experienced an uptick. And what better way to celebrate Fall than to try out Cafe + Velo, Atlanta’s latest coffee shop off Edgewood Avenue! Cafe + Velo is geared towards cycle enthusiasts, a refreshingly new focus for Atlanta coffeehouses. A bike rack sits just outside the cafe, ready to accommodate about ten bikes comfortably. I mostly travel by car or … [Read more...]
Specialty Clothing Shop Offers Commuter Cycling Swag
The Spindle rose from a passion for cycling from brothers Sharif and Ezz-Eldin Hassan. In late 2012, after many rides and blown out jeans, they feverishly sought out cycling gear made for the everyday rider. They really had to dig, though. In a world filled with kits, clunky shoes, and spandex, finding companies that specialize in the commuter side of the biking world was going to take some effort. Sure, companies like Chrome had already made a name for themselves by offering messenger style … [Read more...]
Atlanta BeltLine Bicycle Shop
Location, location, location – we’ve all heard that joke and Atlanta Beltline Bicycle Shop (ABBS) is LOL. Every day the Eastside Trail of the Beltline is heavily used by active urbanites. Some of these urban travelers are bringing bicycling back to the ATL. In the late 19th century there were more bike shops on Peachtree Road than banks. Bike races at the velodrome were bigger than baseball with the Atlanta Crackers, and ladies and gents rode their bicycles out to picnics and parties. Today … [Read more...]
Happy Trails to Trader Joe’s Midtown
Three years ago we were in a pickle. We had started 2009 with the mantra “On the BeltLine in ‘09!” I wanted to relocate to a BeltLine neighborhood and focus my real estate career on what I saw as the evolution of Atlanta. By Thanksgiving we had relocated to the Old Fourth Ward, but my real estate business had virtually flat lined due to the financial aftershocks of 2008. Then we decided that my wife couldn’t continue her employment in a toxic work environment at a southside nursing home. She … [Read more...]
Our Atlanta Botanical Gardens Adventures
There are many wonderful advantages to living just two blocks from the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, one of them being an enjoyable bike ride to The Atlanta Botanical Gardens! It first occurred to us to pedal to the petals this summer when we took a little “stay-cation” to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary. Turns out it was a very good idea. We rode the Eastside Trail to Monroe and stopped for lunch at Woody’s. We each had a Polish Sausage Dog and a Sweetwater 420 - DEELISH! Then, … [Read more...]
Saturday Morning on the Eastside Trail
That's Sugar pictured above. She loves to walk...and meet people….and eat. So do I! That’s why we spend our Saturday mornings on the BeltLine Eastside Trail.. We start our morning routine on Auburn Avenue in the King Historic District in The Old Fourth Ward which is just a couple of blocks west of the BeltLine. We stroll past Lotta Frutta offering a nod and a “Good morning” to the folks sitting outside enjoying their Latin American fruit cups, smoothies, and breakfast fare. Then we cross over … [Read more...]
7 “Rubber-Hits-the-Road” Tips for OTPers
“It’s so much better than I expected!” I hear over and over again as I take friends and family members, predominantly from Outside the Perimeter (OTP), on their first bike rides on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail. Some of these people hadn't ridden bikes in years. Some didn't even have bikes. Some weren't even sure they could ride. Yet they did. If you’re an OTPer who wants to be an Eastside Trail insider, too, this little article is intended to give you some rubber-hits-the-road … [Read more...]
Highland Park Has #1 Amenity Sought by Home Buyers
A 2008 report by the National Association of Homebuilders touted greenways and trails as the number one amenity that people look for when picking a new neighborhood. Highland Park sales certainly seem to substantiate that claim. One third of the planned 66 townhomes have sold or are pending so far this year for John Wieland Homes. The builder can't seem to build them fast enough. And at mid-300 to high-600 thousand dollars a pop. The development sits at the juncture of Inman Park and Old … [Read more...]
Location-efficient Living on the BeltLine
As one of Georgia's first certified EcoBrokers, I am naturally focused on residential energy-efficiency. Over time I've learned that the location-efficiency of a residence usually trumps the energy-efficiency in terms of savings to the home owner. Consider the following scenario [courtesy of Invisible Energy by David Goldstein]: A buyer purchases a home at the approximate median US home price of $175,000. If the buyer puts down 20% and finances $140,000 over 30 years, here's roughly what … [Read more...]