In the late 1940s, 50s and 60s, the federal government promoted and funded “urban renewal” projects across the country, establishing the goal to clear “blighted” neighborhoods and allow for higher-end development. From this effort came the development of the Interstate Highway System. Federal politicians saw highways as a win-win: they could create large channels of transportation through our cities and displace poor Black residents at the same time. Twentieth century urban planner Robert Moses, a national leader of urban renewal, said construction “must go straight through cities and not around them” because it was the best way to obliterate slums.
Like many cities across the U.S., Atlanta welcomed urban renewal and highway development. Residents of the historically Black neighborhoods in today’s northeastern side of Downtown were displaced by the city’s development of the Atlanta Civic Center in 1956. One such neighborhood was Buttermilk Bottoms, named after the lingering smell of floodwater in its sewers due to its low-lying geography. By the time construction of the Downtown Connector — the stretch of highway where I-75 and I-85 run concurrently — was complete, Buttermilk Bottoms and other nearby neighborhoods ceased to exist.
Today, the space around the highway is generally unused. The once-thriving Civic Center, for example, closed its doors in 2015 after continually losing business to newer spaces like the FOX Theatre, the Georgia World Congress Center, and the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. Its accompanying MARTA station has the second lowest ridership in the network.
The area around the Downtown Connector serves institutional purposes — office towers, hotels, hospitals — but it severely lacks an urban fabric. For nearby residents and visitors, the highway increases pollution, noise, and traffic. In the surrounding neighborhoods, Old Fourth Ward, Sweet Auburn, Castleberry Hill, and Downtown, the percentages of residents under the poverty line are between 28% and 39%. For these residents, connectivity with other neighborhoods is vital to access amenities such as retail and grocery stores and come out of poverty.
An ambitious project called “the Stitch” could create that essential connectivity. Spearheaded by the nonprofit Central Atlanta Progress, the Stitch would cap a three-quarter mile section of the Downtown Connector to develop greenspace, walking trails, and other public gathering spaces. It aims to reverse the separation and destruction of neighborhoods caused by urban renewal and reduce the negative impacts of highways in general.
The first phase of the Stitch includes redevelopment of the Civic Center, which is still owned by the city. In conjunction with the Stitch, it could become a vital community hub. Jack Cebe, Stitch Development Manager at Central Atlanta Progress, said that the Stitch “would be a huge injection of activity and development into an area of downtown that doesn’t really have a whole lot going on today.” The first phase of the Stitch proposal also includes street projects with multimodal safety and engagement improvements from lighting to bike lanes.
Whenever a city wants to develop new green space, citizens tend to worry about the risk of gentrification, as has been seen in cases like the Atlanta BeltLine. While it is important to be aware of that risk, local urbanism advocate Darin Givens pointed out that “the place where this cap is proposed is not a neighborhood filled with people who are most prone to displacement, which are statistically low-income renters.” Instead, he said, the Stitch proposal includes affordable housing to create a mixed-income neighborhood where one doesn’t exist, ensuring communities once displaced can again thrive downtown.
One problem: funding. The Stitch has indeed reached exciting funding milestones, including a $10 million grant from Invest Atlanta funded through the Eastside Tax Allocation District and $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation Community Project Funding Program, secured by Congresswoman Nikema Williams. Invest Atlanta says that the project has secured $18 million in total. However, the expected cost of all phases of the project is over $750 million.
The Stitch aims to fill this gap with federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant. Cebe is hopeful that the project will be awarded the grant, saying that “the value potential of the Stitch aligns strongly with federal funding priorities.” Givens emphasizes that if the developers of the Stitch receive this grant, they must be held accountable to proper use of the funds. In other words, the affordable housing component is necessary to meet the requirements of the grant and Atlanta’s needs.
Less than a mile up the interstate is the site of another potential highway cap: the Midtown Connector. First proposed in 2021, the Midtown Connector would cap I-75/85 from at least 5th Street to North Avenue, bordering Georgia Tech’s east campus dorms. The project originally called for a 41-acre cap from 10th Street to North Avenue but was cut roughly in half this year to reduce costs and increase feasibility. Boasting community-building greenspace and an outdoor concert space for public events, the project has received $3.2 million from federal funds and attracted support from private donors, most prominently former Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. When asked about an equity component, Doug Hooker, CEO of the MCP Foundation that is leading the effort on the Midtown Connector, said that the team “will definitely be engaging minority- and women-led businesses as part of the development and construction of the park.” He noted that the greatest challenge to this project currently, in addition to funding, is finalizing a public partner that will take on the title and liabilities of the park.
Additionally, the Buckhead Community Improvement District has proposed HUB404, a nine-acre greenspace atop Georgia State Route 400. It aims to connect the PATH400 greenway to Peachtree Road and the Buckhead MARTA station through a pedestrian bridge design rather than a full cap. This project has gained $1.2 million in private donations and $4 million in public funding, including $750,000 recently secured by Congresswoman Williams.
The Stitch, Midtown Connector, and Buckhead HUB404 could all be important amenities to the city. They would certainly reduce the negative effects of highways — noise, pollution, traffic, and pedestrian disconnectivity. Of the three projects, though, only the Stitch is situated in an underutilized area of the city with a history of displacement that desperately needs revitalization. It is also the only one that incorporates an affordable housing component and a new community hub through the Civic Center. For those reasons, the Stitch has been endorsed by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
On the bright side, the project leaders don’t see each other as competitors. Hooker says, “I think Atlanta is big enough for all three projects and deserves all three projects…we have different strengths and weaknesses, but we are supportive of each other.” The leaders of the projects have met and plan to continue meeting to exchange information.
While the damage has been done and Atlanta can never bring back the residents who were displaced in the 50s, highway capping projects like the Stitch have potential to reconnect neighborhoods that have been separated for decades. At the same time, the Midtown Connector and HUB404 could provide valuable assets to already thriving areas. Each of the projects have fairly well-developed plans and have received some federal funding, but they have a long way to go. Givens noted that “it’s really hard to say whether these projects will be highly prized and prioritized by the various parties who hold the pursestrings.” It remains to be seen in the coming years which, if any, of these projects can progress and bring value to the city.
