Fresh Loaf

Mike Dobbins

Transit and mobility wonks itching for something to do early this evening are in luck.

At the Technology Square Barnes & Noble at 6:30 p.m., Georgia Tech professor Mike Dobbins will sign his new book Urban Design & People.

Why are we so giddy about this event? Dobbins is one of the metro Atlanta’s smartest — and wittiest — transportation and urban planning maestros. He’s also one of the few people not afraid to speak his mind about the Beltline or the importance of affordable housing.

In the recently published book, the a former Atlanta planning commissioner offers a common-sense look, complete with historical examples, at the process behind creating public spaces. Dobbins also places a strong emphasis on the important role communities play in making those decisions. It’s an excellent primer for planners and laypeople alike, told by a narrator with nearly 40 years experience in his field. (You can read a chapter from the book here.)

(Courtesy Georgia Tech)

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The hardest part about making progress in metro Atlanta is fixing the mistakes of its past — namely, the sprawl created in part by an auto-dependent lifestyle and cheap land stretching out in all directions.

Thankfully, the Atlanta Regional Commission has some idea of how to turn that sprawl into walkable and livable areas — places you actually want to be.

Today, the commission announced several new sites for its Livable Centers Initiative, an award-winning program that funds planning studies for cities and counties to help retrofit sprawl-afflicted areas. The two closest to home? The Donald Lee Hollowell-Veterans Memorial Parkway Corridor in Atlanta and Cobb County and the North Druid Hills Road Corridor in DeKalb County.

More details from the commission about those sites after the jump.

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Mayor Shirley Franklin’s Connect Atlanta Plan is in its final stages and team members are asking the public to help them fine-tune their progress.

Four meetings located around Atlanta will be the last chance residents have to weigh in on the the city’s first-ever comprehensive transportation plan. It’d be worth stopping by to see what improvements they’ve proposed in terms of roads, rails, sidewalks and accessibility for cyclists, as well. (Project planners posted a link to a proposed bike network PDF file. Click here to check it out.)

After the jump, meeting details and locations.

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