I was there to get tape on Monday afternoon, and was swarmed by small Ethiopian kids from the after-school program. Now we know: microphone + Ethiopian rascals = hilarity…

I still have no story. But that tape was too great to sit on.

Hayley Richardson wants to turn the abandoned lot, owned by Ebenezer Baptist Church, into a community garden

It’s the idea of Hayley Richardson, a relative newcomer  who came to Atlanta just over a year ago.  She said she passed by the space countless times and wondered why nobody was doing anything with it.  Some friends found out that it’s owned by Ebenzer Baptist Church, and asked for permission to turn it into a community garden. Ebenezer said yes. Kind of.

Hayley says ultimately, she wants to have a food truck that sources to the garden.  And in case you’re wondering, yes, they do plan to grow artichokes.

A contractor shears off bolts that hold segments of the rail together.

In any case, a few weeks ago, Norfolk Southern contractors started tearing out the tracks on a 4.5 mile stretch of the planned 22-mile loop around the city. This is significant.  Atlanta Beltline, Inc. and its community partners have been planning, analyzing, and producing studies about the project for four years now.  Some work has started on parks that will become part of the Beltline.  But the actual corridor that is supposed to link Atlanta’s neighborhoods and greenspace has, until now, remained untouched…

The part I visited extends from Greenwood Ave., just north of Ponce de Leon Ave. (behind the parking lot for Whole Foods), to the intersection of Monroe Dr. and 10th Ave.

Workers are tearing out tracks that connect Midtown to Virginia Highlands.

Interestingly, some of these tracks were laid down more than 100 years ago.  In some places, there were even two lines of tracks alongside each other, the older ones buried under as many as 30 inches of dirt.  Freight train companies haven’t used these rails in decades.

Once the rails are gone, Beltline workers will go through and pretty the area up so it can be used as walking or jogging trails.  Ultimately, the vision is to lay down new tracks for a light rail transit system.

The Mysterious Masked Figure

My friend, Alfredo Aponte (hereafter to be called ‘Fredo’), tends to have his ear to the ground on urban art, so I called him to see what he knew about it. Which then prompted me to ask him to give me a sort of informal graffiti tour. So here’s the 2.5-minute redux of our 4-hour excursion:

Fredo says the masked figure is actually, as he put it, “underground propaganda” for a hip hop band.

Another interesting sidenote to the project is that Fredo and I went out just a couple of days before workers quietly starting clearing part of the northeast corridor for the Beltline. We had no idea. Below is how things looked from an Edgewood Ave. overpass, above abandoned rail track, when we went:

Compare that to this, from just a few days later.

The protest was in the parking lot behind the Commission’s Administrative Building.  Attendance was scant, only 15 people or so, and only one working reporter actually showed up (WSB-TV).  The group did a few chants and speeches while he and his photog rolled film. After the reporter left, the protesters milled around talking strategy, but the energy had dissipated.

As far as my first video project goes, the final product turned out more… boring than expected. I couldn’t figure out a way to film myself standing up talking in front of the flipcam, because I’ve got no tripod and couldn’t seem to find any level surfaces on which to balance it. In retrospect, also should have gotten more B-roll…