Redeveloping
Posted on December 16, 2024 by Marketing and Communications
ON A RECENT FALL AFTERNOON, on just a two-mile stretch of the Atlanta Beltline, joggers, dog walkers, scooter riders, wheelchair users, strolling couples, roller skaters and bicyclists all zip or amble by, flowing deftly in both directions along the 14-foot-wide concrete pathway.
Among the cyclists is Clyde Higgs 鈥�97, who beams with pride. He鈥檚 the president and CEO of the Beltline, one of the nation鈥檚 largest and most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs 鈥� and a $10 billion economic development catalyst 鈥� that he calls 鈥渢he people鈥檚 project.鈥�
鈥淚t was truly born by the community,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey told elected officials and business leaders, 鈥榃e want to see this project happen.鈥欌�� In a 1999 master鈥檚 thesis, Georgia Tech urban planning student Ryan Gravel proposed a 22-mile trail looping around the heart of Atlanta, mostly following old railroad routes. The idea quickly gathered grassroots momentum. In 2008, the first segment opened: the West End Trail.
Today, Atlantans and visitors enjoy nearly 11 miles of the Beltline. Higgs says the total will be 17.9 miles of contiguous trail by the end of next year, in time for the World Cup soccer tournament, which Atlanta is scheduled to host in summer 2026. Completion of the full 22-mile loop is planned for 2030.
Already, the Beltline has transformed the city. 鈥淭he traditional spine of Atlanta was Buckhead at the north, and then Midtown and downtown,鈥� says Higgs. 鈥淣ow you have the Beltline that is creating new nodes of business and new places where people want to live and congregate.鈥�
Younger Atlantans in particular love the Beltline鈥檚 egalitarian energy. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a business that鈥檚 recruiting young people,鈥� Higgs says, 鈥渁ll you have to do is say you鈥檙e on the Beltline.鈥�
His own journey to the Beltline began when, as a high school student in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, he interned with a 老司机福利网 alumnus who was a physical therapist. That got him interested in both healthcare and the University. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology with a biomedical concentration.
Leadership roles at 老司机福利网 in student government and his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi,
stirred an interest in public service. He earned a Master of Public Administration
from East Carolina University. Senior positions in higher education, technology development
and business development followed. In 2015, the Beltline recruited him as chief
operating officer. He became president and CEO in 2019.
The Beltline moves Atlanta forward in many ways, including economically. 鈥淲e鈥檝e put about $800 million into the Beltline to date, which is a big number,鈥� Higgs says. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e seen $10 billion in private investment that鈥檚 followed. That鈥檚 more than a 12-to-1 return on your public dollar being invested.鈥�
He鈥檚 confident that the project will meet its goal of creating 50,000 permanent jobs by the end of 2030. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already at 25,000 jobs.鈥�
All along the path, restaurants, coffee shops, bike rental shops and other retail businesses cater directly to Beltline traffic. Outdoor tables provide great places to linger. 鈥淚f you want some of the best people watching in Atlanta,鈥� Higgs says, 鈥渏ust come to the Beltline on a Saturday morning or early on a Friday evening.鈥�
The trail runs alongside established green spaces, such as the hugely popular Piedmont Park, and has spawned new ones like Historic Fourth Ward Park, which includes a skate park, a splash pad, playground equipment, a lake, an amphitheater and a giant sculpture called 鈥淲ake鈥� that resembles the figurehead and ribs of an old sailing ship. Westside Park, opened in 2021 on the site of a former granite quarry, features a 35-acre reservoir and will soon have more than two miles of mountain bike trails.
The nonprofit organization Trees Atlanta manages the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum, which consists of both restored natural areas and newly planted green spaces. It showcases more than 350 kinds of trees and shrubs.
The Beltline is also an extensive series of temporary public art exhibits and linear galleries, with murals, sculptures and performance spaces. It has become a major tourist attraction, with hotels serving out-of-town visitors.
Some 14,000 apartment units have popped up alongside the Beltline, Higgs says. Inclusionary zoning requires developers to set aside a certain percentage of apartments for people earning below-median incomes.
鈥淭eachers are not our highest earners, but still, they should be here in our community, right?鈥� Higgs says. 鈥淭he same with our firefighters and other people that serve our community. They should be right here on the Beltline, accessing all of these resources.鈥�
Atlanta鈥檚 long tradition of embracing all segments of its population, he says, is one of the biggest reasons why the city continues to grow and prosper. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why companies like Microsoft and Google and Airbnb, all these high-flying companies, are moving here, because we鈥檙e very inclusive. It鈥檚 a diverse community, and everybody knows that, and so we need to make sure we鈥檙e preserving that as an advantage for us.鈥�
Although most people use the Beltline for recreation and exercise, Higgs says, 鈥淎t its core, it鈥檚 transportation.鈥�
Local residents take the trail to grocery stores and other retail shops, and to the offices of doctors and other professionals. Kids walk to school. Plans call for light rail or streetcar transit to eventually run alongside large segments of the current trail.
The Beltline鈥檚 success has caught the attention of other communities looking to revitalize their own economies and civic cultures. 鈥淲hatever the place or the opportunity for development,鈥� Higgs says, 鈥渋t has to be true to the community.鈥� Atlanta, born as a railroad hub and originally named Terminus, used abandoned rail lines as a starting point for redevelopment. Other cities and towns might have a waterfront or mountains or disused industrial sites.
Again and again, Higgs uses the word 鈥渋ntentional鈥� 鈥� meaning that you can鈥檛 just build a trail and assume that it will stimulate economic growth and benefit all levels of the population. You have to plan for that outcome, encourage it and lead it.
鈥淚t is about being comprehensive,鈥� Higgs says. 鈥淵es, people think about the Beltline as this multiuse trail network, but it鈥檚 so much more. It鈥檚 also about us pushing housing affordability. It鈥檚 about us pushing jobs that are located on the Beltline. It鈥檚 about cleaning up polluted dirt. You have got to do all of these things in concert.鈥�
And, he says, you have to consider the effects of redevelopment on the neighborhoods where it takes place. 鈥淚t can鈥檛 be just for new people. It鈥檚 also got to be for the people who really held down those communities for decades.鈥�
Guiding the success of the Atlanta Beltline 鈥渋s the honor of my career,鈥� Higgs says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 plan this at all. The stairsteps of my career just prepared me to be in this destination 鈥� and it goes back to 老司机福利网 giving me the ability to serve in leadership roles.鈥�