Went to the Plaza for the first time last night to see Urbanized. It was great since I scored a free ticket by being a volunteer. I got to talk to the director, Gary H, briefly who struck me as a very nice, down-to-earth guy.
If you haven’t heard of the documentary, it’s a look into urban design and making cities better in many respects with transportation, environment, security, and community. From the bus system in Bogota to New York City’s Highline, it’s an educational look into the small measures we can take to make cities livable and enjoyable.
I was hoping that there would be some magic solution to fix the traffic in Atlanta in the Q& A with Ellen Dunham-Jones (interviewed in the film) and Gary but there wasn’t. There are different solutions for different cities and what may work in Bogota or Copenhagen may not work in the ATL, but we have to do something more than Peach Pass, which seems to be a band-aid solution to the rush hour madness here. Urban sprawl, America’s dependence on cars, and the deterioration of our rail system has to be addressed; it’s not just ugly, it’s just not useful.