| Summary: | Prepared by Georgia Institute of Technology School of City and Regional Planning Professor Michael Dobbins Studio Fort McPherson army base is situated in the South Atlanta area and borders East Point. It connects two MARTA rail transit stations and is bordered by three arterial streets. After being targeted for closure in 2005 under the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, there have been several ongoing efforts to determine how the base will be redeveloped for future use after the army departs in 2011. Beyond the walls are low density, mostly single family neighborhoods with a diversity of people and a rich history intertwined with the base. At present these neighborhoods are facing stresses brought on by the base closing and speculation over its future on one hand and on the other by the real estate collapse, with foreclosures, derelict absentee owners, and boarded up homes with damage evident on nearly every block. The neighborhoods have strengths to build upon, some attractive to speculators, yet are challenged by uncertainties that range from displacement and gentrification to further deterioration and disinvestment. In Atlanta, these neighborhoods, mostly African-American, with a wide range of incomes from low to high, lie in Neighborhood Planning Units (NPU) S, R, and X, and in Wards A and B of the city of East Point. Language in the Local Redevelopment Authority’s (LRA) vision and principle statements seem to embrace benefit to the local community as core values with such language as: on the vision side, “Economically uplift surrounding communities.;” or “Enhance community services and promote life-long learning;” or “Develop through collaborative process;” or on the principle side, “Province connections to the surrounding neighborhoods;” or “Develop with respect to the local community;” or “Create a place for everyone.” Yet their actual work has ignored community needs, priorities, and aspirations. Their sole focus has been how to maximize the redevelopment of the base, an inward ...
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