Park Initiatives

In addition to the BeltLine and PARC, there are several other park and greenspace initiatives that may impact metro Atlanta. Park Pride is busy tracking these initiatives and encourages you to learn a bit more about them.

Governors Land Conservation Partnership In early 2004, Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue convened a task force to examine ways of preserving land and greenspace throughout Georgia. While this Land Conservation Partnership found a dramatic need to preserve undeveloped greenspace throughout the state, the primary emphasis was on rural land. While Park Pride recognizes the need to preserve this rural land, there needs to be equal attention - and funding - paid to urban and suburban land acquisition.

The Partnership submitted a report to the Governor recommending a comprehensive plan for identifying and preserving both public and private greenspace in Georgia. They made no recommendation on how to fund such an effort. The Governor responded by creating a task force to study how to pay for a land preservation inititative.

For more information, visit Georgia Land Conservation Partnership.

Comprehensive Development Plan State law requires that every county and municipality in Georgia develop and maintain a fifteen year comprehensive development plan. This plan provides a broad overview of housing, commercial, transportation, greenspace and other development goals over those fifteen year. The City of Atlanta began this process during the summer of 2004 and has identified four areas of development upon which the city will focus. Parks and greenspace were identified as an area of emphasis.

To this end, the City held a public hearing on November 6, 2004 that focused on parks and greenspace within the City of Atlanta. One strong recommendation coming from this hearing is the that City should focus on creating an emerald necklace of parks centered around the BeltLine. Work on the comprehensive development plan will continue through 2005, and Park Pride's web site will keep an updated list of public hearings and opportunities for public feedback.

Go to the download menu on this page for a powerpoint presentation on the Comprehensive Development Plan process.

Growing a Greenspace Vision for Greater Atlanta The Atlanta Regional Commission, working with local governments and organizations including Park Pride, the Georgia Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, is considering a strategy for continuous and coordinated protection of greenspace in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The effort will focus on linking greenspace protection to water quality needs and habitat protection. By creating excitement among elected officials and citizens in the vision of a permanently protected greenspace throughout the greater metropolitan Atlanta area, we can help balance the continued growth pressures that are expected over the next 20 to 30 years and maintain north Georgia's quality of life. If successful, this effort will establish Georgia as a nation leader in metropolitan greenspace protection.

For more information, visit Atlanta Regional Commission.