Axios Atlanta

August 11, 2022
Itโs Thursday. Keep pedaling, we're close to the top.
Today's weather: โ Thunderstorms likely with a high of 85ยฐF, low of 70ยฐF.
Today's newsletter is 938 words โ a 3.5-minute read
1 big thing: ATL through AI's eyes
Image courtesy of Zach Katz
Want to make Downtown's Broad Street โ a popular lunchtime spot and one of the city's most pleasant blocks โย even more walkable? Look above for inspiration.
What's happening: The daydream you're looking at was created by urban planning advocate Zach Katz using the artificial intelligence image-generation platform DALL-E.
- Katz, a Brooklyn-based artist and musician, is all the rage on urbanist Twitter, thanks to his AI-driven images that transform real-world, car-dense streets into pedestrian and public transit utopias, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reports.
How it works: While DALL-E is good at generating images based on users' text input, Katz says it can take 40 to 50 attempts and anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to render exactly what he wants in a scene.
What he's saying: "When I got access to DALL-E, just for fun, I plugged in some streets in my neighborhood in Bushwick and was blown away by how it could turn this ... normal street for cars into this lush cobblestone pedestrian promenade with ornate stone water fountains," he told Axios.
- "So, then I was like, well, this could have serious transformative potential for safe streets advocacy, livable streets advocacy worldwide," he said.
What's next: Katz has around 1,000 requests to map specific areas โ some from transportation advocacy groups and city officials, including one Wisconsin mayor.
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2. Sweet Auburn building saved โ for now
The vacant building at 229 Auburn Avenue once housed the Atlanta State Savings Bank and the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Credit: Atlanta Preservation Center
Developers of a project along Auburn Avenue have reversed course and say they now intend to preserve the building where Georgia's first Black banking company was established.
Driving the news: Joel Reed of Gorman & Company, a partner on the Sweet Auburn redevelopment project, told the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association on Tuesday that the team would explore how to keep the three-story building at 229 Auburn Avenue.
Catch up quick: The proposal would transform most of Auburn Avenue between Jesse Hill Jr. Drive and Bell Street into a massive mixed-use structure.
- That would have included demolishing the building in the Sweet Auburn Historic District, which was once celebrated as the "richest Negro street in the world."
- Alfonza Marshall of the Butler Street Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit entity that owns the property and redevelopment partner, previously told Saporta Report it was "too expensive" to preserve the entire building.
What they're saying: Reed said Tuesday that the team "got off on the wrong foot" by saying the structure needed to be demolished.
- He also said the team is considering reducing the amount of parking in its plans to make room for additional housing units, a potential win for urbanists.
Flashback: 229 Auburn was constructed around 1908 and was originally home to Atlanta State Savings Bank, the first chartered bank for Black people in Georgia.
3. How would you fix Atlanta?
Photo: Jason Travis/Courtesy of Austin L. Ray
๐ Thomas here to tell you about How I'd Fix Atlanta.
- The aptly named essay series by rabble-rouser Austin L. Ray features local writers (including me), advocates and creatives' novel ideas โ some serious, some cheeky โ to spark big-picture thinking about Atlanta's future.
What's happening: Ray is publishing the newest essay in the series today.
How it started: Last year, Ray wanted to tap the knowledge of Atlanta's writers and thinkers and pay them to write about fixing the city.
- People contributed money to keep the initiative going and expand the effort.
What's next: Expect one essay a month and an online magazine looking back on the first installment of essays.
- Ray said the publication would raise money to keep paying writers and support a local cause. He hopes the essays might also encourage people to get involved in Atlanta issues.
What they're saying: "Maybe Iโm a naive optimist, but I would hope that as people start to develop stronger opinions about how our city is failing them, that it's only a matter of time that they start demanding solutions for those failures," Ray told Axios.
4. ๐ถ๐ฝ Farewell Eggplant Baby Club
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
It's been a sad week in Smyrna. Scaliniโs Italian Restaurant โ the famed eatery with eggplant parmigiana that would send women to labor within 48 hours of eating it โ announced its closure on Monday after 40 years in business.
Why it matters: It's nice to know there are still places in this data-driven world where legends are built on beliefs โ even if it's the belief that eggplant, ricotta and sauce is all a baby needs to be convinced it's time to say hello.
Details: Scalini's says its sister restaurant, Provino's, will carry on. Provino's serves the same eggplant parmigiana dish, even if it's not as famous.
What they're saying: People flocked to Scalini's Facebook page to share stories of first dates that led to marriages, birthday parties that became birthday traditions and, of course, of the babies whose faces adorned the Eggplant Baby Wall.
As Scalini's founder Joe Bogino told CBS46: "One gal or two came in, happened to eat the eggplant, delivered their baby, I think they started telling people of that occurrence and it just caught on all by itself. Do I believe this induces labor? I believe my customer!"
On the job hunt?
๐ Check out who's hiring on our Job Board.
- Lead Gen and Digital Marketing Specialist at Sally Williamson & Associates, Inc.
- Membership Associate, Sales at Atlanta Hawks.
- Business Development Coordinator at Smith, Gambrell & Russell.
Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.
Hiring? Post a job.
5. Five-ish points: Storm-chasing drones
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
๐ข Check out the high rise that could be built next to Fox Theatre. (Urbanize Atlanta)
โพ The Gwinnett Braves minor league baseball team is being sold. (AJC)
๐๏ธ Rapper Young Thug faces new charges in the Young Slime Life street gang racketeering case. (11 Alive)
๐งโ๐ฌ UGA scientists hope drones will help collect real-time hurricane data off Georgia's coast. (The Current)
6. And then there were eight...
Robocop scorching the competition. Photo: Orion Pictures/Handout
Bye bye, "Baby Driver." Congratulations, "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Robocop."
- The first round of voting for Atlanta's Best Movie Ever is over.
What's next: Time for the Elite Eight to duke it out.
- The world is watching. Go vote.
๐ Emma is meeting a friend's new dog today. In her book, that means it'll be a great one.
๐ฌ Kristal loves reader responses to our best Atlanta movie poll.
๐ผ Thomas is collecting a list of all the Atlanta movies we missed and will share them soon.
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