Could streetcar, food trucks put 'sweet' back in Sweet Auburn

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When Pamela Joiner first heard Atlanta had won funding for a streetcar that would travel a loop between Sweet Auburn and Centennial Olympic Park, she didn't believe it.

She's still a bit cautious. Agreeing with streetcar boosters that it could be transformational for Sweet Auburn, she also has seen a lot of good ideas for the area wither.

"I thought they were pulling my leg," said Joiner, manager of Curb Market, a popular dining and food destination on Edgewood Avenue. "A lot of people were in line for that money."

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Oct. 20 that Atlanta had won a grant for almost $48 million for the streetcar. The entire project will cost about $72 million, with $6 million coming from the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and about $18 million from the city as part of the local match for capital costs, city and federal officials said. The district and the city will contribute to ongoing operations.

Joiner and other business, civic and community leaders are elated about the streetcar and other urban renewal proposals they hope will be the catalyst to return the area, once one of the country's most vibrant black neighborhoods, to its former glory.

Upbeat, they also express some skepticism.

They have seen projects like a food and retail strip along Jessie Hill Avenue a few years ago wither and die. They have seen Boulevard Avenue, which cuts through the community, become a dividing line for business activity. North of Boulevard toward Inman Park and deeper into Old Fourth Ward, restaurants and new housing are thriving. But south of the street, many revitalization efforts have struggled.

And there has been an uptick in crime, which many blame on the economy and abandoned buildings and parking lots that offer cover for criminal activity.

"It's a start," Forrest Coley, chairman of the community's  NPU-M, the neighborhood's citizen advisory planning unit to the mayor and city council. "We have been waiting for a long time for Sweet Auburn to have a turnaround."

Sweet Auburn is home to many of the city's most well-known landmarks. Hundreds of thousands come every year to visit the childhood home of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the church that he pastored -- Ebenezer Baptist Church -- and the King Center, which is devoted to his work on non-violent social change. In its heyday before desegregation, this was home to one of the nation's richest black business communities, boasting Citizens Trust Bank, one of the first black-owned banking institutions in the nation.

Atlanta officials trumpet that a streetcar carrying tourists between King's home to the World of Coca-Cola could be a change agent. It could spur economic development, they say, by bringing new restaurants, increasing foot traffic now limited because of a lack of parking and connecting a community that was cut off by the interstate system.

The Atlanta City Council is also considering allowing food trucks to operate in the area's  right-of-way and has discussed pushing closing time for bars and clubs in Sweet Auburn past  2:30 a.m.

Recent changes include the addition of dozens of apartments and condos as public housing has been replaced by mixed-income communities. And Georgia State University has invested heavily as it grows and stretches its boundaries.

But there could be some obstacles. Tim Mescon, president of Columbus State University and former dean of the Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business, said roadwork on the streetcar project could scare off customers, perhaps killing businesses unprepared to endure a prolonged disruption. The work is expected to take two years.

"I think there will be some casualties along the way," he said. "I don't see how you avoid it."

Not everyone is on board with every aspect of the plans.

Rhonda Brown, president and chief executive officer of Wheat Street Charitable Foundation, does not back extending bars and restaurant hours.

"I'm a little concerned because we are faith-based," she said of the foundation, which is part of Wheat Street Baptist Church. "Some of the noise levels when you have things going on from 2 to 3 in the morning are a concern because we have a lot of seniors in the neighborhood. "

Joiner said businesses in Curb Market oppose the food trucks, which would be beneath the I-75/I-85 viaduct on both sides of Edgewood Avenue between Jesse Hill Avenue and Fort Street.

"To bring that kind of competition to within 50 feet of their front door would be difficult for them," she said.

Still, these leaders say, they back the overall plan.

Coley said the timing seems to be right. Former Mayor Shirley Franklin's administration had the desire for a streetcar, but the opportunity came at the end of her term as President Barack Obama began putting more funds into public transportation projects. Atlanta applied for the funding under Franklin's administration in 2009, but it won under Mayor Kasim Reed.

"With the administration we have today, we have the ability to connect the dots," Coley said.

Brown said the streetcar will eliminate the hassle of getting around the community and make it easier for businesses to see the area's potential. Her caution, however,  is that it's critical to keep the area's character as a black business mecca. Like Little Five Points, which is a destination because of its alternative appeal, she said Sweet Auburn should not look like a mall.

"Ethnicity is important to Auburn Avenue because that's what Auburn Avenue is," she said.