Project Description

Funded by Invest Atlanta, Sweet Auburn Works, and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID), the Reconnecting Sweet Auburn Project aims to repair the intentional harm caused in the 1960s when Interstates 75 and 85 (the I-75/85 “Downtown Connector”) tore through Sweet Auburn. The scars still show as the highway, now the nation’s second busiest, was the catalyst for a prolonged period of decline and disinvestment in one of the country’s most culturally and economically significant Black neighborhoods.

In July of 2024, a team of consultants was engaged to guide the Sweet Auburn community on a path to complete the following goals:
  • Define and measure the long-term negative effects and harm created by the construction of I-75/85 from its inception to the present day, using a variety of physical/infrastructural, environmental, and demographic conditions.
  • Document best practices nationwide to engage and empower neighborhoods, redress harm, and design new spaces around highways that have divided communities.
  • Deploy best practices from similar case studies to design new spaces, re-engage neighborhoods, and redress harm.
  • Engage the community in a manner that respects the history of Sweet Auburn’s “over-engaging” and “over-planning” that often does not result in progress that benefits the neighborhood.
  • In late September 2024, Sweet Auburn Works applied for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Grant for $800,000 to advance designs and recommendations we hope to develop from the goals above.
The outcome will be community-led design interventions that can be immediately implemented to positively impact the neighborhood’s quality of life. It will also look at longer-term opportunities to reimagine the highway’s relationship to Sweet Auburn to improve the future resilience and vitality of the neighborhood.

We will explore how the existing infrastructure (streets, ramps, bridges), topography, and land use could be altered and leveraged to create a community that is much more livable and sparks new investment in this community that has only experienced harm in the decades since the construction of the highway.

Who is leading the effort?
  • Sweet Auburn Works, in partnership with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID)
  • Consultant Team: Perkins&Will, Nelson\Nygaard, Partnership for Southern Equity
  • Sweet Auburn Community Steering Committee: Sweet Auburn neighborhood stakeholders, community groups, and governmental agencies
  • Anyone who cares about making Atlanta a better place to live for all.

Question Title

Project Location Map

Project Location Map
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey! It should take no more than 15 minutes. The main goals for the survey are:
  • Confirm shared values
  • Understand how you define both harm and reconnection
  • Understand your experiences in Sweet Auburn today, particularly around the interstate and the underpasses at Irwin Street, Auburn Avenue, Edgewood Avenue, and Leonard Tate Street
  • Determine where the priority sites are around the I-75/85 underpasses for which to create concept plans
  • Gather design ideas for these priority sites

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