Happy October!
The Urban Connector monthly newsletter looks back on the best of the previous month as well as ways to get involved in the coming month. Please make sure you sign up below to have these delivered straight to your inbox and follow on YouTube, Twitter, BlueSky Social, and Instagram.
September Content
Atlanta BeltLine Northwest Trail Construction Progress – Opening soon!
Atlanta BeltLine Southeast Trail Construction Progress – Opening someday – hopefully by the year’s end.
InPhil Designs: Union Park – Increasing the sense of place in the center of booming Downtown Raleigh may be hiding in plain sight
2025 Raleigh Drone Tour
Photos of the Month
Urban Thoughts: Too small for an article, too big to miss
Election Season: 2025 is a big local election year. Many people seem to ignore local elections, but they affect our day-to-day lives just as much as the big ones. Make sure you’re informed on the issues. There are so many candidates who will fight for a better future and by building the needed housing and infrastructure. It starts right in your neighborhood.
Developments that Excited Me
Downtown Momentum
It feels like almost weekly we get great news out of Downtown these days. From South Downtown and Centennial Yards leasing, to the potential for filling in the dead space adjacent to the Stadium.
Chosewood Park
It’s been slow going and a parade of cancellations for our pipeline in Chosewood Park but it’s great to see this one moving forward.
Gwinnett Place Mall
Gwinnett, I’m rooting for you! Suburban retrofit is the best thing they could focus on. This would be a huge step toward that.
Boulevard SE
We are finally inching toward construction on one of the most dangerous, pot-hole filled streets in Atlanta. This change can’t come soon enough as it’s a terrifying part of my daily bike commute.
Way OTP for the win
If we’re going to build this far out, this is how we should do it.
Get Involved, Atlanta!
| Date | Event | Notes |
| 10/6 | City Council | 1:00 PM |
| 10/13 | Zoning Committee | 10:00 AM |
| 10/15 | Transportation Committee | 10:00 AM |
| 10/20 | City Council | 1:00 PM |
| 10/27 | Zoning Committee | 10:00 AM |
| 10/29 | Transportation Committee | 10:00 AM |
| 11/3 | City Council | 1:00 PM |
| 11/4 | Election Day | 7-7 |
Raleigh folks, I miss y’all! Make sure you’re keeping up to date with the great people at Raleigh Forward, WakeUP, Oaks and Spokes, NC Housing Table, and The Downtown Raleigh Community.
What I’m working on this month (and probably later)
- More suburban spotlights
- InPhil Designs ideas
- Urban Thoughts – Cities: Chicago, Providence, Orlando
I’m sure this newsletter will evolve as time goes on. Comments or suggestions? Let me know!
Phil Veasley is a Professional Engineer and CNU-Accredited Professional member working to design safer multimodal infrastructure in cities throughout the US.
My goal is to create cities that are safe and effective for all people to move about outside of cars. To achieve that we have to focus on creating equitable, dense, and vibrant cities full of walkable neighborhoods with a various mix of housing choices, schools, restaurants, and services. We cannot have safe multimodal infrastructure without the density to support it and we cannot have equitable density without safe multimodal infrastructure. Outside of designing safe streets, my passions are sketching ideas for infill neighborhoods, floor plans, urban photography, and exploring our cities on foot or bike. Please check out the menus above for all of my ideas and also check out my YouTube, Instagram, BlueSky Social, and Twitter accounts.
Opinions and insights are my own and are not representative of my employer or any organization.
Phil Veasley 