HeritageTourism:HistoricResourcesWalkabletoAtlanta’sPublicTransit

SeanYatesPMAP865112/7/2016

Acknowledgements

IwouldliketotakethisopportunitytothankDr.Ann-MargaretEsnardofGeorgia

StateUniversity.Shehasprovidedtheknowledgetoperformthetasksnecessaryto

completethisproject.Shewashappytoansweranyquestionsalongtheway.

Abstract

Heritagetourismis“travelingtoexperiencetheplaces,artifacts,and

activitiesthatauthenticallyrepresentthestoriesandpeopleofthepastandpresent.

Itincludesvisitationtocultural,historic,andnaturalresources,”asdefinedbythe

NationalTrustforHistoricPreservation.1Heritagetouriststendtostaylongerand

spendmoremoneyontheirvacations.2

AtlantaCityLandmarksarepropertiesthathavebeendesignatedbythecity

asbeingindividuallyhistoricallysignificant.Thesepropertiesarethemost

prominentexamplesofAtlanta’shistoricbuiltenvironment.Thesearethesitesthat

definewhoweareandwherewehavecomefrom.Mostimportantly,thesearethe

faceofourcity.

ThisreportexaminestheproximityofAtlantaCityLandmarkstopublic

transit.Alllandmarkswithinaquartermile(generallyacceptedaswalking

distance)ofMARTAandAtlantaStreetcarstopsareportrayedonmaplayouts.

Furtherspatialanalysisisportrayed,suchaslanduseandpopulationdensity.

Together,thesemapsandanalysisgiveanoverviewofAtlanta’swalkablehistoric

resources.

1https://savingplaces.org/stories/preservation-glossary-todays-word-heritage-tourism#.WEBmLqIrKRs2http://www.georgiashpo.org/sites/uploads/hpd/pdf/Heritage_Tourism_Handbook_revised.pdf

Introduction

HeritageTourismistourismbasedoffhistoricandculturalsitessuchas

historichouses,districts,theaters,courthouses,museumsandmore.Thisproject

displaysallAtlantaCityLandmarkswithin¼mileofMARTAstationsandAtlanta

Streetcarstops.Thisallowsheritagetouriststotheoreticallyvisitsitesfromthe

AtlantaAirportwithouteverhavingtobeinacar.Thiscouldbehelpfulforsomeone

onalayoverinAtlantathatisinterestedinourhistoricbuiltenvironment.

Further,thiscouldbeamajormarketingtoolfortourism-related

organizationsinAtlanta.Thisisauniqueideathathasyettobefullydevelopedand

presentedtothepublic.Thegoalistoeventuallyhaveaninformative,readablemap

toguidetouriststohistorichotspotsnearpublictransitstopsinthecitylimitsof

Atlanta.

ThegeographicareaofinterestinconfinedtoonlythecitylimitsofAtlanta.

SomeoneonalayoverinAtlantalikelydoesnothavethetimeorinterestto

meanderuptoNorthSpringsorouttoDecatur.AtlantaCityLandmarkswithin¼

milefromstopsaredisplayedonalargemap.Othermapswillshowthingstobetter

understandtheareas,suchaspopulationdensityandlanduse.Theseinsetmaps

willportrayhowthesehistoricresourcesrelatetotheirsurroundingsandhelp

travellersdeterminewhatkindsofareasthey’remostinterestedinvisiting.

Theexpectedoutcomeistoprovideausefulguideforthoseinterestedin

heritagetourismthatdonotwishtotravelbycarinAtlanta.Thereareplentyof

historicwalkingtoursalreadyestablishedinthecityofAtlanta,butthisisaunique

ideathathasyettobecompleted.

Methodology

Thisprojectwaschosenforalitanyofreasons.Atlantaisnotoriouslypoorat

preservingitshistoricbuiltenvironment,andthisisawaytoconciselyportraywhat

wehaveleft.Itcouldalsobedevelopedintoagreatmarketingtoolfortourism

and/orhistoricpreservationefforts.Atlantaisknownasacitythathashistorically

beenalmostentirelycenteredaroundautomobiletraffic.Thisprojectattemptsto

circumventthisandgivereasonablealternativesforexploringourculturaland

physicalheritage.

DataSources

• AmericanFactFinder[http://factfinder.census.gov]:2015Population

Estimates.[Thisdatasetismerelyatablethatwasjoinedwiththe2015

CensusTractsdatasetbelow.]

• AtlantaDepartmentofPlanningandCommunityDevelopmentGIS

[http://gis.atlantaga.gov]:AtlantaCityLimits,HistoricDistricts,Landmark

BuildingSite,Parks.[ThesedatasetswereoriginallyinGCSWGS1984.]

• AtlantaRegionalCommissionOpenGIS

[http://opendata.atlantaregional.com]:Parcels,TransitRailStations,Transit

Stops2015.[ThesedatasetswereoriginallyinNAD83GeorgiaWestFt

US.]

• FultonCountyGIS[http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/fcgis-home]:Street

CenterlinesforFultonCounty,Georgia.[ThisdatasetwasoriginallyinNAD

1983StatePlaneGeorgiaWestFIPS1002Feet.]

• U.S.CensusBureauTIGER/LineShapefiles

[https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger-line.html]:2015Census

Tracts.[ThisdatasetwasoriginallyinGCSNorthAmerican1983.]

AnalyticalProcedures

Thefollowingstepswereperformedtoachievetheresultsofthisproject:

Layout1[MARTA-centriclayout]:

• Datawasacquiredviachannelsintheprecedingsection

• DatathatwasnotalreadyinNAD1983StatePlaneGeorgiaWestFIPS1002

Feetwereconvertedtothatprojection.Someofthedatawereoriginallyin

GCSprojection.Forthepurposesofthisproject,StatePlaneprojectionwill

portraymoreaccurateresultsthanGCS,aswearefocusingexclusivelyonthe

CityofAtlanta.

• Thefollowingdatasetswereusedinthislayout:AtlantaCityLimits,Historic

Districts,LandmarkBuildingSites[fromAtlantaDepartmentofPlanningand

CommunityDevelopmentGIS],TransitRailStationsandTransitStops2015

[fromAtlantaRegionalCommissionOpenGIS].

• TheTransitRailStations[MARTA]layerwasclippedtofallinsidetheAtlanta

CityLimitslayer.

• TheTransitStops2015layeroriginallyincludedallbusstops.TheSelectby

AttributefunctionwasusedtoselectonlyAtlantaStreetcarstops,andthenI

createdanewlayerwithonlytheseAtlantaStreetcarstops[whiledeleting

thepreviousTransitStops2015layer].

• TheLandmarkBuildingSitelayerwasoriginallypolygons,andthesewere

changedtopointsusingtheFeaturetoPointToolintheArcToolbox.

• TheSelectbyLocationfunctionwasusedtoselectonlythoseAtlanta

Landmarkswhicharelocatedwithin¼mileofMARTAstationsorAtlanta

Streetcarstops.Anewlayerwascreatedwiththeseresultsandtheprevious

layerwasdeleted.

• A¼milebufferaroundMARTAstationswascreatedusingtheBuffertool.

• Thelabelfeatureswereturnedonforthefollowinglayers:HistoricDistricts,

MARTAStationsandAtlantaCityLandmarks.

• Toavoidclutter,theAtlantaCityLandmarkslabelswereconvertedto

numbersfrom1to30,andanaccompanyingtablewascreatedusing

information(BuildingNameandAddress)fromtheattributetable.

Layout2[AtlantaStreetcar-centriclayout]:

• Thefollowingdatasetswereusedinthislayout:AtlantaCityLimits,Historic

Districts,LandmarkBuildingSites[fromAtlantaDepartmentofPlanningand

CommunityDevelopmentGIS],TransitStops2015(editedversionfrom

Layout1)[fromAtlantaRegionalCommissionOpenGIS]andStreet

Centerlines[fromFultonCountyGIS].

• Thelabelfeatureswereturnedonforthefollowinglayers:HistoricDistricts,

LandmarkBuildingSites,TransitStops2015andStreetCenterlines.

• TheStreetCenterlineslabelswereconvertedtoannotationandmanyofthe

labels(oflessimportantstreets)weredeletedtopreventclutter.

• ThetransparencyfortheStreetCenterlineslayerwasturnedupto75%to

makethelayerlessprominent(mostlyusedforreference).

• TheSelectbyLocationfunctionwasusedtoselectonlythoseAtlanta

Landmarkswhicharelocatedwithin¼ofAtlantaStreetcarstops(Transit

Stops2015layer).Anewlayerwascreatedwiththeseresultsandthe

previouslayerwasdeleted.

Layout3[LandUse]:

• AllofthelayersfromLayout1(exceptfortheBufferlayer)werecopiedto

thislayout.

• Additionally,theParcelsdataset[fromAtlantaRegionalCommissionOpen

GIS]wasadded.

• TheSelectbyAttributefunctionwasused(inconsultationwiththeLandUse

CodessheetsuppliedbyFultonCountyGIS)toselectlanduses(suchas

Universities,Hospitals,Restaurants,Residential,etc.)andthencreatelayers

witheachofthem.Similarlanduses(suchasResidential1Familyand

Residential2Family)weregroupedtogetherasasinglelayer.

Layout4[PopulationDensity]:

• AllofthelayersfromLayout1(exceptfortheBufferandHistoricDistrict

layers)werecopiedtothislayout.

• Inaddition,the2015PopulationEstimates[fromAmericanFactFinder]and

2015CensusTracts[U.S.CensusBureauTIGER/LineShapefiles]datasets

wereadded.ThesetwolayerswerethenjoinedtogetherviatheJoin

function.

• OnlytheMARTAstationslayerhadthelabelfeaturesturnedon.

• Twonewfieldswerecreatedinthe2015CensusTractslayer:Areaand

PopulationDensity.AreawascalculatedusingtheCalculateGeometry

functionintheAttributeTable.Next,PopulationDensitywascalculated

usingtheFieldCalculator[Population/Area].

• PopulationDensitywasthenportrayedusingNaturalBreaks(Jenks)

classification.

Results(maps,tables,etc.)

Layout1

*Pleaseseetablebelowformoreinformationonlandmarks.

Table1[Landmarks]:

Number Name Address1 FlatironBuilding 84PeachtreeStreet,NW2 WindsorHouseApartments 979CrescentAvenue,NW3 FeebeckHall 96ArmstrongStreet,NE4 GeorgiaHall 36ButlerStreet,NE5 HirschHall 55CocaColaPlace,NE6 SteinerClinic 62ButlerStreet,NE7 CentralPresbyterianChurch 201WashingtonStreet,SW8 CommercialRow 990PeachtreeStreet,NE9 ChurchoftheSacredHeartofJesus 325PeachtreeCenterAvenue,NE10 PalmerHouseApartments 952PeachtreeStreet,NW11 TheCastle 8715thStreet,NW12 AcademyofMedicine 875WestPeachtreeStreet,NW13 RufusM.RoseHouse 537PeachtreeStreet,NW14 ImperialHotel 355PeachtreeStreet,NE15 GeorgianTerraceHotel 659PeachtreeStreet,NE16 CarnegieBuilding 141CarnegieWay,NW17 FirstCongregationalChurch 115CourtlandStreet,NE18 Rhodes-HavertyBuilding 134PeachtreeStreet,NW19 CandlerBuilding 127PeachtreeStreet,NE20 Haas-HowellBuilding 75PoplarStreet,NW21 HerndonHome 587UniversityPlace,SW22 C&SNationalBankBuilding 35BroadStreet,NW23 TenParkPlaceBuilding 10ParkPlace,NE24 DixieCoca-ColaBottlingCo.Plant 125EdgewoodAvenue,NE25 OlympiaBuilding 23PeachtreeStreet,NE26 HurtBuilding 45EdgewoodAvenue,NE27 PoncedeLeonApartments 75PoncedeLeonAvenue,NE28 FoxTheater 660PeachtreeStreet,NW29 HealeyBuilding 57ForsythStreet,NW30 W.W.OrrDoctorsBuilding 478PeachtreeStreet,NW

Layout2

Layout3

Layout4

DiscussionandConclusions

Onecaneasilydiscernseveralthingsfromtheprecedingmaplayouts.Ofall

AtlantaCityLandmarkswithin¼mileofMARTAstationsandAtlantaStreetcar

stops,almostalllaybetweentheFivePointsMARTAstationandArtsCenterMARTA

stationontheRed/Gold(north/south)Line.Perhapsthisshouldbeevident,asthis

istheareaoftheoriginalperiodofdevelopmentforthecityofAtlanta.Thisisalso

theareathathousesthattraditional“downtown”ofthecity.

Fromexaminingtheothermaps,onecanseethatthepopulationdensityis

greatestneartheMidtownandNorthAvenueMARTAstations.Comparingthiswith

thelandusemap,onecantellwhythisisthecase.SouthoftheMidtownandNorth

AvenueMARTAstationsconsistsoflargelycommercial,hotel,restaurantand

institutionallanduses.Whilethisareaisverydense,itisnotverydensely

populated.

LimitationsandNextSteps

Whilethesemaplayoutsdoportraymuchinformation,thereismuchmoreto

begleanedfromphysicallyobservingtheselandmarksandtheirsurroundingsinthe

realworld.Observingeachofthelandmarkswasnotafeasiblestepforthisproject.

Nextstepswouldincludeactuallyobservingthelandmarksandneighborhoodsto

determinewalkabilitybasedonthepresenceandconditionofsidewalks,crosswalks

andvisibilityofthelandmarksfromthestreetlevel.Withthisinformation,this

projectcouldthenbedevelopedintosomethingmoremarketablefortourism

purposes.

References

• AtlantaDepartmentofPlanningandCommunityDevelopmentGIS[http://gis.atlantaga.gov/].

• AtlantaRegionalCommissionOpenGIS

[http://opendata.atlantaregional.com/].

• FultonCountyGIS[http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/fcgis-home].

• GeorgiaDepartmentofNaturalResources,HistoricPreservationDivision,HeritageTourismHandbook[http://www.georgiashpo.org/sites/uploads/hpd/pdf/Heritage_Tourism_Handbook_revised.pdf].

• GettingtoKnowArcGIS,4theditionbyMichaelLaw.

• NationalTrustforHistoricPreservation,PreservationGlossary

[https://savingplaces.org/stories/preservation-glossary-todays-word-heritage-tourism#.WEXb1qIrKRs].

• U.S.CensusBureau,AmericanFactFinder[http://factfinder.census.gov/].

• U.S.CensusBureau,TIGER/LineShapefiles

[https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger-line.html].