Appendix: Development Patterns and Design Development Patterns Figure 1 lists the amount of land converted from undeveloped to some other form of land for the 13 county and 20 county Atlanta Region. In 2008, the 13-county Atlanta region converted 1,047,693 acres and the 20-county Atlanta region converted 2,088,709 acres. For the past 9 years, Coweta has led the 13 county region and Carroll County has led all counties in the 20 county region with the most acres converted annually. Figure 2 shows the projected development patterns for the 10-county Atlanta region as required by the Department of Community Affairs. The grey area of the region is considered to be developed, the orange area is projected to develop between now and 2040, the light green area is project to see little or no development, and the dark green areas on the map are those lands that are conservation areas, protected, or undevelopable. The amount and intensity of development in the grey or orange areas are not depicted and vary greatly depending on location. Figure 1: Annual Rate of Primary, Developable Land Converted 2001-2008 Annual Rate of Primary, Developable Land Converted 2001-2008 Annual Rate Converted Annual Rate Converted Annual Rate Converted Annual Rate Converted Years until land exhausted COUNTY 2001 2003 2005 2007 2008 2001-2003 2003-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 (at 2007-2008 rate) 20-County Rankings Of land Of land left converted in 2008 2007-2008 Clayton 26,169 22,645 18,488 17,641 17,167 1,762 2,079 424 474 36 20 19 DeKalb 34,573 31,551 28,866 27,686 26,628 1,511 1,343 590 1,058 25 19 12 Rockdale 47,204 44,496 41,428 40,997 39,895 1,354 1,534 215 1,102 36 17 10 Cobb 48,099 43,715 36,635 35,099 34,774 2,192 3,540 768 325 107 18 20 Fayette 63,537 59,873 54,683 52,714 51,918 1,832 2,595 984 796 65 16 16 Douglas 76,790 70,750 65,209 63,400 62,765 3,020 2,771 905 635 99 15 18 Forsyth 85,245 81,004 69,655 67,001 65,924 2,121 5,675 1,327 1,077 61 14 11 Gwinnett 94,998 85,432 73,423 68,829 66,387 4,783 6,005 2,297 2,442 27 13 2 Henry 127,612 116,840 104,838 101,698 98,534 5,386 6,001 1,570 3,164 31 10 1 Fulton 130,479 122,270 107,875 104,386 101,976 4,105 7,198 1,744 2,410 42 9 3 Paulding 148,673 142,546 132,794 129,055 127,869 3,064 4,876 1,869 1,186 108 7 8 Cherokee 192,469 185,382 173,391 170,175 168,120 3,544 5,996 1,608 2,055 82 4 4 Coweta 207,089 202,487 190,067 187,403 185,735 2,301 6,210 1,332 1,668 111 3 5 13-county Total 1,282,937 1,208,991 1,097,352 1,066,084 1,047,693 36,973 55,820 15,633 18,391 57 Carroll* na na 246,662 244,920 244,269 na na 871 651 375 1 17 Bartow* na na 230,251 228,343 226,839 na na 954 1,504 151 2 6 Hall* na na 165,321 161,639 160,752 na na 1,841 887 181 5 15 Walton* na na 150,404 148,362 147,329 na na 1,021 1,033 143 6 13 Newton* na na 112,251 111,377 110,157 na na 437 1,220 90 8 7 Spalding* na na 86,847 85,249 84,107 na na 799 1,142 74 11 9 Barrow* na na 69,722 68,496 67,565 na na 613 931 73 12 14 20-county Total 1,282,937 1,208,991 2,158,810 2,114,470 2,088,709 36,973 55,820 22,170 25,761 81 * Represent the external seven counties, i.e. those that were added to LandPro s scope beginning in 2005.
Figure 2 - Projected Development Patterns Map
Developments of Regional Impact (DRI) Figure 3 - DRI Non-Residential Development Trends 1998-2008 Figure 3 above shows the location of all non-residential developments of regional impact (DRI) reviews have occurred over the past 10 years within the 10-county Atlanta region. These developments are large enough in size, or propose certain land uses, that are seen to have significant regional impact. Several areas of the region have seen many of these types of development proposed including the City Atlanta, Henry County and Gwinnett Counties along the interstates, and south Fulton County.
Figure 4 - DRI Residential Development Trends 1998-2008 Figure 4 shows the location of all residential DRI reviews that have occurred over the past 10 years within the 10-county Atlanta region. While the location of these proposed developments are dispersed more than the non-residential developments as seen in the non-residential DRIs, they are still found in the same general areas of the region. The City of Atlanta in particular has attracted large developments of both types.
Figure 5 - Number of DRIs Reviewed and Average Residential Density Figure 5 lists the number and average gross residential density of DRIs in each jurisdiction in 10- county Atlanta region for the years 2000-2008. The City of Atlanta had the highest average residential density for DRIs at 94.6 units per acre. This was followed by DeKalb and Cobb County with 27.87 and 19.32 units per acre respectively. The City of Atlanta saw the most DRIs reviewed with 56 followed by DeKalb with 33 and Gwinnett with 29. Rockdale and Douglas Counties had the lowest average density for DRIs while Rockdale and Clayton had the fewest DRIs reviewed.
Regional Urban Expansion and Infrastructure Comparison Figure 6 - Regional Urban Expansion and Infrastructure Comparison- Sunbelt Figure 6 compares the Urbanized Area (as defined by the US Census Bureau) and transportation infrastructure of Atlanta with those of its peers in the Sunbelt region of the U.S. Note that Atlanta has the largest area in square miles but does not have the largest population. Atlanta has one of the oldest transit systems of these six cities, but does not have the largest rail transit system. Also, the Atlanta region has built less transit infrastructure within the last 10 years than any of its Sunbelt peers in this figure.
Figure 7 - Regional Urban Expansion and Infrastructure Comparison Figure 7 compares the Urbanized Area (as defined by the US Census Bureau) and transportation infrastructure of Atlanta with those of its peers in terms of overall size in square miles. Note that Atlanta s population (within the Urbanized Area) is the smallest of the six while its size in square miles is third largest. Also, Atlanta has the least amount of high capacity transportation infrastructure (limited access freeways and fixed guideway transit) of all six cities. Each of the peers in this figure has expanded transit service to the extent of its urbanized area while the Atlanta region has not.
Land Conversion Figure 8 - Atlanta Region Land Conversion Figure 8 shows the land converted from undeveloped to any other development category between 2001 and 2008. This illustrates the areas in the region that are experiencing urban and suburban expansion. The two smaller maps on the left of the figure show existing land use in 2001 and 2008. The larger map on the right displays just those areas that were converted from undeveloped lands between 2001 and 2008, in red, totaling 144,074 acres. Areas at the central core of the region have also experienced significant growth during this time, but in many instances the development reused existing development sites and therefore would not be considered to have converted from undeveloped.
Existing Land Use Figure 9 - Atlanta Region Existing Land Use Figure 9 shows the existing land use for the 20-county Atlanta region. Note that the core 5 counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton are largely developed and consist mostly of residential uses while the remaining counties in the region consist of agriculture/forest uses with pockets of residential development.
Livable Centers Initiative One of the Atlanta Regional Commission s (ARC) principal goals is to support local governments in their efforts to create highly livable and vibrant communities. Few of our programs do that as effectively as the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program. The LCI program, adopted by ARC in 1999, is designed to help planners and governments more effectively link current and future land use planning to existing or planned transportation infrastructure. The program has spurred cities, counties and communities of all sizes to proactively plan for enhanced employment centers, town centers and transportation corridors, bringing a new level of livability to the region. Seen as a cutting-edge program around the country, the LCI program was awarded the American Planning Association s National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation in 2009, and was awarded the Environmental Protection Agency s 2008 National Award for Smart Growth. Figures 10 and 11 are graphs depicting those LCI areas with the most residential and office development within them since the program s inception in 2000. It is interesting to note that most of the office and residential development within LCIs has occurred in those LCIs within the region s core and major activity centers versus the many corridor and town center LCI study areas. Figure 10 - LCI Study Areas with the Most Residential Development LCI Areas w/ Average Residential Projects Over 200 Units 10,000 8,466 7,442 U n i t s 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 5,364 4,087 3,404 2,6632,334 1736 1,532 1,461 1,429 1,205 1,050 Total # Residential Units Reported * Total number of residential units that are completed, under construction, or planned is shown
Figure 11 - LCI Study Areas With the most Office Development Majority of LCI Office Development Found in Already Established Business Districts Buckhead (Atlanta), 10,790,397 Midtown Alliance (Atlanta), 13,754,032 Perimeter Center, 3,922,000 Cumberland, 2,214,403 *Office Development Reported in Square Feet Other LCI areas, 2,134,646 McFarland- City Center (CAP), 583,200 Stoney Point, 939,740 JSA McGill (Atlanta), 1,815,779 Gwinnett County, 1,264,723 Town Center (Cobb County), 979,350 Figure 12 shows development totals within all LCI areas each year from 2000 to 2007. LCI study areas are grouped by the year in which the study was awarded. It appears there has been a fairly even distribution of development types within LCI areas thus far. Note the decrease in number of projects per year starting in 2005. This could be due to the beginnings of the economic slowdown or a reflection that many of the LCI areas are beginning to be built out. Figure 12 - Development Totals within LCI Study Areas Study Year Number of Number of Commercial Office Space Number of Residential Hotel Units Space (sq ft) (sq ft) Projects 2000 9,936 200 1,986,092 415,161 189 2001 27,032 5,263 6,266,661 18,792,647 385 2002 5,096-1,137,231 454,548 77 2003 17,504 1,574 2,312,521 2,030,623 110 2004 5,714 156 2,428,046 1,436,689 136 2005 3,126 825 1,942,625 1,020,860 31 2006 1,063 43 358,200 260,960 23 2007 206 217 184,400 31,150 9 Grandfathered 14,829 4,051 2,655,544 13,955,632 188 Total 84,506 12,329 19,271,320 38,398,270 1,148
Figure 13 compares residential, commercial, and office development within LCI areas with that of the 10 county region for the years 2000-2007. While the LCI areas represent only 4.2% of the land area within the 10 county region, those same LCI areas contain 66.97% of all office space and 21.34% of all commercial space within the 10 county region. This is due in large part to the LCI program s focus on major activity centers and town centers. However, due to the 10 county region s abundance of housing, which makes up a majority of its land uses, only 8.51% of all housing in the 10 county region is found in LCI areas. LCI Development versus Regional Development Development 2000-2007 Housing (Units) Commercial (sq ft) Office (sq ft) 10 County Development 312,990 38,157,401 31,866,980 (Source: CoStar) Land Area: 1,933,189 Acres LCI 10 County - Developments 26,645 8,143,761 21,341,504 LCI % of 10 County Development Land Area: 81,272 Acres 8.51% 21.34% 66.97% Land Area: 4.2%