Drought forces Peachtree Road Race to move from Piedmont Park
The annual Peachtree Road Race, the Atlanta Pride Festival, the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Dogwood Festival have all been moved from Piedmont Park to undecided locations because of the drought.
According to an article on WSB, the “drought has taken a toll on the park’s 185 acres and the park cannot withstand the heavy traffic the major events bring”.
Seems odd to me that they’d go through the trouble to move these events (certainly not a small task) to try to not “disrupt the park’s turf”. Is it really in that bad of shape?
January 11th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Yippee! I live near the park and am so tired of all the tourists and traffic. Finally, we can take back our neighborhood. I couldn’t be happier!
January 11th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Hahahaha, well silver lining in every cloud I suppose… I’ll be a beneficiary of this too, can’t say I’m all that sorry — I don’t mind the events so much as much as the lack of decent parking.
In Piedmont Park they do tend to take quite a few precautions about turf. Periodically during the summer they won’t let any organized field sports on on the park, and never allow cleats. As I recall, the turf isn’t all that great right now but it is the middle of winter. I suspect that this is a precautionary measure because they can’t anticipate being able to water the park much this summer..
January 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I’m still curious about White Water. Seems impossible it could operate this summer…
-st
January 11th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
They should be getting back to me soon. They accidentally copied me on an internal e-mail about the question I sent in.
Nothing bad, but it was kind of funny.
I’ll give them a few more days before I call.
January 12th, 2008 at 3:43 am
Oh yeah? What did the memo say? That’s a hoot…!
st
January 12th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Grass lawns are going to be in really bad shape this summer, so reducing heavy foot traffic on park lawns is a good idea.
January 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Stone Mountain park, that I live next to, has a big lake that they can suck water from to maintain the huge lawn used for lazer light shows.
January 13th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I live in Washington State and wish there were some way we could pipe some water down to the drought in the south.
I live in Spokane. We have an underground lake that supplies the city with water, plus the Spokane River, and numerous recreational lakes in the vicinity. Then, we have the Columbia River in the state, and we’re having a serious snowfall this winter.
Whatever is happening in the southern states, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, saddens me. It’s beautiful country. I sincerely hope someone arrives at a practical and reasonable solution in the near future. A concerned resident of the Northwest US.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Thank you Sandra - I was really getting discouraged hearing from people who don’t share your generous attitude. Of course it isn’t practical to move water over that kind of distance but this is the kind of thing we typically pull together as a country and address as one people. Unfortunately I have seen so much bickering between states and regions over this issue that I was starting to doubt the American spirit. You would think that we would all be Americans first and Georgians or Floridians or whatever second.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Sandra, As an Atlanta resident for 14 years, I’d like to thank you for your kind thoughts. You might find this article in the AJC today interesting. According to a recent survey:
“Despite the consistent message from Gov. Sonny Perdue and other state leaders that metro Atlanta’s growth did not cause the current water crisis, 80 percent of Georgia voters in a recent survey said state and local governments should limit North Georgia development.
Another 80 percent said metro Atlanta’s growth is unsustainable, hurting their quality of life and straining water sources.”
Atlantans have brought this on themselves. Read the whole thing:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/01/12/water_0113_1.html
January 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Mickey and everybody,
Regarding White Water, according to today’s AJC, they are exempt, because they are a “for profit” business. That is the most ridiculous reason I’ve ever heard.
Every pool company in Atlanta is a “for profit” business, so why are we forced to shut down and not operate pools, when White Water is exempt?
See the article here:
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/01/13/pool01131.html
The article is basically a repeat of the health department article from last week with this info added. But it’s a very interesting addition. Indoor pools are also exempt.
What is most interesting of all is that North Carolina (also in severe drought) has banned construction of new swimming pools (just like here in GA), but has NOT prohibited topping off outdoor pools. That is not part of their drought response plan, because they apparently realize how important that is. So their outdoor pools will be opening this summer.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Carol - It’s hypocritical to think you should be allowed to move here but the door should be closed for anyone who wanted to move here after you.
You are exactly part of the growth you keep whining about.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:28 am
No, Rich, I’m not. I moved here in 1991 (actually 17 years ago), when Atlanta was manageable and growth was not out of control. I live in a house built in 1927. I don’t live in one of the new high-density developments or sprawling suburbs that are the problem here.
I guess you are one of the 20% of Atlantans who don’t think growth is a problem. My guess is that you are in the real estate business or some other special interest occupation (or worse, government) that’s dependant on Atlanta’ uncontrolled growth.
I am finding your posts about this very funny!
January 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Plus, Rich, your post makes no sense. Are you not familiar with the sinking ship theory?
January 14th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I cannot help, but think that this whole drought is really a big fraud being perpetrated on the people of Atlanta. Evidence?
- On October 15, 2007 ABC News reported that the state estimated that we had 3 months of water remaining. Here we are January 14, 2008 and I don’t know about you, but I still had water for a shower, to make coffee, water my cat, dog, and bird, and wash my dishes.
- Private citizens are being fined for washing their cars, yet commercial car washes continue to operate (i.e. the Cactus Carwash on Ponce).
- Creative Loafing reported that Coke produces Dasani Bottled Water using municipal tap water in Marietta. Further they reported that Coke gets a considerable discount on this water. Is there no drought in Marietta?
- The AJC reported that Southern Company is one of the biggest users of water in the state, yet like Coke there have been no sanctions against those users.
- Water was sold to Alabama and Florida to cool power plants (reported USA Today). So an almost landlocked state (Georgia) sold water to two states with significant coast lines. Didn’t I just see a GE ad on TV talking about their desalination equipment? Wouldn’t it have been more cost effective and better for us for those states to invest in such equipment?
- If you install new landscaping you can get a 30 day exemption and water your new plants. Where is this water magically coming from?
My point: if there is a really crisis going on, then the people who by the reduction of their usage of water are the large corporations who use a lot of water, and not the private citizen. There isn’t, however, a lot of money to be made in sanctioning larger corporations. If there is really a crisis then why is our governor not in front of congress demanding action? Why isn’t he meeting with officials in Great Lake States? Why are we not seeing officials from Coke doing something to curb their usage?
Here’s a novel idea…if we want to refill the lake why don’t all the residents of Atlanta take a gallon of water down to Lanier and dump it in?
January 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I’m not part of any special interest Carol. In fact I don’t even live in metro Atlanta as it is generally defined. I just find it funny that you complain so much about those who moved here after you while holding yourself blameless.
As far as growth, I am all for reasonable, well thought out policies. It’s a little naive to think that it will be something that can be done overnight though. Permits are done on a city and county basis. All those regions would have to get on the same page somehow. You have to let people build that are already in the process. Otherwise the government has basically taken land from citizens and made it worthless. It can be done but I’ve only seen very simplistic posts from you as to how to make it happen. Please elaborate and let’s see if you have any real ideas or are just full of hot air.
And please Carol - enlighten us with your brilliant take on the sinking ship theory and how it relates to everyone who moved to Atlanta on a later date than you did.
January 14th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Rich doesn’t live in metro Atlanta? Then quit posting on things you don’t even know about!
Sinking ship theory: a boat can save lots of people and be comfortable and useful and habitable, but if too many get on, everyone sinks. It’s not complicated.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Knowing about the drought has very little to do with actually living here; it helps a little, but not much. I live here, but 99.9% of my drought info comes from web, tv and radio — not from looking outside.
He makes well-reasoned points, though you’re certainly free to disagree with him.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Knowing about overdevelopment in Metro Atlanta has everything to do with living here. Rich thinks overdevelopment isn’t a problem, but how can he know if he doesn’t live here and experience it himself?
Mickey??
January 14th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Too funny Carol - You should do a top ten list of why RichS shouldn’t have an opinion. Lol.
To be clear I live in Gainesville, and have lived in both Gwinnett and Henry counties over the last 15 years. Maybe I should start a wiki entry of information about RichS. I’m sure there are thousands of visitors to this website that feel a burning need to know all about me.
While I’m working on that autobiography, I am still interested to see if you have a plan to control growth.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Rich, I didn’t say you shouldn’t have an opinion. Obviously, anyone can have an opinion. However, you’re opinion can be challenged. You have consistently stated that development in Metro Atlanta isn’t a problem.
Ways to control growth: place moratoriums on building permits (other places have done it). Stricter zoning requirements. Stricter land use regulations. Lots of other places have stricter growth control measures than Atlanta, particularly out west. It’s not that difficult. Bottom line: if you don’t have the infrastructure, such as water, to support development, you have to control the development. If you don’t control the growth, then don’t whine about not having the infrastructure and expect other people and regions to support your profligate ways. This is not a difficult concept.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Actually I don’t believe I have said it isn’t a problem - just that what we are talking about here is the current water crisis. Not traffic, not land use. Water. And the truth is that Atlanta “overpopulation” is only a small contributing factor to why lake Lanier is so low right now.
I have presented the math several different ways to show what proportion of the problem can be attributed to Atlanta metro water consumption, but I don’t believe you are interested in those facts.
And your answers are still vague. For instance “place moratoriums on building permits”.
Who? Atlanta? Gwinnett? Fulton? Cobb? Marietta? Georgia? There are dozens of controlling authorities. How do you propose to get them all on the same page?
Might this not be a little punitive toward owners of undeveloped land? Who is going to pay them for the fact that they own land that just became worthless? Isn’t there a better way to spread the pain among everyone instead of concentrating it on landowners who’s only crime is that they didn’t hurry up and develop the property already?
I’m not saying there aren’t any solutions. I just don’t believe you Carol have thought out how your ideas could be implemented nor who they would harm.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am
States, cities and local communities control development in other parts of the country for a myriad of reasons, including water access. It is not a foreign concept, except here in Georgia, it seems. Atlanta’, s growth is unsustainable. Period. There will always be special interests who are hurt.
Here’s one solution: lower property tax on forestland. One of the reasons that Georgia is overdeveloped is that timber owners, who make little money annually on their land, are overtaxed. They are forced to sell to developers, or cut prematurely in order to pay their annual taxes. Alabama is wonderfully forested because of their low property taxes on forest land.
Who says all the counties have to be on the same page? They don’t have to be in other states. Perhaps the state could implement a moratorium. There are all kinds of ways to solve this problem. You are just a naysayer who wants to blame it on nature, which of course is reasonable. However, we, because we are rational advanced human beings, have to find a way to deal with mother nature. It’s NOT complicated. And life is not always fair and equitable. Get over it and solve the problem. Stop the development madness.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
So far I’m tallying one reasonable, well thought out idea that could be implemented. I like reducing taxes on undeveloped land. Not sure how much impact it would have but there would certainly be some.
I’m done with this conversation though unless you want to give some more reasoned solutions. I think if you are honest you will admit that your issue with Atlanta growth has little to do with water resources. I suspect it has much to do with traffic, crowding, and other quality of life issues which were a big issue for you long before this drought.