PROPERTY SIZE: 22-mile transit loop circling Atlanta's urban core. Covers 6,500 acres or 8% of the city's land area.

PROJECT TEAM: Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.; Beltline Partnership; Atlanta Development Authority; City of Atlanta; PATH Foundation; Trust for Public Land; MARTA; EPA; EPD

MISISON: By attracting and organizing some of the region's future growth around parks, transit, and trails, the BeltLine will help change the pattern of regional sprawl in the coming decades and lead to a vibrant and livable Atlanta with an enhanced quality of life.

BACKGROUND: One of the most comprehensive economic development efforts ever undertaken in the City of Atlanta and the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment currently underway in the U.S., the Atlanta BeltLine will combine greenspace, trails, transit, and new development along 22 miles of historic rail segments that encircle the urban core.

In 2005, the City of Atlanta created the BeltLine partnership to galvanize private sector and citizen support for the Atlanta Development Authority's BeltLine efforts. The Trust for Public Land begins purchasing land that will constitute the core of future BeltLine parks. The BeltLine Tax Allocation District is approved, providing the primary local funding source, estimated at 60% of estimated project costs, without requiring a tax increase.

In 2008, led by the PATH Foundation, the first segment of the beltline trail, in the West End, opened, enhanced by the first segment of the BeltLine arboretum, led by Trees Atlanta. In 2009, ABI finished master planning for half of the BeltLine, secured a purchase option and lease for three additional miles of the 22-mile corridor, began construction on Historic Fourth Ward Park and 7 miles of hiking trails, and the PATH Foundation began construction on two more sections of permanent trail near Tanyard Creek and West End.

CLEANUP/REMEDIATION: The BeltLine project allocates funding to support the cleanup of contaminated properties resulting from the historic presence of active rail and industry. With an estimated 1,100 acres of brownfields within the 6,500 acre BeltLine TAD, and an estimated 84,000 residents of historically underrepresented environmental justice communities living within a half-mile of the BeltLine, there is a tremendous opportunity at hand to impact a large and diverse population. Atlanta was awarded a $1 million 2009 EPA Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund Grant, and a primary focus of the grant is the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield properties along the BeltLine.

COSTS: Expected to cost $2.8 billion over 25 years, to be funded by local, state, and federal funds, public/private partnerships, and philanthropic contributions.

RESULTS: The project will create nearly 1,200 acres of new green space and will create, preserve, or expand more than 33 miles of trails, and touch and connect 45 neighborhoods. It is expected to generate more than $20 billion in economic development over a 25-year project span and create more than 30,000 new full-time jobs and 48,000 temporary construction jobs.