BeltLine Visionary: Affordable Housing Issue Is A ‘Tsunami’

Last year Ryan Gravel, the visionary behind the BeltLine, made headlines when he resigned from the board of the BeltLine partnership.

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At the time, Gravel cited concerns over housing costs as a motivation for his resignation.

“We’re all getting worried about this change that we see coming, but if you look up on the horizon the change that’s coming is tsunami,” Gravel said. “It’s frightening. If we don’t match that [by] shifting the way that we see the world, the things we value and the things we put our investments in and how we support people then we’re not going to be able to live here.”

Gravel said that if Atlanta doesn’t address the issue of affordable housing it could end up like other places such as New York and San Francisco, which have long struggled with increasing rents.

In this installment of “Closer Look’s” affordable housing series, Rose Scott and Jim Burress talk with Gravel about his decision to leave the BeltLine partnership, his concerns about long-term affordable housing, and why he believes everyday citizens should become more involved in this issue.