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WHO BETTER THAN THE DIVERSIFIED
DEVELOPER, COUSINS PROPERTIES, TO HELP
ATLANTA GROW IN SMART WAYS?
When it comes to Atlanta’s
growth, business as usual won’t work
anymore. "Doing nothing is not ok," says
Tom Bell. "We have to do something."
Bell should know. Not only is he
president and CEO of Cousins Properties,
the company that has developed some of
the most significant landmarks of
Atlanta’s skyline, but he also chaired
the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce,
which during his recent tenure convened
a task force on quality growth.
Attended by area mayors, real estate
developers, environmentalists, city
planners, architects, bankers, and
others, the task force members came to
the table with a diverse set of agendas
and perspectives, with some supporting
planned growth, some opposing it.
However, once they got into the issues,
they found points of agreement, and they
reached a consensus on at least one
issue: if Atlanta is to continue to grow
successfully, something has to be done.
Bell can cite the numbers off the top
of his head. Census projections for
Atlanta’s growth estimate that 2.3
million people will join the metro
population by the year 2030. That number
easily could be more given additional
displaced residents from the Gulf Coast
after Hurricane Katrina, a factor not
included in the original estimates. Just
considering organic growth (births minus
deaths), the population will increase by
more than one million people in the
Atlanta area.
All of that growth is mandating a
plan for a movement known as smart
growth. "To sustain our quality of life,
we have to get smart about how we grow,"
Bell says. "If we try to add an
additional two to three million more
people the way we always have, we’re
going to overwhelm our infrastructure.
We have to get smarter about what we
do."
One smart-growth solution offered by
Cousins Properties is Terminus,
conceived as a pedestrian-friendly,
contained community that includes places
for working, shopping, and living with a
built-in infrastructure. At the corner
of Peachtree
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