Atlanta Needs a Waterfront
- Matt Guenther
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 8
Look at many of the world’s major cities and you’ll see a common geographical thread; most of them have a waterfront. London sits on the River Thames. Paris has the Seine. Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro surround massive bays. In the US, of the 10 largest metro areas, only Atlanta and famously dry Phoenix have no significant waterfront near their urban cores. Instead, Atlanta’s major waterway, the Chattahoochee, meanders its way along the city limits through suburban backyards and behind industrial sites.
Brief history
Why, unlike Nashville and Richmond, for example, was Atlanta not built on the banks of the major river in the vicinity? For one, as most Atlantans know, the city’s origin is as the end of a railroad line, not as a port. Secondly, since the Chattahoochee is not navigable upstream of Columbus, there was no advantage to locating the settlement on the banks of the river. Flooding was also a hazard and so Atlanta was established on the high point of a bluff where downtown is today, a significant distance from the river.
Atlantans still yearn for water
You can see Atlanta's desire for a waterfront in pictures of the Midtown skyline reflecting in Lake Clara Meer. Articles of photoshopped images circulate, reimagining the downtown connector as a river winding through the city. Water offers a place of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle. It provides a gathering place and a scenic backdrop for city life. Atlanta's lack of a major body of water has not kept its citizens from imagining the city with a waterfront. But what if we didn't have to imagine one? What if there was a neglected creek with waterfront potential waiting to be harnessed?
Peachtree Creek
There is a three-mile stretch of somewhat hidden creek that runs through Lindbergh, where Midtown meets Buckhead. It begins as the South Fork Peachtree Creek in the Morningside Nature Preserve, crosses under Cheshire Bridge, winds its way around an industrial area, crosses under I-85, curves around townhomes and a self-storage facility, slips beneath Piedmont Road, and continues along between surface parking lots, the Orkin Headquarters, and Passion City Church. Finally, it is joined by Clear Creek, which just wound its way around Armour Yards.
Looking at it now, it's easy to miss its potential. Peachtree Creek is no River Thames.
But the truth is, you don't need a massive river to have a vibrant waterfront. For an example of what a creek is capable of, look at the San Antonio Riverwalk. That "river" has an average flow of less than 30 cu ft/s where it winds through the city. To put it in perspective, the Chattahoochee has an average flow of about 2,500 cu ft/s near Atlanta. And yet, San Antonio was able to turn this tiny waterway into a vibrant corridor for the city.
Peachtree Creek has all the ingredients for success. It is inside the city’s urban core. It passes near the Lindbergh MARTA station (and potentially a future infill station at Armour Yards). The future Beltline Northside Trail runs by it, as does PATH400 and the Peachtree Creek Greenway/Confluence Trails. MARTA’s Clifton Corridor line (should it ever get built) would run alongside it. And finally, much of this 3-mile section is not claimed by the backyards of single-family homes, so it is still available for redevelopment.
The Creekline? The Creekwalk? The Waterfront?
Just as the Beltline takes on different forms along its path through busier and quieter neighborhoods, Peachtree Creek is not uniform and the waterfront would look different along its course. Some areas have steep banks whereas others are more flat. Some areas are right alongside commercial property while in other places it is surrounded by woods. I prompted an AI image generator using these different criteria to get a feel for what a creek walk might look like. I tried to avoid channelized renderings (like San Antonio's Riverwalk with concrete banks) as Peachtree Creek is prone to flooding and development would need to allow the volume of water to rise and fall. I think the images below present a practical idea of what it could look like.
Atlanta's intown neighborhoods may not have a river, but Peachtree Creek provides an untapped opportunity to give this city the waterfront it needs.