Famously, unlike nearly every other major American city, Atlanta has no waterfront. Or does it? 

For this installment of Friday Fun Bag, in which we ponder meaty concepts and wild ideas, we’ll spotlight a recent blog post by Matt Guenther. By day, he’s a senior research data analyst with CBRE. He’s also a big-thinking urbanist who writes the ATL TBD blog. 

Guenther recently wrote about Atlantans’ clear desire to be near water (see Piedmont Park’s Lake Clara Meer on virtually every weekend of the year, or the massive reservoir selfie-mecca Bellwood Quarry has become), and he posits that intown’s Peachtree Creek could be a means of satisfying that itch in the future. 

Specifically, a three-mile stretch of Peachtree Creek that runs beneath Interstate 85 and Piedmont Road—where the Atlanta Beltline is gearing up to break ground on nearly three miles of fresh trails soon. 

With its self-storage facilities, parking lots, and ragged creek banks, few would describe the area as charming or alluring today.  

As Guenther writes: "Blue indicates Peachtree Creek and Clear Creek; green indicates existing and future trails (including Beltline); and white outline indicates commercial space potentially developable into waterfront."Google Maps/ATL TBD

Piedmont Road section over Peachtree Creek, where Buckhead meets the Midtown area today. Google Maps

But as far-fetched as it may seem now, Guenther envisions a future where redevelopment and smart infrastructure could reshape the creek into a vibrant waterfront. The sheer amount of water the creek produces, per Guenther’s calculations, is more than sufficient. He writes:

For an example of what a creek is capable of, look at the San Antonio River Walk. 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.

Unlike San Antonio’s waterway, Peachtree Creek is naturally prone to flooding, so redevelopment couldn’t be fully apples-to-apples. But beyond its location and Beltline promise, Peachtree Creek’s attributes include PATH400, MARTA, and Peachtree Creek Greenway/Confluence Trail connectivity, and the fact that much of the section in question—unlike the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta’s suburbs—hasn’t been claimed by private backyards, as Guenther writes. 

Given all the above, here's what Guenther's AI prompts cooked up, as published with permission here: 

Future Peachtree Creek view from Piedmont Road bridge? ATL TBD; AI-generated image

ATL TBD; AI-generated image

“Water offers a place of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle,” notes Guenther. “It provides a gathering place and a scenic backdrop for city life.” 

Find a deeper dive on ATL TBD here, and let’s ask ourselves: Is Atlanta capable of this … or is it merely, well, a wet dream? 

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