Reader writes: Why isn’t this trailside Cobb County corridor thriving?

Editor's note: If you’re not familiar with Cobb County’s Mountain to River Trail system, perhaps you should be. The multimodal pathway spans 13 and ½ miles, linking regional destinations Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area, with numerous landmarks in between.   

For our latest Letter to the Editor, Marietta resident Joey Hiles dreams big—but reasonably big—about what could be along a key stretch of trail that links what he considers “two of the best towns in the region.”

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Dear Editor: 

Biking from Marietta Square to downtown Smyrna is one of my favorite activities. 

It’s a 5-and-1/2-mile straight shot along the Mountain to River Trail, or the M2R Trail, down West Atlanta Street until it becomes Atlanta Road. With few street crossings, the biking is continuous and pleasant. If you go at the right time, the sunset view from the trail is spectacular, with wide open space over your shoulder at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. 

What a treat to have two of Cobb County’s best cities so seamlessly connected. 

Yet one thought sticks in my mind whenever I’m on the trail: It’s time to redevelop the entire 5 and 1/2 miles into a thriving new corridor. An uncountable number of rundown auto shops, overgrown patches of grass, used-car dealerships, liquor stores, parking lots for old semi-trucks, and vacant industrial buildings cover nearly all of the landscape. A few recent developments hint at new possibilities, but the place is largely dominated by underused industrial parcels and surface parking lots that generate little tax value or community life. 

But think of what it could be. 

With easy accessibility to the M2R Trail, new development could follow the central spine that connects the corridor to Marietta, Smyrna, and beyond. Since the trail is now on the Dobbins side of the road in places—and thus five lanes of traffic from potential sites of development—in my dream version, parts of it would be duplicated on the development side, linking directly to restaurant patios, small plazas, and storefront entrances. In other words, an engaged public realm. 

While much of Marietta is already built out—like the established residential neighborhoods along the M2R north of the Square—the corridor to the south is uniquely suited for redevelopment, with infrastructure already in place. 

Those living along the corridor now would be blessed with new places to go and things to do. For new residents, they’ll never be more than a two or three-mile bike ride from Marietta or Smyrna.

If this sounds like a Cobb County counterpart to the Atlanta Beltline, it’s because it is. The Beltline is a family-friendly destination, not just a mode of transportation. Atlanta residents plan their Saturdays around a family stroll or bike on the Beltline. Children are everywhere. Families go out to eat along the way, get ice cream, and take part in the public life of the city, all while exercising. The Beltline connects Atlanta’s formerly disparate neighborhoods into a continuous fabric. 

At present, the M2R Trail, fun as it is to bike, is just a means of getting from here to there. A new corridor could connect Marietta to Smyrna through a shared civic fabric—a continuous public realm—that links two of the best towns in the region. It would give families a new weekend activity. Like the Beltline, it would bring people from across the region to shop and eat in local Marietta and Smyrna establishments. 

No doubt, some will worry about the impact of denser development on traffic. The reality is that this corridor already carries heavy traffic while generating little value. The choice is between traffic that passes through empty lots or places where people live, shop, and gather. And when destinations are connected by a safe and attractive trail, many short car trips simply disappear, as the Beltline has shown. 

Big projects like this give communities a shared horizon. A long-term corridor vision—something that unfolds over a decade or more—would give residents, business owners, and civic leaders a common project to shape together. It would signal that Marietta and Smyrna are not simply reacting to growth, but directing it.

Fortunately, this corridor has not been ignored by our leaders. The City of Marietta’s 2023 Mountain to River Trail Activation Study identifies opportunities for placemaking and incremental improvements along the route. Those efforts reflect real momentum. But the vision is limited to the City of Marietta. Absent is a coordinated, cross-jurisdictional land-use vision between Marietta, Smyrna, and county government that would shape building form, density, and the public realm along the entire 5 and 1/2 miles.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners, in coordination with the cities of Marietta and Smyrna, should work together to craft and adopt a shared corridor redevelopment plan before piecemeal decisions lock in mediocrity. What we need is a unified plan for the corridor that aligns infrastructure improvement, zoning, land-use, and long-term economic development strategy. 

If our leaders do nothing, random lots may be improved, but in a way that fails to create a cohesive, destination-worthy environment. Cobb County deserves infrastructure attractions every bit as good as the City of Atlanta’s, and with bold and intentional planning, it could get them. 

— Joey Hiles lives in Marietta with his wife and son

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