Have you ever looked at a precious photo and wished you could sharpen the color or touch up the background and still hold onto the integrity of the image and the memory it invokes? The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance may have that opportunity in one of our adopted watersheds. We steward the watersheds of three creeks in West Atlanta: Utoy, Sandy, and Proctor Creeks. Through our current project Greening Vine City/English Avenue we will participate in reweaving the fabric of this community to include greenways, parks with water features, streetscapes, smart sustainable building techniques and green job opportunities for the residents.
It sounds like a tall order? Our goal is to replace blighted abandoned properties many of which are sites for illegally dumped trash, tires and other environmental and public health stressors with green space. We envision as much as 200 acres could be converted for passive uses like wildlife habitat, water conservation and storm water management as well as active recreation. Vine City neighborhood only recently developed its first small public park and English Avenue has no public open space at all.
The opportunity exist at this moment because of the downturn in the housing market, the large amounts of vacant homes and lots, the increasing awareness of health disparities of these residents and the status of Proctor Creek as one of the cities most environmentally impacted streams. We have conducted several creek and community cleanups to rid the area of trash and blight.
The community is also identifying properties that have numerous code violations especially health violations and residents are seeking action from both Fulton County and the City of Atlanta to address these conditions. We are excited with the possibilities! For more information on us or our projects please visit our website.
Darryl Haddock
Environmental Education Director
West Atlanta Watershed Alliance WWW.WAWAONLINE.ORG
