Griffin Wasdin
@heflinhollis.bsky.social
1% haterade // 39% property taxes are too low // 40% about infrastructure lifecycle budgeting // 15% anti-Stitch & other megaprojects // 5% trying to make the term “BeltLine St” happen.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
That's an over arching problem that City of Atlanta clearly thinks most of us too slow to know was a TAD is so they just running around Twitter saying it grows chocolate cake and sunshine 🤦🏻♀️
November 26, 2025 at 9:35 PM
That's an over arching problem that City of Atlanta clearly thinks most of us too slow to know was a TAD is so they just running around Twitter saying it grows chocolate cake and sunshine 🤦🏻♀️
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Leaf blowers are especially troublesome for people who travel by bicycle because:
1. They are used to move debris into bike lanes/portions of streets used by people on bikes.
2. It's no fun to get blasted in the face with dirt/dust. This happened to me yesterday and I had to stop to wipe my eyes.
1. They are used to move debris into bike lanes/portions of streets used by people on bikes.
2. It's no fun to get blasted in the face with dirt/dust. This happened to me yesterday and I had to stop to wipe my eyes.
Everyone hates gas-powered leaf blowers. So why is it so hard to ban them?
Everyone hates gas-powered leaf blowers. So why is it so hard to ban them?
Cities and states are trying to ditch America's most hated appliance. They're running into challenges.
dlvr.it
November 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Leaf blowers are especially troublesome for people who travel by bicycle because:
1. They are used to move debris into bike lanes/portions of streets used by people on bikes.
2. It's no fun to get blasted in the face with dirt/dust. This happened to me yesterday and I had to stop to wipe my eyes.
1. They are used to move debris into bike lanes/portions of streets used by people on bikes.
2. It's no fun to get blasted in the face with dirt/dust. This happened to me yesterday and I had to stop to wipe my eyes.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Oh, my oped against extending 25+ year old TIFs/TADs in Atlanta ran in print today. Nothing like irritating the powers-that-be be twice with the same piece.
November 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Oh, my oped against extending 25+ year old TIFs/TADs in Atlanta ran in print today. Nothing like irritating the powers-that-be be twice with the same piece.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Baltimore’s zoning bill would allow up to 4 units on SFH lots.
This op-ed is really good…she counters the “every neighborhood is different” justification well: if zoning’s purpose is to protect health and wellbeing, why would different neighborhood histories justify different laws today
This op-ed is really good…she counters the “every neighborhood is different” justification well: if zoning’s purpose is to protect health and wellbeing, why would different neighborhood histories justify different laws today
"Why I lost faith in zoning." tinyurl.com/5n8sh428 Baltimore’s former zoning board executive director, on why she supports @mayorbmscott.bsky.social bills to promote more density and multi-family housing in the city. [OP-ED]
Baltimore’s former zoning board director explains why she lost faith in zoning | Baltimore Brew
The mayor’s “Housing Options and Opportunity” legislation – including Bill 25-0066 – will go a long way toward fixing an unfair system. [OP-ED]
tinyurl.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Baltimore’s zoning bill would allow up to 4 units on SFH lots.
This op-ed is really good…she counters the “every neighborhood is different” justification well: if zoning’s purpose is to protect health and wellbeing, why would different neighborhood histories justify different laws today
This op-ed is really good…she counters the “every neighborhood is different” justification well: if zoning’s purpose is to protect health and wellbeing, why would different neighborhood histories justify different laws today
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Shockingly, Council is about to rubber-stamp this pile of empty promises with no public vote.
Fiscal responsibility - or minimal critical thinking - too much to ask?
If APS and County OK this $5B boondoggle, it's 30 years of budget crises, tax hikes, & lousy schools & services.
Shameful.
#GApol
Fiscal responsibility - or minimal critical thinking - too much to ask?
If APS and County OK this $5B boondoggle, it's 30 years of budget crises, tax hikes, & lousy schools & services.
Shameful.
#GApol
This TAD extension will allegedly protect legacy residents, build affordable housing, put rail on the Beltline, build a new hospital, and support small businesses. That's quite a project list.
It makes me wonder...what's Mayor Dickens' track record with following through on project lists?
It makes me wonder...what's Mayor Dickens' track record with following through on project lists?
November 25, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Shockingly, Council is about to rubber-stamp this pile of empty promises with no public vote.
Fiscal responsibility - or minimal critical thinking - too much to ask?
If APS and County OK this $5B boondoggle, it's 30 years of budget crises, tax hikes, & lousy schools & services.
Shameful.
#GApol
Fiscal responsibility - or minimal critical thinking - too much to ask?
If APS and County OK this $5B boondoggle, it's 30 years of budget crises, tax hikes, & lousy schools & services.
Shameful.
#GApol
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Atlanta's Housing Justice League is calling on folks to "STOP THE TADS" (TADs=TIFs for folks not in Georgia) and this is about Mayor Dickens' proposal to extend 25+ year-old TIFs (many parts of which are in gentrifying nabes) until 2055.
Email councilmembers here:
actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...
Email councilmembers here:
actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Atlanta's Housing Justice League is calling on folks to "STOP THE TADS" (TADs=TIFs for folks not in Georgia) and this is about Mayor Dickens' proposal to extend 25+ year-old TIFs (many parts of which are in gentrifying nabes) until 2055.
Email councilmembers here:
actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...
Email councilmembers here:
actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...
If you were wondering, yes, civil engineers tests a bag of concrete by stabbing it with a knife and taking a lil bump of the cement powder the same way DEA agents test the white bricks they find during a bust.
November 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM
If you were wondering, yes, civil engineers tests a bag of concrete by stabbing it with a knife and taking a lil bump of the cement powder the same way DEA agents test the white bricks they find during a bust.
My toxic trait is telling friends they should do that home repair / home renovation / build that shed / add that room without a permit.
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 AM
My toxic trait is telling friends they should do that home repair / home renovation / build that shed / add that room without a permit.
Crossing the street in the suburbs f#cking sucks.
November 21, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Crossing the street in the suburbs f#cking sucks.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Heck, this Corporate Welfare Promotion Committee makes a mockery of City Council itself. They've delegated their responsibility - or at least their platform - to representatives of Big Money special interests.
It is immensely disappointing that @rohitforatlanta.bsky.social lost his election, as I was hoping he would be the check on these unaccountable power structures that make a mockery of our entire NPU/neighborhood governance system.
Committee for Corporate Welfare - no oversight at all.
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Heck, this Corporate Welfare Promotion Committee makes a mockery of City Council itself. They've delegated their responsibility - or at least their platform - to representatives of Big Money special interests.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
I feel like you could write an entire book on urban infrastructure policy and liberal governance failures just using the example of Atlanta's Juniper Street complete street project.
All of this for a single mile of streetscaping.
All of this for a single mile of streetscaping.
November 20, 2025 at 11:59 AM
I feel like you could write an entire book on urban infrastructure policy and liberal governance failures just using the example of Atlanta's Juniper Street complete street project.
All of this for a single mile of streetscaping.
All of this for a single mile of streetscaping.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
It was good talking with Rose Scott @wabe.org and her panelists about TAD extension. Rose ensures we air the issue thoroughly. Atlanta needs these debates #GApol. Do listen.
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
Coffee Conversations: Is Mayor Dickens’ $5B community investment plan what Atlanta needs for affordable housing?
For the November installment of "Closer Look" Coffee Conversations held at Grant Park Coffeehouse, program host Rose Scott talked with a panel of guests about Tax Allocation Districts, pros and cons, ...
www.wabe.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:12 AM
It was good talking with Rose Scott @wabe.org and her panelists about TAD extension. Rose ensures we air the issue thoroughly. Atlanta needs these debates #GApol. Do listen.
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Atlanta has already voted Mayor Dickens a huge infrastructure investment fund he has demonstrated he is unable to deploy.
In fact, he still hasn’t even spent down the prior packages secured by his predecessors.
I’m a “no” on this. Show us you can spend prior infrastructure funds responsibly first.
In fact, he still hasn’t even spent down the prior packages secured by his predecessors.
I’m a “no” on this. Show us you can spend prior infrastructure funds responsibly first.
I'm concerned the council is just gonna pass this after a "cooling off period".
We shouldn't be renewing the TADs all willy nilly. I'm hopeful this study will show that but I don't know...
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...
We shouldn't be renewing the TADs all willy nilly. I'm hopeful this study will show that but I don't know...
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...
City Council proposes oversight commission for Dickens’ $5 billion plan
Panel would begin work in January and issue recommendations ahead of a council vote on extending the city’s tax allocation districts by 30 years.
www.ajc.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Atlanta has already voted Mayor Dickens a huge infrastructure investment fund he has demonstrated he is unable to deploy.
In fact, he still hasn’t even spent down the prior packages secured by his predecessors.
I’m a “no” on this. Show us you can spend prior infrastructure funds responsibly first.
In fact, he still hasn’t even spent down the prior packages secured by his predecessors.
I’m a “no” on this. Show us you can spend prior infrastructure funds responsibly first.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Its time to upzone Home Park and close the density gap between Howell Mill corridor, Atlantic Station, Tech, and Midtown. Its an island of SFHs between several high rise districts.
November 19, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Its time to upzone Home Park and close the density gap between Howell Mill corridor, Atlantic Station, Tech, and Midtown. Its an island of SFHs between several high rise districts.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
I'm sorry but your hometown slop is second rate compared to my hometown slop
November 19, 2025 at 8:47 AM
I'm sorry but your hometown slop is second rate compared to my hometown slop
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
My latest op-ed for @decaturish! I talk about why the new Publix at the corner of Candler Road and Glenwood is a half step in the right direction. And a half step in the wrong direction.
November 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
My latest op-ed for @decaturish! I talk about why the new Publix at the corner of Candler Road and Glenwood is a half step in the right direction. And a half step in the wrong direction.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Good piece on Opportunity Zones by @shelby-r-king.bsky.social
I'd note the example of "billionaire handout" used is Centennial Yards (The Gulch) in Atlanta. A project that received on the order of $2B in *local* subsidy & whose affordable housing component is...very weak.
@julianbene.bsky.social
I'd note the example of "billionaire handout" used is Centennial Yards (The Gulch) in Atlanta. A project that received on the order of $2B in *local* subsidy & whose affordable housing component is...very weak.
@julianbene.bsky.social
Opportunity Zones: Billionaire Handout or Housing Booster?
The OZ program unleashed billions in private capital. Who it actually helps depends on who’s steering the money and how well they can navigate the system. Now the stakes are even higher.
shelterforce.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Good piece on Opportunity Zones by @shelby-r-king.bsky.social
I'd note the example of "billionaire handout" used is Centennial Yards (The Gulch) in Atlanta. A project that received on the order of $2B in *local* subsidy & whose affordable housing component is...very weak.
@julianbene.bsky.social
I'd note the example of "billionaire handout" used is Centennial Yards (The Gulch) in Atlanta. A project that received on the order of $2B in *local* subsidy & whose affordable housing component is...very weak.
@julianbene.bsky.social
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
The Northeast Atlanta STR Ban ordinance fails, 7-6. Wyckoff, Westmoreland, Collins, Winston, Dozier, Boone and Overstreet vote no.
November 17, 2025 at 11:34 PM
The Northeast Atlanta STR Ban ordinance fails, 7-6. Wyckoff, Westmoreland, Collins, Winston, Dozier, Boone and Overstreet vote no.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
I plan to do all I can to stop this MAGAt from leading GA. We have had enough of their callousness. I live in DeKalb, homestead act gives us relief already. What doesn’t get said: that relief is money TAKEN AWAY from the schools.
November 17, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I plan to do all I can to stop this MAGAt from leading GA. We have had enough of their callousness. I live in DeKalb, homestead act gives us relief already. What doesn’t get said: that relief is money TAKEN AWAY from the schools.
This is dope as hell. New apartments in BeltLine-adjacent Ormewood Park are have partnered with Edison to offer FREE E-BIKES to new residents.
November 17, 2025 at 2:29 AM
This is dope as hell. New apartments in BeltLine-adjacent Ormewood Park are have partnered with Edison to offer FREE E-BIKES to new residents.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Nothing like a "citywide watchdog and organizing platform for communities facing unchecked, developer-led growth in the name of “affordable housing”"
that seems to exist solely to block 1 permanent supportive housing project in 1 neighborhood.
Always beware orgs with no names or board listed. 1/2
that seems to exist solely to block 1 permanent supportive housing project in 1 neighborhood.
Always beware orgs with no names or board listed. 1/2
November 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Nothing like a "citywide watchdog and organizing platform for communities facing unchecked, developer-led growth in the name of “affordable housing”"
that seems to exist solely to block 1 permanent supportive housing project in 1 neighborhood.
Always beware orgs with no names or board listed. 1/2
that seems to exist solely to block 1 permanent supportive housing project in 1 neighborhood.
Always beware orgs with no names or board listed. 1/2
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
“I really want Gwinnett & Cobb to start thinking about what it would look like to have public transit in their communities that is connected to the city"
Says a mayor who's turned Eastside Beltline rail into a political football.
Says a mayor who's turned Eastside Beltline rail into a political football.
If I was the mayor of Atlanta, the poster child for ineffective governance and inability to get voter-approved transportation projects built, I might focus on getting shit built in my own city before making promises about getting my neighbors to follow suit.
November 13, 2025 at 11:21 PM
“I really want Gwinnett & Cobb to start thinking about what it would look like to have public transit in their communities that is connected to the city"
Says a mayor who's turned Eastside Beltline rail into a political football.
Says a mayor who's turned Eastside Beltline rail into a political football.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Atlanta is the poster child of what I described as mismatched growth. There is barely any transit, bike lanes, or walkability connecting to booming neighborhoods, while transit-rich places are crushed by neo-redlining and petty tyrants
When Covid caused NYC offices to hollow out what they found was that yeah the core business districts suffered but the neighborhoods where people actually live, thrived.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
if you cant go in to the office 3 days a week then you really can't complain when cities are hollowed out. cities are places where ppl work and network. getting rid of that makes cities useless
November 13, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Atlanta is the poster child of what I described as mismatched growth. There is barely any transit, bike lanes, or walkability connecting to booming neighborhoods, while transit-rich places are crushed by neo-redlining and petty tyrants
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
If I was the mayor of Atlanta, the poster child for ineffective governance and inability to get voter-approved transportation projects built, I might focus on getting shit built in my own city before making promises about getting my neighbors to follow suit.
November 13, 2025 at 12:20 PM
If I was the mayor of Atlanta, the poster child for ineffective governance and inability to get voter-approved transportation projects built, I might focus on getting shit built in my own city before making promises about getting my neighbors to follow suit.
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
It’s time to kill Buy America and exempt transit/bike/ped projects from NEPA.
Protectionism and environmental review are strangling progressive transportation objectives.
Protectionism and environmental review are strangling progressive transportation objectives.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed 4 years ago. In new research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social we study its effects.
US transport spending increased by 30%, but:
—Funding for non-highway projects flatlined
—Construction cost increases resulted in no actual increase in infrastructure
US transport spending increased by 30%, but:
—Funding for non-highway projects flatlined
—Construction cost increases resulted in no actual increase in infrastructure
Federal Infrastructure Spending on Transportation, Four Years after the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is up for reauthorization in 2026. New analysis shows that the act increased spending on transportation infrastructure, but…
www.urban.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:01 AM
It’s time to kill Buy America and exempt transit/bike/ped projects from NEPA.
Protectionism and environmental review are strangling progressive transportation objectives.
Protectionism and environmental review are strangling progressive transportation objectives.