Chamblee Awarded $80,000 LCI Grant

The city of Chamblee has been awarded an $80,000 grant by the Atlanta Regional Commission to update its Livable Center Initiative (LCI) plan.

According to Joel Reed, the city's acting director of development, Chamblee completed an LCI study in 2000.

"Chamblee studied the area surrounding its MARTA rail station," Reed said. "The original LCI was completed at a time of rapid growth and economic development in the Atlanta metropolitan region, and Chamblee wished to position itself to take advantage of this growth.

"The city’s location just inside I-285, close to the City of Atlanta, and accessible to MARTA makes it an ideal location to direct development investment," Reed said.

The goal of the original LCI study was to capitalize on the region’s growth and create a dense, mixed-use, walkable environment to spur investment in Chamblee.

The city pursued LCI funding in order to encourage new development and infrastructure around the MARTA station.

"As a result of the study, Chamblee has seen significant investment around the station, producing new high-quality, well-designed development in a pedestrian-oriented environment," Reed said.

"The 2013 supplemental LCI study will build on the success of the 2000 study as the city looks forward to expanding the study area in order to reach the critical mass necessary of a successful city center, which will also incorporate City assets such as City Hall," Reed said.

"The study will further the success of the City Center through integration of a complete streets network. This network will link major employment centers such as the CDC and Peachtree-DeKalb Airport to the study area, as well as provide a strong connection to Chamblee High School, many of whose students traverse the study area daily by arriving on MARTA and connecting by foot to the high school."