Atlantic Station's Impact on Home Park On a more local level, Atlantic Station will have a major influence on and be influenced by Home Park and Georgia Tech along with the rest of the surrounding areas. Greater Home Park, "A Community of Communities," is no longer "Atlanta's Best Kept Secret." Between Georgia Tech expanding and the arrival of Atlantic Station, Home Park is doing all it can do to stay strong and coexist in-between these large scale developments. Home Park developed as a place for the people who worked at the old steel mill to live. As the steel mill's production decreased and the employees moved on, the now vacated homes became prime targets for the students and faculty of Georgia Tech. The prime of Home Park is situated between Georgia Tech on 10th Street and Atlantic Station on 16th Street. Home Park is designed on a small grid with very walkable blocks. Along 10th and 14th Street (the major roads through Home Park) there are a number of businesses from a corner store to an auto repair shop. Within the grid structure of Home Park there is a small community Church. Because Home Park is an older community, the property value is fairly low which is what has attracted so many students. According to the Master Plan, Atlantic Station is actually a part of Home Park. While property values most likely will not inflate an extreme amount in the Home Park community, prices will go up none the less. The only way that Home Park's prices would skyrocket would be for a major renovation of the community and the Home Park Association is working along with Atlantic Station and the other major developments in the area to make sure that Home Park remains a place where Students and professors alike can live without major impact. The major focus of impact is that of traffic and congestion. Home Park does not want to have a large amount of through traffic that is heading in and out of Atlantic Station. Currently the roads are very quiet except for the traffic on 10th and 14th Street. Atlantic Station makes attempts to transition from Home Park's grid into the Atlantic Station grid but in doing so they completely break the original grid in an almost arbitrary manor. As Home Parks grid is transformed into the Atlantic Station grid there is a 30 foot rise that must be taken into consideration. This 30 foot rise happens over the short distance of 100 feet. Even looking at images of the site model the transition from Home Park to Atlantic Station is very blurred. From the looks of things the outer row of Atlantic Station town homes are on the same ground level as Home Park and 16th street will run beside the base of the parking deck allowing access to the lower level. Based on this assumption there will be a number of homes in Atlantic Station and Home Park alike that are over shadowed by the looming wall that is the parking deck. What this means for traffic is there will be people driving through Home Park trying to get to Atlantic Station. There is only one "main" entrance to Atlantic Station from Home Park, by way of a large ramp/hill on State Street. If there are connections from Home Park's grid to Atlantic Station's parking deck, there may not be a problem. BUT, if State Street is the only way to get to Atlantic Station, there will be a number of people driving around Home Park trying to find the way into Atlantic Station. Like I stated this particular connection still remains unresolved. People that have been interviewed have raised similar questions about that connection and Brian Leary gives the promotional explanation of Atlantic Station and tends to skim over any faults that would hinder the development.

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