Creating Vibrant, Walkable Communities
The Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) is a grant program that incentivizes local jurisdictions to re-envision their communities as vibrant, walkable places that offer increased mobility options, encourage healthy lifestyles and provide improved access to jobs and services.
Since 2000, the LCI program has invested $216 million in 119 communities throughout the Atlanta region, helping pay for planning studies and the construction of transportation projects, such as sidewalks and intersection improvements, to bring those visions to life. The ARC board has allocated $314 million through 2030 to fund transportation projects resulting from completed LCI studies.
The LCI program is funded with federal transportation dollars. The grants cover 80 percent of the cost of each study or transportation project, with the recipient making a 20 percent match.
LCI: Transforming Communities
The LCI program is paying dividends. The creation of more vibrant, walkable communities means fewer vehicles on the road and cleaner air for all of us. Since the program began in 2000, vehicle miles traveled per capita each day has dropped 13 percent. At the same time, communities are re-imagining their public spaces. Public parks have been established in more than half of LCI areas, while public art has been installed in one-third of LCI areas.
And the program has also helped spark economic development. LCI communities cover less than 4 percent of metro Atlanta’s land area but contain 7 percent of the region’s residential development, 29 percent of its commercial development and 69 percent of its office development.
LCI Program Goals
- Providing access to a variety of travel modes including transit, roadways, walking and biking
- Encouraging mixed-income residential neighborhoods, employment, shopping and recreation options
- Developing an outreach process that promotes the involvement of all stakeholders
2018 LCI Planning Grant Recipients
Central Atlanta Progress
Grant Amount: $50,000
Central Atlanta Progress hopes to reduce congestion while improving safety and air quality by reducing the number of single-occupant vehicle trips within the downtown area. They hope to accomplish this through a program that is attainable, enforceable, business-sensitive, and outcomes-based.
City of Atlanta
Grant Amount: $120,000
Building on the success of other plans for the West End area, including the 2001 LCI study, as well as the recently opened Westside Beltline Trail, the West End LCI Major Plan update will result in a vision and action plan for the West End LCI study area. The update will help the city assess the strengths and needs of this growing neighborhood.
City of Avondale Estates
Grant Amount: $40,000
Avondale Estates will determine the feasibility of creating a four-leg roundabout at the intersection of Laredo Drive and North Clarendon. The project would ease traffic congestion while improving pedestrian safety.
City of Chamblee
Grant Amount: $80,000
The city of Chamblee will design phase 3 of the extension of the Chamblee Rail Trail. This will extend the trail to Ingersoll Rand Drive. It will also provide an analysis of the trail’s interaction with the planned Peachtree Road Streetscape project, and the ongoing Town Center Master Plan process.
City of Douglasville
Grant Amount: $40,000
The City of Douglasville is studying a new corridor plan for SR 92 in its downtown. The relocation of the artery to a new bypass enables the city to reimagine the way in which old SR 92 enters Douglasville’s downtown.
Gateway85 Gwinnett CID
Grant Amount: $30,000
Working with Gwinnett County, The Gateway85 Gwinnett Community Improvement District is studying the possibility of creating a greenway trail along Beaver Ruin Creek to enhance the connectivity and quality of life in the area.
City of Hapeville
Grant Amount: $70,000
Hapeville is studying the feasibility of a roundabout at the intersection of Virginia Ave, “Little” Virginia Ave, Doug Davis, Clay Place, and Hamilton Ave. It will also develop a plan for better signage along the corridor, consistent with the ongoing work of the Aerotropolis Atlanta Community Improvement District.
City of Jonesboro
Grant Amount: $76,400
The city of Jonesboro will develop master plans for trails and for its downtown core, including a new municipal complex and civic spaces. The trails plan will connect existing MARTA and Xpress bus stops with the downtown core area.
Livable Buckhead
Grant Amount: $96,000
Currently, 98% of Buckhead’s workforce commutes from outside the community. This project will develop a comprehensive strategy and action plan to diversify the housing supply, allowing more Buckhead workers to live in the community. It will also help ease traffic congestion.
City of Marietta
Grant Amount: $100,000
Marietta will examine redevelopment opportunities for housing and commercial development throughout the study area, and assess the impacts of developments that have taken place since the original LCI plan was developed in 2001. Impacts to the local economy and to existing planned infrastructure will also be examined, as well as opportunities to improve sidewalk connectivity and other transportation networks.
Town Center CID/City of Kennesaw
Grant Amount: $40,000
A product of the recent comprehensive plan update conducted by ARC and the City of Kennesaw, this study will look at a pedestrian connection of the two ends of the Noonday Creek Trail, currently divided by US 41. This will connect residents to Town Center Mall and to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
Search LCI Database
Search our database of LCI studies and plan updates completed by LCI Recipients.
LCI Boundaries Available for Google Earth
Download LCI Boundaries in Google Earth (KMZ – Google Earth file)
Download Google Earth
LCI Interactive Map
Click the button below to launch the LCI Interactive Map. Through the interactive map you can view where LCI communities are located throughout the region. By clicking on an LCI area you can view all funding information pertaining to that study area, as well as study documents and transportation project information. Use the tools of the top of the page to get started!