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1.2 Brief History of NPU-V


The following summarizes the history of NPU-V based on a study released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2004 (see full report for more information).
NPU-V is comprised of some of Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods: Adair Park, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, Summer Hill, and Capitol Homes. Prior to the 1950s, NPU-V embodied racial and ethnic diversity: Adair Park was primarily a white, blue collar community; Mechanicsville, Summerhill, and Peoplestown were ethnically and racially diverse communities, housing European Jews, Greeks, African Americans, and native whites; Pittsburgh was a working-class African-American community and hosted African-American businesses during segregation.
Urban renewal policies set forth in the 1950s significantly impacted NPU-V’s economic outlook. In accordance with the 1949 Federal Housing Act, which allowed cities imminent domain to redevelop land considered economically depressed, the city of Atlanta constructed two major highways with the intention of connecting downtown Atlanta to the suburbs: Interstate 75/85 (traveling north and south) and Interstate 20 (bounding the neighborhood to the to north). Simultaneously, the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (now Turner Field) was built, resulting in displacement of residents.
Interstate 75/85 divided NPU-V neighborhoods and Interstate 20 separated most of NPU-V from downtown Atlanta. At the same time, many affluent white Atlantans migrated north, toward Atlanta’s business center while many middle class blacks moved to the suburbs or closer to the black colleges and universities located north of Interstate 20. After this period of highway construction and migration, the majority of NPU-V’s residents were working-class African-Americans.
Adair Park, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, Summer Hill, and Capitol Homes formally became Neighborhood Planning Unit-V in 1974 when Mayor Maynard Jackson implemented Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Unit System. Currently, the NPUs serve as citizen advisory councils to communicate with the Mayor and City Council of issues related to planning (see www.atlantaga.gov for more information).

1.3 Report Overview


Section 2: HIA Methodology – describes the methods employed to conduct this HIA.

Section 3: Proposed Turner Field Redevelopment – describes the existing proposal submitted by GSU.

Section 4: Review of Health Impact Literature and Existing Conditions – provides findings regarding the impacts of comparable projects and a summary of existing conditions in the study area.

Section 5: Impact Analysis – details the results of the community survey about the potential health impacts that could result from the Turner Field Redevelopment and the proposed pathways to these health impacts.

Section 6: Recommendations – provides a set of recommendations to mitigate potentially significant health impacts to low-income and vulnerable populations residing in the study area.

Section 7: Monitoring and Evaluation – describes a basic means of evaluating the impact of this HIA on decisions made related to the Turner Field Redevelopment.

Section 8: Conclusions – having gone through the HIA process, conclusions are detailed.


2. HIA Methodology


Health impact assessments involve, at a minimum, the following four steps: 1) screening to determine value and purpose, 2) scoping to identify health issues and research methods, 3) assessment of baseline conditions, impacts, alternatives and mitigations 4) reporting of findings and recommendations. Monitoring is an important follow-up activity in the HIA process to track the outcomes of a decision and its implementation. For the purposes of this HIA the health impacts of the Turner Field Redevelopment are in comparison to allowing the current Turner Field area to remain vacant upon the departure of the Atlanta Braves.

2.1 Screening


This step determined the necessity and feasibility of an HIA. The following questions were addressed, “What is going on that warrants a health risk assessment?” and “Is it worth the time and effort for an HIA?” It was decided to carry out the HIA for the following reasons:


  1. There are potential positive and negative health impacts of the Turner Field Redevelopment proposal to be assessed that need further investigation.

  2. An HIA would be feasible given the redevelopment plan hasn’t been finalized just yet.

  3. Stakeholders in the Turner Field Redevelopment project would take interest in our efforts made in performing an HIA and would possibly take our recommendations and concerns into consideration as the plans are being finalized.

  4. There is already some discussion at the community level about potential health impacts of the Braves leaving Turner Field. In February 2015, the Atlanta Regional Commission awarded a $212,000 grant to neighborhoods near Turner Field, including NPU-V. The grant will fund a study seeking to explore potential redevelopment plans, as well how these plans could impact existing neighborhoods.2 The city of Atlanta, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Atlanta Beltline are included in the study plans.

  5. There is little data available on the health impacts of a sports arena redevelopment.

  6. There is reason to believe that there are some health issues that were not considered during planning that may become more evident by completing a HIA.



2.2 Scoping


During scoping, we created a work plan for the HIA. The plan focuses on determining which health impacts to evaluate and establishes methods of analysis. The scoping phase for this HIA was determined by graduate students in Georgia State University’s Urban Health course, with collaboration from NPU-V community resident Robert Welsh.
Through scoping, the HIA study area was established as Neighborhood Planning Unit V (NPU-V) (Map 1). The Turner Field redevelopment area is within the boundaries of NPU-V. Neighborhood Planning Unit V (NPU-V) is located just south of the Central Business District and contains the six (6) neighborhoods of Adair Park, Capitol Homes, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh and Summerhill. NPU-V’s geographical area spans the southern border of the Central Business District from Hill Street on the east to Whitehall Street/Peters Street on the west (Neighborhood Link, Inc., 2014). NPU-V was the most logical area to perform an HIA as it is likely to receive most of the beneficial and negative impacts of the redevelopment. A comprehensive HIA should be intentional with looking at the potential health impacts of the redevelopment on surrounding NPUs.
The HIA was organized into five health impact areas: employment, housing, greenspace, food, and transportation. The GSU graduate students proposed utilizing a community survey based on these four health impact categories to determine community health priorities and concerns.
This HIA focused on answering these questions:
1. What are the current conditions in this community related to health?

2. How will the Turner Field redevelopment affect the health of the community?

3. What actions can be taken to maximize community health benefits?
Much of the data to address the current conditions was pulled from Georgia Tech’s Neighborhood Quality of Life and Health Project (NQOLH) (available at http://www.cgis.gatech.edu/NQOLH/ ). NQOLH has compiled data from several resources, including:


  • The City of Atlanta’s Atlanta Police Department,

  • U.S. Census Bureau,

  • Walk Score, and

  • Georgia Department of Public Health.

Additionally, the Annie E. Casey Foundation funded economic and health research by NPU in 2004.


This HIA was intended to provide an impartial assessment of the health impacts of the redevelopment. The HIA also aims to (1) increase awareness among regional decision-makers and stakeholders regarding the many factors that impact health and (2) encourage local and regional discussion surrounding how to define and plan for a healthy community.

Map 1. Boundaries of City of Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Units







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