R.I.P. Decatur planters; Waymo whoa; lively new district near The Benz?

Josh Green

Wed, 06/25/2025 – 10:56

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DECATUR—Days are officially numbered for metro Atlanta’s most beloved and lampooned traffic-calming measure.

Come July 22, City of Decatur officials will start auctioning off the nearly 200 rainbow-colored planters along West Howard Avenue that have inspired adoration, disdain, and roughly a zillion WTF reactions from drivers new to the area over the past six years. (As any PATH trail patron will attest, you can’t say the funky planters haven’t been effective, though.)

Proceeds from online and in-person auctions for the planters, as Decaturish reports, will go toward honoring Beacon Hill—the historic settlement of newly freed slaves located where the planters generally are today. Efforts to permanently replace the planters have been underway for more than four years.

One sampling of nearly 200 planters that line West Howard Avenue, creating a one-lane buffer between cars and the multipurpose PATH trail. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Replacing the planters will be a $1.9-million project with permanent landscapes that narrows the busy road as a safety measure, expected to finish by early 2026, per the website.

For a deep dive on the planters’ origins, intent, COVID-era fandemonium, and rather hilarious infamy, check out our 2021 feature story over here.

Gas station customers have complained the planters cause themselves to be run over.Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

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CITYWIDE— Jaguar I-PACE taxis with no human being behind the wheel have officially hit the streets of Atlanta. Uber users can now order dozens of Waymo vehicles operating throughout the ATL via UberX, Comfort, or Comfort Electric options in the app, as Axios reports this week (after braving a driver-free test drive).

The near future could see hundreds of Waymo cars operating in a 65-mile radius around the city—with driverless Hyundai Ioniqs, which are made in Georgia, in the pipeline for deployment down the line. (How do you know it’s your Waymo rolling down Peachtree Street? Atop the car, a digital dome will glow with the customer’s initials who ordered it.) Uber brass told Axios other markets, such as Austin, have proven that jobs for Atlanta’s current Uber drivers won’t be impacted, as app users continue to request taxis with flesh-and-blood operators behind the wheel.

Sound like you too, ATL?

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DOWNTOWN—Could another food and beverage district rise up near downtown Atlanta’s stadiums on the heels of Centennial Yards and The Center (formerly CNN Center)? The crystal ball says, for now, maybe.

The Georgia World Congress Center Authority is spending $1 million (so far) on engineering studies to see if a low-rise retail hub (think: the streets of Avalon or The Battery) would be feasible on the grass-topped concrete parking structure known as International Plaza, according to the AJC. Today that area basically serves as a front yard for Mercedes-Benz Stadium and GWCC, adjacent to State Farm Arena.

International Plaza’s grassy expanse in relation to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena (bottom right). Shutterstock

Early indications are that existing infrastructure won’t be able withstand development much taller than two stories, maximum.

The plaza redo would essentially be a Plan B, replacing more ambitious plans announced last year for redeveloping the Home Depot Backyard into a mixed-use district on the Georgia Dome’s old footprint, per the AJC. GWCCA intends to keep the Backyard in place for game day and event parking uses, now that Centennial Yards has gobbled up a significant chunk of downtown’s tailgating zone.

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