What is a M.A.C.S.?

At CreateATL, we are creating a collaboration space for the new leaders of tomorrow and neighbors in our immediate vicinity. It’s an adaptive reuse of a scrap metal facility into a resilient ecosystem. Sitting near MARTA and the BeltLine, it is transit-oriented coworking. It’s a place where we believe that technology and hope can find a home. A place where impact is felt on the neighborhood level, and in turn neighbors have a voice in the process. 

Every neighborhood in Atlanta deserves a place where exciting ideas can come to life. Here in Adair Park, so many of the missteps of urban planning lay apparent cutting a swath across this otherwise vibrant neighborhood. The arterial streets often blocked by trains parked on tracks for days at a time. Roads – designed for speeding piles of metal and not for people. Blighted industrial properties bearing no connection to the neighborhoods. Spiking commercial rental costs have brought about displacement of local businesses and residents.

 

That’s where this systems-change focused idea comes into play. Meet the M.A.C.S. – micro adaptive cultural system. Let’s break it down.

 

Micro = Industrial zoned property that is under 2.5 acres

Adaptive = Buildings that can be adapted to serve the business and neighbor needs we serve

Cultural =  Use the space as a resource to elevate cultural moments by celebrating music, art, entertainment to enrich the surrounding neighborhood 

System = Document an open-source process that can be replicated with the foundational pillars of transit, resilience and commerce as the three core components 

But this neighborhood is built differently. It’s guided by a different ethos. Neighbors speak up for each other and care for their elders and the children among them. This neighborhood celebrates Porches and Pies in a festival and boasts (at least) four parks. The people that are building here, us, are likewise guided by the question of “How can we find a way to better connect neighbors?”