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Evan Maag

@etmaag.bsky.social
442 followers 1.3K following 412 posts

Affordable housing professional. New dad. Atlantan. Georgia State grad. Lover of architecture, native plants, (the real) football (/soccer), woodworking, music, and cocktails. Let’s talk housing/land use/transit!

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Reposted by Evan Maag
Stephen Owens @stephenjowens.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
If you live in the city of Atlanta and want to join a grassroots movement to oppose the TAD extensions and shore up finances for our public schools then please sign up for our emails below Also I'm not in love with the name I came up with so if you have a better name lmk forms.gle/zHxWJ3eanfuF...
forms.gle
A TAD Too Far
If you're interested in staying connected and possibly joining the effort to oppose the diversion of billions of dollars worth of property taxes away from Atlanta Public Schools, please put your conta...
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
MARTA should be pulling out all the stops to hire Leroy Jones from WMATA. www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news...
bizjournals.com
MARTA names three finalists vying to become next CEO - Atlanta Business Chronicle
All of the finalists have experience leading U.S. transit authorities.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Someone should write a book about this!
cnn.com
Priced out of her neighborhood | CNN
Atlanta once promised a life of opportunity and affordability. But as the city booms, rising rent, gas prices and grocery costs are pushing young people and longtime residents to the edge. In this epi...
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Not exactly comfy enough for me to consider taking my toddler there, or trusting in the 12am-2am+ crowd to respect the painted lines.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
If EAV was truly easy to bike and/or take transit to, it would achieve neighborhood nirvana.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
They can, but the fact that it needs 5 of them to sign on to anything gives me hope that even the new commission will think twice about it.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Some good news. Fulton County (GA) Board refuses to go along with Atlanta Mayor Dicken's TAD/TIF extension (until 2055) plan, which includes using old 25+ year old base values (which doesn't comply with state law(. Hopefully schools will follow. @atldemsoc.bsky.social @julianbene.bsky.social
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
If you're looking for something to do inside while avoiding extreme heat, I suggest reading the years worth of research about how compact, walkable communities can reduce car dependency, reduce energy use, and preserve regional green space. Which can mitigate climate change.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Julian Bene @julianbene.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The stakes are clear in tomorrow's runoff for Fulton County. You can choose Pitts & Morris to protect our tax money from Dickens's TAD developer scheme. Or you can choose their opponents and face a 20% tax increase to cover the Jail redo and S. Fulton hospital.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Caps should come with floors, and mandatory investment in youth sports all over. If MLB (and all the other pro sports leagues) eliminated pay-to-play youth sports every one would be better off.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Is this a first during a major event??
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Whoever made this website gets as many gold stars and A+’s as you can imagine. Yes, I’m once again talking about BeltLine Rail, but the wider point is that TAD money is tossed into a black hole and we should only expect corrupt decisions like this in return. www.beepthroat.com
beepthroat.com
BeepThroat: The BeltLine Files
An independent public-records project documenting how Atlanta's voter-approved BeltLine light rail gave way to a driverless-shuttle pilot. Every claim links to a source document.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Great turnout for the Southside Trail ribbon cutting by @beltlinerailnow.bsky.social
Beltline Rail Now banner behind the CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Darin Givens @atlurbanist.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Sean Keenan is simply one of the best local Atlanta journalists we've got and his coverage of housing news has been crucially important for the city. I'm very sorry to see Atlanta Civic Circle closing down, but I mostly want to say: hire Sean, someone. Pass it on.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
It’s weaponized ignorance at this point.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I’m assuming that the 2.5+ spaces per unit are being justified by the retail? That’s an insane amount of parking for a brand new BeltLine development.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I guess “better” is more accurate than “stronger”. Very disappointing results all around last night though.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
A stronger candidate was in the running (2 by my count actually). For some reason voters walked in blindly and picked the name they recognized the most.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Welp that’s the Governor’s race lost.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
You’d have to think that there will be changes at MARTA from the top down.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Also without construction even being complete. None of the stops outside of DT are even close to being complete
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
4 buses rolled by, one after the other. Not even a car between them. I feel like I’m living in the twilight zone.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
At least the stations will have benches to wait 30+ minutes to catch the buses that are supposed to come every 10-12 minutes.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Update: 10 minutes later and the three buses shown around Mitchell Street are 31, 21, and 10 minutes late. All stacked on top of each other.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
All the Rapid A buses bunch up in downtown is just so MARTA.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
He knows he wouldn’t win the legal challenge since he’s over the 10% cap for property tax base.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 18/05/2026
If you're reading this, my cat and I have boarded a one-way flight out of the United States. The Trump administration wrongfully denied my work permit renewal; after months of demanding that they follow the law, we have run out of legal recourse, and I have no choice but to leave the country. (🧵)
giveinmay.org
Support Alex's Emergency Relocation + Next Steps on Give In May
Alex is leaving the US after his work permit renewal was wrongfully denied by Trump's USCIS.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Atlanta DSA @atldemsoc.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Come tell the city we want Services 🚌🚏, Not Slush Funds! ❌💦 Soon, the Mayor plans to reintroduce a TAD extension to subsidize private developers over public schools.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Was waiting for GA to jump into the gerrymandering quagmire.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Just ran the numbers and it looks like they’re at ~$98k. Not at all a bad salary. I was misinformed!
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Ah good to know about council, I thought they were around $70k. Also $65k base is higher than I thought for Fulton, for some reason I remember ~$50k base which is low enough for extracurriculars to be enticing.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Because all the seats for Atlanta council, FulCo board, etc. pay like shit and only the grifters can afford to fill them while they scam taxpayers and get kickbacks.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Good to know. Ivory spoke far too effusively about TADs for me. Can’t ever imagine voting for a women abuser. Guess it has to be Pitts.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
It’s extremely cool to have a multi-year beef with a weird local right winger though.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
What a boldfaced lie. APS is already closing schools in the very neighborhoods CoA is claiming to “support”.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
It will come from diverted property taxes used to pay down debt taken out against it. Money that would otherwise go to APS’s budget, CoA’s general fund, and Fulton County’s budget.
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Reposted by Evan Maag
Julian Bene @julianbene.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
MYTHS vs FACTS MYTH: 'Neighborhood Reinvestment' is about making Atlanta more equitable FACT: Investing where it matters most to Mayor Dickens apparently means using $200M of TAD dollars to bail out big real estate's CNN Center deal. www.ajc.com/business/202...
ajc.com
If the CNN Center redo needs public funding, here’s what it could look like
Here's how the city of Atlanta and Fulton County could become partners in the redevelopment of the former CNN Center.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I love this building. So unique. It needs upkeep though.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I appreciate that the layout makes it look like the first pic is a hamburger hat.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The Onion actually taking control of Infowars is just delicious schadenfreud. I know this is relatively old news, but the world needed this.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
This is great from @urbantruth.bsky.social
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Disappointed by the answers on the TADs especially, and our options for FulCo Chair generally. atlantaciviccircle.org/2026/04/17/f...
atlantaciviccircle.org
Fulton Chair candidates debate jail, housing, transit, elections and TADs
Here are their responses to key questions about the county’s future.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Talked about about his commute and he’s essentially shaving 2/3 of the time off of it by using a scooter. Feels like a big win to me (probably the only one in the company that bikes in).
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Heard an incredible quote from a director at work (a bank) yesterday. He was hopping on his e-scooter as I was unlocking my bike and said “I feel so stupid I could’ve been doing this for years”
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Not enough people realize this. And it’s not only for APS (though that’s the biggest chunk). Fulton Co. and CoA need to deal with rising costs for multiple decades too. It’s even worse when you think about the perspective from 2055.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
The real legal question is: if you establish a new baseline, how is that not establishing a new TAD? If it’s a new TAD, how is it getting around the 10% tax base cap in GA state law?
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
It was a conversion of very old (built 50-60? years ago) industrial buildings into retail. Certainly could think about pivoting some of the closer buildings towards the Beltline now, which I think is likely to happen over the long term.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Hill Street is terrifying. The stop signs have made it marginally better but so many people go the wrong way for one block (“just one block! Sorry!”) and it’s the only place I’ve been confronted by a motorist (Hill and Georgia)
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The Beacon used to be much livelier, but three or four key places closed (RIP Eventide and Elsewhere, two incredible breweries). It’s been lifeless since those closed, but the remaining restaurants are still solid.
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Evan Maag @etmaag.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Well the old FulCo stadium is now a surface parking lot, so that conversion will be much less parking in this area. Heard on the Kaiser development though. Fully expecting the same number of spots there.
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