How to find fresh food and local art without even leaving a MARTA station

Atlanta is in the middle of a heat wave, MARTA is in the middle of some serious changes, and life in general feels pretty uncertain right now: but there are always fresh vegetables and cute art in your future, both of which you can buy just steps away from a MARTA station, as you’ll see in this issue. 

First, however, I want to draw your attention to an amazing opportunity we have here in Atlanta: The Refaat Alareer Mobile Library, an Atlanta-based traveling book collection named in honor of the martyred academic Dr. Refaat Alareer, along with Workshops 4 Gaza and Open Books Poetry will be matching donations to The Sameer Project up to $12,000.

Everyone should be aware by now of the stage of genocide we are all funding with our tax dollars — the intentional and violent starvation that Israel is inflicting upon all Gaza’s residents and all Palestinians who are currently displaced in Gaza. The Sameer Project is a Palestinian organization that works in Gaza to provide food, tents, and medical aid. The opportunity to increase your donation through matching with these Atlanta organizations is a great way to support families in Palestine in the middle of this genocide.

As a transit enthusiast, and someone who has met many Palestinians in Atlanta, my belief in the freedom of movement and freedom of existence for all people would not be complete without advocating for the freedom of Palestine. Please donate to The Sameer Project today!

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This Saturday, August 2nd, drop by Decatur Station from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for MARTA's Partnership with Page Turners Make Great Learners, for a literacy-themed event for families and kids. Award-winning children's author Derrick Barnes will be reading from his book I Got You – A Brother's Promise, children can enjoy a free popsicle from MokiPops, a mindfulness meditation led by Trinidad James, and create their own comic book with Georgia Public Broadcasting. MARTA Staff will be offering back-to-school prizes and custom Breeze cards, and a DJ will provide the soundtrack. What a great way to say goodbye to summer 2025! All info can be found here.

Over the past few years, the city and developers have put in noticeable effort to improve the area around MARTA's Lindbergh Center Station. It’s largely not very pedestrian-friendly, adjacent to a busy road that connects Buckhead to Midtown, and until recently the property managers around the station didn’t really even like people hanging out in the area. So I’m happy to see some progress in the area. The city and property developers have slowly been making the area more welcoming by adding various lighting changes and moving some new businesses in, now calling the area “Uptown.” Recently, GVG ATL has been hosting a vintage and art market on the first Sunday of the month, so I went to check it out in July.

They had a variety of different kinds of vendors, including handmade decor and plushies, geeky emotional support chickens, local honey, local art made into puzzles, patches for your cool jacket, skincare, woodworking, vintage clothing and photo frames, jewelry, and more! And they have a great DJ.

Drop by this Sunday, August 3rd from noon to 6 p.m. at 550 Main St. NE, right outside Lindbergh Center Station — just don’t forget your water, maybe a portable fan, and take breaks if you need them. While you’re in the area, you could get food at one of the nearby restaurants such as El Gordo or 26 Thai.

A few more notes about Uptown — they really need some traffic calming and better crosswalks to make it truly pedestrian-friendly. I regularly see people jaywalk across the six-lane road, stopping at the median in the middle and then darting across. It’s not safe and it’s not a good look for the area. Furthermore, Kroger recently closed their store nearby on July 19, which had only been open since 2016 and, in addition to being a place where the community could buy food, was a good place to stay safe in very hot or very cold weather while waiting for a bus, which (prior to the network redesign) can sometimes have headways of 45 minutes to an hour. The area lacks places where pedestrians can be sheltered from the elements, save for the Dunkin’ Donuts, which recently re-opened their indoor dining area from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming opening of the Korean-French Bakery White Windmill, which has been “coming soon” for a while but hasn’t announced an opening date yet.

I look forward to the continued improvement of the area while keeping it affordable and friendly for its current residents, who are mostly Latino.

MARTA Market has been a notably great thing for a while, providing fresh produce from local farmers to commuters to purchase right in the station. However, I had never been, so I went to check out the offerings at College Park Station recently. They had several kinds of vegetables, fruits, flour, and even honey. I got some zucchini, squash, and blueberries, all of which were delicious! The MARTA Markets accept cash, credit, and debit, as well as SNAP and EBT, and those who use SNAP or EBT get a 50% discount at the market.

This year, the food is being supplied through a partnership with Retaaza, an organization dedicated to improving food access and affordability. Definitely pick up some fresh food at a MARTA Market if you have the chance!

 Schedule: 3-6 p.m. at all locations

Tuesdays - Kensington Station, until December 9
Wednesdays - Bankhead and West End, until December 10
Thursdays - College Park and Doraville, until December 11 (Closed November 27)
Fridays - Hamilton E. Holmes, until December 12

Other MARTA news to know:

The Streetcar will be replaced with a shuttle for three to four months starting September 8th, due to urgent Georgia Power infrastructure repairs along the line. More info

Now, for some personal news: I’m moving to California this week.

However, I want to continue the newsletter!

I love Atlanta. I truly believe in the future of transit in Atlanta and the future of a city as a whole. It is an amazing city, and truthfully, aside from what I might happen to stumble into firsthand while navigating the city, I get most of the MARTA-related updates for this newsletter online (this issue was a little different as I intentionally tried to attend these in-person markets while I’m still here.) City meetings can still be attended online, I have a robust digital network of Atlantans to rely on and gather information from, and I feel confident in my ability to continue this newsletter while also offering you transit perspectives from other places.

I already have a few drafts in the works for this new series — something I’m considering naming Beyond Atlanta or OTP Adventures or something like that — recapping my recent Amtrak trip from Atlanta to New York, my visit to the Southeastern Railway Museum, and various Central California/Bay Area transit excursions. I hope to continue covering Atlanta transit news to the best of my ability from the West Coast, while also bringing you the occasional other perspective. Thank you for the faith you’ve had in this project so far, especially while I wasn’t publishing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support!

Hang out with us on Bluesky, we just hit 404 followers! ATL!!!