Ryan Gravel, left, talks with Mayor Rusty Paul before the Sandy Springs Conservancy dinner. Photo by John Ruch, provided courtesy of Reporter Newspapers.

Ryan Gravel recently spoke at the Sandy Springs Conservancy’s “Thought Leaders” event and suggested the community should consider how it is using its riverfront and I-285.

Gravel is the man who wrote the Georgia Tech master’s thesis that inspired the Atlanta Beltline.

“When you see the river in Sandy Springs, it’s remarkable,” he said of the 20-mile section of the Chattahoochee that forms a city boundary, according to Reporter Newspapers. “The asset that you have is ridiculous—in a good way, obviously.”

The newspaper also said that Gravel urged a “rethinking of I-285.”

“It’s a public space,” he said, according to Reporter Newspapers. “Instead of thinking of it as a barrier between ITP and OTP [inside and outside the Perimeter], think of it as a place that people come to somehow.”

To read the full story at Reporter Newspapers, click here.