You've been a good friend and a great partner with our Family Foundation. Atlanta — and particularly the people of Vine City ­ is indebted to you for the tremendous work you’ve done to revitalize that area of town.

You've set a wonderful example that other neighborhoods can follow at a time when preserving greenspace in Georgia has become a matter of urgent public policy. Thank you for that.

Good morning everyone, and thank you, George (Dusenbury) and Park Pride for inviting me here today.

It's spring time in Atlanta. And despite all the growth and development our city has seen over the years, this is still one of the prettiest places in the country to be this time of year.

Spring means new beginnings. New hope. A time to look ahead.

The perfect time to be talking about Atlanta's greenspace agenda.

Speaking of which, I noticed Mayor Shirley Franklin and I are at opposite ends of today’s program. I kick things off this morning, and then she closes-out the day.

Somehow that strikes me as a perfect symbol of how the private and public sectors are coming together in partnership around Atlanta's parks and greenspace issues.

She and I are sort of like bookends surrounding your day. Or, if you come from the hardware business like I do, think of us as the two ends of a vice grip.

We're both here to put the squeeze on you.

I say that with some amount of seriousness.

I think Mayor Franklin and I both believe that it’s many of you here -- in this room today -- who represent the generation of leadership that is being called upon to bring real, systemic change to a parks environment we all know is in trouble.

The mayor and I agree about a lot of things. One is that parks and greenspace are vital to Atlanta’s quality of life. We can’t be a great city without more of either.

Another is that neither she, nor I ­ nor any single individual or group ­ can turn the tide in favor of parks and greenspace on our own. We simply must find more ways to work together. That’s the only way real change can come.

Ben Franklin said it best: "We hang together, or we hang separately." So, we're going to keep pushing hard for more collaboration.

Those of you who know me know how strongly I feel about the need for more greenspace and parks in Atlanta.

In fact, preserving greenspace is one of the highest priorities for our Family Foundation. Over the past few years, we’ve worked with leaders from the city, from the county, the state and in many communities to preserve more than 1100 acres of land in metro Atlanta.

I'm very proud of that.

But my passion for parks actually goes back much further -- back to my days of growing up in New York.

There, as a boy, I saw first-hand how parks could serve as a "great equalizer" ­ connecting people from all walks of life through a common recreational experience.

It was an experience that broke down social barriers.

Parks gave us an outlet. They made it easier to find something in common with the family down the street ­ or across town.

In a park, I wasn’t a poor Jewish kid from the wrong neighborhood in Queens. I was just a kid. Just a New Yorker. And we were just a family, like so many others, simply enjoying a sunny day.

That was an important social connection for me.

Today, that experience is sorely lacking in Atlanta.

Our children live in an age when every gadget, toy and control invented seems to draw them further into isolation ­ and stagnation. It’s no wonder that childhood obesity has become such an alarming problem.

Our kids don’t walk to school anymore ­ they’re riding in cars and buses. They’re not playing in parks ­ they’re playing on computers.

As adults, we’re stressed by the tensions of urban living and stop-and-go traffic ­ (mostly stopped!) ­ that winds us up tighter than a drum.

Now, more than ever, we desperately need the calming oasis of parks and greenspace. We need their promise of breathing space. Of relaxation. And relief. And of play and connection for and with our kids.

That's what this conference today should be all about: How together, we can build a system of great parks that can re-establish that joy and connection for our citizens.

I know the challenges are great.

But I’d argue the opportunities are even greater.

I'd like to address one in particular.

About a month ago, Maria Saporta had a column in the AJC that talked about the most ambitious projects in Atlanta. These were projects she said Atlanta’s citizens "need to get behind."

The article mentioned the campaign for a new symphony center, which I’m chairing. And the NASCAR museum. And the Georgia Aquarium. And a civil rights museum.

All very ambitious projects.

To me, the Belt Line may be the most ambitious project ever undertaken by this city.

And I say that as someone who’s already involved with a $300 million Symphony project and a $150 million project to spruce up the Georgia Dome ­ certainly projects that qualify as huge and worthwhile.

But the Belt Line is truly a rare and historic opportunity to redefine quality of life in Atlanta, because it addresses three of our most pressing needs:

Better transit.

More greenspace.

And smart development that balances commercial interests and environmental needs.

That puts it in a class all by itself. I think Maria, who has been a proponent of the Belt Line publicly, would concur.

I'm not just giving this project a passing nod of approval. I have some skin in the game.

Last December, our Family Foundation made grants to the Trust For Public Land to start buying land, and to Friends of the Belt Line to build the public support that will be critical to the success of this project.

By making our investments early, we want to encourage others to do the same.

I can certainly appreciate that the Belt Line is a complex, long-term project. We’re looking at years and years of work to bring it to life. The temptation might be to use the old cliché, "This is a marathon, not a sprint."

Not quite. I’d argue it's both.

And, if my father was here today, he’d tell you it can be both. He proved it by holding records for both the 100-yard dash and the mile distance run at Columbia University. I have his medals on my desk at home to remind me.

Yes, there are long-term issues of access and planning and transit that may take years to negotiate.

But we’re also in sprint mode right now. We need to move fast to get the Tax Allocation District in place this year, in some form, to move the project forward. We need a leadership structure to take the entire project forward.

And we need to do it now.

With so many organizations coming together cooperatively, I’m confident we will.

Which brings me to one final thought about this ambitious project.

There's one other aspect of the Belt Line that makes it unlike any other greenspace project I've ever seen in all my years in Atlanta:

It's got people talking! There's actually a buzz around town about it. It's become part of our collective psyche.

When was the last time that happened?

Single-handedly, this one project has done something no other has:

It's made greenspace "hip"!

For the first time in my memory, greenspace is right up near the top of people’s quality of life agenda ­ right in the mainstream.

And the collaboration we’ve seen around the Belt Line thus far has been nothing short of remarkable.

All of which makes this an incredibly exciting time to be a parks and greenspace supporter.

Historically, that hasn't often been the case in Atlanta.

We all know we live in a city and region that bulldozed its way to economic prosperity.

I remember coming here in 1978 with my partner Bernie Marcus when we were scouting sites for what was to become home of The Home Depot. We drove and drove and saw nothing but trees and more trees.

Finally Bernie turned to me and said, "We can't build a business in this place ­ nobody lives here!"

It was deceptive, though. There were trees, all right. But not many parks.

Back in those days, Atlanta was all about growth at any cost. Environmentalists were considered cranky annoyances. They were outsiders who agonized about clean air and safe water while everyone else focused on the frenetic business of growth.

Parks and greenspace were not mainstream. It's been an uphill battle ever since.

That's not to say we haven’t had our champions through the years. We have.

In 1968, former Mayor Ivan Allen saw what was happening and had the foresight to call for a doubling of greenspace inventory.

Unfortunately, from the moment of his pronouncement until 2002, when Mayor Franklin was elected, the city added a mere 400 acres of greenspace.

That's 400 acres in 35 years.

Today, the larger metro Atlanta area loses 50 acres a day to development.

Do the math. It ain't pretty.

In 1993, another champion ­ Leon Eplan, then commissioner of Atlanta’s department of planning and development ­ beautifully framed our long-term challenge.

In the city's Green Space Plan, he said: "There are no world-class cities without world class parks."

He went on to say: "As Atlanta moves rapidly toward the 21st century, and begins to take its place on the international stage, it must seize current opportunities to create a more humane and enjoyable place to live, work and grow.”

Well said.

Leon Eplan saw the link between greenspace and quality of life. The question is: Do we?

Sometimes I wonder.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking in Atlanta.

Our population is expected to roughly double in the next 20 years.

In the 1990s, we blew past all of our best growth projections. From 1991 through 2001 alone, the region’s population went from 3 to 4.1 million. Estimates are we'll hit 4.8 million by the end of this decade ­ beyond what anyone had predicted.

Beneath all that growth, there are troubling undercurrents. A strained infrastructure. Numbing traffic. Deteriorating air quality. And, of course, diminishing greenspace.

Our challenge isn't to be a big city. That’ll happen. Our challenge is to be great city, with a rich quality of life. Greenspace has to be part of that.

But before you reach for the anti-depressants, consider these facts.

We have an enlightened mayor who has put greenspace at the top of her agenda.

We have key leaders who are bringing real, positive change to our parks system.

People like Diane Harnell-Cohen, who has done so much to bring focus and efficiency to Atlanta’s parks department.

In the past two years, for the first time in many seasons, the parks department under Diane’s leadership actually saw an increase in its budget.

This is no small victory at a time when the city has so many competing priorities.

We’re fortunate to have people like City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell, who formed the Parks Technical Advisory Group (or "P-TAG") last year.

This group, made up of community stakeholders and park experts, is hard at work figuring out how we can expand and improve the City of Atlanta’s park system.

In particular, they’re looking to identify a dedicated funding stream for parks and an effective management model.

Some of you may recall that in 2003 I was part of an effort to address some of those same issues through the creation of a Parks District.

Frankly, it's an experience that still haunts me!

In hindsight, we may have been somewhat naïve in our approach, but I don't regret that we saw a need, stepped up, and tried to take some positive action.

I’m glad to see Ceasar's group is addressing some of the same issues raised in that debate.

There are many other groups, many other leaders ­ too numerous to mention here ­ dedicated to the greenspace agenda.

A final positive point: We have in our hands a high-profile project in the Belt Line that can show the world what collaboration really looks like.

So the future is not all doom and gloom.

The key now is how best to paint a vision of the future.

Making policy decisions about parks and greenspace isn’t just about choosing the best way to attack a problem. It’s also about considering which problem should be tackled first.

There are lots of things we can do, and lots of things we should do ­ but no one, not the city, not the state, not private enterprise can do everything at once.

Priorities have to be set. Shared priorities.

And each of you here today has to be willing to be a part of setting those priorities.

In the past few weeks, the Falcons have gotten a lot of attention for announcing that $150 million Georgia Dome enhancement package I mentioned earlier.

Put aside whether you think it’s a good idea or not. The point is, I was trying to imagine life in the year 2020.

The challenge for all of us is to bring that same sort of long-term thinking to Atlanta’s greenspace agenda. We can’t get lost in the trees ­ no pun intended. We have to see the forest.

Let me leave you with one last thought about our future.

For our greenspace effort to be successful, we have to want it. Badly.

The way Denver wanted it when Mayor Webb was there ­ when a public planning campaign galvanized support for a parks rebirth.

At the Falcons, we’re driven by a burning desire to win the Super Bowl. It's the ultimate goal.

We might come up short some years, but every player on our team goes into every game knowing that we’re going to give it everything we have, and “leave it all on the field."

So in closing I have to ask: Are we leaving it all on the field?

Are we expending every bit of energy toward our goal?

Are we throwing ourselves into it as if our lives depended on it?

Because in fact, our lives do, you know.

Ultimately, we won't have the luxury of judging ourselves. It's our children ­ and their children ­ who'll do that for us. They'll live with our legacy.

Atlanta's leadership is at its best when our backs are to the wall. I honestly believe the tide is turning in our favor.

Let's give this our best effort, our highest level of passion. Let’s show the world ­ and each other ­ what we can do by working together to solve these critical problems.

We can do it. We must do it. Our future depends on it.

Thank you.