Downtown Native Plant & Wellness Initiative: Kindred Lane & ATL DTN

Downtown spaces deserve to breathe again. Too often, concrete replaces connection, planters sit empty, alleys go unused, and green spaces fade from view. Yet our city’s need for nature, calm, and community has never been greater. That’s where Kindred Lane and ATL DTN (Atlanta Downtown) come in! At Atlanta Way Day, presented by Atlanta Way 2.0, their collaboration is reimagining underused urban spaces as vibrant native-plant gardens. Their work brings color, shade, and biodiversity back to the heart of the Atlanta — creating places where we can pause, connect, and thrive together.

Kindred Lane brings design acumen, horticultural knowledge, and community vision in landscape and wellness spaces. ATL DTN, with its role as the downtown advocacy, events, and placemaking entity, offers connections to property owners, local stakeholders, and maintenance partnerships. Together, they can transform Atlanta’s vacant and neglected hidden gems into thriving native plant corridors.

At Atlanta Way Day, Kindred Lane and ATL DTN shared how they transformed vacant downtown spaces into native plant gardens by partnering with property owners, businesses, and residents. Their pilot sites showcased environmental benefits like reduced maintenance and stormwater control, along with social gains such as increased foot traffic, community pride, and local engagement. Through ongoing feedback and collaboration, they refined their design approach and laid the groundwork for citywide expansion.

The initiative promises

Low-maintenance, climate-resilient plantings — Native species that thrive locally and reduce upkeep.
Wellness nodes — Small seating, shade, and micro-refuge spots where downtown workers, residents, and visitors can pause.
Green corridors of connectivity — Stitching together small garden pockets into walkable “green pathways.”
Community stewardship model — Engaging corporate, resident, and nonprofit volunteers to adopt, maintain, and program these sites.

“We were deeply impressed by the community presenters at the first Atlanta Way Day on September 25, 2025. Their projects reflected incredible diversity—from education and mental health to civic engagement and social impact—but all shared a powerful core theme of collaboration to strengthen our community. Atlanta Way 2.0 is thrilled to both shine a light on their work and provide a $1,000 award to support their continued impact. We congratulate each of them on advancing Atlanta’s spirit of collective progress.” ”

— Britton Edwards, COO, Atlanta Way 2.0

how to get involved

Sponsor a node (e.g. adopt a planter, garden pocket, or tree well).
Provide corporate volunteer teams for planting and maintenance.
Participate in downtown garden build days or plant-installation events
Advocate for downtown policy incentives that promote nature-based urban infrastructure

Visit Atlanta Way 2.0 to learn more and discover how you can help shape Atlanta’s next chapter, one act of service at a time.