For New Life, Blacks in City Head to South (Atlanta: neighborhood, school)

[Febtober]

Originally Posted by Hobgob

Yes and Charlotte, Nashville, Houston and Dallas have great subways..lol. Worry about Iowa before coming in this forum being ignorant.

What kind of argument is that? "Well other cities have terrible subways, so who cares if Atlanta does!"

No one is saying it needs to have anything on par with the NYC subway system, but I don't see how anyone can look at the sheer vastness of the road system around Atlanta and how it still grinds to a halt in gridlock at the drop of a hat, and not see that the transportation infrastructure needs a serious overhaul/massive capital investment.

[AcidSnake]

That's why more of you northerners need to be sitting in the driver's seat of Georgia's political arena making some decisions rather than sitting in the backseat complaining about the current direction of travel.

Originally Posted by JTJ1977

I don't think it comes down to Atlanta not needing more people (black, white, purple or green for all I care); rather, Atlanta needs BETTER TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.

A metropolis of 5.0-5.5 million people should not have what passes for "subway" service in the metro Atlanta area. The subway system should stretch throughout the 20 county metropolitan area like tentacles, covering vital business, residential, transportation and economic hubs in the ATL area. Instead, MARTA covers a ridiculously low area of Fulton and DeKalb counties, and, quite frankly, it is embarrassing to look at. That might've been cool circa 1982, but Atlanta's grown almost 3 million people since the 1980 Census.

BTW, we hardy folk in Iowa would LOVE to have the growth that Atlanta (and Georgia) have had for the past 3-4 decades, traffic and all. It means that something's being done right. But if the boneheads in the legislature continue to ignore the importance of creating an updated transportation system, Atlanta's economic vitality will begin to wane, and other metro areas (read: Charlotte/Nashville) will eventually begin to step up to the plate.

[JTJ1977]

You missed my point: while Atlanta (and Georgia by extension) are fretting over building an extensive subway system, other cities are doing the things necessary to at least have a fighting chance in competing against Atlanta long term.

Your kind of bullheaded, reactionary statement sounds like the crap that many RUST Belt leaders (emphasis on RUST) muttered generations ago. "Why diversify ourt economy, or build better transportation networks? We're (insert your city) and we don't have to continue evolutionizing." I mean "Who in the hell are L.A., Atlanta, or Texas?" Generations later, the South and the West are, by most accounts, prosepring, while the RUST Belt has been left in the dust.

And still, you have not answered the question: How is Atlanta going to compete LONG TERM? I am not attempting to attack Atlanta, just asking a simple question. The party will end eventually, and just stating that you're "business friendly" and have a "low cost-of-living" is not going to cut it. You know, some businesses care about little things such as, oh...INFRASTRUCTURE!! BTW, don't tell me where I can and cannot frequent jackass.

Oh yeah, GO HAWKEYES...

[JTJ1977]

Oh yeah...my comments were directed to Hobnob, or whatever that *******'s name was (sorry folks), not Acidesnake, or anyone else. We can have differences of opinion; but when attacks get personal, the Southern HOT BLOODED roots come out!! LOL (Born in the 601!!)

[JTJ1977]

Acidsnake, you have to hold on for a sec brother. I need to relocate first...LOL. All I was saying was that many cities would be better off with a detailed transportation plan. Some politicians think "progressivism" is spending 3-6 hours of your life on a freeway in SoCal, or the ATL, but not I. That's why I'm looking for something more in-town.

Cities, IMO, look more aesthetically pleasing when they are dense. Again, I want to see Atlanta prosper like any other lover of great cities. I'm just saying to people down there who are stand-pat on issues of growth and infrastructure that they should look at the Industrial Midwestern cities of St. Louis, Cleveland, and Detroit as a cautionary tale of what NOT to do (or even smaller cities, for that matter).

---Stubborn leadership at all levels, that's unwilling to innovate, or create new knowledge-based industries (Silicon Valley/IT in Austin/Research Triangle in NC)
---Hypersegregation (Most notably on a racial level, but also on a class level as well)
---Discriminatory zoning laws, creating large "have/have not" cities and suburbs within a metropolis.

[JTJ1977]

Originally Posted by Febtober

What kind of argument is that? "Well other cities have terrible subways, so who cares if Atlanta does!"

No one is saying it needs to have anything on par with the NYC subway system, but I don't see how anyone can look at the sheer vastness of the road system around Atlanta and how it still grinds to a halt in gridlock at the drop of a hat, and not see that the transportation infrastructure needs a serious overhaul/massive capital investment.

I agree, and that was my point. Hobgob's ad hominem attack on me is laughable, because a.) Again, Iowa is not the topic here (there are more people in the MSA of Atlanta than the state of Iowa), and b.) I would think that most Atlantans would want a 20-minute commute like we have here...lol. Thanks Hobgob for proving my point...lol.

The Twin Cities has an average commute of 20-25 minutes with a metro population of roughly 3.2 million people (think metro Seattle), and STILL, it can get better. They have a few light rail lines that they have created in the Twin Cities area, with more to come, and a line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud called the Northstar. Perhaps someone from Minnesota frequenting this board could elaborate better than I...lol. Perhaps Atlanta could create a line like that going out to areas such as Athens, or Macon to alleviate traffic, alongside the extensive light rails that the area needs.

[Hobgob]

Originally Posted by Febtober

What kind of argument is that? "Well other cities have terrible subways, so who cares if Atlanta does!"

No one is saying it needs to have anything on par with the NYC subway system, but I don't see how anyone can look at the sheer vastness of the road system around Atlanta and how it still grinds to a halt in gridlock at the drop of a hat, and not see that the transportation infrastructure needs a serious overhaul/massive capital investment.

Why do you pick on or care about Atlanta then. Do you go to the Houston or Nashville forum telling them they need better transit because surely they do?

[Caltovegas]

The biggest problem with the South is they won't deal with the race issue. People just tolerate each other.

[Hobgob]

Originally Posted by JTJ1977

I agree, and that was my point. Hobgob's ad hominem attack on me is laughable, because a.) Again, Iowa is not the topic here (there are more people in the MSA of Atlanta than the state of Iowa), and b.) I would think that most Atlantans would want a 20-minute commute like we have here...lol. Thanks Hobgob for proving my point...lol.

The Twin cities has a 20-25 minute average commute with a metro population of roughly 3.2 million people (think metro Seattle), and STILL, it can get better. They have a few light rail lines that they have created in the Twin Cities area, with more to come, and a line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud called the Northstar. Perhaps someone from Minnesota frequenting this board could elaborate better than I...lol. Perhaps Atlanta could create a line like that going out to areas such as Athens, or Macon to alleviate traffic, alongside the extensive light rails that the area needs.

Have you went into the forums of Dallas and Austin giving them transit tips? I mean our ridership is higher then any other sunbelt city so why are you here and not in those forums?

[Hobgob]

Originally Posted by JTJ1977

You missed my point: while Atlanta (and Georgia by extension) are fretting over building an extensive subway system, other cities are doing the things necessary to at least have a fighting chance in competing against Atlanta long term.

Your kind of bullheaded, reactionary statement sounds like the crap that many RUST Belt leaders (emphasis on RUST) muttered generations ago. "Why diversify ourt economy, or build better transportation networks? We're (insert your city) and we don't have to continue evolutionizing." I mean "Who in the hell are L.A., Atlanta, Texas, etc. Generations later, the South and the West are, by most accounts, prosepring, while the RUST Belt has been left in the dust.

And still, you have not answered the question: How is Atlanta going to compete LONG TERM? I am not attempting to attack Atlanta, just asking a simple question. The party will end eventually, and just stating that you're "business friendly" and have a "low cost-of-living" is not going to cut it. You know, some businesses care about little things such as, oh...INFRASTRUCTURE!! BTW, don't tell me where I can and cannot frequent jackass.

Oh yeah, GO HAWKEYES...

Go live in Chicago then. Why are you in this thread if you have no stake in this city?