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Atlanta needs a real Mayor. Our Mayor is crap compared to the Mayors of the big three (New York - Bloomberg, Chicago - Daley, and Los Angeles - Villaraigrosa). To give you an idea of how much of a dimwit Mayor Franklin is ... she said in 2003 that the city can all learn from Michael Vick. WHAT ??? So we should learn to sneak Marijuana on planes, flick the bird and the fans, kill dogs, and gamble on which dog will defeat the other in a dog fight. WTF. Now she has the whol city supporting the dog killer.
Compared to other mayors (Bloomberg, Daley, Villaraigrosa) Mayor Frankin is a saint. These three mayors have their fair share of proven and unproven cooperation beyond anything that Mayor Franklin has ever been accused of so considering those she has been compared to, she stacks up much better.
Most of the complaints and issues seem to be around traffic issues and controlling the population. While I do think improving traffic should be a top priority for Atlanta, I am a little bit disturb by so many people's need for "controlling the population." People who want to move to Atlanta will more than likely do so and who is to say who may (or may not) become an Atlanta resident. By the way, I find Atlanta, compared to most major cities I have visited to be world class in that they offer may educational/collegiate institutions, museums, amusements etc. Despite the typical big city issues, Atlanta is on the move and if we (citizens) continue to have open conversations like this one, eventually someone will take heed.
I have no doubt that eventually some sort of outer loop(ish) road will be built here, but considering the red tape and politics that have always plagued the Atlanta region, my guess is it won't be complete for 25+ years.
If they started acquiring right of way now it'd be 25 years before it's complete. As there's no current political will to do anything, it'll take years before there's even a viable proposed route. Not that that'll stop land speculation along the most likely corridors.
So the obvious question would be "what are the hallmarks of a 'World Class City'?". I'm not sure there's a consensus answer, for the same reason we don't all live in the same place already -- different people value different attributes. No city is perfect, so there's always tradeoffs involved. Are there cities we'd all agree are "world class"? New York? London? Paris? Berlin? Rome? Tokyo? Shanghai? Dubai? Mumbai? Sydney? São Paulo? What things do they all have that Atlanta doesn't? Or is there a checklist of 10 or a dozen items, and cities that have, say, eight or more qualify?
I don't really have an answer to that, but I think the key thing Atlanta needs to become a "world class" city, whatever that means, is more time. It's still a very young city by world standards -- only about 125 years of meaningful existence as commercial and cultural center of any significance. What other "world class" city is that new? Take a list of major world cities and run it down -- most of the places you'd even consider putting in a list of "world class" cities are older -- most are much older. Even Dallas and Houston, if you think they're world class, are roughly contemporaneous, and neither had to recover from complete destruction during the Civil War. Perhaps San Francisco, if you count it as world class, as it also had to start over even more recently.
It probably also needs more people (and better ways of coping with them). Most of the other "world class" cities are also substantially larger, except Rome and Berlin, maybe Montreal.
Atlanta certainly has more world-wide visibility than many cities its size or even larger, owing to the Olympics, Coca-Cola, and CNN. But those aren't really a foundation for long-term world-wide significance: an ephemeral, one-time event; a company whose products, however ubiquitous, aren't exactly essential; and a television network. It's a start, but only a start. That's not a bad thing. I'm not sure "world class" status is something you can make into a goal. Someday, if enough things go right, we (or our descendants) may find ourselves there -- or not.
If they started acquiring right of way now it'd be 25 years before it's complete. As there's no current political will to do anything, it'll take years before there's even a viable proposed route. Not that that'll stop land speculation along the most likely corridors.
I think they had already began the land aquisition process for the Northern Arc when a big scandal arose, something about people high up in state office making sure the ARC passed through land they owned or had interest in so they could get a payoff. There was alot of noise about this in the news then all of a sudden the project was dropped.
On another note. I kind of consider San Fransico a world class city and maybe Boston.
I just read the Midtown Mile site and all I can say about the initiative is. WOW! Somebody read my mind. This is just the kind of thing that would really benifit Atlanta. Denver has something very similar to this with their 16th street Mall only it is all pedestrian served by free trolley cars. It has been hugely popular and successfull there and I know such a thing could work here.
Another difference I noted between Midtown Mile and Denver's 16th str development is only about half of Denver's 16th str area is upscale the rest is more low brau but charming with bars, shops, and stores that nearby college students love to frequent. Atlanta's central area seems to be striving to become all upscale with not too much to offer for those looking for something more middle of the road affordability wise.
Last edited by Galounger; 08-20-2007 at 10:11 PM..
I thought that's what Bernie Marcus just built down in Centennial Olympic Park?
Well, no, that was just a rich guy's fantasy to have the largest fish in the world as "pets". And in the tradition of new money - he got what he wanted. Pay a visit to the Chattanooga Aquarium sometime - MUCH more visitor-friendly and interactive, and the water park and bar/restaurant area surrounding it is much more pedestrianish (word) than anything we have in downtown Atlanta.. at least so far.
It takes more than a huge fish tank and a museum devoted to a soft drink to make a city (or an area of the city) "international" though. We still don't even have street signs in multiple languages near the large venues.
Add a 50 cent a gallon gas tax and use the revenue to make Marta free. Then Marta will have the ridership to justify more frequent service and expanded rail lines.
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And in the tradition of new money - he got what he wanted. Pay a visit to the Chattanooga Aquarium sometime - MUCH more visitor-friendly and interactive, and the water park and bar/restaurant area surrounding it is much more pedestrianish (word) than anything we have in downtown Atlanta.. at least so far.
