2012 Atlanta Region Transportation Referendum (Sandy Springs, Marietta: job market, luxury, quality of life)

[Onthemove2014]

Originally Posted by JPD

Who would rather move to Birmingham?

Lot's of people. I know many people who are opting there over Atlanta.

[cityfilms]

I never understood why they dont just put a bus stop on all exits on 285. You wouldnt need to waste money on building rails to downtown, people would have to take bus to sandy springs and take marta line down. Atlanta is not a downtown centric region, any more rails going downtown is a waste of money. A million people live within walking distance or a shor bus ride awat from 285' it could be turned into a very efficient system of just building bus stations along the sides of the exits, not 2 busses per day more like a bus arriving every 20 minutes on all stops and maybe turning a lane or a shoulder of 285 into a bus only lane.

Believe what i say or not, but at least i have a technical opinion. I think people are so hot headed and judgemental in atlanta about the money aspect yet i dont even think the plan itself is that great. Clark howard has no critical thinking techical capabilities for transit, the fact that he was even mentioned is laughable. Evryone is so caught up on financing because there is not a community of intelligent critical thinking in atl, just a small group of "experts" who think their plan is gold because they got a masters at ga tech or something.

[tonygeorgia]

Atlanta Press Club's Newsmaker Series: Kasim Reed - YouTube

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Atl will fall like Detroit did. If you had asked Detroit 30 years ago if their city would be the armpit of America they would have said no

Well, I hope we don't collapse like Detroit but it's clear from the numbers that we've flat-lined for the last 15 years.

That's hardly surprising when you take into account that 3.5 million people moved here since 1980 (100% of them to the suburbs).

We were able to squeak by because during the 1970s and 80s we made humongous and far reaching transportation improvements such as MARTA, Freeing the Freeways, a massive airport and so on.

However, bringing in 3.5 million new residents is like adding the entire city of Berlin. You simply can't add that kind of population without a corresponding investment in infrastructure. We've kicked the can down the road for the last 25 years and have exhausted the provisions of the previous century.

So we're at the turning point. We could do as Atlantans did 40 or 50 years ago and take bold action. Or we could continue the drift into mediocrity.

[arjay57]

Poll: Suburban voters oppose transportation referendum | www.wsbtv.com

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I don't think we'll become a backwater but we'll definitely continue to lose position as one of the front runners. In the 80s and 90s Atlanta was red hot and we were able to ride that wave for a few years thereafter.

However, we've flat-lined for the last 15 years.

I worry that people forget how fragile our communities are. A lot of us remember how quickly Atlanta rose above the pack, but we don't have to look far to see how rapidly a metro area declines. And once that starts, it's a very difficult process to reverse.

It has more to do with the housing bust than anything and Atlanta would be among the most affected. Las Vegas was hit even harder. Atlanta was hit this way because it had so much riding on the bubble.

One economist described the country's condition as being in a Depression. We don't dare say the "D" word but I think he's right. We had a severe recession with a slow recovery but we've been in down state so long that I think we could label this as a Depression.

Atlanta has been in such a long strong growth cycle that a leveling off was inevitable. We have issues of sprawl, long commutes, air quality, water shortages, ... The rest of Atlanta has to catch up with all this.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Onthemove2014

Why do people think Atlanta is immune to becoming a backwater if this does not pass. Do you have any idea how far this city has fallen in popularity and desirabilty? People would rather move to Charollet or Birmingham.

Now you are sounding like Clark Howard. Going hyperbolic for the sake of a political agenda.

If Atlanta could fall to the condition of a backwaters city, and it all hinges on a 1% sales tax increase, then our problems are far worse than TSPLOST can help.

If what this means is that we have to keep increasing taxes the larger the metro gets...then taxes alone could kill the livability and economy of Atlanta.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by Onthemove2014

People would rather move to Birmingham.

Nah.

[tikigod311]

I seriously doubt Atlanta would fall like Detroit. Not saying it won't regress further, but people as a whole moved out / are moving out of the Great Lakes region. Its unbearable for many people half of the year. I think for that reason alone, people will not give up on the SE. Its a nice place to live! We may loose out to other cities in the SE, but I think Detroit style collapse is highly unlikely.

All this talk about Atlanta falling significantly behind if the TIA doesn't pass is alarmist. The bill kind of sucks. It is bloated and is not the best solution for Atlanta's transportation problems. I refuse to believe that if this doesn't pass, there will be no other grand solutions created.

If this doesn't pass, hopefully the lesson will be learned. Shrink the region for this tax. Only include the counties that are on board with and need serious transportation solutions. Create a more cohesive solution to our transportation problems. Not some huge laundry list of transportation projects to buy votes.

Remember, if this doesn't pass, it's not like this topic dies and goes away.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Atl will fall like Detroit did. If you had asked Detroit 30 years ago if their city would be the armpit of America they would have said no

Not really. 30 years ago was 1982, and Detroit was on the ropes after a decade of decline of the auto industry because of Japanese imports. Even the infamous hard-nosed Unions were making concessions. It was a time that Detroit was retooling, retraining, and thinking differently. Detroit's future was uncertain then.

Atlanta's economy is much more diverse and doesn't depend on one business sector. Detroit's problems have to do with their competitiveness in an industry, not a need for more infrastructure to keep up with growth. Detroit couldn't have avoided this if they had only raised their taxes.