Real talk about sprawl (Atlanta, Clayton: middle-class, section 8, real estate)

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by back2dc

The problem is that in Atlanta, MARTA is underfunded with no real expansion plans, and is seen by most as a transportation system for poor blacks.

Atlanta's road structure is so haphazard that infill is going to be near impossible or inaffective in most areas other than downtown where there is a street grid. Ansley Park, Little Five Points and other areas still look and feel like small towns to me due to architecture style, road patterns, landscaping, lack of density and even lack of sidewalks in some places.

Atlanta also doesn't have a large body of water in the city center like these other cities do -- no Thames, no Potomac, no Hudson River/Upper Bay, no Lake Michigan -- that can serve as a focal point around which parks and property can be implemented.

I love how people think MARTA brings crime to the exurbs because all robbers would want to rob a house and lug their goods back home on the MARTA. It makes me laugh. And most of the better houses to rob are in places MARTA already serves. Woodward Academy has a good amount of students come by MARTA.

Have you heard about the METRO going to Loudoun in the DC news?

[back2dc]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

I love how people think MARTA brings crime to the exurbs because all robbers would want to rob a house and lug their goods back home on the MARTA. It makes me laugh. And most of the better houses to rob are in places MARTA already serves. Woodward Academy has a good amount of students come by MARTA.

Have you heard about the METRO going to Loudoun in the DC news?

Yes apparently there are some NIMBY's in Loudoun County who don't like the way the Silver Line is being funded. The first part of the Silver Line is almost completely finished through Reston, VA in Fairfax County. It's the last leg that goes to Dulles Airport and then to Loudoun that is being held up by some Virginia Republicans who don't like that union labor was given preference on the bid for construction. Loudoun is probably the most conservative of Northern Virginia's larger counties.

Since this is an Atlanta forum I won't go into too much detail to say that there are some Republicans in Loudoun who do want the Silver Line to run through their county and some that don't. The pro-business Republicans in Loudoun realize how high property values will rise along the line and how it will be good for the county as a whole. They've seen the huge benefits the Metro has had for Arlington and Alexandria VA, as well as Bethesda and Silver Spring in Maryland.

To make this more Georgia related, there is a difference between Georgia and Virginia when it comes to sprawl. Trust me I know there is plenty of sprawl in Northern Virginia, but there is a also a strong proponent by both Democrats and Republicans who cordon off areas of rural counties from development. Back in the 90s they blocked a Walt Disney World theme park from opening in Prince William County due to the effect it would have on horse farms, Civil War sites and other landscapes. It seems that landowners in Georgia either don't have as much clout to determine what goes on their land after they sell it or just don't care. I think this illustrates the differences in mindset between the Deep South and the Mid-Atlantic.

As a result the sprawl in North Georgia is thousands upon thousands of square miles larger than the sprawl in Northern Virginia, namely due to these land constraints.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by back2dc

The problem is that in Atlanta, MARTA is underfunded with no real expansion plans, and is seen by most as a transportation system for poor blacks.

Well, there's the Clifton Corridor line, the streetcar and the Beltline.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by Economicsman

This SLIMMACKEY guy is confused or ignorant. Value is not the same as economical.

That Economicsman sure is too.....

[arjay57]

You don't seem confused or ignorant in the least to me!

[cqholt]

MARTA needs to get from under the 50/50 split.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by arjay57

You don't seem confused or ignorant in the least to me!

...Thanks ARJAY.Some people know not what they speak.....

[Saintmarks]

Another decent discussion sidetracked by oversimple, broad brush political attacks.

We are talking zoning issues which should be a local issue. Peachtree Corners just incorporated into a "city-lite" for this reason, to have control over zoning. They won't be a true city in most aspects of a municipal government, most services will still be run by the county.

Milton and Chattahoochee Hills both incorporated with a mindset to retain their rural character. Other counties have more strict zoning than what is represented here. My home county, Meriwether, has restrictions on minimum 2 acre lots in unincorporated areas. It is not wanting to be as dense as Coweta to the north.

I am out of state and not up to date nor have I researched much further, just list these examples that I know of, but zoning needs to be a local issue. Some of you need to research some of the other outer suburban areas and what they have done in zoning that defies the blanket bashing being done by some on this thread. Just because one doesn't want the federal, state or even the county dictating local issues doesn't mean they are backwards, simple minded, fundametalist, tea party hicks.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by back2dc

The poor will move into the suburbs as land/house values plummet and the wealthy into the city centers

This has already happened. Poverty is no longer confined to the inner cities. Just look at south Cobb, southwest Gwinnett, Clayton County, and even parts of north Fulton. White Flight: Part II is taking place, with some people leaving the suburbs for either the exurbs or the inner city again.

Poverty is not just going to magically go away. And they're not going to just magically be able to get themselves out of it.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cqholt

MARTA needs to get from under the 50/50 split.

This. If our dear legislature won't fund them one penny, then they should not have ANY say over how MARTA is financed, except for the basic laws of the land.