I think this infograph proves Atlanta needs to step up...

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Exactly. We're at least 50+ years from the Midtown SFH district even remotely being too valuable to remain as is due to lack of development space.

Its a historic district, the neighborhood association and NPU would have to approve any plans and there is very little chance of that.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Strangejelly

Density means higher cost of living. Better transit means more tax.

Density does not mean a higher COL. Most of the dense cities in the United States are expensive (relatively), but that is not a result of density in and of itself.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Strangejelly

Density means higher cost of living.

...It's not necessarily the density in and of itself that leads to a higher cost-of-living as much as it is the location of being in a very-large and highly-populated metro region in an area of high-demand near many amenities (shopping, restaurants, nightlife, museums, entertainment, transportation, etc).

Originally Posted by Strangejelly

Better transit means more tax.

...Better transit (and better transportation in general) does not mean more tax for everyone if the increased tax is voluntary, meaning that the increased tax is only paid by the people who use a transit line (or a major road).

Which voluntary taxes in the form of direct distance-based user fees on transit lines, expressways and express lanes on busy major roads (particularly, express lanes through grade-separated intersections on busy surface roads) is how transportation should be paid for.

Transportation modes (particularly transit lines and major roads) can be funded much more effectively by the people who directly use those modes then they can with fuel taxes (for roads) and sales taxes (for transit).

For example, in 2011, the I-294/I-94 Tri-State Tollway bypass around Chicago generated $297.6 million in revenues off the distance-based user fees of roughly $0.045/mile ($0.03/mile for cars; $0.06/mile for trucks and buses) it charges each of the motorists that uses the road.

By comparison, the I-285 Perimeter that goes around Atlanta generates ZERO dollars in revenue each year.

An inflation-indexed user fee-funded mode of transportation pays for and financially supports itself with the tolls and fares it collects from each user.

A tax-funded mode of transportation does not pay for itself because it is funded from a limited pool of tax revenues that has to fund every road/or transit line.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Its a historic district, the neighborhood association and NPU would have to approve any plans and there is very little chance of that.

Midtown south of 10th and north of 3rd will not be torn down. It would be tantamount to tearing down Greenwich Village for a few more glass boxes.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Midtown south of 10th and north of 3rd will not be torn down. It would be tantamount to tearing down Greenwich Village for a few more glass boxes.

Amen! The neighborhood associations in and around Midtown exert a tremendous amount of political influence on local government. They would never allow the SFH neighborhoods be converted to high rises, and, frankly, I'm astounded that anyone would ever want to do that in the first place.

[Born 2 Roll]

It's not like there still isn't an overabundance of parking lots available to develop within the commercial core of Midtown at the moment.

50 years from now may be a different story, but for the time being there's still quite a few parking lots and empty lots available for development, even along Peachtree Street.