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Plenty of flights leaving the city, every day. Find one the suits you.
I suggest a one-way ticket.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeP
No, it's not overrated. You sound like the Chamber of Commerce person I responded to above.
People assume that Atlanta's traffic problems are solely because of its population. That's not true, there's a significant amount of it that could have been addressed, but hasn't and won't.
That's not true. That's a straw man because you can't refute issues in a mature way with facts.
People need honest feedback, not uninformed chamber of commerce talking points.
Obviously. Not sure why you even need to note such an obvious thing.
This is a forum. Apparently you want responses to be Chamber of Commerce BS instead of honest responses.
Well, thanks for the condescending remark. I have lived here since the late 90s. Maybe should refrain from responding until you mature.
I don't care where Atlanta is ranked. It's irrelevant. My comments are based experience and reality. Additionally I noted the region's response (or lack thereof) to our issues and not many peers cities have huge amounts of land like the northern part of the city with a lack of true secondary roads (as I mentioned earlier).
It's very relevant where Atlanta is ranked regarding traffic. People like you are still stuck with the stereotype of Atlanta having the worst traffic when I doesn't. It's not "chamber of commerce" BS to ask for the truth, and the truth is that Atlanta traffic isn't as bad as it was 20 years ago, your opinion notwithstanding.
Some people just love to complain even when their complaints have little to no merit - that's what I see in this case. Talk about immature! Maybe you should learn that condescending breeds condescending...if you don't want it back then don't put out there.
Traffic in the Atlanta area can be bad on certain roads and at certain times, but in general, it does not compare with cities such as NY, Chicago, Boston, DC, LA, SF, many of which also have robust and well established transit systems and commuter rail.
Many people in Atlanta just have little basis for comparison and remarks about traffic are relative. Atlanta has not ranked in the top 10 on Inrix or other surveys/lists of worst traffic. Atlanta was #21 on the most recent Inrix list of top 25 worst cities for traffic. The USA Today also did a top 10 list and Atlanta didn't make it.
I'm not saying that when you're in bad traffic that it's not bad, but in relative and comparative terms, Atlanta is nowhere near the worst or even close to the worst in the US, and that's a good thing.
The comments on this board are indicative of why traffic -- which is universally rated by residents and visitors alike as the number one problem facing the city -- is unlikely to be resolved in the future.
People just bury their heads in the sand. Build, build, build, develop, develop, develop....transportation plan? Who needs that?
As much as some want to blame sprawl, which is undoubtedly PART of the problem, you can't solve traffic problems with density. Tell that to Perimiter Center, which is pretty much packed wall to wall with some of the worst traffic in the city.
What you're seeing in this thread is not just a definition of the problem, but a great example of why it won't be solved. We have traffic, it's not that bad, and if you don't like it, go somewhere else. Nice attitude, except we're getting closer to the day where employers are going to start doing exactly that. Then where will we be?
The fact that traffic is so universally cited as by far the largest negative about Atlanta and the lack of anybody's resolve to address or correct it is truly astounding to me. It could very well be this city's downfall at some point in the near future.
Perhaps a population and employer decrease is exactly what we need.
There's a huge difference between dealing with the reality and "burying your head in the sand." My comments specifically are pointing out that this false narrative about the severity and relative level of traffic in Atlanta is just that, a false narrative.
Please link to one study, list, or survey, from private or government sources that shows Atlanta even reaching the top 10 in severity of traffic congestion. Fact is we're not. Most such lists have us in the high teens or twenties. Again, that's not to say that when you're personally in traffic that it's not annoying, but that's just stating the obvious.
Time and again on this board the scare mongers and those with a specific point of view tell us how dire things are and will be, unless we ban cars and spend billions on their pet projects. The failure to pass the TSPLOST a few years ago was supposed to spell the death nell for the Atlanta area. Businesses were going to leave or fail to come. Individuals were going to leave the area or fail to come. The suburbs would be vacant and desolate as everyone moved back to the inner city to escape the horrors of the suburbs.
It was a great narrative, and might make a great series on AMC, but the inconvenient truth is none of it happened.
The comments on this board are indicative of why traffic -- which is universally rated by residents and visitors alike as the number one problem facing the city -- is unlikely to be resolved in the future.
People just bury their heads in the sand. Build, build, build, develop, develop, develop....transportation plan? Who needs that?
As much as some want to blame sprawl, which is undoubtedly PART of the problem, you can't solve traffic problems with density. Tell that to Perimiter Center, which is pretty much packed wall to wall with some of the worst traffic in the city.
What you're seeing in this thread is not just a definition of the problem, but a great example of why it won't be solved. We have traffic, it's not that bad, and if you don't like it, go somewhere else. Nice attitude, except we're getting closer to the day where employers are going to start doing exactly that. Then where will we be?
The fact that traffic is so universally cited as by far the largest negative about Atlanta and the lack of anybody's resolve to address or correct it is truly astounding to me. It could very well be this city's downfall at some point in the near future.
Perhaps a population and employer decrease is exactly what we need.
Exactly what city are these corporations going to go to where there is not a traffic problem? There isn't one.
I thought we were talking about credible sources...my bad. I couldn't find anything on how they came to this conclusion and don't consider Forbes an expert on traffic anyway. I mean, look at some of the cities ranked worse than Atlanta...San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, etc.? Aren't they some of the more progressive/urban cities that are supposedly miles ahead of Atlanta in this area?
Well I wouldn't say that Atlanta has not ranked in the Top 10 of any survey of urban areas with the worst traffic.
Atlanta did rank as one of the Top 10 most congested cities in the TTI (Texas A&M Transportation Institute) Annual Urban Mobility Report.
In the TTI Annual Urban Mobility Report, Atlanta ranked 7th out of the Top 10 urban areas ahead of Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle but behind Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark and Boston.
Quote:
Rankings of the nation’s most congested cities vary slightly from year to year, and many of this year’s top 10 are repeat performers. Washington, D.C. tops the list, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark and Boston. The second five include Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle. The report provides a detailed illustration of traffic problems in a total of 498 U.S. urban areas.
Though it should be noted that despite having the word "annual" in its name, that report was written in 2012 and released in 2013....Though Atlanta's metro economy has improved significantly since that report was compiled in 2012 and released in early 2013 contributing to increased population growth in metro Atlanta and increased congestion on metro Atlanta roads as of May 2015.
Also, at least one major corporation has cited Atlanta's traffic congestion issues as one of the major reasons why it chose not to relocate to metro Atlanta.
MeadWestvaco Corporate cited Atlanta's traffic congestion issues as one of the major reasons why it chose to relocate to Richmond, Virginia instead of Atlanta in 2006.
From a March 2007 article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Quote:
Atlanta's traffic has gotten so bad that it helped cost the region a Fortune 500 headquarters.
Just over a year ago, MeadWestvaco Corp. (NYSE: MWV), a $6.5 billion packaging conglomerate formerly based in Stamford, Conn., decided on Richmond, Va., for its new $100 million base of operations and up to 1,000 headquarters jobs.
In choosing Richmond, however, the company passed on Atlanta, the only other city on its short list, according to economic development officials in both cities.
The company, No. 322 on the 2006 Fortune 500 list, told officials that Atlanta's congestion -- and Richmond's relatively free-flowing traffic -- was one of the main reasons the Virginia metro of 1.2 million won.
And this time, the proximity of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, often used to recruit major prospects, wasn't enough to save Atlanta's bid -- despite the fact that MeadWestvaco eliminated Richmond from an earlier list due to its own airport's lack of international flights.
Richmond was actually able to convince the company that traveling 100 miles to Washington, D.C., to fly out of Dulles International Airport, would be better than fighting Atlanta traffic to reach Hartsfield, officials said.
Now the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is using the company's decision as ammunition as it tries to sell state lawmakers on its plan to alleviate congestion and address a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall with a regional tax for road and transit projects.
Though, it should be noted that the company in question (MeadWestvaco) was moving out of Stamford, Connecticut (outside of New York City) and most likely wanted to keep its corporate headquarters near the major population centers of the Northeast (the DC-Philly-NYC-Boston "Northeast Corridor") where the company likely does the bulk of its business.
But the fact that this major international corporation cited Atlanta's traffic congestion issues as being a key reason for deciding not to relocate its headquarters to Atlanta cannot be taken lightly.
But even though that one large major corporation cited Atlanta's traffic issues as a reason for relocating to Richmond instead of Atlanta, metro Atlanta and North Georgia have still had multiple major relocation successes since then....Major relocation successes like NCR, Caterpillar and Mercedes Benz.
One major concern is how many companies have not publicly cited Atlanta's traffic congestion issues even though Atlanta's traffic congestion issues might have played a major role in the final decision on whether or not to relocate here?
Atlanta is still winning major corporate relocations from other parts of the country and even the world, but there is no denying that metro Atlanta has a serious traffic congestion and mobility problem that has to be addressed for the region to continue to prosper and enjoy a high quality-of-life over the long-term.
It is extremely difficult to play down metro Atlanta's traffic congestion and mobility issues when the region has had some major congestion challenges early-on this year (the two pedestrian fatalities on the Top End of the I-285 Perimeter, the pipe bomb scare caused by an ill-advised Georgia State University art project, the plane crash on I-285 in Doraville, etc).
It is even more difficult to significantly downplay metro Atlanta's traffic congestion and mobility issues after the region suffered through a major international embarrassment during the "Snow Jam 2014" fiasco back in January of last year.
Like multiple posters have stated, other large metro regions also deal with very severe traffic congestion and Atlanta's traffic congestion issues have not yet broken and/or damaged the metro area economically.
But the very pervasive national and international public perception that metro Atlanta refuses to deal with its traffic congestion issues by investing in expanding its transportation infrastructure where necessary is a problem that has to be dealt with for this region to be able to continue enjoying long-term economic, public relations and quality-of-life successes.
Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 05-31-2015 at 04:36 PM..
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