"The Braves, Cobb County, and the debate over expanding mass transit" (Atlanta: construction, minimum wage)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I don't think it's ITP/OTP thing. We've got a lot more than just white folks and conservatives living outside the perimeter.

When the Hawks stopping try to focus on it's Alpharetta Unicorn and made the environment fun for everyone, attendance went up. Of course the team also had the best record in the East last season too.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by primaltech

True, and maybe it's less about race, more about the culture of car-dependent suburbia vs. urban and transit. They're saying "it's for these people, not for those people".

Baseball is for everybody. This is supposedly the Atlanta team, and they're more or less saying this move and stadium (and this team) is not for the people of Atlanta.

I would say that a more accurate description of this, if you want to take a "for one group and not another," point of view, is that this is not for those who only want to take rail transit and nothing else. "Point, à la ligne," as they say in France.

Some of the posters on here try to read WAY too much into things. Like it or not, the Braves complex and other OTP developments do not constitute a massive, nefarious conspiracy against the CoA or MARTA.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by cqholt

When the Hawks stopping try to focus on it's Alpharetta Unicorn and made the environment fun for everyone, attendance went up. Of course the team also had the best record in the East last season too.

So, basically you're saying that the Hawks refocusing their marketing efforts on their core group of fans was a good thing, but the Braves' attempt to do the same is bad, because that demographic happens to be the suburanites you so despise?

[whodean]

Originally Posted by primaltech

True, and maybe it's less about race, more about the culture of car-dependent suburbia vs. urban and transit. They're saying "it's for these people, not for those people".

Baseball is for everybody. This is supposedly the Atlanta team, and they're more or less saying this move and stadium (and this team) is not for the people of Atlanta.

So, for all of these years, the Braves have been "for" intown MARTA riders only huh?

[primaltech]

No, the Braves have been in Atlanta, in the middle of everything, serving the entire region, ITP and OTP. And offering both plenty of parking for those who want to drive, and proximity to MARTA and a shuttle system for those who don't.

And I'm fine with their new location, I'm just not a fan of Cobb's decision making process when it comes to transit.

Even if the train went directly to there, half or most would still drive. And that's OK- it's about having OPTIONS.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Multi-billion dollar public investments should not be built to privately owned stadium, instead privately owned stadiums should be built near existing transit station, see MB stadium as an example.

Aye, but a station built up the CSX corridor into Cobb would serve far more than just SunTrust Park.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by primaltech

True, and maybe it's less about race, more about the culture of car-dependent suburbia vs. urban and transit. They're saying "it's for these people, not for those people".

Baseball is for everybody. This is supposedly the Atlanta team, and they're more or less saying this move and stadium (and this team) is not for the people of Atlanta.

Atlanta is much larger than the city limits.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Aye, but a station built up the CSX corridor into Cobb would serve far more than just SunTrust Park.

Yes it would, it would serve a major edge city business district.
On one of the busiest corridors in the US? Never going to happen without major state investment.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

*SNIP*
On one of the busiest corridors in the US? Never going to happen without major state investment.

A I have said NUMEROUS times before, CSX's own traffic study listed the line in its current state as having excess capacity. That myth about the ex-W&A being too busy has GOT to go away.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

A I have said NUMEROUS times before, CSX's own traffic study listed the line in its current state as having excess capacity. That myth about the ex-W&A being too busy has GOT to go away.

Of course CSX is not willing to give up that extra capacity to passenger trains, knowing the economy is growing and Savannah River's deepening.