"The Braves, Cobb County, and the debate over expanding mass transit" (Atlanta: fit in, condo)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, it is hard to inflect sarcasm over a keyboard.
Not just Cobb, but anyone who currently uses or has in the past used the 'criminal' excuse as to why they don't want transit. As we spoke in the past, we have never seen anyone ride the train or bus with a TV they just stole.

Sounds like your prejudice against people who don't like transit. The test would be what crime looked like around rail stations. I haven't done any study so I can't say anything definitively. But I do know someone, who for some unknown reason, continues to live about 1/4 mile from East Lake and has been a victim of crime about a dozen times at their house.

We aren't near a rail line, but we have had a couple of major crime waves. In both cases, we had a bunch of people walking around a week or so before. I suspect they were scoping things out. With a train station, it makes it easy to access an area and scope it out if you are nearby.

I would absolutely not want to be within a mile of a station.

And you know, they don't steal just TVs. After all, prices are down. We got broken into here and they left the electronics and stole cash and jewelry. Fortunately, we didn't have much of either in the house. The previous crime wave in the area, they were just stealing jewelry and cash. That's the stuff that's easy to turn. Also real easy to stick in a backpack and not be noticed.

[Dkeating]

Originally Posted by bu2

But I do know someone, who for some unknown reason, continues to live about 1/4 mile from East Lake and has been a victim of crime about a dozen times at their house.

East Lake station? Maybe the rapid gentrification and ballooning property values in the area keep them there.

[jsvh]

So sad that people use crime as an excuse for their prejudices. If anything, transit lowers crime.

The Myth That Mass Transit Attracts Crime Is Alive in Atlanta - CityLab

[Dkeating]

Originally Posted by bu2

I would absolutely not want to be within a mile of a station.

With all due respect, from your previous comments I don't get the impression that you have been within a mile of a MARTA station in the past 5 years. You described Avondale Station--which is right next to three daycare centers, a bakery, an artisanal pickle place, a ballet studio, a gym, and a brewpub--as scary. Your comments sound like the conventional wisdom of North DeKalb circa 1997.

[AfternoonCoffee]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, it is hard to inflect sarcasm over a keyboard.
Not just Cobb, but anyone who currently uses or has in the past used the 'criminal' excuse as to why they don't want transit. As we spoke in the past, we have never seen anyone ride the train or bus with a TV they just stole.

If you're using "sarcasm" to make the point that crime and race do not correlate, then you are disproving your larger (and ongoing) point that anyone who mentions crime is simply using "crime" as dog whistle for "minorities" or "blacks" (or whichever group it is you think they're prejudiced against.)

In effect, you're saying crime and race are not related, so therefore someone can be concerned about crime and couldn't care less about race. I believe this to be true.

I LOVE the extra-broad brush people paint with on this forum!

(*Did the sarsacsm show through in that statement?)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Dkeating

With all due respect, from your previous comments I don't get the impression that you have been within a mile of a MARTA station in the past 5 years. You described Avondale Station--which is right next to three daycare centers, a bakery, an artisanal pickle place, a ballet studio, a gym, and a brewpub--as scary. Your comments sound like the conventional wisdom of North DeKalb circa 1997.

I'm at MARTA stations pretty frequently and have ridden it in the last month.

And I think my comment was Kensington. And MARTA's own stats show Kensington was 1st or 2nd among all MARTA stations in crime, despite all of you thinking I was being ridiculous. It just proved all of you had your heads in the sand. As for Avondale, it is adjacent to Scottsdale which is high crime.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by AfternoonCoffee

Wow. Really?

Now that's the most racist thing I've read on this site.

Just wow.

I guess you haven't waded into the "Politics and Other Controversies" board. It's mind-melting.

[jsvh]

bu2 - Your prejudice is unfounded. Just because crime happens near a place does not mean transit contributed to it. Reality is, if anything transit reduces crime. Cars are far more of a facilitator of crime. Criminals usually have a get away car waiting for them. They do not want to go into a busy transit stations with cameras everywhere.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jsvh

So sad that people use crime as an excuse for their prejudices. If anything, transit lowers crime.

The Myth That Mass Transit Attracts Crime Is Alive in Atlanta - CityLab

That isn't what the article says. The title is pretty misleading as well. In fact, the studies listed say crime tends to increase at first after a station is opened before leveling off. They try to explain away continuing burglary increases at Indian Creek by saying, "well it was already rising." The 2003 study linked says crime DID increase with stations unless they were out in the suburbs.

Since there were few train stations out in suburbs here, sounds like people had a pretty good reason to be concerned about living near a train station.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jsvh

bu2 - Your prejudice is unfounded. Just because crime happens near a place does not mean transit contributed to it. Reality is, if anything transit reduces crime. Cars are far more of a facilitator of crime. Criminals usually have a get away car waiting for them. They do not want to go into a busy transit stations with cameras everywhere.

You didn't grasp what I said in my earlier post.

The increased foot traffic allows criminal to scout out places they want to rob. For home burglaries, they observe and figure out when people aren't at home, what type of security/dogs they have, and what they might have to steal. Then they come back at the appropriate time.

If there's no transit, there is less familiarity with the area and that makes it less of a target. Cul-de-sacs with no through car traffic have the same advantage.