America's Most Miserable Cities (Atlanta: environment, crime, resort)

[kwr]

America's Most Miserable Cities - Forbes.com

Atlanta is not on the list. Some suprises: Chicago, NYC, Los Angeles and Charlotte.

[atlantagreg30127]

A couple of surprises on that list.

I wouldn't have expected Atlanta, even with its problems, to have been on a list when they used 150 cities to make comparisons. Charlotte was a bit of a surprise.

Now, redo that 10 years from now when our traffic and air quality are 30% worse than today due to continued growth, and I wouldn't be surprised if we make that list.

[netdragon]

Hopefully with Bush out of office soon, cars will be running on hydrogen fuel cells 10 years from now and air quality will improve. I also think a lot of industry will move out into the surrounding region and that will have a positive affect on air quality as well.

Traffic on the other hand -- I don't really have high hopes for that. I think ATL will expand mass transit, but unless the state is really aggressive, it won't keep up with growth.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Hopefully with Bush out of office soon, cars will be running on hydrogen fuel cells 10 years from now and air quality will improve. I also think a lot of industry will move out into the surrounding region and that will have a positive affect on air quality as well.

Traffic on the other hand -- I don't really have high hopes for that. I think ATL will expand mass transit, but unless the state is really aggressive, it won't keep up with growth.

I'll be the first in line with the "hoorah" sign when Bush is gone, but believe it or not, he actually is the one who pushed the hydrogen car stuff ahead and put $$ into it lately. Of course, he did this while thinking about drilling for oil in national parks in Alaska... but hey, in his own way I guess that was progressive. LOL

Now before everyone gets a mental wood over hydrogen though, just think about it... what do hydrogen cars put out as exhaust? Water vapor. Sounds pretty environmentally sound, right? So, a few decades from now, what's going to happen to the environment when there are 5-7 billion cars on it that are putting out water vapor? Just something to think about. "Waterworld".

Electric cars that can recharge via solar energy while you're parked would be great, but those are two things that every single President have put on hold for decades - battery technology, and solar technology. No one has put much money into either of these technologies, and they're not much more further along than they were years ago. We need some leaders who will pump some $ into advancing these technologies as well.

Personally I would like to see diesel replaced by hydrogen. Big rigs, school buses, public transit buses, city ulility and emergency vehicles could all run on it, while the typical commuter would use electric vehicles that had built-in solar panels on the roof so they would charge while parked during sunny days. The rest of the charging would happen every time you brake, or in a case where the power is VERY low, you could resort to plugging it in.

There are lots of answers if the right leaders explore them, but I think it'll be foolish of them if they just push ONE technology. 5+ billion waters-spitting cars... it's gonna be a WET world. LOL

[intoeyes2001]

Hopefully with Bush out of office soon, cars will be running on hydrogen fuel cells 10 years from now and air quality will improve. I also think a lot of industry will move out into the surrounding region and that will have a positive affect on air quality as well.




Hydrogen must be produced from other sources of energy, such as oil, coal or solar power. In this sense, it isn't really a fuel - it's an energy storage technology. We do not even have enough renewable energy (hydroelectric, solar, wind)to generate electricity for every city in the world. A good part of these rely on fossil fuels. Where then are we going to get enough renewable energy to supply electricity needs AND create enough hydrogen to power all the cars in the world?

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by intoeyes2001

Hydrogen must be produced from other sources of energy, such as oil, coal or solar power. In this sense, it isn't really a fuel - it's an energy storage technology. We do not even have enough renewable energy (hydroelectric, solar, wind)to generate electricity for every city in the world. A good part of these rely on fossil fuels. Where then are we going to get enough renewable energy to supply electricity needs AND create enough hydrogen to power all the cars in the world?

Don't be such a party-pooper by clouding the hydrogen-car excitement with facts- next you'll be telling me that you don't think flying cars will come into reality in the next decade just because people are too stupid to drive correctly in two dimensions, yet alone three.....lol.

[Noc]

Originally Posted by intoeyes2001

Hydrogen must be produced from other sources of energy, such as oil, coal or solar power. In this sense, it isn't really a fuel - it's an energy storage technology. We do not even have enough renewable energy (hydroelectric, solar, wind)to generate electricity for every city in the world. A good part of these rely on fossil fuels. Where then are we going to get enough renewable energy to supply electricity needs AND create enough hydrogen to power all the cars in the world?

Nuclear reactors can be a substitute.

[intoeyes2001]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Don't be such a party-pooper by clouding the hydrogen-car excitement with facts- next you'll be telling me that you don't think flying cars will come into reality in the next decade just because people are too stupid to drive correctly in two dimensions, yet alone three.....lol.

Ok We will have hydrogen cars but not in next decade.. pro forma

[plessthanpointohfive]

Good news is... Bush WILL be out of office soon. It's who's next up we need to worry about...

[the 7 oh 4]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

A couple of surprises on that list.

I wouldn't have expected Atlanta, even with its problems, to have been on a list when they used 150 cities to make comparisons. Charlotte was a bit of a surprise.

Now, redo that 10 years from now when our traffic and air quality are 30% worse than today due to continued growth, and I wouldn't be surprised if we make that list.

The reason Charlotte made the list is because of traffic & crime. I use to live in Atlanta & DC and know traffic. Charlotte has gridlock traffic too. Charlotte's 1st line of Light Rail opened Nov 2007. It is gonna take years & millions of dollars to have 4-5 additinal lines added. It is not gonna be just a nort-south & east-west like Marta. I think Charlotte is learning from Atlanta's mistake.

Crime & murders is on the rise (growing pains). There have been close to 20 murders so far this year (mostly gang & drug related). Still over all a great city...isolated areas...stay out of!

Charlotte is not that small anymore. About 750,000 in city limits and almost 2.5 million in metro area.