Is the MARTA utilized to its fullest? (Atlanta, Marietta: showing, condo)

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

Yeah all those millionaire's in Buckhead really benefited from Marta....especially that one rail stop.

So what happened with all the other rail stops in Atlanta, they're not developed like Buckhead and Dunwoody?

The number of people who actully work in Buckhead and ride Marta is minimal compared to number who work there and drive.

Pretty much every rail stop is under large scale development. Read the ABJ for details.

Already in Atlanta many people especially millionaires (who generally have good business/common sense) are moving closer to marta stations. Why else are new condos worth more than Mcmansions in the outer suburbs etc.

Another funny thing is that as land gets more expensive public housing is getting torn down and moved to the suburbs so the very people who wanted to be isolated are going to end up isolated with the very people they wanted to avoid. Ironic huh.......................

[Pamellamitchell]

Dear Fellow Driver,

This is my number one disappointment with the Big City. A lot of well meaning folks think of a wonderful project. Then they plan and plan and plan, However, These same well meaning folks start a job and never finish it.

In a small town you know the mayor's grandmother, so you call her when the job is not done right! People are held accountable.

Everyone here is proud of a job which is less than half serviceable. It is this type of reasoning, which is going to bring us to our knees shortly.

Oh, please, don't get me started.

Now, I do understand all those pesky money issues, but please this is just not the way we need to do business in this century. It is the old two steps forward, but wait Marta does not travel there.

Pamella

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

OK to follow your logic if Cobb residents won't pay taxes for rail they don't use then why should Fulton residences pay to widen roads so Cobb residents can have an easier comute and wear out the roads with their SUVs?

A toll on the border sounds fair right?

Heh. Interesting idea... But what percentage of Cobb residents actually work in Fulton County or have to drive through it? I sure don't.

[Workerbee12]

Originally Posted by WestCobb

People with foresight are already moving closer in and there are lots more people looking for walking comunities etc.

There is a great article in the Atlantic this month that talks about the death of the suburbs within the next twenty to thirty years. About two-thirds of Americans now prefer to live somewhere walkable, in either a city or a new urban city space with shops, restaraunts, a movie theater, etc. less than a mile from their house. They are also willing to have less total living space to do so. Construction is about to match demand and mixed-use spaces like Atlantic Station and the new town squares constructed in northern Virginia, Florida and other places are about to explode. Those hulking monster houses, sitting empty on clear cut forest graveyards might not ever be occupied to full capacity again.. or rather, not in the same way. Like inner city row houses a half century ago, they will be split up into subsistent tentament apartments. So much for the great suburban schools and neighborhoods. How nice can a neighborhood be when its filled with transients who are paying $300 a month or so to rent? Even worse than yesterday's abandoned inner cities, these new outland ghetto burbs will detoriate rapidly because those hulking houses were not built to last. Row houses were constructed of brick and plaster.. they could withstand the abuse of being partitioned, and they didn't need the constant upkeep that only the middle class and upper middle class could provide to remain looking somewhat nice and solid. How good is a 5,000 square foot house built by Legacy going to look 15 years down the road if no one has ever put a dime into routine maintenance? The future of the burbs could look quite hellish. On the upside though, it will look brighter and greener in the cities. I'm ready to live in a walkable village. Apparently, so are 66% of Americans. Far less pollution and a healthier, more sustainable future is on the horizon. Imagine a future where Atlanta refuses to extend MARTA out to Alpharetta, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville, etc. because it doesn't want riff raff from the burbs having easy access to in-town.

Interesting...is that why MARTA does not extend to Alpharetta now? Is it a clear cut case of not wanting "riff raff" into the burbs?


Also is MARTA seen as transportation for a certain social class? It is a class issue?

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

OK to follow your logic if Cobb residents won't pay taxes for rail they don't use then why should Fulton residences pay to widen roads so Cobb residents can have an easier comute and wear out the roads with their SUVs?

A toll on the border sounds fair right?

Fulton/Dekalb collects that tax from people outside with the sales tax. I.E. people who don't use Marta who are from Gwinnett, Cobb, etc. are funding it via their lunches, gas, shopping, etc they do downtown. So they're already collecting.

.....that was the point of the 1% sales tax.

The companies they work for are taxed and they pass that on to their employees so there's a double whammy!!!!

All these roads being widened in Atlanta??? Interstates are federal roads and the state gets money for them.



What happened to Franklin's Pot-Hole Posse???

Then you have the extra tax Fulton wants to pass on to businesses to pay for the street car/trolley proposal.....I think that would be cool though, but it's still being paid by people outside Atlanta.

Marta states 65% of it's revenue is from Sales Tax, another 20% is from actual fairs............
...........so it's probably safe to say outside residents who don't use Marta are paying at least 20% of Marta's revenue....but probably much, much more.

Atlanta/Fulton's mis-use of money can be attributed to the new movement of cities inside Fulton incorporating themselves.

That being said that's one reason why I like the FairTax (fairtax.org), pimps, illegals, drug dealers, tourist will pay a tax.....just like non Fulton/Dekalb residents paying a sales tax to contribute towards Marta

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Pretty much every rail stop is under large scale development. Read the ABJ for details.

Already in Atlanta many people especially millionaires (who generally have good business/common sense) are moving closer to marta stations. Why else are new condos worth more than Mcmansions in the outer suburbs etc.

Another funny thing is that as land gets more expensive public housing is getting torn down and moved to the suburbs so the very people who wanted to be isolated are going to end up isolated with the very people they wanted to avoid. Ironic huh.......................

You mean this over-inflated housing market? There is a condo surplus all over Atlanta, which means Buckhead, Midtown, and Atlantic station. I don't care what they're advertising.

Not College Park, East Point, etc....not much growth there.

As far as Condos being more expensive than McMansions in the burbs.....how does that support rail then. If people can't afford to live near the rail I guess they'll have to live in the burbs and drive.

I agree people with good business/common sense will pick a location like Atlanta for location, but they will also move their companies to a lower taxed area. The same for citizens. If I can pay lower housing cost in the burbs, lower taxes, keep more of my pay check, have a yard and nice place to raise my kids.....then yeah, living near Rail isn't worth it, I'll drive.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by Workerbee12

Interesting...is that why MARTA does not extend to Alpharetta now? Is it a clear cut case of not wanting "riff raff" into the burbs?


Also is MARTA seen as transportation for a certain social class? It is a class issue?

no, but some say it used to be. Problem is people around here don't remember Kennesaw, Alpharetta just 15 years ago, probably b/c they weren't living here.

Traffic wasn't a problem 15 years ago from these places. It hasn't even been 15 years since all this growth began.

The homes the mentioned were built post 20's and are well built. They're also million dollar 2000 square foot homes (that's after adding an expansion from 1400 sq/ft).

They are nice but I want to meet this massive population of people that can afford a $7-8K/month mortgage.

...then you have the other side of the issue, gentrification.

[WestCobb]

Interesting...is that why MARTA does not extend to Alpharetta now? Is it a clear cut case of not wanting "riff raff" into the burbs?

I'm a recent transplant to the area, but that's what I've heard. According to this web site New Georgia Encyclopedia: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), whites in outlying suburban counties voted against MARTA coming into their areas because they "predicted that MARTA would expedite the racial integration of predominantly white suburbs, would lower home values, and would make suburban communities vulnerable to federal busing programs and the dispersal of public housing." This was in 1971. I'm not sure how much of this attitude persists today, but my guess is that its less than many presume.

[CityFan]

Originally Posted by Workerbee12

Interesting...is that why MARTA does not extend to Alpharetta now? Is it a clear cut case of not wanting "riff raff" into the burbs?


Also is MARTA seen as transportation for a certain social class? It is a class issue?

There are quite few people who are near-sighted and selfish. They just have their own interest on mind and don't care what modern city is like and should be. They become obstacle on the road to make Atlanta a world class city. They are againt everything which brings changes to the community. I hope those people are just minority in numbers.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by CityFan

There are quite few people who are near-sighted and selfish. They just have their own interest on mind and don't care what modern city is like and should be. They become obstacle on the road to make Atlanta a world class city. They are againt everything which brings changes to the community. I hope those people are just minority in numbers.

What it "should be" according to who- you?? You have no interest in living in the suburbs- does that make you selfish and only looking out for your own interests because a mix of urban, suburban, and rural housing possibilities is the way I think it "should be"??