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Yes, I suppose just as buses serve the same purpose.
However, there are different levels of efficiency here. Generally, heavy rail is faster and has greater capacity per mile than light rail does and is more expensive to build. Generally, heavy rail in the US is completely grade-separated and doesn't mix with traffic at all so isn't subject to traffic disruptions while light rail in the US often has at least parts of their system that are not grade separated. Those are some of the differences there and partially why Atlanta, though not exactly a particularly urban and dense city, has MARTA rail ridership at 70+ million passengers a year while Dalla's DART rail ridership is at about 30 million passengers a year.
A good portion of those extra 40 million riders are lower income Black residents of South and West Atlanta, who really don't have much choice but to take the train.
MARTA is faster and carries more people, but I find it to be a less complete system than DART/TRE which covers a larger area. If you owned a bike you would pretty much be set.
A few years ago I might have agreed, but the last time I was in Dallas the core definitely seemed to have passed up Atlanta. The entire urban area is already denser.
Texas cities also have the infrastructure that will make infill much more practicable.
Atlanta to me is also very car Centric... U need to have a vehicle everywhere u go also....
maybe the MARTA might save a few trips, but a few people... let me correct myself... quite a few people on youtube have actually complained publicly about the service and the ghetto crowds that sometimes get on and start brawls or fights... Not saying Dallas doesn't have... but this happens much more frequently in Atlanta with very little surveillance sometimes according to some ridership...
Atlanta might be in a beautiful setting of Tall Pines and Oaks and have some exquisite neighborhoods with high-rises but it feels very awkward with two extremely different worlds in one city.. one very refined, another part of the city very runned down and dangerous. And Most Texas Cities like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston have amazing Road System and the DART in Dallas has the most Light Rail Mileage in the U.S. reaching to many places. There's more newer places in Dallas, and just overall looks Newer than Atlanta.
A good portion of those extra 40 million riders are lower income Black residents of South and West Atlanta, who really don't have much choice but to take the train.
MARTA is faster and carries more people, but I find it to be a less complete system than DART/TRE which covers a larger area. If you owned a bike you would pretty much be set.
I would agree. Never been impressed with Atlanta and how the MARTA system fits in to the city.
Atlanta itself is beautiful in terms of the trees and greenery. The skyline is beautiful but the city as a whole seems dirty. Going south and west of downtown seems so rural and unkept.
A few years ago I might have agreed, but the last time I was in Dallas the core definitely seemed to have passed up Atlanta. The entire urban area is already denser.
Texas cities also have the infrastructure that will make infill much more practicable.
I was in Dallas a few months ago and I think Atlanta is still ahead for sure. Downtown Atlanta is already more traditionally urban and has better bones and Midtown is densifying at a very rapid rate as well. But again, it's not by a landslide.
I would agree. Never been impressed with Atlanta and how the MARTA system fits in to the city.
Atlanta itself is beautiful in terms of the trees and greenery. The skyline is beautiful but the city as a whole seems dirty. Going south and west of downtown seems so rural and unkept.
Every city has their rough sides; as a whole Atlanta is pretty balanced between the rough sides and the nicer sides, and Atlanta is also gentrifying/redeveloping at a higher rate.
For a Southern city, MARTA is really a marvel and hits pretty much all the key areas. It needs to be expanded but in terms of capacity and actual ridership, no other rail system in the South (not including WMATA) comes close.
For a Southern city, MARTA is really a marvel and hits pretty much all the key areas. It needs to be expanded but in terms of capacity and actual ridership, no other rail system in the South (not including WMATA) comes close.
I would agree. Marta serves Atlanta well for the area to be so spread out. I dont know of another metro type hrt that has martas ridership being as spread out as Atlanta. I noticed there seem to be a lot of park n ride lots in comparison with larger cities.
I also think Dart serves dallas pretty well because of the recent expansion. Not every city can be a Chicago or New York.
I was in Dallas a few months ago and I think Atlanta is still ahead for sure. Downtown Atlanta is already more traditionally urban and has better bones and Midtown is densifying at a very rapid rate as well. But again, it's not by a landslide.
DT and MT Atlanta have an edge for sure, but looking at the larger core area is where I think Dallas comes out on top.
DT and MT Atlanta have an edge for sure, but looking at the larger core area is where I think Dallas comes out on top.
I've not had a chance to explore the inner-ring neighborhoods of Dallas, but Atlanta's are more urban than they are given credit for, with several having MARTA access. Folks are usually really surprised when they see pictures of them; it's a side of Atlanta most visitors, and even some residents, don't really see.
What's your point? Actually, Atlantic Station is a very successful mixed-use development that happens to have an open-air shopping mall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
No, it's a pretty successful mixed-use New Urbanist development but I'm not sure what the point was in bringing it up; that's not representative of traditional urbanism in Atlanta. In its core, Atlanta is more urban than Dallas but overall, it's not by a landslide. The two are more or less in the same boat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by biscuit_head
The outdoor mall only makes up one part of an overall, mixed-use project. There are also apartments and townhomes, office buildings, and a hotel that are part of that development. So you don't know what you're talking about.
However, Midtown Atlanta would be a better example of an increasingly urbanizing part of Atlanta than Atlantic Station. It's still nowhere near as urban as anywhere in the Northeast, but it's not bad for the Sunbelt (outside Los Angeles). Uptown Dallas is somewhat similar, but DART doesn't really run through there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakeesha
Atlanta is more urban in the core. Atlantic Station is a mixed use development. As others have said and provided evidence, your statement is false.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Staysean23
Actually Atlantic station includes residential also along with office towers and a hotel . so I wouldn't consider it a outdoor mall. It's is own neighborhood it also blends in with the neighborhood adjacent to it.It's easy for those near Ga Tech to walk to it. . It has been a very successful development.
It's still an outdoor mall. These developments are all over the country and as far as I know they are all pretty much the same. Vibrant on weekends and pretty dead after the stores close. Atlantic Station is in the core of Atlanta yet still cut off from the rest of the core. I know MARTA serves it, but the urban fabric isn't there.
It reminds me of an older looking City Centre in Houston, which is built very similar but pretty dead outside of restaurants when I went. There's office space, condos, hotels, etc as well. And it's farther from Downtown Houston than Atlantic Station is to downtown Atlanta. No real neighborhood feel. We have a similar development in Baton Rouge called Perkins Rowe, it has condos, office space, bars, etc. But it's just an urban mixed use development in a sea of surburbia. River Ranch in Lafayette, LA is the same.
Something like South Market District in downtown New Orleans is a better representation of an urban development like that. Still part of the street grid and people walk there from neighboring hoods.
Would it be correct to say that most people drive to and from Atlantic Station moreso than they walk or primarily use MARTA? That's how City Centre and Perkins Rowe function.
I've been to Atlanta more than a couple times and really like it and the small downtowns that dot the metro area but never Atlantic Station.
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