STOP IT!!!Downtown Atlanta is not that bad (Washington, Boston: lease, income)

[afonega1]

Forty-one percent of respondents were aware of the Downtown Ambassador Force, a public safety squad unique to Downtown. The perception of safety Downtown has also increased since 2002, with 69 percent of respondents deeming Downtown either "very" or "somewhat" safe, compared to 61 percent in the previous survey. Additionally, 62 percent of respondents feel that the Downtown Ambassador Force has made Downtown safer. The number of respondents who'd been victims of crime Downtown decreased from more than 10 percent in 2002 to 7 percent presently.

Recent Study Highlights Positive Perceptions of Downtown Atlanta | Downtown Atlanta

This gives credence to all he new activity as of late..

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by WDCJoe

I beg to differ with reference to funding for metro. Metro does not get full support from the federal government. In fact metro currently has no dedicated funding sources (which requires the wmata board to go back to the state and federal government on an annual basis to beg for money). You can also see this in play with the fares that we pay. Our fares are far higher than most cities within the country. 2.25 can get you all over Chicago and NY. Not so here. When I lived in Maryland I paid 5.00 each way to commute to work by metro. Couple this with parking and you’re at 15.00 per day. Metro riders pay one of the highest ratios of ridership costs in the nation. Additionally Metro was built mainly because the transportation dollars (due to the freeway revolts during the 60's) that were previously earmarked for highway construction within DC instead went to metro construction. While I will not argue that some special consideration has occurred over the years, the premise that metro had a open checkbook from Congress were unfounded.

In the end, Metro gets much more support from the federal government than MARTA does, presently and historically. And again, MARTA gets no support from Georgia. Overall, Metro is in a much, much better position in terms of funding than MARTA is. That much cannot be argued.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by WDCJoe

You don't need a canyon of 20 to 60 story buildings to create urbanity. Look at the great cities of Europe. Amsterdam doesn't have a canyon block however it is an extremely dense city where one can walk and bicycle to most destinations. Tall buildings in some ways can be the antithesis of density. Roslyn in NOVA (across the Potomac from DC) is a poster child for this. While the buildings there do not reach the 60 story mark they do range in the 15 to 30 story category. When one looks at the building cluster from DC or the 14th street bridge one gets the feeling that the area must be hopping, when the exact inverse is true. While you do have a large office population, the resident population is smaller and the street life is subpar in comparison to neighborhoods (lacking tall buildings) in DC proper.

I am very well aware of the European cities. My whole point is that the "canyon" I speak of IS dense, with pedestrians and uses. There is absolutely no way, no how that you can compare Peachtree Street and environs to Roslyn. Please.

[WDCJoe]

Originally Posted by johnatl

I am very well aware of the European cities. My whole point is that the "canyon" I speak of IS dense, with pedestrians and uses. There is absolutely no way, no how that you can compare Peachtree Street and environs to Roslyn. Please.

I was not attempting to compare Roslyn to Peachtree stret, I simply was demonstrating that urban canyons do not nessitate urbanity hence Roslyn. Your previous post implied that by having urban canyons, one automaticlly gets urbanity and that is an untrue premise.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by WDCJoe

I was not attempting to compare Roslyn to Peachtree stret, I simply was demonstrating that urban canyons do not nessitate urbanity hence Roslyn. Your previous post implied that by having urban canyons, one automaticlly gets urbanity and that is an untrue premise.

Oh, I completely agree. I was talking about this urban canyon specifically. It has no blank walls, unlike some of the side streets and is nothing but vibrant, imho.

[EdwardA]

Also the federal government subsidizes Metro indirectly since they provide many of its workers free metro cards to take Metro as opposed to driving.

[WDCJoe]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

In the end, Metro gets much more support from the federal government than MARTA does, presently and historically. And again, MARTA gets no support from Georgia. Overall, Metro is in a much, much better position in terms of funding than MARTA is. That much cannot be argued.

Yes it does, and that is by design as a percentage of the expenses shouldered by the District (in relation to housing the federal government) must be appropriated by the federal government. However this is in no way negates my previous notion that Metros funding base is erratic and not stationary. According to MARTA’s own financial report DC metro users subsidize the highest share of annual operating costs at 57.6% of total revenue. Compare this to NY 53% and MARTA 31.8%. The remaining revenue sourcese for Metro are generated by utilizing a formula that takes into account pop density, metro station counts, and ridership levels and are appropriated on a county and district (in the case of DC) level at 42.4%. Again, things aren’t the land of sunshine for Metro either.

[WDCJoe]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

Also the federal government subsidizes Metro indirectly since they provide many of its workers free metro cards to take Metro as opposed to driving.

That would be at the privy of the individual workers contract (if they recieve transit benefits or not). This is on the individual level and not the Federal level.

[mike7586]

Well this is good news:

Positive perceptions of downtown Atlanta on the rise, says poll *| ajc.com

Hopefully we can keep up the momentum and continue to revitalize parts of the city.

[Brillemeister]

I should hope it's not a fractured process, seeing as Downtown will soon be in five different Council districts:

http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/red...Plan_2_Map.pdf