Marta train ride from Airport to Five Points is very ugly. (Atlanta: renting, homes)

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

MARTA rail going south goes into poor neighborhoods, so that fact that they look bad isn't going to change much. I think it's kind of silly to think that local government needs to clean up that part of the city just because it's the train coming from the airport and we need to somehow hide from visitors that there's poverty in this city.

Every city in this country has nice areas and poor areas. Anyone with common sense coming here from out of town would know that. Why try to put up some front that all of Atlanta is safe, clean and prosperous? The only thing that can be done to clean up the areas mentioned as to impress visitors coming in from the airport is to relocate the poor population out of that area. And why should these people be moved to make the city look good to out-of-towners? It's not as if visitors don't have poor and run down areas where they live as well.

The reality is that there are lots of poor people in the city and many of those poor people live by the airport and along the southbound MARTA route. And unfortunately a lot of those poor people tear up their neighborhoods. But I think the idea that something needs to be done to basically hide that from visitors is a little far-fetched.

...and let the choir say "A.....men!"

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Well, considering that just about all the stops in between are wealthy white suburbs, I guess not.

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by CCATL

Did you ever take the B or D into the Bronx? Or the A through Brooklyn and Queens? I think the point Lovin is making is that no matter where you are, there are going to be poor and wealthy areas. When you are on a train that ONLY serves the wealthy areas (AKA MetroNorth), there will be less panhandling, noise disruption, etc., because those that need to panhandle won't be going in that direction. If you get on those other trains I mentioned, and probably 90% of any of the other subway lines in NYC, you will deal with panhandlers, "musicians", homeless people sleeping, and a host of other things you rarely see on MARTA. Maybe because NYC is bigger people tend to look past it? I don't know.

Point is, obviously, there is nothing wrong with wealthy suburbs - but don't compare a train that ONLY goes to those wealthy suburbs to MARTA trains, which all pass through communities that cross the spectrum of SES.

Okay. STOP. Making. SENSE!

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by soulcontroller

Definitely one of the funniest threads I have read in a while.

Lord, Jesus. I'm over here rowwwling!

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by kasuga888

Does it really matter? You step off the train at five points and you are in "another world" anyways LOL

I swear to God...you ain't nevah lied...

[canceltriplea]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I tend to agree with you. I just hate it when it's vulgar or in places it ought not to be. Like street signs for instance. I think the Living Walls program is pretty cool.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Even poor people can keep their crap picked up and don't have to write graffiti all over the place. The fact the area is low income isn't really that much of an excuse for it being unsightly.

Like another poster mentioned, the majority of the dilapidated structures one sees from the train are not the residential portions, mostly they are old industrial complexes and it is not the responsibility of poor residents, most of whom take MARTA daily and who work long hours but can't afford a car so they can look at pretty stuff all the time out the window (which is nearly impossible in Atlanta BTW, most of our main thoroughfares have a degree of trashy to glitzy IMO) to fix up old abandoned warehouses and factories or cut grass around abandoned railroad tracks.

I just don't get it. There is so much more to be concerned about in Atlanta versus how we look to visitors. And FWIW, the south line goes through both East Point and College Park and so the city wouldn't be able to do much there, maybe the county but really it would be a waste. There are more pressing beautification issues in the city itself that deserve attention inside of residential neighborhoods that citizens have to deal with on a daily basis (dumping, vacant homes and just overall blight) versus what some tourist has to look at for 15 minutes of their lives as they go from Airport to 5 Points.

[Bobcat2012]

Originally Posted by bigstick

Oh Brother, this is in every city with subway, heavy rail. Look at NYC, PHILLY, BOSTON, it ain't pretty.

The T is spotless.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Bobcat2012

The T is spotless.

The dilapidated junk you have to look at from the T isn't around the lines, it's the T itself!

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by canceltriplea

...and let the choir say "A.....men!"

Actually