Marta train ride from Airport to Five Points is very ugly. (Atlanta: home, new construction)

[Born 2 Roll]

The very-close proximity to the world's busiest airport of the area in question between the Airport and Five Points actually presents some very-interesting opportunities for redevelopment of the area in coming years, particularly with the direct heavy rail transit connection through the area to the airport (something which will become increasingly valuable as American society decreases its overwhelming dependence on the automobile in coming years and decades).

The area in question is also interesting because there has been talk in recent years of redeveloping the grounds of Fort MacPherson into an Atlantic Station-type mixed-use development complex and extending the Peachtree Street name southwards towards the airport in the future while possibly burying the current rail lines (both the MARTA heavy rail tracks and the freight rail tracks) and redeveloping the right-of-way and surrounding area as high-density real estate and greenspace.

This is all quite a ways off into the future, of course, but the area's close proximity to and direct rail connection with the world's busiest airport gives it quite a bit of potential from a real estate developer's standpoint, despite the area's current state of economic depression.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

The very-close proximity to the world's busiest airport of the area in question between the Airport and Five Points actually presents some very-interesting opportunities for redevelopment of the area in coming years, particularly with the direct heavy rail transit connection through the area to the airport (something which will become increasingly valuable as American society decreases its overwhelming dependence on the automobile in coming years and decades).

The area in question is also interesting because there has been talk in recent years of redeveloping the grounds of Fort MacPherson into an Atlantic Station-type mixed-use development complex and extending the Peachtree Street name southwards towards the airport in the future while possibly burying the current rail lines (both the MARTA heavy rail tracks and the freight rail tracks) and redeveloping the right-of-way and surrounding area as high-density real estate and greenspace.

This is all quite a ways off into the future, of course, but the area's close proximity to and direct rail connection with the world's busiest airport gives it quite a bit of potential from a real estate developer's standpoint, despite the area's current state of economic depression.

The tracks will never be buried. Too costly and interrupts travel to HJIA.

[erick295]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Even poor people can keep their crap picked up and don't have to write graffiti all over the place.

Similarly, you don't have to be bothered by it. Funny how that works.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by erick295

Similarly, you don't have to be bothered by it. Funny how that works.

Trashy is trashy. And yes, it bothers most.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

The very-close proximity to the world's busiest airport of the area in question between the Airport and Five Points actually presents some very-interesting opportunities for redevelopment of the area in coming years, particularly with the direct heavy rail transit connection through the area to the airport (something which will become increasingly valuable as American society decreases its overwhelming dependence on the automobile in coming years and decades).

If we ever have to decrease our dependance on the automobile, you can bet that air travel will go down too.

The area in question is also interesting because there has been talk in recent years of redeveloping the grounds of Fort MacPherson into an Atlantic Station-type mixed-use development complex and extending the Peachtree Street name southwards towards the airport in the future while possibly burying the current rail lines (both the MARTA heavy rail tracks and the freight rail tracks) and redeveloping the right-of-way and surrounding area as high-density real estate and greenspace.

This is all quite a ways off into the future, of course, but the area's close proximity to and direct rail connection with the world's busiest airport gives it quite a bit of potential from a real estate developer's standpoint, despite the area's current state of economic depression.

I doubt burying rail lines would be cost effective and it's really not needed to be done.

[Staysean23]

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.

OMG u said everything I wanted to say. These people on here trip me out

[erick295]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Trashy is trashy. And yes, it bothers most rich people who have been blessed with such comfortable lives that they have the luxury of critiquing the appearance of walls in a neighborhood that they will never have to see except from the windows of a train while on their way to a holiday in Paris.

Fixed it for you

[Staysean23]

Originally Posted by kferq

I have regularly seen panhandlers on every subway system I have ridden. Atlanta, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago all have them. They change cars at the stops, so they get a fresh audience every station. They are a minor annoyance at worst. Different systems have different levels of success in controlling them. Atlanta is definitely not the worst.

There worse here in New York.. The random singing on the train and then after the have sung they go around with baseball caps asking for money. There are some strong hustlers on New York train system.

It kills me people have no backbone these days. They think everything is just supposed to be glitz and Glam. I ride J train to my house and its lots of abandoned buildings and graffiti everywhere

[atler8]

I had sort of a "refresher" course with south line scenery last week when I rode from midtown on down to the airport. The problem with the decay that we see from the train isn't really residential in nature & generated by poor people but rather it's primarily a scene there of decaying & dead industrial, warehousing & commercial space that was built along the railroad tracks that predated MARTA's line by well over a century. There really isn't a whole lot of housing to be seen there for the most part.
The east line, which I mentioned here earlier in this thread, also had a rundown & tired look but has revitalized tremendously. Both the south & east lines did & still do have a problem though with the unsightly graffiti tagging.

[Staysean23]

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.

So what do u have to say about other cities like SF Philly NY New Orleans etc do u think they need to do something about the massive amount of proverty grit and graffiti in those areas.