Atlanta #1 Metro area for sprawl

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Don't worry about me, I can easily get food from the Forest Park farmers market. I can hopefully take MARTA there.

Great, I'll be thinking about you riding along on the bus with your veggies.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Don't worry about me, I can easily get food from the Forest Park farmers market. I can hopefully take MARTA there. Wonder how you'll get to work.

Perhaps Arjay doesn't have to work? And, if the oil runs out, I doubt you'll be finding too many veggies at the farmer's market.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Perhaps Arjay doesn't have to work? And, if the oil runs out, I doubt you'll be finding too many veggies at the farmer's market.

Atlanta's a rail hub, remember

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Perhaps Arjay doesn't have to work?

Alas, I am only semi-retired, but fortunately I have a good home office with an assistant who comes in two days a week. We have a conference room and I can meet folks here or out in the field. I'm also pretty well linked in with our main office -- I usually go in once a week but could probably get by with less.

Now I grant I am lucky. But I believe there are a lot of people these days who have developed working and living patterns where they can still maintain some elbow room and still be sustainable.

[demonta4]

Look, I'm not saying we should have to get rid of our yards but we have to rethink about how our neighborhoods work. Virginia Highland is better than some random subdivision in the middle of NOWHERE.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by demonta4

Look, I'm not saying we should have to get rid of our yards but we have to rethink about how our neighborhoods work. Virginia Highland is better than some random subdivision in the middle of NOWHERE.

When the oil gets too expensive, we'll drive electric cars. If we're all stuck with public transportation, we've got a lot bigger problems than traffic.

Atlanta needs to get out of its mode of keeping everything the same. Cities need to change or die (yes, I realize they tore down everything prior to the last 20-30 years). You preserve some of it and redevelop other parts. It doesn't all need to be the small lots like Virginia Highlands. But we have really too much of the large lot subdivisions close in. Some should be preserved. Some should be redeveloped over time.

[LynnHarris]

Excerpt from article:

"The metro areas deemed most sprawling are, in order, Hickory, N.C.; Atlanta; and Clarksville, Tenn.

In Atlanta, officials say three quarters of development in the past five years has taken place in the metro area’s dense population centers. They add that it takes a long time to recast a metro area of 5.3 million people.

Tom Redmond makes no apologies for contributing to sprawl. The 45-year-old wholesaler for an insurance company lives with his wife and their three school-aged children in Forsyth County, Ga. His 33-mile commute to his office in Atlanta’s Buckhead district often takes 75 to 80 minutes.

Mr. Redmond estimates that he pays $700 a month for the family’s cars and $2,200 for the mortgage. However, he notes that he pays less in property taxes than he would in the city and sends his kids to public school rather than paying for private school in the city. The family also gets a big yard and friendly neighbors, he says.

“The advantages I get by living out here far outweigh that hour and 20 minutes in the car,” Mr. Redmond said. “I’ve come to accept it.”


Full Story: Sprawling Cities Face More Car Wrecks and Higher Obesity - Real Time Economics - WSJ

[jsvh]

A related study by the same people finds 'Atlanta No. 8 in walkable urban development'

The report can be found here: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/do...ffic-ahead.pdf

Atlanta appears to be the highest ranked sun-belt city. The report also contains a section titled "The End of Sprawl" which focuses on Atlanta:

The End of Sprawl

How metro Atlanta turned the corner on sprawl development.

A 2014 Smart Growth America report, Measuring Sprawl 2014, ranked the
major metropolitan areas by how much they were sprawling . Of the largest
metro areas, Atlanta ranked first . Since the early 1990s, metro Atlanta has
been referred to as the “poster child of sprawl,” as its geographic footprint
grew faster than any human settlement in history . However, this report
shows that metro Atlanta is the eighth highest of the 30 largest metros in
current walkable urbanism rankings, and it ranks even higher for future
walkable urban growth . Is metro Atlanta characterized more by sprawl or
by walkable urbanism?

In short, both reports’ characterizations of Atlanta are correct . Atlanta’s
sprawl is the result of 60 years of the drivable sub-urban development it
perfected.

Despite its sprawling history, the strength of Atlanta’s walkable urban places,
relative to its peers, appears to be real . This real estate cycle, starting in 2009,
represents a major shift for Atlanta toward walkable urbanism...