Bill filed to annex new Braves stadium into Atlanta (Marietta: lease, employment)

[alco89]

Originally Posted by chiatldal

I post that meme because I thought is was funny but I'm serious.

Cobb is a suburb of Atlanta, that it.... You can put Anything ATL anywhere around the region because it's Atlanta region. The Region Identity is base off Atlanta. But people are so outrange that the Braves are going to Cobb you would think The Brave are leaving Atlanta and are about to get a name change. Because Atlanta is so politically balkanized base on nothing.

The Las Vegas Strip is not even in Las Vegas. South Beach is not even in Miami.

There's a lack of thought that anything benefiting one part of the region is benefiting the region as whole. Atlanta residents should support Cobb. Cobb should support Atlanta.

A1 post!

[jsvh]

Sorry Cobb-folks, y'all are just going to have to accept that your Anti-Atlanta tendencies are going to cost the Braves many true Atlanta fans.

[JoeP]

Seriously blaming Cobb residents for the self serving corporate welfare of the cobb commissioners and Braves ownership.....

[JoeP]

New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago all have both AL and NL teams. If the bill fails, maybe Atlanta can entice an AL team to Turner Field after the Braves leave? Just trying to think outside the hotdog bun, as it were.

the market wouldn't support it. Not big enough.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Seriously blaming Cobb residents for the self serving corporate welfare of the cobb commissioners and Braves ownership.....

Not blaming all citizens of Cobb, I know many are not a fan of this deal either. Just challenging those people that are expecting Braves fans to be thrilled about them leaving the city.

[evannole]

I think we all agree that Cobb, and particularly Cumberland, could really use rail, and that will become even more important with the arrival of the Braves in the area. The historical reluctance of Cobb politicians to embrace this idea is, without a doubt, frustrating.

That said, I also think that we largely agree that the logical route of such a MARTA line would run from somewhere in downtown or Midtown (5 Points, Arts Center or Atlantic Station) up I-75 or U.S. 41 towards Cumberland. Over 80%, perhaps even more, of such a route, if it terminated at Cumberland (though I would hope it would run to Marietta or Town Center) would be within the Atlanta city limits and MARTA's jurisdiction. Hence, technically,speaking, it has been politically possible for all of the time MARTA has existed to build this line at least as far as the current Post Riverside - less than a mile from Vinings - and nothing has even been seriously proposed in recent decades, much less implemented.

I suspect that Buckhead residents may have (and may still) oppose such an expansion, for the same (frivolous) reasons that Cobb leadership has in the past. Even if Cobb were to finally relent (and I hope it does), I do wonder if those living in the vicinity of West Paces Ferry and Northside Parkway would support the construction of such a line, or if they'd try to quietly scuttle it in the background.

The historical Cobb political machine certainly deserves ample criticism for holding up transit expansion, but if MARTA really wanted to get the ball rolling on a northwest line, they have plenty of territory with which to work already, and haven't really tried.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by evannole

Hence, technically,speaking, it has been politically possible for all of the time MARTA has existed to build this line at least as far as the current Post Riverside - less than a mile from Vinings - and nothing has even been seriously proposed in recent decades, much less implemented.

I suspect that Buckhead residents may have (and may still) oppose such an expansion, for the same (frivolous) reasons that Cobb leadership has in the past. Even if Cobb were to finally relent (and I hope it does), I do wonder if those living in the vicinity of West Paces Ferry and Northside Parkway would support the construction of such a line, or if they'd try to quietly scuttle it in the background.

The historical Cobb political machine certainly deserves ample criticism for holding up transit expansion, but if MARTA really wanted to get the ball rolling on a northwest line, they have plenty of territory with which to work already, and haven't really tried.

You know of any right-of-way in that corridor that MARTA could utilize without breaking the bank?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by evannole

The historical Cobb political machine certainly deserves ample criticism for holding up transit expansion, but if MARTA really wanted to get the ball rolling on a northwest line, they have plenty of territory with which to work already, and haven't really tried.

MARTA has a stub built for a line to go to Cobb. But there is no point in building it out until it can actually be extended into Cobb. There are much better investments to be made than trying to woo Cobb with an unneeded line to the Cobb border that would not get extended into Cobb for decades. MARTA doesn't need Cobb, Cobb needs MARTA.

A real CoA annexation of Cumberland would be a great way to get the ball rolling on discussions about extending MARTA into Cobb. I am sure some deal similar to Clayton where if Cumberland is annexed, half the money is escrowed for rail and planning starts on the new line. But that requires Cumberland to take action to start serious discussions about annexation which I don't think is going to happen.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by Gulch

You know of any right-of-way in that corridor that MARTA could utilize without breaking the bank?

Yes, that is the other issue, and the one that concerns me even more about the possibility of rail coming to Cobb. Thirty years ago, it might have been feasible to acquire some land in this corridor or, more likely, up Marietta Blvd and Atlanta Road into Smyrna. It may now be too late. I certainly hope not.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by evannole

Yes, that is the other issue, and the one that concerns me even more about the possibility of rail coming to Cobb. Thirty years ago, it might have been feasible to acquire some land in this corridor or, more likely, up Marietta Blvd and Atlanta Road into Smyrna. It may now be too late. I certainly hope not.

The former (I-75/Northside Parkway corridor) was always going to be expensive even back then. Had Cobb approved MARTA service prior to around 1981, the agency could've worked with GDOT in putting a provision for a rail line into the freeway's median (similar to GA 400 ITP) during the "Freeing the Freeways" widening project.

Because of the higher land costs along I-75, MARTA's original plan was to follow the existing CSX railroad corridor into Cobb, and the planned Northside Drive station, which was to be a temporary terminus of the Northwest Line, would've been at Northside and Holmes Street in Berkeley Park (where the rail tracks currently are).