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Was home visiting family for Thanksgiving week. Things that impressed:
Mercedes Benz Stadium: Got to go to the game on Sunday. Impressive in every aspect. Most impressed with 2 hot dogs and all I could drink coke for $6.
Centennial Olympic Park. Always a beauty but we parked for the game at the aquarium so walked thru twice. Nice to see the building across from the Omni gone and the open space expanding.
Midtown. Wow, oh wow! The urban vibe is totally different. Instead of pockets here and there it is starting to feel like a seamless whole. Drove up West Peachtree and couldn't believe it. Last time I was there Technology Square was starting to give this feel but now it goes for blocks and blocks.
Emory Hospital. Took my mom to her appointment, the big hospital building was a hole in the ground last visit. Whole campus is mega impressive. And their care and treatment is amazing. Have had her in remission from Multiple Myeloma for 14 years.
The Battery. Last visit was just a construction site. Only drove thru but totally impressive. And coming from DFW where the two major stadiums are in Arlington, the whole controversy of this being where it is seems silly. Anything at the perimeter on the north end of town is still very central to the area as a whole.
I-75 toll lanes. Don't get this. Can't understand the argument that expanding MARTA HRT is too expensive when this is going in. Looks like you could run tracks for HRT down that thing with little problem. And I don't think the public would ride less if more Spartan stations were built compared with the big impressive ones that went in originally. Covered platforms would suffice.
The beauty. Atlanta is so beautiful. Hills. Trees. The thing I miss the most out here in Texas. It never ceases to get me, even moreso that I don't see it daily.
Wish I had time to see more, wanted to walk the beltline, tour Ponce City and Krog Street.... Not enough time.
Was home visiting family for Thanksgiving week. Things that impressed:
Mercedes Benz Stadium: Got to go to the game on Sunday. Impressive in every aspect. Most impressed with 2 hot dogs and all I could drink coke for $6.
Centennial Olympic Park. Always a beauty but we parked for the game at the aquarium so walked thru twice. Nice to see the building across from the Omni gone and the open space expanding.
Midtown. Wow, oh wow! The urban vibe is totally different. Instead of pockets here and there it is starting to feel like a seamless whole. Drove up West Peachtree and couldn't believe it. Last time I was there Technology Square was starting to give this feel but now it goes for blocks and blocks.
Emory Hospital. Took my mom to her appointment, the big hospital building was a hole in the ground last visit. Whole campus is mega impressive. And their care and treatment is amazing. Have had her in remission from Multiple Myeloma for 14 years.
The Battery. Last visit was just a construction site. Only drove thru but totally impressive. And coming from DFW where the two major stadiums are in Arlington, the whole controversy of this being where it is seems silly. Anything at the perimeter on the north end of town is still very central to the area as a whole.
I-75 toll lanes. Don't get this. Can't understand the argument that expanding MARTA HRT is too expensive when this is going in. Looks like you could run tracks for HRT down that thing with little problem. And I don't think the public would ride less if more Spartan stations were built compared with the big impressive ones that went in originally. Covered platforms would suffice.
The beauty. Atlanta is so beautiful. Hills. Trees. The thing I miss the most out here in Texas. It never ceases to get me, even moreso that I don't see it daily.
Wish I had time to see more, wanted to walk the beltline, tour Ponce City and Krog Street.... Not enough time.
Hi Saintmarks! Always a pleasure to hear from you.
The beauty. Atlanta is so beautiful. Hills. Trees. The thing I miss the most out here in Texas. It never ceases to get me, even moreso that I don't see it daily.
That was overwhelmingly my favorite part about returning to Georgia from Texas.
And it is infuriating to see them build these toll lanes but transit is too much. Give me a break
I-75 toll lanes. Don't get this. Can't understand the argument that expanding MARTA HRT is too expensive when this is going in. Looks like you could run tracks for HRT down that thing with little problem. And I don't think the public would ride less if more Spartan stations were built compared with the big impressive ones that went in originally. Covered platforms would suffice.
This. I think the exact same thing everytime I visit my dad up in Cobb County/North Marietta.
It really pisses me off, actually. I grew up in anti-MARTA Cobb in the 80s and 90s.
If they can build that northwest corridor toll mess, they can put in HRT. I am still in disbelief.
But I’m an optimist...
My hope is that sanity wins out and they eventually place a rail line on the elevated platform later on.
Was home visiting family for Thanksgiving week. Things that impressed:
Mercedes Benz Stadium: Got to go to the game on Sunday. Impressive in every aspect. Most impressed with 2 hot dogs and all I could drink coke for $6.
You can thank your fellow North Texan, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for the construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Along with the desire to get another Super Bowl, Jones' courting of SEC (Southeastern Conference) officials with weekly meetings and lunches with the SEC Commissioner in an effort to get SEC officials to move the SEC Championship Game from an aging Georgia Dome to Jones' newer "Jerry World" stadium (AT&T Stadium) in Dallas (Arlington, Texas) was a leading motivator for Atlanta boosters to get a new stadium built.
With the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta was able to keep Jerry Jones and Dallas from taking Atlanta's sports mojo (a sports mojo anchored by Atlanta's semi-permanent duties as annual host of the SEC Championship Game) and was even able to add to its sports mojo by being awarded another Super Bowl (in 2019), College Football National Semifinal and College Football National Championship games, and additional NCAA Men's Basketball Final Fours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saintmarks
Midtown. Wow, oh wow! The urban vibe is totally different. Instead of pockets here and there it is starting to feel like a seamless whole. Drove up West Peachtree and couldn't believe it. Last time I was there Technology Square was starting to give this feel but now it goes for blocks and blocks.
Yes. Midtown has emerged as a neighborhood that is one of the leaders of Atlanta's ascent into a technology industry hub for the Southeastern U.S. during the 2010's. Great continuing story here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saintmarks
The Battery. Last visit was just a construction site. Only drove thru but totally impressive. And coming from DFW where the two major stadiums are in Arlington, the whole controversy of this being where it is seems silly. Anything at the perimeter on the north end of town is still very central to the area as a whole.
Yeah, there understandably were a lot of bad feelings on the part of Intowners about the Braves' move from Turner Field in Atlanta to SunTrust Park in Cobb County. But the move to Cobb County seems to be something that may benefit both the Braves and the City of Atlanta over the long-term.
The Braves get the revenue-producing mixed-use development that they've long wanted that is apparently closer to the geographical heart of their fan base (in the affluent "Golden Crescent" ring of Northern suburbs) while the City of Atlanta gets to revitalize the area around Turner Field with the help of Georgia State University which has taken over Turner Field and is creating a mixed-use development with an athletic complex and student residential complex in the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saintmarks
I-75 toll lanes. Don't get this. Can't understand the argument that expanding MARTA HRT is too expensive when this is going in. Looks like you could run tracks for HRT down that thing with little problem. And I don't think the public would ride less if more Spartan stations were built compared with the big impressive ones that went in originally. Covered platforms would suffice.
The deal with the I-75/I-575 toll lanes in Cobb and Cherokee counties (along with the extension of the I-85 HOT lanes in Gwinnett and the I-75 South toll lanes in Henry County) is that they are being built because that was the easiest option for the state to build to show that they are doing something right now to address the growing concerns and frustrations of OTP suburban and exurban commuters (OTP suburban and exurban commuters who vote in very large numbers in statewide elections) after decades of basically doing nothing on transportation while traffic has continued to worse.
The toll lane projects obviously are not perfect, but they are something for which the state already had the right-of-way available to build on and they are better than continuing to do nothing about transportation.
The state also was able to come up with the money after a massive and serious accounting error left GDOT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) with about $1 billion in unexpected surplus funds.
After the T-SPLOST debacle in 2012, Governor Deal directed GDOT to (along with changes in state law that allowed for more spending of existing transportation funds on Interstate highways in the Atlanta area) use that surprise surplus $1 billion to build toll lane projects in key suburban voter strongholds like Cobb, Gwinnett and Henry counties so that it would look like to both Georgians and outside investors alike that Georgia state government was doing something about transportation absent the additional money that the failed T-SPLOST would have generated.
The suburban toll lane projects (like along I-75 Northwest in Cobb County) also do not preclude the eventual expansion of high-capacity transit into an OTP area like Cobb. It is just that the toll lane projects were much easier to pull off than attempting to expand mass transit from ITP to OTP (...something that undoubtedly would be and likely will be much more politically complicated and messy than quickly building toll lanes along right-of-way that the state already owns).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saintmarks
The beauty. Atlanta is so beautiful. Hills. Trees. The thing I miss the most out here in Texas. It never ceases to get me, even moreso that I don't see it daily.
I feel you on that one, Brother. I'm currently spending some extended time in the Midwest (in the flatter and less heavily-wooded part of the Ohio Valley) where they have a few hills and trees but nothing like the richly wooded hilly-to-mountainous beauty that North Georgia has.
Was home visiting family for Thanksgiving week. Things that impressed:
Mercedes Benz Stadium: Got to go to the game on Sunday. Impressive in every aspect. Most impressed with 2 hot dogs and all I could drink coke for $6.
Centennial Olympic Park. Always a beauty but we parked for the game at the aquarium so walked thru twice. Nice to see the building across from the Omni gone and the open space expanding.
Midtown. Wow, oh wow! The urban vibe is totally different. Instead of pockets here and there it is starting to feel like a seamless whole. Drove up West Peachtree and couldn't believe it. Last time I was there Technology Square was starting to give this feel but now it goes for blocks and blocks.
Emory Hospital. Took my mom to her appointment, the big hospital building was a hole in the ground last visit. Whole campus is mega impressive. And their care and treatment is amazing. Have had her in remission from Multiple Myeloma for 14 years.
The Battery. Last visit was just a construction site. Only drove thru but totally impressive. And coming from DFW where the two major stadiums are in Arlington, the whole controversy of this being where it is seems silly. Anything at the perimeter on the north end of town is still very central to the area as a whole.
I-75 toll lanes. Don't get this. Can't understand the argument that expanding MARTA HRT is too expensive when this is going in. Looks like you could run tracks for HRT down that thing with little problem. And I don't think the public would ride less if more Spartan stations were built compared with the big impressive ones that went in originally. Covered platforms would suffice.
The beauty. Atlanta is so beautiful. Hills. Trees. The thing I miss the most out here in Texas. It never ceases to get me, even moreso that I don't see it daily.
Wish I had time to see more, wanted to walk the beltline, tour Ponce City and Krog Street.... Not enough time.
What a great write up! Thanks for posting.
I love all of the trees and the nature in Atlanta also.
Most of all, congrats to your Mom for her remission! That is awesome! Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is an NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center with good reason.
I love all of the trees and the nature in Atlanta also.
Most of all, congrats to your Mom for her remission! That is awesome! Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is an NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center with good reason.
Will you be back for Christmas?
Kinda spent all my time off ability for a while...
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