MARTA in Gwinnett (Cleveland, Pitts: unemployment, income, manufacturing)

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

What I was trying to say is that Atlanta is not a major factory town in the way places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit are.

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Atlanta might have some factories, but not on a scales of the factories cities in northern states.

Actually, cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and even Detroit are transforming away from manufacturing. Areas like New England that were once full of old mills and industrial complexes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are now transforming into financial and biotech.

//www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...h-Economy.html

//www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...d-Economy.html

It's happening all over the country, and as this last recession has shown, an area built heavily on old style manufacturing (like Detroit) will suffer much worse. The future will not be building Buicks.

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by neil0311

The US "invents" and produces quite a bit. You just have to get your head around the shift to an information based economy. Think Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, Google, HP, Dell, just to name a few, along with all the start up and small companies. Sure, much of the hardware is built in the far east, but the innovation is the software and the intellectual property and most of that is still made here.

Just because we don't have guys named Chuck slinging a hammer in a big factory building, it doesn't mean that we don't produce here in the US.

Neil, granted we do have some manufacturing and intel still here in America but it is just a fraction of what it was. I see it in my industry. We still are a Fortune 100 company, we still have well over 20,000 employees, though the percentages have shifted over the years (been there well over 20 myself and travel "everywhere") Our domestic manufacturing is 10% of what it was 10 years ago, the rest? Sent to India, Mexico, Belgium, and now in talks with Communist China. Also, our Intel and invention is not as domestic as you may think. Yes, invented in America, but by Engineers on H Visa's from other alien groups.

It is not the fact that we have Chuck losing his position to Su Lee in Communist China at pennies on the dollar, but now we have Charles with his graduate degree from Tech and a PE designation being outsourced for pennies on the dollar. Now, is this "corporate greed" as most on the left shout? No. Mostly this is due to America's constricting tax code that causes the outsourcing. Remember, America now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world (Japan recently reduced theirs) and nothing on the horizon with this current administration to change that.

The companies you mention above are a great example. Dell, Microsoft, etc., just about all but Mac are outsourced fanitics. Also, we should keep Chuck in mind and keep Chuck very close. It was our past industrial production base that maintained America's freedom over the decades. If not for our manufacturing base we all might be speaking German and goose stepping today. Can you believe our troops today are dressed in uniforms made in Communist China with much of thier software systems made there too? Granted, we have now entered a realm of making love to terrorist and providing them defense lawyers, but if and when to poop hits the fan, we better make sure Chuck still has his hammer so he can build and protect our modern day soft tailed boys on the golf course whining about carpel tunnel.

We might have a global economy today, but we should revisit our council of thought and teaching on how to "win" in a global economy. Massing record deficits and double digit unemployment is not the right prescription of success.

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Actually, cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and even Detroit are transforming away from manufacturing. Areas like New England that were once full of old mills and industrial complexes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are now transforming into financial and biotech.
//www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...h-Economy.html

//www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...d-Economy.html

It's happening all over the country, and as this last recession has shown, an area built heavily on old style manufacturing (like Detroit) will suffer much worse. The future will not be building Buicks.

True, but if the government takes over the medical science of this country and Communist China, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia decide to cease as a foundation to our Treasury debt notes then financial and biotech will not be the future either.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

What I was trying to say is that Atlanta is not a major factory town in the way places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit are. What I was trying to say is that alot of Atlanta's air pollution is a cause of factories, but a city in love with the automobile. I read this in a book. In 2008, Atlanta had the 4th highest rate of asthma in the USA and ranks among the top 10 cities in year round air pollution related to particulates. Atlanta might have some factories, but not on a scales of the factories cities in northern states. Atlanta metro is is full of trees, everywhere and kudzu too. Normally, trees are suppose to be a contributor in keeping the air relatively clean. The air still gets very polluted, especially in the summer. Just the fact that Atlanta is one of the asthma capitals in the USA, that should be reason to push for more rail transit and alternatives to gasoline-powered vehicles.

Just do a quick search for "Atlanta factories" or "Atlanta industrial" and see what you get. Of course you don't see factories often in Kennesaw or Vinings or wherever, and of course Atlanta isn't Pittsburgh...but this is a huge metro area with huge industrial areas. I promise.

[DeaconJ]

This article is 2 years old, and even though the topic is Georgia's loss of manufacturing jobs, it does give some statistics for Atlanta:

Atlanta is Georgia's top industrial employer, with 10.5 percent of the state's manufacturing employment, or 60,080 jobs, and is home to 1,070 plants, MNI reported. The city is 18th in the nation and fourth in the Southeast by number of industrial jobs.

Report: Georgia loses 12,771 manufacturing jobs - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

[bfarley30]

Has anyone ever seen this proposal from about 2007 on MARTA rail expansion into Gwinnett? It's actually really detailed! I which MARTA would come up with a full rail and bus expansion packet like this to really show how much better transit could be with MARTA expansion.

http://www.gwinnettplacecid.com/pdfs...or-Dec_rev.pdf

[MattCW]

Interesting plan, even more interesting that it was proposed to turn and follow I-85 instead of the railroad.

If this project were proposed today, I'd be torn on whether or not to support it. On the one hand, it's high capacity transit to Gwinnett Place and along the I-85 corridor. On the other, it's 11 times the cost per mile of commuter rail. For the $2.4 Billion price tag shown in the plans, you could build out a full, electrified, commuter rail plan to Gainesville, and then with the remainder, drastically improve the local transit options to provide effectively the same capacity, reaching more people. No, Gwinnett Place does not sit on the rail line, but that could be made up for with BRT service from the area to the train station, either a park and ride at Pleasant Hill Road, or a community hub station in downtown Duluth.

[rorqual]

Gwinnett is now diverse enough that there should be no fear of expanding Marta here. The extremely conservative, narrow-minded white populace has decreased drastically in this county.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by bfarley30

Has anyone ever seen this proposal from about 2007 on MARTA rail expansion into Gwinnett? It's actually really detailed! I which MARTA would come up with a full rail and bus expansion packet like this to really show how much better transit could be with MARTA expansion.

http://www.gwinnettplacecid.com/pdfs...or-Dec_rev.pdf

It's basically the plan MARTA put forward in the failed 1990 referendum with an additional station (Gwinnett Village). Hope it eventually gets built.

[bfarley30]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Interesting plan, even more interesting that it was proposed to turn and follow I-85 instead of the railroad.

If this project were proposed today, I'd be torn on whether or not to support it. On the one hand, it's high capacity transit to Gwinnett Place and along the I-85 corridor. On the other, it's 11 times the cost per mile of commuter rail. For the $2.4 Billion price tag shown in the plans, you could build out a full, electrified, commuter rail plan to Gainesville, and then with the remainder, drastically improve the local transit options to provide effectively the same capacity, reaching more people. No, Gwinnett Place does not sit on the rail line, but that could be made up for with BRT service from the area to the train station, either a park and ride at Pleasant Hill Road, or a community hub station in downtown Duluth.

I think it's always been the plan to follow I-85 after the Norcross station. I would be 100% for this plan even with the price tag. This plan is strictly for those who use I-85. I think it's great that it will be in view of those stuck in traffic while they watch the trains zoom by. It will give them something to think about. I think commuter rail is also needed but not as the only option. Gwinnett is close enough and dense enough that HRT is needed, especially along I-85.