Why is Atlanta on such a decline? (Columbus, Commerce: theatre, living)

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

That's why I'm getting the hell out of here in a few years...tired of the traffic, redneck politics that stop Atlanta from reaching it's true potential and blossoming into a city that can be respected. I hate the racist, conservative south and can't wait to move up North or back out West where they are living in the present, not the past.

If you understand how cities develop, you would know that Atlanta did not, can not, and will not develop like NYC / Chicago /LA. End of story. No argument. Yet you constantly bring up that Atlanta should be more like these places. It's just a waste of time and effort. Stop berating Atlanta for not being like them when it is 100% unrealistic that Atlanta will ever be like these great cities (said very loosely when referring to LA).

I would suggest for the rest of your time here in our fine city, come to accept this fact and attempt to enjoy Atlanta for what it is.

Just because Atlanta is not what you want it to be does not make it a city that can not be respected. Grow up.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by afonega1

I already admitted they are similar.

And that's all the comparison was about; nothing more, nothing less. Don't stretch a very minor point into something that nobody's even talking about in an attempt to be "right" on something. You tend to do that a lot, but I don't have time to get caught up in that today or address the silly implication that everywhere else in GA is 10 times better than every place in SC and AL--something that you couldn't possibly believe yourself, even in light of your status as a GA booster.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

What makes a city great? Are their great cities that aren't dense? Absolutely. So many people on here have such wiener envy of other cities that is is hilarious. Atlanta isn't NYC. It isn't Chicago. That is a good thing for somethings, a negative for others. I don't aspire for Atlanta to be like Chicago or NYC. I think Atlanta is great and has some great attributes that those cities can't come close to matching.



Respectable? Who are you trying to impress? Sounds like another example of your big city wiener envy.

Did those cities become great because they were dense or did they grow dense because they were great and the free market forced inward and upward growth? Hmmm...

What makes a city great is

1)Population...the greatest cities in this world in terms of POWER are generally the largest...coincidence? Hmmm. Generally, these large cities are very dense...coincidence? No.

2)Financial strength and importance/Very diverse economies....notice the alpha+ cities are the financial anchors in the world? Wall Street in NYC...The Canary Wharf in London. Tokyo and Shanghai are very important in terms of financial prominence.

3)Strong tourism economy....again, the big cities generally have a lot of tourism. Something that gets people to come visit their great city. I just don't see anything that can truly get people to visit Atlanta just because... New York, you have Manhattan which is just one large downtown area filled with historic buildings, views, museums, broadway theatres, and more. L.A., you have Hollywood, the beach, the mountains, the Westside, OC attractions like Disney Land...What exactly does Atlanta have that other cities don't? The world largest aquarium? Cool beans.

4)High COL...notice the greatest cities have the highest cost of living because there is so much desire to live in those places? Examples in the U.S. include New York and LA. Some of the densiest, most populated cities in this country. Atlanta COL is not that high which can be a good thing, but there's a reason for that.

Now, a lot of these great cities have widespread, extensive transit so that they can meet, NOT ONLY the needs of drivers, but people who like transit also. THEY GIVE THEIR CITIZEN OPTIONS. Atlanta does not. Unless you live inside of the 285, you have no choice, but to drive. To endure the massive traffic snarl that occur EVERY workday.

Is it coincidence that the greatest cities in this world have a balance of all of these? No.

If Atlanta wants to become great, it needs to look up to these cities. They are always calling themselves the 'New South' anyway.

[rzzz]

If you give the cities in the Economist, Mercer and Monocle quality of life rankings any weight, NYC comes in at like 47th. LA and ATL don't even make the list. Honolulu is usually ranked at the top of the bunch in the USA. ATL can't and isn't gonna be like NYC... nothing is going to be like NYC. However, why even bother looking at NYC. Look at some place like Melbourne, Australia, which is usually in the top 5 and is also a lower density, sprawling, car centric city. I don't think ATL is ever gonna approach Melbourne's status, either (largest tram/street car system in world), but it's a more reasonable place for comparison.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by rzzz

If you give the cities in the Economist, Mercer and Monocle quality of life rankings any weight, NYC comes in at like 47th. LA and ATL don't even make the list. Honolulu is usually ranked at the top of the bunch in the USA. ATL can't and isn't gonna be like NYC... nothing is going to be like NYC. However, why even bother looking at NYC. Look at some place like Melbourne, Australia, which is usually in the top 5 and is also a lower density, sprawling, car centric city. I don't think ATL is ever gonna approach Melbourne's status, either (largest tram/street car system in world), but it's a more reasonable place for comparison.

Okay, but as you said, they have large public transit...even if they are sprawly, they are doing something right that Atlanta isn't. Atlanta does not need to be dense in it's outer suburbs, but at least have rail go farther then the 285. That's ridiculous that rail only serve 1 million out of the 5+ million people who live in the region.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

What makes a city great is

1)Population...the greatest cities in this world in terms of POWER are generally the largest...coincidence? Hmmm. Generally, these large cities are very dense...coincidence? No.

2)Financial strength and importance/Very diverse economies....notice the alpha+ cities are the financial anchors in the world? Wall Street in NYC...The Canary Wharf in London. Tokyo and Shanghai are very important in terms of financial prominence.

3)Strong tourism economy....again, the big cities generally have a lot of tourism. Something that gets people to come visit their great city. I just don't see anything that can truly get people to visit Atlanta just because... New York, you have Manhattan which is just one large downtown area filled with historic buildings, views, museums, broadway theatres, and more. L.A., you have Hollywood, the beach, the mountains, the Westside, OC attractions like Disney Land...What exactly does Atlanta have that other cities don't? The world largest aquarium? Cool beans.

4)High COL...notice the greatest cities have the highest cost of living because there is so much desire to live in those places? Examples in the U.S. include New York and LA. Some of the densiest, most populated cities in this country. Atlanta COL is not that high which can be a good thing, but there's a reason for that.

Now, a lot of these great cities have widespread, extensive transit so that they can meet, NOT ONLY the needs of drivers, but people who like transit also. THEY GIVE THEIR CITIZEN OPTIONS. Atlanta does not. Unless you live inside of the 285, you have no choice, but to drive. To endure the massive traffic snarl that occur EVERY workday.

Is it coincidence that the greatest cities in this world have a balance of all of these? No.

If Atlanta wants to become great, it needs to look up to these cities. They are always calling themselves the 'New South' anyway.

NYC and LA are bad examples because they both have a very low QOL despite a high COL. I have no desire to live in either of those two cities. They have the same problems and BS as Atlanta has, if not more. NYC may have a more extensive transit system, but not LA. If I lived in Atlanta I would choose to live inside 285. I can get a luxury condo in Midtown and still live the Manhattan lifestyle for much lower than the Manhattan price, and the weather is much better.

Now Tokyo and London are great examples of cities that have great QOL worth every yen or pound of their high COL.

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Okay, but as you said, they have large public transit...even if they are sprawly, they are doing something right that Atlanta isn't. Atlanta does not need to be dense in it's outer suburbs, but at least have rail go farther then the 285. That's ridiculous that rail only serve 1 million out of the 5+ million people who live in the region.

I feel your pain, but as someone else said on another thread, ATL is not going change into what you are looking for anytime in your lifetime, or perhaps ever. I'm not sure it's just the political climate, though. It's simply hard (and expensive) to retrofit world class transit into a city that already exists and was not really designed for it.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Other the the mountains and Savannah, there's nothing else in Georgia. I went to Augusta nearly a week ago and it was nothing. I went to Macon a few months ago and it was nothing. Savannah blew me away, but that was it.

There's more beauty in states like Idaho and Montana then there is in Georgia.

Macon
Yes those Indian Mounds at Occumulgee National Park ,or the musical heritage birthplace or hometown of such musicians as The Allman Brothers Band, Randy Crawford, Mark Heard, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Redding, Little Richard, Mike Mills and Bill Berry of R.E.M., as well as more recent names like violinist Robert McDuffie and country artist Jason Aldean.[clarification needed] The rapper Young Jeezy was discovered in Macon. September Hase, an alternative rock band, was discovered in Macon. Capricorn Records, run by Macon natives Phil Walden and briefly Alan Walden, made the city a hub for Southern rock music in the late 1960s and 1970s.
OR even the International Cherry Festival.Who would want to see any of that?

Augusta I give you.I did like the architecture of the old houses.Not to mention home of The Masters and Augusta National.

But the Okefenokee Swamp in South Georgia,Little Grand Canyon,Calloway Gardens, Cumberland Island National Seashore,Jekyll Island and Sea Island-The Cloister(where the G8 world leaders met) are all great places outside of the mountains of Savannah that i have been with friends from all over the world.
It took my cousins to finally show me around LA after going by myself the first for me to see there was more to it than congestion and celebrities.
Driving through a place does not give you the whole story.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

And that's all the comparison was about; nothing more, nothing less. Don't stretch a very minor point into something that nobody's even talking about in an attempt to be "right" on something. You tend to do that a lot, but I don't have time to get caught up in that today or address the silly implication that everywhere else in GA is 10 times better than every place in SC and AL--something that you couldn't possibly believe yourself, even in light of your status as a GA booster.

LOL.You are a riot.You do what you are excusing me in the Carolina forums alot so just stop it.I never said everything was 10x better,Obviously its still the South with a lot of catching up to do but there is a difference.
YOU read more into what I said than I did.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by afonega1

LOL.You are a riot.You do what you are excusing me in the Carolina forums alot so just stop it.

Uh, no. I deal with the argument as is; I don't try to stretch minor points ancillary to it just to try and be right on something.

I never said everything was 10x better,Obviously its still the South with a lot of catching up to do but there is a difference.

The only thing I'll give you is roads, since GADOT does a decent job with that in rural areas. Racial harmony and education? Can't really speak for AL (except Huntsville--no 2nd tier city in GA comes close to touching it in terms of education, income, etc.), but there's nothing close to a 10-fold difference between GA sans Atlanta and SC. And I'm speaking from firsthand experience as a native SC'er and now a GA resident.