maverick

This map is nothing new. The North Rail expansion was talked about way back in 2000 and deemed infeasible because of the costs. The Clifton corridor study is still "open" but that too has been open for years. The only real recent progress has been MARTA's new push for BRT along Memorial Drive.

^Great, another 2-year study to tell the metro area that more transit options are needed. This will go on the shelf with the rest of the ones done in the past 10 years. People complain about wasting money on public transit - how about wasting money on rehashing concepts that are 20 years old?

^Crate & Barrel is also 2-story in the mall.

MARTA is now taking over operations of C-Tran. http://www.itsmarta.com/newsroom/press_rel.../rel.asp?id=236

East Village? SoNo? Atlanta is trying way too hard to become another New York.

Thanks Ryan for your clarification. I guess I am just super optimistic (eh, what do you expect from a 26-year-old new to Atlanta)! ;D I grew up in New England (Providence) and witnessed many people commuting to and from Boston on the T (both the commuter rail and the "subway"). I have seen how many people live within Boston and the immediate suburbs and use their car very infrequently. Yes, that type of solution took MANY years, and I get that. I am all about expanding MARTA too within the Fulton and Dekalb County lines. I don't get why a "Northwest/South" line was not constructed. They could have designed a route that didn't destroy residential neighborhoods. Heck, they have a lot of potential with the Bankhead extension to push that out further. Plus, BRT, I believe, is the wave of the future here in Atlanta. The Northwest I-75 study, I think, has nailed it with stations in Cumberland and also other places in Cobb County. This, I believe, will benefit lifestyle more than mere HOV lanes which are hardly used anyways (a dismal percentage of people use those lanes for travel - they should include hybrid vehicles on the list of acceptable vehicles for HOV lanes). But, alas, I continue to rant. I apologize for that! Thanks for everyone reading!

That's one of the main points, though. Some of these transit options cost far less than highway expansion/construction projects (i.e., the "Northern Arc" proposal) and act more than a "band-aid" to the problem. For example, the expansion of GA 400 recently to 4 lanes will work for a couple of years, but by then populations in Roswell, Cumming, John's Creek, Milton, and Alpharetta will grow and push the "benefit" of that extra lane to the brink of uselessness. What then? Add another lane and spend MORE money? I don't know the answer in terms of how much one city versus another would pay for the rail versus the amount contributed from the state, but something tells me that if more people sit down and see examine the facts, they would likely reach a conclusion that on a cost-effectiveness basis, other projects versus highway expansions would be much more profitable. Case in point - there is a reason why areas like Brookhaven and Chamblee are starting to explode right now in terms of development for residential and retail - they are located near MARTA stations, which, according to sources I have in the real estate market, has been a hot thing requested from newbies (and potential developers) in town.

First, I'll preface this entire response by saying that I don't mean to anger you (you sound upset in this post). I am merely making comparisons and offering my thoughts. Now, onto this first point - I'm not sure what you mean by "urban core." I don't envision commuter rails going out to Columbus to reach Atlanta necessarily. I'm talking about where the majority of people are coming from to get into the city. Gwinnett, Cobb, and northern Fulton counties are the prime regions where these type of transit options would work. And regarding your other point about car-oriented system, I think you're making my point for me. This country has relied on that mentality for too long, and before oil and gas prices exponentially grow (which really isn't too far in the future, as many economists predict we have already reached our peak oil productions and that oil could hit $100/barrel as early as in a year), we need to develop better and newer strategies for mobility. There is no reason to shrug off or ignore these issues by simply saying that Atlanta is not like NYC or Chicago. The traffic situation here is horrendous and has a detrimental effect on all, whether it be through air quality, stress, economic strains, etc. Again, I will disagree with you here for the reasons I stated earlier and just above. The excuse that Atlanta is not like other cities can only be used so far. And I don't understand what a "core" city has to do with anything. You wouldn't consider cities/areas like Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Marietta, Kennesaw, Norcross, Peachtree City, Fayetteville, etc. as regions where a large amount of people live and commute to Atlanta for work? I don't understand why you would prefer to spend money on a more asthetic element of this city that has little if any real gain for the people in the metro Atlanta area as a whole over working for a better integrated city. That to me is just wasteful. Look, streetcars would be attractive, but that's about all they would do. They would still traverse down busy roads, causing congestion and not relieving traffic while moving a limited amount of people. If the proposal for this were to come for referundum over, say, expanding commuter rail options to nearby suburbs, I would quickly vote "no."

I actually disagree. And perhaps expansion of the N/S line as it is may not be feasible. But a commuter rail line or LRT from, say, Cumming to Dunwoody would be used extensively I think. And that is cheaper than trying to expand the "subway" lines on MARTA. I find it hard to digest that commuter rails and LRTs are "impracticle" for suburban life when other mature metropolitan areas in this country (and the world) use them with extreme success. And you actually favor rebuilding streetcars in Atlanta vs. helping to solve 2 hour+ commutes along I-85, I-75, and GA 400? That to me is a waste of money. Sure streetcars will be attractive, but they are not practical. Not for the serious transit issues facing this metro area.

There are a TON of projects happening in Vinings right now, all within a 1 mile radius of me! :) (If some of these have been discussed already, I apologize. I am new and didn't go through every post in this thread - just a cursory look.) In immediate "downtown" Vinings, along with the Aberdeen announced above, there is: (1) Vinings Main, a mixed use space with condos, townhomes, and shops/restaurants (2) Avignon at Vinings, a European-themed residential neighborhood with condos, townhomes, and $1M+ villas. The advantage of these two projects as well as the Aberdeen are the amazing views that the higher floors/hilltop homes will have of Buckhead and downtown Atlanta. Just breathtaking. On Cobb Parkway and Cumberland Blvd: (3) Park Vinings, a project that was dead for a few years but is now back in action with already some units sold. Prices range from $1M - $12M for penthouses. (4) Riverwood Mixed Use, on the NW corner of Cobb Parkway and Cumberland Blvd. A mixed-use developement with condos, stores (including a grocery store which rumors say could be a Whole Foods), office space, and a hotel. Further down closer to I-75/I-285, there is the ready-to-open Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center which will eventually also feature performances from the Atlanta Opera. Along with the Performing Arts Center, there will be two towers (one 18 stories, the other 15 stories) with residences, hotel space, and offices. Finally, across I-75, is the soon-to-be-developed Shops at Overton Park. There are also future plans for more redevelopment near the Galleria too. Very exciting time for Vinings!

I think MARTA should really invest on extending the N/S line to Alpharetta. I think that most of the folks there are VERY anxious to have it, and commuters on GA 400 would definitely use it.