Atlanta called the 'Detroit of the South'

[Saintmarks]

Funny, just saw a friend post this on his FB page and I had to comment there as well. Not a fair article about the City of Atlanta. The suburbs,if seceding can be properly used here (which it isn't) seceded from their respective counties (Fulton and DeKalb). No part of Atlanta has seceded.

If anyone worth their salt wanted to investigate the real reason, it is Georgia counties acting like municipalities instead of counties. Works good in some cases (Cobb for example, but DeKalb was considered well run in the not too distant past) but cities need to be cities and counties need to be counties. Counties being coutnies and cities is too much for the long haul.

I know I sound like a broken record, but this is the problem in metro Atlanta on many, many levels.

[cwkimbro]

oh dear lord... its one of those crack pot ultra-right leaning websites.

urban areas are scary... rural living is the right god-fearing living.

Truth be told calling Atlanta the Detroit of the South is a scare tactic to foster an impression on just a few local political issues.

The new cities didn't break away. They are no closer or further from Atlanta (proper), than they were before. Dekalb's school woes ... well wait Dekalb Co. -is- a suburban county.

I was very unimpressed that the author didn't mention that the root of succession had more to do about shifting tax revenues to spending in regions that pay more in tax (via higher property values). Agree with it or not...that is the root of the issue.

Anyways... by any objective measure... compared to midwestern cities... Atlanta is most like Chicago.

Yes, I know the urbanphiles will be real quick to point the urban neighborhoods of the pre-auto era in Chicago, the expansive commuter rail system, and the fact Atlanta is mostly sunbelt post-auto growth. But beyond that...

They are both major air hubs, rail hubs, interstate hubs within their region. The distribution industry is very important. They both attract a great deal of investment, because it has the highest level of access to raw materials and goods across the regions. They both have diverse economies in a very similar manner. They are both mini financial hubs for their respective region.

They both area bit bi-polar with a mixture of many really high paying jobs and many really low paying jobs. They both social fractures in their city, yet remain highly successful and growing cities. Both attract a great deal of economic investment. For many of the same reasons, more or less, they both suffer from the same side affects of the type of economy they have.

[Ant131531]

We all know it's only being called the 'Detroit of the South' is because it is an AA-majority city. It's almost too obvious. The author seems very ignorant and only uses the school system scandals to make the point. He doesn't touch on the differing economies, the fact that Atlanta is almost < 50% black and dropping, crime is at it's lowest in decades, etc, etc. The readers on that site seem to believe everything. I went to some of the other articles. They are even worst than Fox. A lot o the stuff they say is just completely false and just trying to incite fear in it's readers. They make Fox seem moderate in comparison.

I'd rather those types of people who comment on those articles not come to the cities and urban areas then. They can stay in their safe, bland, boring suburbs/countrysides. I'll be having much funin an exciting, vibrant, dynamic city not being afraid of everyone who isn't like me.

[atlantagreg30127]

Site is not a major news site, and due to the sheer number of pop-ups and possible spam/virus/malware possibilities, isn't going to be allowed. Link removed. If you want to discuss a theorized comparison between Atlanta and Detroit, see the city-vs-city room please.