To the rescue--the City of Atlanta carries the ball (again)

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Atlanta would probably be up there with Dallas and Houston if it had a healthy relationship with the state.

Please post some facts to back up this fallacious statement. Dallas as a city and Texas as a state did absolutely zero with Jerry Jones when he built his football palace in Arlington. Dallas had the chance to have this phenomenal structure in the heart of the city, but dickered and pooh poohed around and let Arlington get the deal.

Arlington, a suburb with close to the population of the city of Atlanta but without even bus service. If Atlanta had followed this lead, the new Falcons stadium would be in some lovely corner of the metro area like Snellville or Riverdale, away from MARTA and any other attractions. Take that back. Say the Ted was a few blocks away, also not near anything in the city, not near transit, not near any other attractions except for tired, decaying suburban landscape that has seen better days.

The GWCC is run by the state of Georgia, this is the authority that runs Centennial Olympic Park, the Dome as well as the massive convention center that brings millions upon millions of dollars into the city every year. Dallas has a convention center downtown...NOTHING like the GWCC. NOTHING AT ALL.

All this talk that the state doesn't invest in the city of Atlanta is complete bull hockey. Show me any other city-state combo that has done as much together on the scale Georgia and Atlanta have done, anywhere. Certainly, these Texas cities are NO shining example of that.

The fact that Atlanta as a city and ATL as a metro area and the rest of the state squabble is a sign that there is a relationship. Nothing like this exists here in Texas at all. It is every city for itself.

[joey86]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

There's nothing to debate.

I agree that the pendulum is starting to swing and the urban environment is on an upswing. But.....



If you can show me scientific data that proves that more than 50% of people your age with bachelor degrees prefer urban areas, and actually live in them, then we can say that maybe Atlanta relies on the suburbs less than the suburbs rely on Atlanta.

The bolded part is important. Preferences don't mean diddly squat unless people are acting on them. My prefernce would be to live in a penthouse in the Sovereign or the St. Regis condos, but that preference is doing the city of Atlanta precious little in actually having me live there.

My argument is if you eliminated everything outside the city limits of Atlanta then the city wouldn't have enough brain or labor power to operate at all. Therefore, by sheer nature of contributing to building the city, these people are a part of the city's growth and development just as the people who live and pay taxes in the city are. That's the relevance.

In Atlanta, the number of 25-to 34-year olds with four-year*college degrees*or higher swelled by*61 percent*between 2000 and 2009.*

[joey86]

80% of Americans live in urban areas.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by joey86

80% of Americans live in urban areas.

I believe that "urban area" in this case means non-rural...suburban areas are included in that 80% figure.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

The GWCC is run by the state of Georgia, this is the authority that runs Centennial Olympic Park, the Dome as well as the massive convention center that brings millions upon millions of dollars into the city every year. Dallas has a convention center downtown...NOTHING like the GWCC. NOTHING AT ALL.

All this talk that the state doesn't invest in the city of Atlanta is complete bull hockey. Show me any other city-state combo that has done as much together on the scale Georgia and Atlanta have done, anywhere. Certainly, these Texas cities are NO shining example of that.

Not to mention the fact that the state has the capitol downtown, and scores of office buildings and tnes of thousands of employees. Oh, and Georgia State. And Georgia Tech. A multi-billion dollar system of freeways and approaches. The Fifth Street bridge, the 14th Street bridge and the 17th Street bridge. The Peachtree Boulevard project, the 10th Street streetscape project, the Betline, Ivan Allen Boulevard, the MMPT, and well, you know...

[AnsleyPark]

And, Arjay, don't forget about all of the lobbyists under the Gold Dome who spend tons of money in the city trying to buy the favor of our elected representatives.....

[joey86]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

I believe that "urban area" in this case means non-rural...suburban areas are included in that 80% figure.

And plenty of suburbs are more densely populated than the cities they are next to. Decatur is a perfect example.. Or check out Hempstead, Ny. It is a suburb with over 750,000 people. It should be clear that the majority of college graduates live in urban areas. The majority of our citizens do and the percentage of graduates in cities is going up. The cities are also getting richer while the suburbs get poorer and more and more suburban cities are becoming urban.

[joey86]

I should have used an example other than Decatur since it is older than Atlanta but you get the idea.

[waronxmas]

Great article by Maria Saporta. It's good to stop every once in a while and remember what we have actually accomplished over the years despite the best efforts of the State to make us just like Mississippi. It's also a testament to the grit of this city since we so often do things that make zero sense at first. Not to say that I believe the new stadium is a good idea or it's one of those city altering events like the Airport or MARTA, but rather it's just another long line in our unofficial motto:

"Atlanta: Think of our skyscrapers as a thousand middle fingers raised in the air. We don't care you think it's a bad idea."