Mixed feelings about this as I'd agree that lack of public transportation definitely contributes to congestion on 400 but I'm also pretty sure crime statistics will show that access to new areas by the goblin element will lead to higher crime rates.

Crime creeping closer

Do that and make a connecting line that runs to Emory and I'll be happy.

I think it could be good just so long as they police it. In other cities, you pay a premium to be walking distance from a rail station. I could see myself using it to get downtown or to the airport, but I don't think I have ever.

So long  as it doesnt come into Cobb they can take it wherever they want.

I'm curious where the money will come from for this - based on union costs and a wild guess, that looks to be a billion dollar expansion.

G23c

Glad its not coming up 85.

50% of all income by MARTA is required to be spent on infrastructure. They have more money than they can spend in that account since they can't use it for operating expenses.

Cool, I'd rather get on at Windward than have to drive all the way to Sandy North  Springs.




 

Where did you get this info?

http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-TOP-STORIES-c-2013-03-27-198025.114126-sub-MARTA-narrows-options-for-Ga-400-expansion-Rail-could-run-to-Windward-Pkwy.html



 

you're retarded

I would gladly ride my bike from east cobb down to the big chicken, or even johnson ferry/roswell road intersection to hop on a train to go downtown. the people who ride the east/west line by Phillips Arena(the "ones" who ruin the MARTA experience) won't be coming up this way anyways....

When i was dating an Au Pair from Sweden, I took her and her sweedish friends for a ride one evening after we finished the Aquarium and dinner, and we got on at phillips and rode a few exits east and west. They all said they've never been stared at more....lol

So let them open a station right across from your house. The goblins will love that their easy pickins have expanded into one of the more wealthy counties in the state.

I dont think a residential zoned area can support a marta station....now in a commercial district, like near the avenue, merchants walk, or what have you, that would be nice. They are not going to open a station across the street from Pope High

Once again, the people that ruin marta have no buisness up here, so why would they come? Does the MARTA station in buckhead ruin property values and degrade that area? Fuck no, it helps it out tremendously.

You're using the mentaily that just because there are bad areas in atlanta that MARTA goes to, and just because some of the people that ride IN THOSE AREAS are retarded, thats makes the ENTIRE marta system bad, when it's not. Another girl i used to date lives at the Realm in buckhead, and walked 200ft to the station and rode it to work mon-fri downtown to the Peachtree Plaza where she works as a hotel coordinator. They paid for her pass, and it was AWESOME. she never drove her car.

I love spending weekends in midtown, going to the park and hanging out with friends drinking beer, throwing  a football, riding bikes, eating awesome food, and just enjoying the summer with free concerts at unplugged at the park. Driving down there sucks. 45 miles round trip from east cobb, every weekend costs money in gas, maintence on my car, and emmissions. Plus sitting in traffic blows. A marta station a few miles away, and I would ride my bike and hop on.

Take a vacation to Chicago and see how great their transit system is. Not needing a car and going everywhere you want is AWESOME. Granted, Chicago is a shit hole to live in , its nice to vacation in the summer...lol  Atlanta will NEVER be like Chicago, but at least we can try to improve what shitty transit we have.

They have been discussing this for a while.  By the time it is done, if it ever gets started, I will be retired and tending my garden in Lumpkin Co.

Bad, very bad.

I am unaware of an area where Marta has increased property values

There have been several cases of ghetto goblins riding the trains up to the more affluent areas and committing property crimes and then riding the train back to their lair. I would prefer to limit their AO from entering into my AO. Please move to the areas already featuring the services you would like instead of forcing it onto the rest of us.

Theres also been several cases of douchey east cobb high schoolers that go around and trash mailboxes, steal cars, key random cars, etc etc etc
Anthany bandonly rings a bell

And i never said it would increase property values....im simply stating a marta station in a commercial district would not be as harmful as you think in an upper middle class area.

I would love to have it come up 75.  Being able to hop on a train at KSU and ride down to Atlanta sounds phenomenal.  

I agree....for somereason us "younger" generation seems to get the whole urban sprawl thing and understands that transportation is a key to a cities success. As stated earlier, Atlanta is far from an ideal city, but this is my home and i want to make it better for future generations to travel to and from the city in a cost effective, less pollution, less wasted time, and less trafficky way.

The older guys can sell out and move south of the piedmont  and farm or something Ill stick with my 5-points loving, beer growler loving, co-op garden loving, trader joes loving, eco-friendly, recycle loving, real parks loving, GUN loving peoples and areas

DO NOT WANT......Only time I ride MARTA is to go down to the airport so while I'm a little ways from Winward, I don't like the idea of the trains going that far north but my guess is Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek will shut it down.

Personally, I would like a transit station somewhere near Delk road. I turned out a couple of nice jobs in Midtown because of the commute (I work from home right now).

I would consider Jeffco to be a member of the "younger" generation. He is definitely not a grumpy old man if that is what you are referring to. :)

The difference between "democratic puppies" and "republican puppies" happens right around 6 weeks of age.
You see, at 6 weeks of age puppies magically become "republican" once they've opened their eyes.....
Not saying you vote democrat, simply stating that with age it is easier to step back and look at the WHOLE picture.

It's a benefits vs. liabilities thing.

People who would USE the service, and do NOT own property or have a long-term "vested interest" near the afflicted areas, would be MUCH more likely to approve of such "improvements."

However, those who have been around for a while, who have NO interest in using MARTA, who would have their property values drop, have their taxes rise to pay for another wasteful .gov enterprise, pay for additional police protection, higher insurance rates, increased property damage, and decreased business incomes, due to the undesirables who migrate to MARTA served areas, are LESS likely to approve...  

To each his own, but personally I fall into the latter catagory!

If my taxes are raised to fund something that me, a citizen, would use- then i have no problem with a tax increase. Thats what taxes are for. I am giving the government my money to build something I will use. However, I would hope a MARTA expansion would not be funded by a tax increase, as discussed from their funding source earlier in the tread.

For someone who will not use it, sure- you dont want it. If they wanted to build an amtrak station near me, I would "vote" no because I wouldnt ever use that shit. MARTA? Hell yes I would use it. There are 20,000 + students in the kennesaw area that I guarantee would use it,

As far as property values dropping- they arent going to build it in the middle of a McMansion neighborhood. Thats just a dumb thing to say/believe. Just because a marta station is build 2 miles away from your house doesnt mean the value of your house will drop. Show me statistics of this in a well off area. Buckhead would not exist if it werent for that transit station. With the ever growing "younger generation" who are coming up and getting into the hosuing market like me, having a marta station (to me) would make me want to pay more. Thats how it works downtown. Thats how it works most places. You pay for location- you're near a transit hub, so you can get to where you need to be quicker and easier.

We're talking east cobb coutny here....and the north point area. Like i've said 1000 times, the people who ruin Marta do not have the $$$$ to come up here and "ruin" it for us. Property values are high up here, and the cost of living is much, much, much more than it is south of I20. Yalls excuses just don't add up.You seriously believe that a MARTA station in an urban area like NorthPoint will transport all the homeless and poor up here and they will set up shop- and then we'll have to start carrying our SBRs instead of handguns to defend ourselves..

As far as demo and repub puppies, i agree Ive voted demo a few times, but not in anything major. The thing about hard core right wings that I hate is the whole tax issue. NO MORE TAXES! BLAHHH! then stop driving your cars on roads, stop flushing the toilet, go dig a well, and farm your own food. Basically, go live on a farm. Taxes are an essential part of life- if they want to raise sales tax in Cobb coutny .5% for three years to build a full marta station that goes to KSU, FUCK YEAh im okay with that. Its all about where the tax money goes and seeing your tax dollars at work to make life better off for the citizen.

I agree with, and fall into the same category as Emu.

That's an assumption. I'm 25 and the majority of people I know that are my age hate MARTA. The collective city stopped being cool after my midtown lease was up back when I was 20. Nothing about displaced vagrants, human garbage and hipsters, as well as the areas they frequent are particularly enticing to me.

In my opinion the only thing the "city" has going for itself is the abundance of great places to eat in such a close proximity.

Whats wrong with hipsters?

I went into the Skate shop next to Junkmans Daughter in little 5 for some skateboard tape. The hipster asked how much i needed and i told him just a little bit (for grip tape for my bodyguard). He asked what it was for and I told him a handgun, and the look he gave me was awesome. He just ripped some off and said here ya go, and acted very upset about its new use

Im 26, and most people I know hate MARTA too, because it goes NOWEHERE useful unless you live downtown. For those of us who live up here and like going downtown for reasons you mentioned, we would not hate MARTA if it had a place to board up here

He is not talking about moving in and living...he is talking about them using MARTA as a means for getting to the homes, breaking in, and then using MARTA to make their getaway.

Yeah, beacause that happens in buckhead and midtown. I saw a thug running with a piece of Dali's work from the High, and he jumped on the N/S train and went back down south of I20

give me a break-i didnt know MARTA was the new getaway car

We will all just have to agree to disagree. But you guys need to study urban sprawl and see and understand what is happening to Atlanta. If the transportation infastructre is not fixed soon, in 100 years this cities going to be shit, and nobody is going to want to live here. Those of you who think MARTA is the devil will have long sold your houses and taken your familys down south somewhere to life on a farm in a nice quiet area, while those who like city life are stuck with your poor, uninformed opinions!

I think that's overstated. I think its popular for car thiefs to ride up and then drive back at the malls, but that's going to happen anyways and is an enforcement/judicial problem not a marta caused problem. A windward connection would be really good for the commercial real estate up here.

Fantastic, move down to little five points and then you wont even need to take marta into the city.

I'm what, 3 years older than you and now I'm some fuddy duddy? Buy a house and start a family and see how you feel about putting in an express line for scum to your back door.

Where do you live? next to old navy in the merchants walk subdivision? THATS what i consider a back door, and where i would say a transit station would do well. I live off post oak tritt and murdock. If (somehow) they built a transit station at sandy plains and post oak tritt, i would not consider that my back door. A transit station will not be built 100ft away from houses, i can guarentee that. it will be built in a commercial area, and i hope you dont have a house in the middle of a shopping center parking lot.

As far as transporting scum- thats just ignorant. I guess the 1000's of people that ride marta every day to work from places like sandy springs and buckhead (who live in $575,000 condos) without incident are all scum

and 5-points is too hipster for me to live, lol

They wont move up here, they will simply use their discounted MARTA cards to ride MARTA up here and commit their crimes.

To address your parts on tax, I have to choose to buy a car, choose to fill it with gas, and choose to drive it on public roads to be subject to those taxes. I choose not to ride MARTA and I wish not to be subject to taxes that are solely for subsidizing MARTA in my county. If they dont have the riders to justify moving it into Cobb and they need tax money to subsidize it, then they dont need to put it in.




You're pulling the same shit that carpet baggers pull. Why people leave NYC to move to the south and then attempt to transform us back into NYC I'll never understand. If you want to be in the city with enough frequency that you need a rapid transit system to make it economical, then you would be better off just moving down there where all the venues you want to go to are at AND where there is already a rapid transit system setup. Dont come here where the majority of people do not want a rapid transit and advocate for one because it makes it a little easier to get down into the city a few times a month.

i will agree with you, however you're not understanding that Atlanta is growing, and spreading. It's going to happen, you can't stop it. All you can do now is hope that its infastructure is built up to support the city years from now. This is not Atlanta in the 1960s anymore. If you want "the simple life" move out west where urban sprawl isnt happening as quickly. Take a geographical sociology class Its going to happen, just a matter of time.

I'll skip sociology, but I suggest a few Econ classes. If they need to raise taxes to subsidize installing and running the line because they wont increase the ridership enough to pay for it, then it doesn't make sense to install it. Same with AMTRACK, the federal taxpayer subsidizes the rail line because there arent enough people actually using it to pay for it. Id love a cool welder and a new car, but I'm not going to rob my neighbor to pay for half of it.

Anytime expanding MARTA comes up, there are always a few former New Yorkers at work that like to compare our system to NY or Chicago.  One difference I have always wondered about it how the population density and the size of the transit service area compares to Atlanta.  Atlanta's population appears to be much more spread out and not encroached by water like the other two cities.

I'm not going to waste time arguing your idealistic sociological points, but make no mistake- public transportation IS VERY REGULARLY USED by criminal elements to infil/exfil areas where, as I believe you phrased it, "they have no business."

they use cars mroe than public transit. We should just close off I75N and 400N and not let the hoodlums in. Have checkpoints or something. Kinda like in the movie, In Time.

I am not going to pick any side here, but I will offer an observation of mine that may contribute to the debate that is well under way.

My mother lives in Sandy Springs.  I live in Cumming.  I have friends that live in Grant Park, Virginia Highland and the Little Five area.

The folks that live in southeast Atlanta are one type- you may call them "hipsters," hippies, die hard libertarians, whatever.  They are one with the city and the culture, and typically live for the activities that Andrew talks about enjoying.

Then, there are folks like me in Cumming/Roswell/Alpharetta- we like being close enough to the city to hop on MARTA once every six months and enjoy a day out, but for the most part, we moved this far north up 400 for a reason.  It was just far away enough to keep the scoundrels away.  But, alas, there is a MARTA bus station on Windward, and guess where a spree of car thefts and break-ins has been occurring for the last five or so years?  The hotels around the MARTA bus station.

Then, there are the folks in Sandy Springs.  They don't want to be right in the middle of the city, but a huge bonus for them is having MARTA in their backyard.  I'm not kidding- whenever I ask family friends, "why are you moving to Sandy Springs," those are two of the most common answers I get.

My point is, based on observations of my own friends and family, people have moved to the places they have based on what they want, and in the places I have mentioned, MARTA and the urban life (or the absence of them) weighed heavily on their decisions.  In short, "Milton County" residents won't allow a MARTA line that far north.

Ever been on MARTA after 7pm on a weeknight? Ummm yeah, fine upstanding citizens riding to the library or PTA meeting. Beyond the crime aspect, there would be new taxes and North Fulton'ites would get fleeced even more. Running into N. Fulton is fine and dandy but if they're not going to extending it into Cobb and Gwinette as well, it's somewhat pointless. Those of in "McMansion-ville" as you call it, know where Atlanta is when we want it.

Read my post above about the sweedish girls

As to the 2nd bold point, in due time, Atlanta will be knocking at McMansion-villes back door, and there will be no transpo infastructure to support it! It may be "pointless" for 60% of the people that live in cobb/gwinette right now, but soon.....

and last time I checked, I75 and I85 are pretty much parking lots in the AM. Why? because everyone who works int he city lives outside the city. If the white collar people learned to accept mass transit and not think everyone on them are demons , we could in theory decongest our interstates....and they are getting worse and worse each year----due to urban sprawl.

Its like everyone in suburbia wants to think that the city of Atlanta is a shit-hole where no good happens and crime runs rampant, yet everyone with that opinion works in Atlanta and lives outside of it

Dear MARTA,

They are getting ready to widen 75 all the way up to 92.

Yes because that's worked sooo well in the past.

They can do this if they also run a spur out to the East Atlanta Village area, and have trains come back north at 2 am on weekends :)  

Otherwise, hell no.

During the TSPLOST fight last year, I heard that new rail costs $100 million per mile. I seriously doubt there will be an expansion of the MARTA rail system anytime soon.

Accountant

Atlanta will default before then and most of the population growth are from people escaping Atlanta and moving North. Sounds like you don't have a dog in this as you seem to have disdain for McMansion-ville. When you settle down, get married and have a kid or two, you too will grow 'old' and your positions will change. Such as life....

See, that won't happen because A) it makes too much sense and B) They won't have many riders doing that. Like most of the MARTA lines they'll shut them down too early for people looking to "go out in the town." Maybe, just maybe if MARTA was efficient and had a freaking clue this could be a positive but alas they do not and are essentially a jobs program for Fulton Co residents. Meh.....

Dont be so sure....................I would rather MARTA stay out of Cobb County

Well stated.  I ride Marta from North Springs all the time and am an East Cobb resident.  In 12 years of riding I've only had one bad experience (fell asleep on the train returning from Italy, woke up to watch my duty free bag walk down the platform after the doors closed).  Most of my rides are too and from the airport, but some have been downtown for ballgames/concerts where either traffic or drinking and driving don't mix.

The NYC subway, El in Chicago, Tube in London and Paris Metro make it very easy to get around in those cities, and it makes people like me spend more money there.  I'm sure Jeffco has a bunch of hard stats on the loss of property values in Buckhead, or crime in North Springs to substantiate his "goblin" fears.  Maybe Senoia can make a new series... ;-)