Elements of Urbanism: Atlanta

[tufsu1]

and the MIA/FTL/WPB area sometimes feels and behaves more like 2-3 metro areas....there are even different TV markets.

[krazeeboi]

However, I'm an gritty urbanist at heart and tend to gravitate towards walkable waterfront and industrial cities

Which is why I'm surprised you haven't covered Memphis yet.

[krazeeboi]

I also wouldn't compare Atlanta and Charlotte.  It's hard to spot a building pre-1990 in Charlotte (the whole thing just popped out of the ground in the last few decades).

LOL, that's a bit extreme. From a skyline perspective I can see how one could say this, but not from the street level. At any rate, I think Charlotte and Atlanta often get mentioned in the same sentence due to the rapid urbanization that both cities are experiencing and the fact that they both put a very high premium on being business-oriented cities.

[krazeeboi]

Atlanta also has one major advantage that Jacksonville doesn't have.  The full support of the State of Georgia.

As a resident of metro Atlanta, I don't find this to be true at all. As a matter of fact, governors in Georgia can get elected based on how much hatred they spew about Atlanta. Hell, MARTA is the only mass transit system in the country to not receive state funding! Atlanta is what it is because of extremely progressive local civic and business leadership. The state of Georgia has almost NOTHING to do with it. As a matter of fact, it's pretty amazing how Atlanta has turned out without much help from the state over the years.

[thelakelander]

However, I'm an gritty urbanist at heart and tend to gravitate towards walkable waterfront and industrial cities

Which is why I'm surprised you haven't covered Memphis yet.

I visited Memphis about a year before I started the "Learning From" and "Elements of Urbanism" photo series.  One of these days I'll get back out that way when the opportunity presents itself.  However, if someone beats me there and gets pics, we can still run a story on it.

[Coolyfett]

Atlanta also has one major advantage that Jacksonville doesn't have.  The full support of the State of Georgia.

As a resident of metro Atlanta, I don't find this to be true at all. As a matter of fact, governors in Georgia can get elected based on how much hatred they spew about Atlanta. Hell, MARTA is the only mass transit system in the country to not receive state funding! Atlanta is what it is because of extremely progressive local civic and business leadership. The state of Georgia has almost NOTHING to do with it. As a matter of fact, it's pretty amazing how Atlanta has turned out without much help from the state over the years.

After being in Atlanta for 3 years this is very true. Atlanta, USA has nothing to do with Georgia, or at least Georgia wants nothing to do with Atlanta, probably cause all the black people, homosexuals & transplants. Atlanta still needs a lot of work though. The main thing Atlanta has over Jacksonville is population count, which in my opinion is what brings stuff to a city. Which mayor canid wants Jacksonville to grow?

[tufsu1]

true...the biggest problem Atlanta has is that its in Georgia

[krazeeboi]

^Couldn't have said it better. Atlanta is a New South city in an Old South state.

[mtraininjax]

The main thing Atlanta has over Jacksonville is population count, which in my opinion is what brings stuff to a city.

Don't forget that the population leads to constant work on the top end perimeter or I-285 in both directions. The moment they fix one area, they move to fix another and repave and repave and repave. During the ice and winter of this year, GA's road crews were top notch. They know how to maintain highways, just not City of Atlanta streets.

If more population brings more shopping at the risk of more traffic like their downtown connector, you can keep the shopping. 

[AaroniusLives]

The main thing Atlanta has over Jacksonville is population count, which in my opinion is what brings stuff to a city.

To get that population count, the leaders of Atlanta did and do a lot of things that Jacksonville just doesn't. They make the metro area extremely friendly for business, so that corporate "citizens" will relocate there. They (and I'm not sure how they do this, really) simultaneously promote traditionalism and liberalism, so it's a great place to raise a family and a great place to get your gay on. They make it dirt cheap to live there and offer a lot of value in terms of entertainment and leisure to their populace. And they have an airport that for Atlantans, at least, means direct flights via Delta to basically everywhere.

This is all by design, by the collective will of a group of leaders, corporations and so on, to make Atlanta the powerhouse it is today. And it's growth has been astonishing. They gained nearly 1,000,000 people over the last decade. Now, whether or not they built a sustainable metro region is debatable (I'd say "no,") but they, along with Houston and Dallas, really jumped up the list.

[AaroniusLives]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

Consider this: in 2000, you had the Top 1 and the following 2 (because NYC is so far and away ahead of the other two, and even LA is pretty far ahead of Chicago.) Then you have the 5-million club of Philly, Dallas and Miami, followed by the 4-million club of DC, Houston, Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, and San Fran.

Jump ahead a decade. You still have NYC/LA/Chicago primacy, but Dallas leaps ahead into the 6-million club, followed by Philly and Houston, both on the cusp at the top of the 5-million range. DC, Miami and Atlanta now have around 5.5 million people each, which means that while Miami "only" grew by 10% or 500,000 people...DC nearly added a million folks, and Atlanta easily added more than a million. That was intent made manifest.     

[Coolyfett]

The main thing Atlanta has over Jacksonville is population count, which in my opinion is what brings stuff to a city.

To get that population count, the leaders of Atlanta did and do a lot of things that Jacksonville just doesn't. They make the metro area extremely friendly for business, so that corporate "citizens" will relocate there. They (and I'm not sure how they do this, really) simultaneously promote traditionalism and liberalism, so it's a great place to raise a family and a great place to get your gay on. They make it dirt cheap to live there and offer a lot of value in terms of entertainment and leisure to their populace. And they have an airport that for Atlantans, at least, means direct flights via Delta to basically everywhere.

This is all by design, by the collective will of a group of leaders, corporations and so on, to make Atlanta the powerhouse it is today. And it's growth has been astonishing. They gained nearly 1,000,000 people over the last decade. Now, whether or not they built a sustainable metro region is debatable (I'd say "no,") but they, along with Houston and Dallas, really jumped up the list.

Possibly...Its the cause & effect that I have noticed. Its quite a few people in Jax that do not want others moving in. 

[Overstreet]

The one thing I noticed when I lived in Atlanta is that I was rarely  in Atlanta. I often was in Decatur, North Decatur, Smyrna, Alphretta, Stone Mountain,  etc.