A better Atlanta

Atlanta needs to speed up creation of decent mass transit in order to continue to attract corporations and businesses that will create jobs and provide the economic engine for our economy. Every major US city outside of Atlanta – Washington DC, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, even Savannah! – has extensive mass transit systems. MARTA is very user-friendly, so far as it goes, but that’s the problem, it doesn’t go far enough. MARTA needs to be expanded so that users can access the entire city. I always use MARTA for the airport, but there is no way I could actually commute to work in a reasonable period of time – in fact, it’s faster for me to walk the 2.7 miles to work than use MARTA. Also, raising the fare will actually reduce income to the system, in my opinion. I lived in NYC at the point when discounted fare cards were introduced for the first time under the Giulliani administration. A lot of nay-sayers forecast a bankrupt system. Instead, system-wide income increased dramatically, and, the system got safer! The system got safer because of an increase in ridership during off-hours, and the increase in income came from more people riding because the system was safer – a positively-skewed cycle! If MARTA could get me to work in less than 30 minutes I would ride daily – and so would most of my coworkers. Oh, I do economics research for a living… .

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Hi There;
Thanks for kicking off this discussion. I’d wondered what topic would be discussed first. Transit’s a worthy one. I’ve lived in 5 cities, 3 of which had some form of rapid transit, and I’ve navigated systems in D.C. and NYC and elsewhere.
Mass transit’s a worthy topic for community discussion and we at the AJC want to be part of the drive toward a solution, so to speak. The issue might be a little moribund at the moment, since gasoline’s no longer selling for 3 cents an ounce in the ATL area.
The big question will be, as always, what’s the most-efficient use of scarce resources: a lane of asphalt or a line of steel rail, light or heavy. We might do well to restrain a bit our automatic assumptions when thinking about the answer IMHO.
And, yes, factors such as our population density, travel patterns, farebox recovery and the like should be part of the calculus. Building a train to nowhere would make no sense, financial or otherwise.
By comparison, my old hometown of St. Louis launched a light-rail system to much community derision and sneers in 1993. The joke was it would merely serve to haul criminals (and minorities) to the airport. Well, ridership rapidly exceeded expectations pretty quickly and the system’s been expanded twice.

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Given the stories the AJC doesn’t cover, and the slant on the stories they do cover, not to mention the cowardice of the AJC editorial board to take on certain entities in Atlanta, the AJC is the last organization to lead this discussion with any credibility.

Nice try on the AJC’s part to position itself as though it actually has some relevance in the day to day lives of metro Atlantans. But there’s a reason, many reasons in fact, that even among major newspapers, the AJC’s drop in subscription numbers has stood out as a testament to its failure to serve the readers, and society at large.

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As a recent college graduate relocating to DC and having lived in SW Atlanta for over a decade, I am sick and tired of the MARTA debate. We all know the reason that Marta does not go anywhere. People continue to complain, about service being slow, about dialpidated cars, and long wait times, yet MARTAs revenues are down $50M+ for the year. The STATE LEGISLATURE has FAILED TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. Back in the ’80s, when MARTA had the opportunity to expand, various communities from Fayetteville/PTC all the way North to Alpharetta, mounted SERIOUS RALLIES and PROTESTS because they DID NOT WANT MARTA in their community. The end RESULT, MARTA (when compared to other major cities NYC, DC, CHICAGO, etc) does not really go anywhere. Ridership is down significantly because it is such a hassle. I personally love MARTA, when I was taking classes at Georgia State, it was the best way to get class every morning, yet and still there are some serious obstacles to MARTA’s success and much of it is because of the stigma associated with MARTA and the lack of effective partnerships between law-makers at all levels in Georgia. In short, public transportation is not a priority for the Governor, our senators, and other elected officials who could actually make a difference on this issue. Such are the facts, that if Atlanta does not get its transportation (rail -light/heavy, and interstate HWY’s, traffic grids/patterns) we will LOSE our ground as the major metropolis of the South to Charlotte or hell, even Birmingham.

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Well first, we need to get rid of the “black leadership.” Atlanta has gone downhill since it went from a mostly white to a mostly black city. That is not a surprise of course. The thugs have destroyed Buckhead, Atlantic Station, and are now invading Virginia Highlands. I can’t believe that there are literally murders and violent crimes DAILY here, caused by the thugs 99% of the time. Other major cities don’t have nearly as much crime, because they are not all black cities. I will never understand why thugs have to ruin everything.

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Some of the comments above reflect the issue I immediately thought of when I heard about this project. The question is, “What is Atlanta.” Do you mean the city, the core counties, or the entire region as defined by the ARC (some of which the AJC no longer covers)?

The news staff seems to have limited its coverage OTP, except for little blurbettes. Does the editorial staff intend to go into surrounding counties to determine what they are doing to move themselves forward…and by extension the entire metro area? For example the largest economic development effort in Georgia (except for state government itself) is happening in Gwinnett.

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Sorry Andre, but drawing a distinction between the news pages and the opinion pages doesn’t cut it, when the mindset and mandates of the editoral board handcuff reporters and their supposedly objective reporting in the news pages.

There are way too many instances where the AJC reporters have introduced a story, and left vital aspects of the story uncovered, when coincidentally covering those aspects would clash with the AJC editorial board’s agenda in commenting on the story.

There are also far too many stories that are introduced, that literally beg for a follow up, yet no follow up is forthcoming, and when reporters are called on it, they can offer no legitimate reason for not following it up and, if you catch them in a candid moment, will let on that higher ups killed the story.

In essence, you want us to draw a distinction between the editorial board and the news reporting, when it’s obviously that looking how too many stories are covered, or not followed up on, the AJC itself doesn’t make the distinction.

This bias, this willingness to let political agenda hamstring objective reporting does not go unnoticed. Look at your subscription numbers if you don’t believe it.

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Andre, I think you’re trying to obfuscate the issue, by portraying it as a red state, blue state debate, and pointing out the opinion pages have views that reflect both.

The issue isn’t the opinion pages. The issue is how the agenda of those who shape the opinion pages obviously manifests itself in the angles reporters take, or more importantly omit, to shape supposedly objective reporting to fit the needs of the editorial board.

One could take the time to lay out a specific case in regard to one long running story in the AJC, but one would have to be convinced the editorial editor is really up to the challenge of discussing an issue that strikes at the credibility of the paper.

It’s pretty easy to respond to those who hand you a rebuttal on a silver platter with a knee jerk response about the liberal editorial board.

Not quite so easy to respond to those who refused to be boxed into a simplistic paradigm such as red state/blue state and will instead call you to task when your paper has failed in its duty as a member of the Fourth Estate, now is it?

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I know this will be hard to believe for some, but nothing could be farther from the truth than the notion that the editorial board controls news coverage at the AJC. I worked there as reporter and editor for 28 years, until last summer, overseeing coverage of most of the most controversial topics in our news pages. A member of the editorial board called me exactly once, to make a suggestion for an angle for an investigative news package that was about to see print. It was a suggestion only. I said no, that would that make a point that would in fact be misleading. That was the end of it. There was no pressure for me to do anything to follow up on that suggestion.

I also cannot recall ever having a story killed for any sort of political reason. Some were held for more reporting, some were held for rewriting for clarity. Some were killed because an editor (sometimes me) did not think the story was worth the time and effort that would be required. When editors or reporters disagreed with one another, in my experience, all parties involved had an opportunity to make their case.

The AJC may well have problems, as the shrinking revenue and news staff will attest. But editorial bias bleeding over into the news coverage is not one of them.

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Hi Andre, Bob Herndon here. President of the Atlanta BBQ Club. http://www.atlbbqclub.com. We are trying to make Atlanta a Better city by having a cook-off at Turner Field. Are you familiar with the Memphis in May cook-off. It brings $40 million of tourism and econ. impact to that city. The BBQ battle in Washington D.C. brings. 350,000 people to the city. BBQ is a Southern Food and we are the Capitol of the South and we do not have a BBQ contest in the city.

If you have any contacts with the Vistor’s bureau or convention people that I could get I would greatly appreciate it. We have it all lined up and just need to get the word out.

Thanks for all you do. Sincerely, Bob Herndon

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Dear Mr. Jackson,

I feel a bit sad about Atlanta. What I would like is long gone. I wish Atlanta were a great Southern city in which people liked to visit and live and work.

But it is better known as the city with mayors going to jail, airport concessions run by the families of mayors, dubious police protection, prolific aggressive street vendors amd beggars, discriminatory hiring practices, ancient and broken water lines, inadequte transportation and a liberal beehive in the midst of a conservative state. Atlanta even managed to diminish the Olympics in more ways than one.

The liberal AJC has waited too long to act as a neutral observer. I can remember cringing as I watched Cynthia Tucker on Lehrer News Hour as a Georgia editor presenting a liberal facade. There was no representation of Georgia politics but only Atlanta’s far left AJC.

Luckovich hated President Bush as much as our enemies hated Bush. This cartoonist did not try to hide it but reveled in ugly repeat after repeat. The AJC sank with him as he even insulted American troops … ex.(our soldiers being roasted on a spit). Pulitzer prizes to AJC became the epitome of blind liberal achievements and little else.

Atlanta arose like the archetypical Phoenix. Now it seems like a burnt ol’ bird that cannot rise above prejudice, incompetence and dishonesty.

Do tell us why you came to Atlanta, Mr. Jackson, when Georgia is pictured so often by liberal news media as the ignorant bumpkin of the USA. I shall look forward with hope for fair and open minds at the AJC as prompted by Editor Andre Jackson.

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Well, looks like Andre never did “check back”, so those who left comments or direct questions will remain “response-less”. I know the dialogue was a little slow, maybe setting the time for evening, and not during daylight of a beautiful Sunday, might have made more sense, in that respect…

As for the future of the Atlanta metro region (& therefore the state), I for one, am not very optimistic. The legislature is far more willing to continue it’s childish & self-destructive game of our own Georgia-style “Civil War”, pitting Atlanta against “everyone else”, as if it will continue being the goose laying golden eggs no matter how unlivable & uninviting the region becomes.

As for transportation, I’ve seen nothing but talk, talk, talk, for the last 25 years, with the legislature’s abject failure to address it in any way this year pushing any action further & further into the future. No major city in America attempts to run it’s mass transit with zero funding from the state, well, none but Atlanta, where the state stubbornly believes it must be able to operate self-sufficiently, or MARTA be damned.

But I think Andre actually gave away the problem in one of his comments. When he said,

“Growing business and the jobs the private sector creates has to be a key part of that conversation. Business development is a big part of what’s put us on the map as a region.
And, yes, maintaining a reasonable quality of life on things like air, water, schools and taxes factors into all this, too.”

Atlanta has operated on that very paradigm, develop, grow, expand, make money now, & worry about consequences later, for decades. Whatever budgetary shortfalls may arise, the thinking is that it will simply be covered by “yet more people & businesses relocating here”. However, with every year seeing more & more cars, & traffic becoming more & more unbearable, one needn’t be a rocket scientist to see the cost of buying land & building either mass transit or roads rising every more rapidly. So, here we are in 2009, about 30 years after we should’ve had a transit plan on the drawing board, and in the meantime, executed it; instead we still sit on square one (& gridlocked), with not even a viable plan having been agreed upon, funded, or begun! Not good…..

Unfortunately, having the focus, as Andre stated quite accurately, on business & development, with “quality of life” being a secondary afterthought, has totally screwed this city & region. While other cities did pay attention to how its residents & visitors will get around, have parks for recreation, good schools, a lively & progressive arts community, clean air, access to healthcare, & adequate police & fire protection, Atlanta has slowly slid in the opposite direction. Have all those who made theirs, while the getting was good, killed the goose that has been laying these golden eggs for so long?

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First off, I must reject any notion that AJC reporters covering Clayton County deserve “complete contempt.” Megan Matteucci, who covered Clayton County until recently, is one of the best and hardest-working reporters at the paper. She did a great job on the accreditation story.

I don’t recall any investigative stories on SACS. That could well mean that it’s not a story. I see nothing in your post that would indicate otherwise. I do sense that you have an ax to grind with SACS.

But even if there were, the AJC’s failure to publish one is no indicator of sinister intent. There are far more investigative stories out there than there are reporters to do them. News organizations must make choices about what to cover. It’s always been hard for reporters to break away from their beats long enough to report an investigative story properly. It’s become even tougher as reporters have had to file for the Web site as well as the print edition, and as their beats have expanded.

Yes, I do want you to believe that higher ups at the AJC rarely dictate or influence what reporters write, or angles they pursue. They may suggest a story, but there’s little or no consequence if the story isn’t done. In fact, top editors at the AJC choose to exert very little influence on what specific stories are covered. AJC’s big cheeses have shaped the newsroom by deciding what beats will be covered and by whom. After that, most news-gathering decisions are made by overworked and stressed-out reporters and mid-level managers.

I wish the top editors had MORE influence, if that would mean the newspaper would pursue important news stories more aggressively. But the AJC has spent so much time reinventing itself in recent years, and bailing water, that the attention of those editors has been devoted to other decisions.

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Edward Abbey once said “Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of the cancer cell.” It is sad that you make the assumption that Atlanta needs to grow.

How is it that your own vision does not include a stable Atlanta but one where the quality of life is improving? Your first point for consideration is “Do we have the right pieces in place for future economic growth?”. I ask, “Why do we need future economic growth? When will it stop? What makes growth intrinsically good?. Other points are related to quality of life but you address it directly only in terms of fueling economic growth: “Do we have the quality of life that brings newcomers to an area…?”

I don’t want Atlanta to grow. During the 90s, it is said that we clearcut 30 acres a day, every day, to make room for growth. Our traffic and sprawl have become among the worst in the country. Our air quality suffers, and our lives suffer from over-long commutes.

I challenge you to ask the important questions first, and the most important is how we can improve the quality of life for our citizens without the drawbacks that growth by necessity brings.

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They never answer questions about balancing the Cartoon Boy’s poisoned pen scribbles. Notice that he avoided that question as they all do. He also did not comment about Cynthia and when we will be shed of her calling everyone racists. New person, same mindset = same result. Still headed over the cliff. Not even a metro Atlanta paper as it does not even cover my county and never has. I am missing the fact that we don’t have a good newspaper. We buy it on Sunday for the grocery coupons and read the ball scores online.

If it goes away, something will take its place and maybe will actually look at the region demographics and listen to the readers.

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Andre,

No one is asking you to be an expert on all that has happened with the Clayton Schools. In fact Clayton schools isn’t the issue. Any number of stories could have been picked; the Clayton one stands out because it is so long and ongoing, a pattern emerges as to what the AJC covers, and more importantly, what it omits, and how it coincides with the AJC’s editorial agenda.

No one argues the the story didn’t deserved to be covered, and covered indeed it was with literally dozens of stories.

But shouldn’t have at least one of those stories looked into SACS, the central player in the story, and how it conducts business, given that it had virtually rubber stamped ever other school system, regardless of how horribly it performed, for literally decades?

I realize this puts you in a very difficult position, having to defend that which is virtually indefensible, but they have put your name on the letterhead and called you the point man for questions and comments on this blog.

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There was a reason Lester Maddox walked the streets of Atlanta with an axe handle.Go back to his era as Mayor of Atlanta and look at the out of wedlock birth rate,murder,robbery,rape,buglary….any crime or social statistic you want.That speaks the truth.
Anybody of any color with any brains, knows that Atlanta is like Detroit,New Orleans,Washington DC when it comes to baring it’s soul to the people who live in this sespool.You want to be liberal ? Now you the results !

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Not to beat a dead donkey with the fish-wrapper here but sorry Andre, balance cannot be achieved with a singular Conservative voice within the ever deeper cellar existence of the Left Wing AJC.

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The 2009 election for both Mayor and City Council is an enormous on-going story for our city and it’s residents. Why not have a weekly page on recent quotes, shifts in positions, philosophies, etc on our candidates? I live in Pittsburgh, Atlanta. I would love to take a reporter up and down my streets and show them what neglect and lack of leadership does to a community. This in itself is mind-boggling – ZERO CODE ENFORCEMENT and a decay in process. Let’s start hitting home on reality and aggressively holding public officials accountable for sitting on their hollow promises. I have taken the energy and time to begin a blog for this election. http://voteatlanta2009.blogspot.com/. I hope the AJC begins to cover this election in greater importance.

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omg i hope there really isn’t any flight attendents that actually wear a size 28

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Why do transplants to Atlanta keep refering to the “New South”? Even after living here for twenty years, they still insist on calling it the “New South”, implying that there was once an “Old South”.
There never was an “Old South”.

The South has always been new. It remains largely un-explored, un-noticed, un-developed…..and therefore…….”new”. Nearly 50% of Georgia’s population lives within 30 miles of Five Points, and Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi. Most of these folks are terrified of travelling outside “The Perimeter”…..why dont they just break down and call it by its complete name…”The Defensive Perimeter”.

“Dont go outside the Perimeter…..there’s RedNecks out there.”
Sounds like they’re still talking about “RedSkins”, with all the same condecension we used to dump on the Native Americans.

Its the 21st Century Already!
When is Georgia gonna get its stuff in one sack?
1) Build the Fall Line Parkway, interstate from Augusta to Macon to Columbus.
2) Time to encourage Rural Development, stop hogging all the wealth in Atlanta. The Bucket-heads oughta be ashamed of their short-sitedness. All that wealth and virtually no re-investment in anything “outside the perimeter”.
3) Every other city has TWO airports. Atlanta….one. Its about time to develop Peachtree-Dekalb as that 2nd airport. Its the obvious choice. But I guess the Druid Hills Country Club doesnt want the final approach disturbing its members on the 13th hole.
4) MARTA is its own worst enemy. Stop conspiring to extend lines into the suburbs. If MARTA would just come up with a flat “ride all day on one fare” scheme, they’d make plenty of money. Of course, they’d also have to actually “maintain” the equipment, and go through the motions of designing bus routes to mesh with the Rail lines. That may be asking too much.

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