Metro Atlanta needs tools to rethink itself

Maybe we should just have a re-enactment of Sherman burning down Atlanta and start all over…

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Troll must not realize the City of Atlanta; which the article is about; is run by democrats.

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And while a number of business and civic leaders in the metro Atlanta region understand that reality, I don’t believe that our political leaders at the state level, particularly at the Legislature, fully grasp the necessity of reinventing ourselves and reinvesting in ourselves, and of giving us the transit, planning and governance tools to make those changes.

It’s hard for farmers from Albany to give a crap about a big city like Atlanta. Until we get over this top-down plantation mentality that’s enforced in our state constitution, whereby all tax and major infrastructure decisions are left to the state to implement, we — as a metro region — are screwed.

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the City of Atlanta; which the article is about

snort. Love me some crash-and-burning for breakfast.

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Conservatives have a difficult time accepting change. Until we have a more balanced government there will be no meaningful change. This country is changing in more ways than many of us can understand and we need to accept and take advantage of that change.

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Nothing will change until the attitude of ‘me in my castle’ changes and we can truly come together as a region

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Over/Under on “but… but… but… Obama!” is 25 for this thread. Place your bets!

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I would say the problem does go back to our grandparents. As a child of the 50s, I could ride my bike to school, but most activities were too far away for anything but car transport. Buses did not serve “lower suburbia” well. A six block walk would get me to a bus, which could take me downtown, With the cost of owning a car, it does not surprise me that many teens do not drive.

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A six block walk would get me to a bus, which could take me downtown

That was what I could do as well. Or bike it, but that was about 10 miles across many busy streets. But starting when I was 15, I was allowed to take the bus wherever I needed to go, including a job that was two bus rides away. Now such a scenario would be considered inconceivable by some parents and a reason to buy their “baby” a car.

Of course, I now live in a part of Fulton not served by any bus service… not even to bring in The Help.

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Cynthia Mckinney plans to run for her old seat.

Saw that. Can’t imagine how she thinks she’ll beat Hank without her late Dad’s political infrastructure.

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…and the struggle continues….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kH_EZF0XqM&ob=av2e

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The Moonbats read like a bunch of damn yankees this morning.

For those who might not understand, a yankee enjoys our warm weather, freienly people, hospitality and then returns North. A damn yankee arrives; never goes back home, and bitches about everything.

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JohnnyReb

April 23rd, 2012
8:05 am

Johnny,
Had a bumper sticker a while back that said “Yankee, welcome to the South…now go home!”

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I think we should all go camp out/destroy Woodruff Park. I’ve heard that does wonders for the economy…

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Why don’t we cut taxes, that fixes everything.

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Heaven forbid we admit that as citizens of Georgia this is our own damn fault.

Shame on all of us.

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Jay,

Aren’t the income gains in the rest of the country driven by the gains of the upper echelon of earners? I thought we were supposed to be against that kind of thing.

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Last paragraph of article:
“The country is changing. The market is changing. And while a number of business and civic leaders in the metro Atlanta region understand that reality, I don’t believe that our political leaders at the state level, particularly at the Legislature, fully grasp the necessity of reinventing ourselves and reinvesting in ourselves, and of giving us the transit, planning and governance tools to make those changes.”

Troll replies:
“Of course they don’t, they’re republicans, by definition that means they’re stuck on stupid and dedicated to moving backwards.”

To which James replies:
“Troll must not realize the City of Atlanta; which the article is about; is run by democrats.”

Thanks to James for proving my point.

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“Aren’t the income gains in the rest of the country driven by the gains of the upper echelon of earners?”

Ah, Nope.

trickle trickle trickle

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Granny and Doggone,

I wasn’t suggesting trickle down. I was suggesting that the top quintile is increasing the average while the other groups are essentially staying flat.

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Even Georgians are starting to move into the 21st Century in their thinking, with 46% of them voting in 2008 for Obama’s vision of the future. Nothing remains the same, even in Georgia. My father used to say, “We will progress or we will regress, but we will not stay the same.” And, he was a “Southern gentleman,” who was also forward thinking. It’s possible. Give it a try!

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Wes

Aren’t the income gains in the rest of the country driven by the gains of the upper echelon of earners?”

OR

I was suggesting that the top quintile is increasing the average while the other groups are essentially staying flat.

Not quite the same statement.

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Kids want to drive, it’s just that being required to get a license “disenfranchises” them from doing so.

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And there lies the problem. We have people, that “know” better than us, telling us what we should think. We’re not allowed to dislike a proposal simply because of its origins, even if we know the root of those origins, simply because that must mean we are self-destructive. Did you ever consider the reasons behind why those attitudes come about?

To Jay’s point, Yankees typically treat the South as if it were the bastard child of the nation. Not for any legitimate reason anymore, but for past perceptions. Because many of us, especially those that were raised in the country, have thick accents, we’re portrayed as ignorant, stupid, slow, not capable and any other number of things. For some of us, we’re able to spin that to our advantage and gain advantages in careers and life that they we’re not thought to be capable of because we’re too “stupid.” Where is the rational basis for this thought? You can say it doesn’t exist, but it is easy to find these attitudes if you just look. This attitude is also easily found in the Upper Mid-West, but I chalk that up to bitterness that a lot of their jobs are moving south.

To Doggone’s point. Yeah, you could say that, but you could also say the same about “modern American liberalism.” But would you want to consider the reasons behind that? Maybe that people have had the opportunity to look at what one side or the other is offering, and don’t see them proposing things that would be considered to be in my best interest? If 99 out of 100 things you propose go directly against my values and what I see as my best interest, why should I accept that you’ve suddenly had a change of heart for that 1? Something to consider. Also, I’m not limiting it to one side or the other, I’m saying it for both sides.

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Well, kiss my grits..we actually agree on something…not the wonderful spin you put on unemployment as it is still very grim considering the almost trillion dollars spent by DC, but Atlanta reinventing itself… You are correct that the younger population is now loking to getting “Closer to Home”. That is, work, shop, live within walking distance. Gone is the idea for a large lot. grass, plants, trees to take care of but less time working in the yard and more time to do other things. The shift is now towards a small town atmosphere in a large city. The burbs are becoming a thing of the past. Gee Jay, we agree on something. But me personally, well just put in my garden, have cut two acres, and love having to load up the old buckboard with a weekley list to go to town on Saturday!!

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Rags

“Even Wisconsin is becoming a proof of the benefits of a business-friendly environment.”

What Wisconsin are YOU talking about?

From Express Milwaukee:

The first-year effects of Walker’s policies on public employees—as well as their ripple effects on the state’s economy—have been analyzed in a new study from the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF), which found:

The average public employee has taken a pay cut of almost $3,000, or about $60 per week, thanks to Walker’s requirement that they contribute more toward their health care and pensions.
The pay cut given to 260,000 full-time public employees amounts to $700 million taken out of the state’s economy each year, which means less money to be spent at Wisconsin’s small businesses.
The shrinkage of the state’s economy due to public employees’ pay cuts will lead to a loss of about 6,900 full-time jobs in the first year of Walker’s budget.
Walker’s rejection of $553 million in federal funds—including $390 million for high-speed rail and $130 million for Medicaid in just the first year—will cause the loss of about 4,700 private-sector jobs.
Walker’s $975 million in cuts to state and local programs—including education funding, recycling and transportation—will cause about 5,400 full-time private sector jobs to be lost.
The average pay cut to the 47,210 public sector employees in Milwaukee County is $2,620, reducing the local economy by $123.7 million.

.

Geez Rags check out GOP talking points before you post ‘em.

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the city has been run by Democrats

Kayaker, are you and “James Thomas” suffering from the same reading comprehension issues?

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Reb,

The Yankees came to Dixie to claim what is rightfully their’s.

You shouldn’t have lost!

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The developer wanted more density, because there were more profits in it. The market wanted more density, because it offered cheaper housing to both buyers and renters.

…which is pre-zackly why I’d like to see the specifics of the realtors’ survey you cited, Jay, because it seems to represent a grudging, official acknowledgement that the rape-em-and-scrape-em, scorched-earth development policies of the past are unsustainable.

(and yes, I realize “realtors” is not equal to “developers + the market” but their interests tend to coincide.)

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Oops. Thanks, Jay, for the study link.

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create a business-friendly environment, without subsidies, and step out of the way

and when those businesses complain that the road asphalt is deteriorating into gravel and the sanitation system is broken, they can pony up and get all that fixed. Is that how it works?

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Jay,
Seriously what you say is well and good, but what can the average Georgian do to change the situation?

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The cause for unemployment is simple: employers need people with technical skills. We have students graduating from high school that can’t read and basic math is beyond them. College grads need engineering degrees.

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why don’t we build another airport on the NORTH or NORTHEAST side of Metro Atlanta to alleviate commercial air freight?

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Uh oh!

Very bad news for Republicans:

After peaking at $3.87 a gallon earlier this month, metro Atlanta’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has dropped 15 cents.

The price has been steadily dropping since peaking on April 8.

Your heroes in the free market had better come up with some ways to stop this!

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“why don’t we build another airport on the NORTH or NORTHEAST side of Metro Atlanta to alleviate commercial air freight?”

For the same reason we don’t build an interstate highway through your neighborhood.

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Ragnar..
A little fact checking here on your earlier post:
Check out the stats for the past year on job growth in Wisconsin (or lack thereof!)
versus the growth in jobs that has been experienced in Illinois.
I believe that Wisconsin is the only state in the country that has lost jobs in the last year & it still continues to do so in the March monthly jobs report.
Meanwhile Illinois, it’s southern neighbor who you named a “basketcase”, has been experiencing steady job growth numbers that are on an even faster uptick more recently thus leaving the Badger State behind in it’s dust.
Don’t take my word for it though & go look up the stats yourself.

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The cause for unemployment is simple:

Nonsense. It is anything but.

It is very complicated and involves many factors, not just your favorite bogeyman.

Unemployment rates are elevated across virtually all industries and all education levels.

And in spite of record profits in the trillions of dollars annually, there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around.

The consequences of businesses are not hiring.

The consequences of middle America not spending.

The consequences of flat-lined middle class incomes and rising poverty.

The consequences of capitalism gone very bad…

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“Rethink”? I had to laugh since many of our politicians hadn’t had a coherent thought, especially about planning for the future…ever!

For those who feel compelled to criticize the Democrats for the COA, do you realize the beginning of lost income began at the turn of the century….when the Repubs took over the statehouse and governorship? And , at the same time the majority of the counties around Atlanta in the METRO area are run by Repubs? Now, let’s get back to the issue of planning Atlanta’s growth and revenue.

Many states and cities (Maryland, Portland, etc.) have laid out development boundaries where state and federal monies would be used in the more urban areas and not in the rural areas. This includes schools, development and zonings, transportation improvements, etc. to concentrate development making the use of transit more cost effective by allowing more mixed use and densities. Maryland has also added a cross county connector toll road (aka Outer Perimeter type facility north of DC, showing that they are proposing a mixed mode transportation system.They have over the past 20 years converted major arterials from a driveway every 50 ft to controlled access arterials and expressways, like P’tree Ind Blvd north of I 285.

Our economic model is based on growth not standing still or digressing. Wishing people that have come here to live to go away is pure frustration/whining, let alone not going to happen. Others are coming. Other than possibly giving prospective new residents a driving test before they are allowed to take up residence here, the likelihood of stopping the migration is nil.

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Jay,
Thanks for your post of 9:16 that saves me from having to look up recent stats that rebut UNCLE SAMANTHA who assumes that metro Atlanta is still growing like gangbusters in population. Those days are done for, at least for now.
If Atlanta & the state don’t turn it around soon in population growth, this current decade may well be the first one in my lifetime memory where Georgia will fail to grow fast enough to gain an extra congressional seat after the next census.
A look around us reveals that we are not the only southeastern state that is stumbling along with drastically slower population in-migration. So, it would appear that perhaps the entire region may need to re-evaluate & reinvent itself on some levels.

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I don’t understand the point in the graphs if the argument is Detroit is doing better than Atlanta because the graphs clearly dispute that. Atlanta has done better in income and employment since 2000. I guess Jay is trying to make a point but the point escapes me.

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Normal: People could get involved in the planning of their communities, cities, and counties. Planning meetings and hearings aren’t that “sexy” because it takes some imagination to “see” the future or what is proposed impacts to their area.Change will happen. Stopping it is useless. Molding it to what is beneficial to the community is where efforts should be placed.

Most people come out when there is a roadway project already drawn out on paper, and then they say we weren’t consulted to what we want, or you didn’t ask my permission to do this, or what impact will that have directly on me and my property. Planning only has nebulous answers to those questions, except permission, so earlier contact is required with those who would use and be nearby to the project. This was done on the Johnson Ferry/ Abernathy project and, after 40 years, it is under construction with community support. ( I will not get into why it is taking so long to construct!)

Soothsayer: In the metro area stop allowing the use of septic tanks. Water used in a septic system is used once…it goes back into the ground, where water used in a sewer system is used about 7 times before being dumped. Not to gross ya’ll out but each time it is used, except during watering your yards, it is treated and reused in the metro areas with sewer/water systems.

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Will YOU vote in the November election?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP6Mcvgdrtg&feature=related

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Recon: Atlanta is the engine that drives the economy of the state of Georgia. Why would their be growth in the outlying counties and cities if Atlanta didn’t exist?

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atler8, as a point of reference for someone not familiar with the area maybe but that would be about as far as it goes for most who live outside of Atlanta.

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Road, Private sector business is what drives the economy, any economy. Government does not drive the economy it can either help facilitate growth or it can be an impediment to growth.

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There are plenty of tools for Atlanta to “rethink itself” right here on the blog.

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looks like they’ll get one at least…Cynthia Mckinney plans to run for her old seat.

There are plenty of tools for Atlanta to “rethink itself” right here on the blog.

so that’s three with the same lame joke.

hmm.

Is Neal on the radio crying about this piece, perchance?

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“rightwing troll, why are companies like Baxter and Caterpiller moving from a dem run state, Obo’s IL into a state run by strupid repubs If dems were so much smarter wouldn’t companies be moving to dem states from repub states ?”

This might be just a bit hard for you to grasp…but there are other reasons beside politics for a company to choose where to locate. And Caterpiller is not LEAVING IL, they are ALSO coming to GA.

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The shift is now towards a small town atmosphere in a large city. The burbs are becoming a thing of the past.

Not to nitpick, but “suburbs” WERE small towns, aka “bedroom communities”, not so long ago. You lived there, went to school, shopped, etc., but (generally one working parent) commuted to a larger city every day, perhaps via train or bus.

Nowadays that model can still work, particularly with so many who are now able to telecommute most if not all days. I don’t think those kinds of ‘burbs are a thing of the past at all; I think they hit a sweet spot for many, providing some degree of privacy with mostly detached homes but on smaller lots, with sidewalks, shopping, and more of a feeling of community than you get with big homes on bigger lots in a landlocked subdivision hell-and-gone from anything.

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Recon: So the $2B budget of GDOT has no bearing? Other than salaries and overhead, most goes to projects planned, designed, constructed, and maintained by the private sector. GDOT has been gutted from 12,500 employees in the 1970’s ( a lot of maintenance and light const done in house) to 6300 in 2005 (actually 5900 filled spaces) to 4300 today! No impact statewide? Really?

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Here are some interesting facts to consider. Among the 50 fastest-growing counties from 2010 to 2011, 38 were in the South, with the remaining 12 split equally between the Midwest and West. Texas contained more of these counties than any other state, with 12. Georgia was next, with nine, followed by Virginia (seven), and North Dakota and North Carolina (tied with three apiece).
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-55.html

If people really perfer these areas they are still not moving to them. The main reason people move to the suburbs is cost.

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“I lived in Atlanta many years ago before it reached the ruined state it is in now.”

Good riddance!

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JoeCool – 10:08 – haha … I was thinking “and the city center was an incrementally happier place to be without you”

but yours is far pithier

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“I don’t believe that our political leaders at the state level, particularly at the Legislature, fully grasp the necessity of reinventing ourselves and reinvesting in ourselves, and of giving us the transit, planning and governance tools to make those changes.”

Eliminate the State income tax, tax subsidies.

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“why don’t we build another airport on the NORTH or NORTHEAST side of Metro Atlanta to alleviate commercial air freight?”

The City of Atlanta purchased 10,000 acres in Dawson County for a Northern airport years ago.

It is really nice place to take a walk in. Thank you Atlanta.

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JB,

Metro Atlanta’s economic problems are more a function of the composition of our economy than it is the layout of our neighborhoods. Too many of our jobs are based in industries that are cyclical and subject to the same global economic forces that are hurting the inflation-adjusted wages of many Americans.

Let’s start with our employment base. According to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the 20 country metro region had about 2.2 million jobs as of 2010. Here are our top ten sectors for jobs:

1. Retail trade – 11.5%
2. Health and Social Assistance – 11.1%
3. Education – 9.9%
4. Food and Accommodation – 9.0%
5. Administrative and Waste Management – 7.3%
6. Professional and Technical – 7.1%
7. Manufacturing – 7.0%
8. Transportation and Warehousing – 6.1%
9. Wholesale Trade – 5.9%
10. Public Administration – 5.1%

According to ARC, high paying jobs tend to be in the following sectors: Finance, Information, Professional and Technical, Wholesale Trade and Management. Low paying jobs tend to be in the following sectors: Retail Trade, Food and Accommodation, Administrative and Waste Management, Education, and Arts and Entertainment.

As you can see, many of our jobs are in low paying industries. Most of those same low paying industries are also cyclical. Once the economy recovers, some of the lost jobs will come back, but wages will still be stagnant because of the composition of our economy. .

While it’s helpful to think about the layouts of our neighborhoods and transportation challenges on a regional basis, those are not the primary reasons our unemployment rate is high and our incomes are stagnant.

Our emphasis should be on making Georgia a great place to invest, do business, and hire workers. That means constantly working to ensure that we have good infrastructure, good schools and a highly skilled workforce, a good regulatory environment and reasonable tax burdens.

Attractive communities are important too, but for many folks with families, that means suburban living. Let’s not try to do a one size fits all approach. Some folks like ITP living while others like OTP living. Live and let live.

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the only thing the state republicans are interseted in is stopping women from having abortions, jim crow id laws, enact laWS TO Stop homosexuals from getting married, and stopping and harassing hispanics..

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“had a severe allergic reaction to some medicine I was prescribed. Somehow it affected my kidneys. ”

holy crap – same thing happened to a friend of mine – he wound up needing a kidney transplant – are you doing okay?? is it functioning normally again??

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In other news,
You forgot to include the Georgia Legislature in your “tools” bracket. Or should I have written “fools”?

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the outer suburbs are full of poor republicans who will vote for MITT even though he will try to cut their SSI,MEDICARE,MEDICAID etc..,lol

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1 point in unemployment drop?,does this include the ones who ran out of it?,what a joke Jay,you would do a play of word,s to try to make that sly little man look good,let,s go to 2012 elections.

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The point about those from the North-Yankees_ or from other areas move to the South for several reasons, warm weather, lots of recreation opportunities, mostly friendly people, and, THE AREAS AND CITIES THEY MOVE FROM ARE FAILURES OR ARE FAILING! Then once they get here they begin to rant and rave about how right things were done where they came from! If they were so right, what the hell are they doing here? And progress, depending on your interpretation and meaning of the word, IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD!

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why are companies like Baxter and Caterpiller moving from a dem run state, Obo’s IL into a state run by strupid repubs ?

Seems like nobody eats breakfast anymore. Sometimes, it’s better to be quiet and think this kind of stuff. Not posting it doesn’t expose your ignorance for all to see. Catepillar did NOT move from IL to GA. Catepillar stated they wanted manufacturing closer to North American and European markets than what J-A-P-A-N would offer. In essence, Catepillar moved production from Japan to GA. I don’t recall their being a city or town in Illinois called Japan.

No wonder this state is so effed up. The Legislature is a perfect mirror of it’s non-thinking residents.

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I found this article by Jay fascinating because I discussed many of the same issues with several people the other night. In my opinion the outer Counties are in for hard times. The “Quiet Place in the Woods” is no longer so appealing if you have to drive a considerable distance to a job, entertainment or store. Public transportation is almost non-existent in some of these Counties.

Residential real estate within walking distance to a Marta pick-up or public transportation would be a wise investment in my opinion. Add in Retail and you have an even bigger winner.

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To:
The Honorable Governor Nathan Deal
Dear Governor Deal:
Thank you for expanding the economy in the state of Georgia and for standing up to Washington’s high taxes, draconian regulations and illegal health care scheme.
Amen,
Bill Orvis White

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did ya’ll see the crowd NUGENT was talking too? not exactly a mensa convention,lol. theyre gonna vote for a rich guy who said he didnt care about the poor. Dont these guys know MITTENS mean them? Nugent is just a draft dodger whose ole and angryabout life.

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“All spiritual help will be greatly appreciated… ”

Normal – I’ll talk to the trees for you

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bruno

Well said, by the man from the “garden state”…

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You can call it metro Atlanta all you want to Jay, but until the city, dekalb, and Fulton counties give complete control of MARTA to a regional board, it will not get support from surrounding counties. Make that step first and all of this might have a shot.

Keep on mind there are over 100 counties who could care less about Atlanta traffic and they expect their reps to vote that way.

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republicans would love atlanta if it wasnt majority black.

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The problem is sprawl,the modern suburb is too far out from the city. The suburb of the past is now a Intown neighborhood .Inman park was considered Atlanta’s first suburb,East Atlanta village built mostly in the forties and fifties is now a increasingly desirable address.

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@franklee

KIRKWOODVis the best neighborhood in ATLANTA…I LOVE STAYING HERE

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@COMMONSENSE

IF a persons not working its probaly their fault due to lack of education,skills etc. dont blame the government if you’re not working

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@uncle samantha

yeah the kkk is the welcoming committe…real polite bunch

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and liberallefty PROVES my point

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“why dont we just quadruple the annual construction budget of MARTA and have the GRTA put public transportation and high speed rail to connect all the METRO counties so we can grow again”

Because then Those People who don’t have cars can come out to yo’ lilly white neighborhoods and create mayhem.

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RB, but you are correct that the other 100 counties don’t really care.

The state set up a regional system for funding, but it doesn’t look like MARTA was a part of that, due to STATE restrictions. Until the STATE can fund it, it shouldn’t restrict other MARTA funding.

Either that, or scrap “MARTA”, rename it, and/ or fund it like it should be funded.

It seems many from around the metro counties wouldn’t mind a transit solution as long as it wasn’t named “MARTA”.

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USinUK,
Talking to trees is what I do too…Thanks!

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Liberalefty. word. ITP for life

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godless: Ga Tech and the Atlanta Regional Commission.

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Logical, I don’t care if they invert the “M” and change it to WARTA (White Area Rapid Transit Authority?) if that’s what it takes for GA suburbanites to get over their weird collective angst.

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normal

Sure! No problem, I know the whole southeast part of this state like the backe of my hand. I have a couple of properties in central florida, know that area well too. There are some monster deals out there in real estate, it’s a buyers market and will be for at least another couple of years IMHO. Come on down!!!!

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Jay – where again did they put that bio-plant? Downtown Atlanta??? Your crystal ball is a little hazy.

“arnold” wrote earlier that conservatives cannot adapt to change. HA! In 40+ years since I graduated from high school I’ve changed NUMEROUS times, had my IT technical skills become obsolete several times, survived multiple corporate buyouts and RIFs (both ways, staying put and being swept away), moved to new cities and jobs, experienced Nixon price controls, oil lines, double-digit mortgage rates (thanks to Pres. Carter), Bush I recession, internet and housing bubble bursts. I’ve transformed my career several times, thank you.

Conservatives in my lengthy experience are typically BETTER at adapting to change because we don’t whine and cry and march and stand in lines for handouts, we ADAPT ON OUR OWN. We don’t ask other people to re-invent the future for us – we can take care of that just fine by ourselves.

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HEY mitt

trayvon was an african american teenager killed by a hispanic neighborhood watchman

i dont get the point you were trying to make

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“COMMONSENSE

IF a persons not working its probaly their fault due to lack of education,skills etc. dont blame the government if you’re not working”

So you are saying don’t blame the government for the education folks have?

Hmmmm. Have you thought clearly about your conclusion? Because the rest of your party is demanding more dollars for education to fix the very thing they say is causing the problem-education.

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Mick-

What part of Florida are you in? I lived in PB county for 20 years. I also bought properties Central Florida. Bought and Sold 12 properties in Lake County north of Orlando.

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“Typical lib “logic” within this state. The slow pace started when none other than Roy Barnes was in charge.”

Roy Barnes is a liberal? I know he is Democrat. You do know that they are not always one in the same, correct?

Please list Roy’s political ideology on 10 things or so to back up your assertions.

Thanks

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Grow up, Rednecks.

So much for Northern politeness. Pretty damn hypocritical to call somebody out for not being polite when you kick sh*t in their face at the same time.

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@COMMON SENSE

AND mitt is trying to gut the student loan program to make education costlier

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Road Scholar: “godless: Ga Tech and the Atlanta Regional Commission.”

You talking about the sewage issue? Almost all, if not all, the wastewater generated by municipalities in Georgia is either discharged directly into streams or rivers or is land applied through irrigation. The statement, “used 7 times before being dumped” is just not true.

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and yes i am a product of the Georgia skool system

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dB @ 10:53

I still don’t think that would get it done…

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black college football players have southerners saying “SOUTH GON RISE AGAIN”!…HEHEHEHE…WE GON WHIP THEM YANKEES

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“they” meaning folks from the North who call southerners, “red necks”

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bruno
i do not dispute your assertation that there is no deeply embedded dislike toward Southerners from the Northerners………. however there are STEROTYPES that Northerners exhibt towards Southerners……………. you know what they are and its a waste of time to try to dispute that

i just find it hilarious the sterotypes and responses used on a blog since no one has to say things face to face

there is no North-South rivalry because all the Northerners are leaving the North due to job opportunites and quality of life improvements

and we both know that a rude people and polite people exist everywhere

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I have lived in the North for many years and the South for many years. There are good and bad people in both, trying to generalize is not worth the time.

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Huntsman compares GOP to Communist Party of China

“Last night I said, you know if you’re not on script and you get knocked out of an event like that the party’s supposed to be big tent, you’re supposed to bring in all ideas and I said, I thought for a moment about what they do in China if you’re off script. The party, they knock you out,” Huntsman said on MSNBC. “We shouldn’t be doing that here. We should be accommodating all voices.”

*Supposed* to be a big tent. What has gone so horribly wrong wit that concept, GOPers?

Most Americans agree that both major political parties have failed them.

And Jon Hunstman is one of a tiny handful of men with the moral courage to dare even broach the subject. But tragically, his brand of moderate, reasoned and reasonable statesmanship and governance has no place at all in the rabid right wing that controls the Once Grand Old Party.

But good for him, anyway…

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Jersey gal Snookie stopped in Savannah on her way to “Jersey Shore Miami.” A local boy at the restaurant tried to make nice with her. Without any direct knowledge to support her assertion, she said to her friend with cameras rolling, “He sleeps with his sister!”

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A. Jay mustve been at rotary
B. I agree Atlanta needs more transit
C. The tools are already available to Marta to solve the problem
D. It will take more than transit to get Atlanta back on the path to prosperity. Much more.

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“Metro Atlanta needs tools to rethink itself”–Jay

Not to worry, The Obama administration is now pivoting to jobs, jobs, jobs…

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hey jay

states losing congressional seats for populations leaving those states
OHIO
NEW YORK
ILLINOIS
IOWA
LOUISIANNA
MASS.
MICHIGAN
MISSOURI
NEW JERSEY
PENNSYLVANIA

GEORGIA GAINED 1 SEAT

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And why does MARTA label lines The North Line and The South Line if not to propagate that US versus Them mentality.

What can I say. It just seemed to fit right in with the degradation of the topic.

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Yankee is a word created by
New Yorkers to label the
dutch farmers who brought
dairy products to the city.
Yan Kees or John Cheese.

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I still think that stirring up the divisiveness does nothing towards ending it. Your last sentence did nothing but stir things up. My original intent was to point that out to you, and I don’t think you can change my mind that it did otherwise.

Brosephus–I’m curious as to why you are choosing to single me out for criticism, with nary a word for the Yankee-haters who started the ball rolling this AM. I rarely make anti-South comments here, or anywhere, but sometimes it gets a bit much. I love the South, and have chosen to make it my home. I’ve been a good citizen and a good neighbor the entire time I’ve lived here. As such, I don’t react well to being treated poorly simply due to my origin of birth.

You’re probably right that the N treatment has been worse than the Y treatment historically, but in the end it’s based on the same fear and prejudice, and no fun being on the receiving end.

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Georgia ranks 50th in education…………
It appears we have been importing the dumbest of the dumb who can’t make it in their own state and move here………… then the state that they left see their ranks go up since their dumbest have left and move our ranking further in the cellar……….. and i am talking about the bama/ ms. / louisanna dummies as well as the northerners

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@bruno

u poor soul u mean well but u dont get it. theirs no comparison as to how blacks were treated and how yankees were treated. get a clue

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The problem has absolutely nothing to do with North or South, Yankees or Rednecks or anything else. It is because Atlanta as a region has outgrown the ability of the government structure to care for it.

Unlike most other states, Georgia has many, many small counties, so where a typical US city with several million people would have less than a dozen local county governments, Atlanta has nearly three dozen. This makes it nearly impossible to get together on regional transportation projects, etc.

That leaves the care and feeding of Metro Atlanta to the totally dysfunctional state government which appears to have mastered the art of legislating “solutions” to “non-problems”. Every year, it’s a whole lot of nothing.

Attacking hard problems (like transportation in Atlanta) or things that might actually effect the legislators (like ethics reform) never happen. Instead, they wind up taking all their time talking about and passing laws that have nearly zero effect on anything. “Should college kids be allowed carry permits?” Who cares? How many actually would? Some probably are, already, anyway. “Should welfare recipients be tested for drugs?” Any tax savings here? Nope.

I suppose it makes the folks back home think they are really standing up for things. Might as well pass legislation defining what Brunswick Stew really is…..

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@carlosgvv

That’s precisely how we got Obama as a President… The ignorance of the American idol mentality speaks, in the 2008 presidential election… They elected their American Idol…. and look at what we have….. Kinda Sad….

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Having grown up in the North, but moved to the South…I can give first-hand stories of a big difference between them. I’ve acquired a Southern accent and when I go back North I constantly hear “I just LOVE your accent” But I haven’t completely lost some of my Northern accent, and in the South I hear “You’re not from around here, are you”

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Bruno

In case you haven’t noticed, the person who posted that yankee garbage doesn’t get much of a response from me anyway. I generally scroll past that person’s posts because I don’t value that person’s opinion much. You, on the other hand, are somebody I consider level headed. If you notice, I didn’t say much of anything about your overall post as I know what you were responding to. I only thought that last sentence went overboard. As far as I’m concerned, the only Yankees that I personally don’t care for is the New York Yankees. That’s all because of a few World Series run-ins with the Braves though.

I can’t answer for others here, as people have their own mindsets and ways of thinking. I don’t give a sh*t where somebody comes from. If they’re American, then they are American. That other crap is nothing but a means to divide and set people against each other. As a former POTUS once wisely noted, “A house divided against itself will not stand.”

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“I’ve acquired a Southern accent and when I go back North I constantly hear “I just LOVE your accent” But I haven’t completely lost some of my Northern accent, and in the South I hear “You’re not from around here, are you””

Yeah most people from the South (including me) cringe when they a Northern accent (pak the ca, anyone?). But when my mom and dad visited New York…cops loved hearing my dad talk when asking for direction.

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Brosephus

It has been many long years since any lynchings have occured in the South. Even though you’re a born and raised Southerner, I doubt any lynchings have occured in your lifetime. However, the tone of your posts suggests they are as recent as cross burnings, and throwing in “thousands of dead people” makes it sound like you are the one being divisive.

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Bruno: F your “inner circle”, Matti. Could you possibly be more arrogant??

Uh…. Excuse me? I suppose I should just let you — or any stranger — right on in because…. because… WHY should I let you right in? Do you think if I moved to Boston, the people there would just let ME right in to their inner circle? Not Italian. Not Irish. How long would THAT take? Geebus.

I’m sorry Bruno, but I don’t trust you as far as I can spit, and that has nothing to do with your state of origin, but everything to do with what you’ve shown me about yourself since you came to these here forums. What you just said to me was ugly, childish, and completely uncalled for. I hope you’ll understand that I have nothing more to say to you.

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“Really? That is the name you call her”

Do you even know who Buckwheat is? Look at this picture and tell me they don’t look alike: http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/115223.jpg

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“And Jon Hunstman is one of a tiny handful of men with the moral courage to dare even broach the subject. But tragically, his brand of moderate, reasoned and reasonable statesmanship and governance has no place at all in the rabid right wing that controls the Once Grand Old Party.”

Just WHERE is there any evidence the “rabid right wing” controls the GOP? Almost impossible to make a case for that with Romney as the inevitable nominee, he of party-insider status and Mass-care infamy.

Of course, this assumes you would include the Tea Party, Gingrich, and Ron Paul libertarians as part of the “rabid right wing”, as it would appear by reading this blog on pretty much a daily basis. They certainly don’t “control” the GOP, and if they aren’t the “rabid right wing”, then just who is?

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“Excuse me? I suppose I should just let you — or any stranger — right on in because…. because… WHY should I let you right in?”

ohfercryingoutloud, Matti – get off your high horse.

people moved to a new place – you should open your door to them AND your heart!! unless you’ve packed up and moved someplace new where you know no one or have any idea where anything is, you don’t know what isolated is.

your “inner circle” isn’t THAT special.

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carlos

The last recorded lynching happened on March 20, 1981 in Mobile, Alabama. The result of that lynching was that a lawsuit was brought against the United Klans of America that bankrupted that organization.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/case-docket/donald-v-united-klans-of-america

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

It doesn’t matter how many took place during my lifetime. The shame is that it HAS taken place in my lifetime. Crosses still get burned nowadays, so don’t think it’s some relic of the past. Instead of burying your head in the sand as though things are okey dokey nowadays, you need to pay attention to what goes on around you. Just because it’s not right in your face does not mean that it’s not happening.

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“Ok, just making sure. Then I don’t know what your poutrage is about me calling her Buckwheat since they look just alike.”

Overt bigotry is always preferable. Then everyone knows where they stand with that particular bigot.

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Jersey gal Snookie

not that I’m an expert on such matters, but a cursory check reveals that she was actually born in Chile, and grew up in upstate NY.

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Bruno

Do as I do… My scroll wheel has a 454 V-8 matched to a 6-speed tranny.

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Peadawg

There have been times when I have got heated with people on here depending on the topic, etc……. however, you will find it hard pressed to find where I call people names and that goes for bloggers, politicians, etc.
There was one time that I did that in retaliation for being called a name and once I did it… I knew I was being just as stupid

One can get their point across without doing that

That is all I’m saying……….. but I digress, if it makes you feel good about yourself have at it

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predawg

cynthia is no worse than the racist PEE PARTY…no shes not worse than those rabid racists are

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USinUK,

Thanks for presuming, but I do indeed know about isolation in a new place. I’ve also made close friendships with at least a dozen transplants (natives being in the minority around here), most of whom got tired of Atlanta or had better opportunities, and moved away again, leaving me to miss them terribly. I’m sorry you think vetting the inner circle is an arrogant thing to do, but I’ve been toasted enough trusting the wrong people. Thanks so much for your concern.

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“but I’m glad to know you wouldn’t want to be my friend”

But I never said that. I said I wouldn’t want to be in your “inner circle” – but your reaction just confirms that.

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liberallefty @ 12:04, comparing one idiot to another idiot, trying to figure out who’s the bigger idiot..that’d your argument?

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Peadawg……… I didn’t call you anything.

I just said the lady has a name. Any inferences made on your part are on you…….

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Jay,
continue with the pro-obama propaganda; but facts are facts; fuel is higher; food is higher; vehicles are higher; houses have lost; wages are even or down; but you keep shoveling in the hopes that something will grow.

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MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact

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You could triple the budget and it wouldn’t help much….until the real root of the problem is fixed. The break up of the two parent home. Fatherless children in poverty face a real up hill battle. Talk to any teacher and she will tell you THEY get the blame, and little is done outside of the school to foster an environment of learning and accountability.

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“Peadawg……… I didn’t call you anything.

I just said the lady has a name.”

Oh f-off w/ the political correctness. The woman doesn’t belong anywhere near the Senate. I just hope Dekalb County residence aren’t dumb enough to vote for her.

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“MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact”

Personally…I wouldn’t take either side of a bet on that.

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“I’m sorry you think vetting the inner circle is an arrogant thing to do, but I’ve been toasted enough trusting the wrong people. Thanks so much for your concern.”

good grief – being nice to someone /= giving them your PIN or your mother’s maiden name.

be nice. be friendly. s’all I’m saying.

this whole “Bostonians wouldn’t do it if I moved there” is BS. So what if they wouldn’t – treat others as you would have them treat you.

(now, where did I hear that before???)

criminey, that’s why I was glad to see CT in my rear-view mirror … taciturn and cold, they didn’t want to get to know you unless they had to

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but facts are facts; fuel is higher

Facts are indeed facts, and they don’t change based on what people “think”.

http://www.ajc.com/news/gas-prices-down-15-1424037.html

After peaking at $3.87 a gallon earlier this month, metro Atlanta’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has dropped 15 cents.

Falling world oil prices and declining demand from U.S. drivers in response to high prices are two factors contributing to the lower prices, analysts say.

No matter how much people want to blame stuff on the person residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he does not have that much sway over the entire world. It doesn’t matter whether that person has a (R) or a (D) behind their name.

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Most people do not realize that our ‘market-based economy’ is not a free market at all. The government is involved in every step of commerce from taxes to regulations. Since that is not likely to change, the goal should be to have goods and services reflect their true costs without hidden or direct subsidies. That way people vote with their wallets. If something is truly worth the cost, they will buy it. Otherwise they will spend their money on something more valuable to them. Energy is one area that is directly subsidized but also has many hidden costs such as protecting oil sources and mitigating environmental and health damage.

I am a conservative whose business is dependent on energy and yet I think the solution to many of our problems is to raise the energy tax. Higher energy prices, offset by lowering business and personal taxes, would put the market incentives in the right place so we don’t have to make piecemeal laws in an attempt to create an industrial policy.

Higher energy costs would:
- reduce dependence on oil imports from dangerous places
- improve trade deficit
- encourage people to live and work closer together, reducing urban sprawl
- lower congestion by encouraging rail transport and discouraging huge vehicles
- encourage mass transit
- lower pollution and greenhouse emissions
- encourage alternative energy and ‘green jobs’
- provide revenue for tax relief

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Bruno – 12:11 – are you saying Yankees = special needs kids???

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MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…

“boiled-potato-on-white-bread-with-Miracle-Whip-sandwich Rob Portman makes Mitt Romney look like Louis Farrakhan on a Red Bull & meth bender.

Get excited, Republican base. Get very excited…”

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When did the metro area go from 13 to 28 counties. Where does it end now, Macon?

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“she is running for a seat in the House of Representative not to be a Senator”

well, the House chambers are right across the building from the Senate, so technically speaking she would be somewhere near the Senate …

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criminey, that’s why I was glad to see CT in my rear-view mirror … taciturn and cold, they didn’t want to get to know you unless they had to

USinUK–There may be something to what you’re saying there. In the colder climes, people spend a lot more time indoors, and don’t tend to socialize as much. As such, the colder regions attract a more rugged, individualistic type of people. It wasn’t my cup of tea, so I left as soon as I could at age 17.

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MITTS VP will not be black or a woman…

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USinUK,

I am friendly. I’m quite neighborly, in fact. You have no idea what I’ve done for my transplant neighbors. I never said I wasn’t. I referenced messing with someone to see if they can take a joke before letting then into the “inner circle” and got trounced all over by people who think that’s just not being friendly enough. People presume a lot, and pounce quicky and viciously, which only reinforces my instincts not to trust them. I was told about Boston from people I know who moved there who explained that — unlike here — folks just don’t chat up strangers the way we do. Did I get that wrong? SO sorry.

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Let: “I am a conservative” Are you SURE? You sound like a Democrat.

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Bruno – 12:11 – are you saying Yankees = special needs kids???

I should have seen that one coming……I can only imagine what your poor husband has to put up with!!

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To the folks quoting Gallup polls over the last two weeks to indicate that Obama was done…….. I strongly suggest you now jump on the Rasmussen bandwagon because the Gallup numbers are heading the other way………..

Just thought I would provide that info as a public service announcement

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Doughy Pantload / Warmongering D-bag sheetz.

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@erwin

truth equals bigotry? u know MITT’S not gonna have a black vp, hes not crazy!

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lefty – I’m sure Mitts choice won’t be directed by racial or gender issues…there are quality choices in every sector of the population…if he does pick a black you would say it was a token pick..so either way, you will disqualify it because you see the world only through the spectacles of bigotry…every comment you’ve made is related to race or gender.

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Bruno – 12:26 – my poor husband??? he’s more persnikety than I am … I call him Barrister Bob when he’s being a particular pain in the patoot.

If he met your high standards, then he must be quite a fellow.

I do remember one quote you attributed to him when asked about how he felt toward the US Revolutionary War: “You’ll come back some day….”

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“fully grasp the necessity of reinventing ourselves and reinvesting in ourselves, and of giving us the transit, planning and governance tools to make those changes.”

In other words let the govt central planners, who often have no stakes in making decisions about housing and development, no accountability for screw-ups, etc. make the decisions for the rest of us on where we should live, how our neighborhoods should be developed and look, and how much driving we should be able to do. And let them come up with grandiose public transportation projects such as light speed rail which will fail due to our lack of population density. And while scheming for these big projects that adhere to their particular mindset, whims, or desires of how we should live let it be known that if a project such as Marta or Amtrak should be a money loosing boondoggle that these planners lose nothing since they have nothing at stake. That’s exactly what we need- central planners with nothing at stake, no accountability, making far reaching decisions affecting taxpayers about things such as big rail projects based on nothing more than their own enuncumbered visions of what America should look like.

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this recovery is all bush’s fault

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“Look at the most recent example coming from Sanford, Florida as an example. Some in law enforcement wanted to pursue a case in that shooting from the start. Others did not.”

Brocephus,

So which cops didn’t want to pursue the Trayvon case? As I recollect it the lead investigator thought Zimm was lying and recommended to the AD that he be prosecuted. The AD looked at the case and simply determined that there wasn’t enough evidence under Florida’s law to win a case against Zimm. Lastly a lot of liberals on here at the outset of this stated that the police did no investigation. Jay even wrote a column last week that the police did very little. The next day in the news it came out that they grilled Zimm that night for 5 hours. Does 5 straight hours of interrogation mean that Sanford PD or elements of it had no interest in pursuing the case?

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Rode the bus from Cobb Cy. to Art Center and from there to the airport last week. $5.50 total cost, smooth as silk. On way back caught the wrong bus at the Art Center (103 looked like 10 to me) and ended up in Acworth, lady bus driver would not let me off the bus, I could see the top of the trees in front of my house in Vinings, going up 75, but it was an act of Congress to let me off and they were not in session. However the nice driver did drive me dead head as she went back to the Marietta yard, to leave her bus, since I had paid $5 to be hijacked ,twice the fare I had thought, and not gotten anywhere near home. The lady told me several times this was against the rules, the norm was to just leave me in Acworth, in the middle of a park and ride parking lot, with no ride to it, and for this I paid $5. She also gave me a free transfer pass so I could ride the bus from there to Vinings. Ride home $8.50, plus showed up about an hour and a half late.

Trying to figure the new card “Breeze” system was nightmarish. Apparent you wave your card in front of some area at the vending machine and it is magically replenished with $2.50 for the ride to the airport and Art Center. I and some British chap with a tag along bicycle lost two train rides trying to figure out the tricks of the train pass trade. We had used some 911 number and got a very off dial static filled voice promising several times to send someone to assist us. Finally a crack high lady staring amazingly at the two of us, assisted our handicapped situation, with the great satisfaction of being superior and we were allowed on board. On leaving the train who knew you would need that card one more time to make the doors open up at the airport? I went full walk with bags into a clear plastic door leading out of the train station into the airport. Picking myself up at the amusement of the fast moving observers I saw they were waving their cards in a ritual in front of another magic area built in the door area. The door opened and I felt I had been release from a prison.

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“They have their foregone conclusions and fit every piece of data into the pre-drawn picture”

And that would also explain why so many liberals on have already stated repeatedly that Zimmerman committed cold blooded murder. And they did and continue to do this without a single care of what evidence might support Zimm or about the facts of the case.

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Happy Confderate Memorial Day Jay and the rest of your loon far left followers!!!!

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Can’t we just cheat our way to success?

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Joseph, isn’t it on April 26th?

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Jay, esp if politicians weren’t receiving “handouts” from the rural developers, if you get my drift!

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You hear the tax hikes but you never hear a business man thanking the government for what it has done for him. Could you imagine Atlanta if it had taken the Birmingham approach to the airport, you think Turner would have been TBS without government launched satellites, or the oil companies would be so large without government paid roads to travel on? The same roads lead to mega boxes like Walmart and Home Depot. They bring trucks to the grocery stores we shopped, subsidize the railroads so we can get cheaper and more variety of products that some private sector gets rich off of and then does not want to give back to support someone else. Taxes who need stinkin taxes?

ALEC has figured it out. Corruption begins at the grassroots. Infiltrate the corrupt local state governments in the impoverished red states. Then move everything towards state’s rights. Make us Mexico ,what you can’t bribe, we kill. The only thing that keeps the south from being Mexico, now, is the federal government won’t give up on it. One of these days our luck is going to run out. One of these days they are going to give the south exactly what they are asking for, like secession, and you will have one real fat bandit with a gun belt as governor and the rest of us picking bananas.

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Every major city in the USA that has a Democratic mayor is in trouble especially Chicago. Check out Cooke County

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“Zoning laws such as minimum lot sizes interfere both with private property rights and with the increased density that the free market, left on it own, would produce”

You sure about that Jay- that left on its own that we would have increased density all around? That no zoning laws would automatically produce increased density everywhere a la New York city?

And the flip side to that is that zoning laws in liberal cities such as San Francisco, San Jose, etc. have made housing incredibly expensive. Perhaps there is more density. But there is also much less room for housing. For example in San Fran only about a fourth of the land is available for housing. The rest is cut off and reserved “green space”. The unintended consequence? Less housing and incredibly expensive housing. But it was real good for the planners who restricted building for new housing and saw their property values skyrocket.

“Likewise, when government began building huge highways into previously open spaces to induce sprawl — in effect turning cheap farmland into expensive housing developments at taxpayers’ expense — how was that not a “central planning approach that govt knows best what’s good for you and how to plan our housing, transportation, etc.”?”

Those highways are also paid for by the taxes of the citizens that those highways lead to. Or did you forget that? What you call “urban sprawl” I call the freedom of people to build and live where they want to.

“The free market, left to its own devices, would produce a much more compact urban footprint. It is only through government regulation that the sprawl footprint is mandated”

The free market would produce a heavily urbanized footprint? Possibly and in cases where land supply is limited certainly true. But overall not a proveable point Jay. What is proveable though is that govt regulation in the way of reducing land available for new housing in a particular county or city drives up the cost of affordable housing and increases urban density. The economic winners are those who already got theirs while the losers are young or new families in search of affordable housing. Do you dispute that this is the problem in such liberal havens as San Francisco, San Jose, and other areas? And that this affordable housing problem is chiefly caused by urban planners putting restrictions on who can build where and how much land is available for new housing. And that much of the nonsense behind this is due to the vision for “green space” when in reality its all about the got there first crowd denying others.

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And Ken what contributions are made outside of major cities? What company can operate without Chicago or Atlanta? And seems to me a few or those companies are in the mud too, bail out comes to mind. Trust me you come up with a better system and I am voting Republican. Right now it seems you guys are praying for a collapse, only way you can win an election. It is a contest of can Obama fix what you broke before your get back in a break it again.

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Ulm…is this is start of the “Vote for the Transit Tax” publicity machine?

For which the AJC is apparently on board, along with other folks willing to spend millions to convince the voters to ante up the tax money for them to spend.

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Also Jay, about greenspace in San Francisco, the Thulsa Doom was probably talking about the San Francisco Bay Area as a whole, not the city limits itself. I’ve lived in SF and commuted down to Mountain View (by company shuttle), and if you look at most of the land south of San Francisco it is indeed nature preserves and parks. It probably is intentional in order to limit sprawl and increase density, and if so it works (to the extent that they implemented it). But I disagree with Thulsa Doom that that planning is a bad thing. Of course it will make property more scarce and more expensive, but at the same time it makes a more attractive community to many different groups of educated people and in that sense it makes it easier for incomes to go up to match the housing costs. Few young people from other parts of the country these days are going to look at the sprawling suburbs of Atlanta and think of it as a remotely attractive location to move, but the core city itself seems to be becoming more compact and appealing, and will probably have an easier time attracting the top of the crop in the tech industry and other sectors with lots of new hires.

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Seems to me I have read a few cross minded blogs from other writers of the AJC. In fact I dare say Jay may be a lone wolf on this one. There is something about the state enjoying the benefits of the city like a mistress of the night, denying any familiarity in the day.

I see the big Lincolns driving to downtown Atlanta every weekend, Mama cramping big Daddy’s driving side, excited about the bright lights. Pretty dull in Crisp County or Baldwin, but we’ll get it hopping in the big city. Georgia would be Mississippi without Atlanta, darn near is anyway, with all the handicapped thinking of south Georgia. By the way how is that illegal immigration thing working for you farmers. Having to work a little hard are you?

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zeke
April 23rd, 2012
10:26 am
The point about those from the North-Yankees_ or from other areas move to the South for several reasons, warm weather, lots of recreation opportunities, mostly friendly people, and, THE AREAS AND CITIES THEY MOVE FROM ARE FAILURES OR ARE FAILING! Then once they get here they begin to rant and rave about how right things were done where they came from! If they were so right, what the hell are they doing here? And progress, depending on your interpretation and meaning of the word, IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD!

Whatever makes you feel better Zeke. I would think the residents of Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Columbus, even Buffalo might have a case to make against Atlanta.

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Bill Orvis White
April 23rd, 2012
10:31 am

Fixed it for you BOW:

To:
The Honorable Governor Nathan Deal
Dear Governor Deal:
Why hasn’t the economy in the state of Georgia been expanding as fast as other states’ economies including Ohio, Michigan or Illinois? Are you too busy preventing women’s choices, making sure lobbyists can give you gifts, ruining farmers business with illegation immigration bills, or wasting Georgia taxpayer money by suing Washingotn over health care law.
Amen,
Shrill Orifice Tripe

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We can hook this decline right in with the invasion of Right Wing political axe murders in the State Capitol. This is the price we are paying for their premium on corruption, subservience to lobbyists, vigilante politics, immigrant hating, racist dementia, and their particular despise for anything that may benefit Metro Atlanta.

Thanks to them we are right there with Detroit in the race to the bottom. Jay I must commend you for this kind of cogent and sensible writing. No propaganda here. Thank you!

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It’s not the 50s, though. In the 50s, I could take the trackless trolley downtown, shop at Richs then walk to Davisons – at age 10. I don’t believe I’d let my 10 year old do anything like that today.

By the way, if we ban air conditioning, all the damn yankess will go home, solving our transportation problems as well.

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What we need is a Five Year Plan. Worked well for the Soviets. For the expected results from heavy governmental planning, check the article on California in today’s Wall Street Journal online.

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I find it telling that so may posters here cannot stay “on topic”. They gravitate to their usual gripes and complaints about this and that.

I would like to see one day when anyone that posts something other than that on topic (such as I am doing now ) has their comment removed.

Can we not focus on one thing people? This is all about Atlanta (and by corollary Georgia) finding its way forward.

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Metro Atlanta needs tools to rethink itself

They’ve always got tools like you, jay.

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[...] kicked off the week talking about the economic challenges facing metro Atlanta and the region’s need to adapt to suit the modern real estate [...]

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