Here’s a great map from the Atlanta Regional Commission giving visual representation to how all 10 metro Atlanta counties on T-SPLOST last week. Breakdown overall is unsurprising, but there are some interesting insights in there. Like the highest %s of “yes” votes seem to stretch along the proposed Clifton Corridor line and the east side of the Beltline. And that Cobb saw higher % of yes votes along I-75. Stuff like that.
Enjoy!
h/t: Atlanta Business Chronicle via That’s Just Peachy
T-SPLOST
Chick Fil-A
Wal Mart
And…GO!
No
No
And luke warm support, just to hear the comical “against” lectures about buying foreign junk, and then trying to explain why it’s so much better to buy foreign junk from somewhere with a cooler sounding name that they pronounce with a French twist. Buying Chinese made Colgate at Walmart=Evil. Buying Chinese made Colgate at Tarjet=Perfectly fine
Great idea. Dibs on opening a locally made toothpaste store downtown!
First baking soda toothpaste, then moonshine mouthwash, then floss made out of local feral cat hair, then wooden toothbrushes widdled by locals…oh man, I’m going to corner the local dental products market!!
Looks like the likelihood that you voted ‘Yes’ on TSPLOST increases with your proximity to both boutique cupcake sellers & renovated bungalows with golden retrievers on the porch. The likelihood that you voted ‘No’ increases with your proximity to Zaxby’s restaurants & abandoned subdivisions. There are no winners in the culture war.
But seriously, this is a fascinating map. I’m particularly intrigued by all the blue just southwest of the City of Atlanta in south Fulton. And the solid block of purple in Cherokee County is pretty crazy.
Living down the street from Sugar Moon with my 8-year old Golden, shows I once again buck the trend as I voted No.
Darin,
I’d like to know how much of that blue in southwest Atlanta/South Fulton was influenced by Sunday visits to churches by state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, to discuss his opposition to the T-SPLOST. In the weeks leading up to the vote, reporters received press releases from the Senate Press Office announcing where Fort would be visiting to campaign against the measure. Or maybe it was general anger about the tax. Or a mix of both. But I agree, that block of opposition is fascinating.
I think you are misinterpreting the blue, which is areas of support for TSPLOST. Unless you mean that Sen. Fort inadvertently flipped people to support the measure through his opposition.
Ack! You are correct, my friend. It’s that little splotch of yellow in southwest Atlanta where I’m wondering if Fort made a difference. And look at that little orange precinct in that area. Fascinating.
Read my guest column on Maria Saporta’s website on August 12 for my preliminary analysis of the returns. It is important to make the correct comparisons
The Saporta Report column that accompanied this yesterday made the solid case that plan B is for City of Atlanta, Dekalb, and Fulton to go it alone. The measure passed in City of Atlanta and I believe would have passed in Dekalb and Fulton if it were focused only on local projects. I don’t know the mechanics of how that option would work, i.e. the legislative process. So maybe it’s a longshot. But this map really highlights the Two Atlantas.
PS – dear Cherokee County, when you get out of your car long enough to read this, please don’t ever tell anyone that you are “from Atlanta”. You’re not, you don’t want to be, and so you don’t get to use that shorthand term. It’s a small thing, but rules are rules. Thanks in advance.
100% agree re: going it alone. Let’s stregthen in town and let their planned communities continue to lose value.
I’m giggling at this one. But don’t tell the exurban in-laws.
I’m for going it alone (DeKalb, Fulton, maybe Clayton), but the legislature will probably prevent it from happening. So far Deal has been belligerent and will probably continue to be so until after he faces election; he’s got to compensate for his support of TSPLOST, whch will be used against him by primary challengers.
Would love to see this map overlaid with educational attainment.
It looks like Clayton might be willing to join DeKalb and Fulton on a Plan B if the project list looks a little better for the southern half of the near-urban areas in the next iteration.
I find it interesting that folks all along 78 were against it. I just barely fell on the NO side of the fence but I could have been convinced the other direction with better Complete Streets representation on the list.
Downtown Tucker could be a fantastic place to develop with rail corridors already existent through the area.
Re; Cherokee Co – Why would they want to associate with Atlanta or be more readily connected to Atlanta. Those I know who live there either A) grew up there or B) moved there to “get away” from what they saw intown. (note – not judging, just reporting.) So their vote makes lots of sense to me.
I’m curious about the approach Atlanta will take now (speaking just of that jurisdiction, not all of intown.) I think they’ve had the wrong approach for years. Instead of trying to attract the fleeing suburbanites, instead of trying to make them connect back to what they left, why not build something so utterly freaking fantastic that those in the suburbs unanimously *want* to build those connections?
Think about when you’ve lost a girlfriend/boyfriend. Would pleading or cajoling make them come back? Would you want them back reluctantly anyway? Hell no – you’d go out and find someone ten times better and they’d writhe in jealously and beg you to take them back (at least it worked that way in my imagination.)
Atlanta should be bold with a capital B. Close Peachtree from 5 Points to Pershing Pt, make it pedestrian only with electric trolleys. Subsidize or encourage residential, arts and entertainment. Put all your eggs in that basket. Make it the envy of the southeast, and those in the suburbs will tax themselves independently to be connected to it. Midtown’s been an amazing success story over the last 15 years or so. She’s a hot “next girlfriend”; but with some focus and determination, Atlanta could still find someone hotter.
” Subsidize or encourage residential, arts and entertainment. Put all your eggs in that basket.”
I’ve long thought this should be the approach to Underground Atlanta, instead of supporting that lame mix of retail they have now. You’ve got a huge university right next door that is steadily increasing the number of students who live on campus. Why not tap into this growing market instead of trying to sell junk to people on the way to a Braves shuttle? Reed has indicated support for an arts-oriented Underground. Maybe others will get behind it.
I think you’ve pretty much just described Decatur.
There are people who grew up in suburbia, who are comfortable with the suburban existence, who will never have an interest in living within an inner core. I’m not sure the lost girlfriend/boyfriend analogy really works…because there was never really a relationship there in the first place.