Many of my working class and/or “non-white” friends have been observing for 2-3 years the dynamic of housing costs driving the lower classes out of Atlanta proper. An irreversible trend it seems to me.

I lived in Paris for a year and the Metro is the ultimate mixing pot with homeless, working class, middle class, and corporate executives all rubbing shoulders. In NYC, same. But in both cases there is an intense rail system _within_ the city centre with suburban arteries feeding it. Atlanta still barely has arteries much less the intensity of in-town rail.

As a native Atlantan at the ripe middle age of 45, I can tell you that Atlanta is definitely having an identify crisis. It wasn’t so long ago that this was a fairly small city. Not only is it becoming a megapolis, the forces we are discussing have also de-centralized Atlanta. All you have to do is look cases like where the “Atlanta” Opera performs – Smyrna; want to watch hockey? How about the Gwinnett Gladiators? Baseball? Gwinnett has that too. Love big marquee performers in live, outdoor concerts? Alpharetta.

So this may be the one dynamic that actually supports the resistance to MARTA – many of my friends in Cobb or Gwinnett do not commute to Atlanta for work or for entertainment like they did 10-20 years ago. Why should they? They have all of their needs met out there – even a chili steak from the Varsity on the way to the game.

I’m not sure what any of this means but it does give me pause when I think about the future of Atlanta metro and how all these municipalities will (or won’t) work together. It is almost as if Atlanta has been loosing economy of scale just when we need it the most.

For those without the time to read all 16 pages…here’s the ultimate (if inconclusive) conclusion of the author…

“The results show that rail stations have a statistically significant effect on neighborhood crime and that the effect varies with three characteristics of the neighborhood: median income level, density of poverty, and average distance to poor people living outside the neighborhood. The mix of characteristics found within central city neighborhoods has resulted in transit increasing crime there, whereas in the suburbs transit has reduced crime in white neighborhoods and has had no effect on crime in black neighborhoods. The results suggest that the fears expressed by suburban residents over station-induced neighborhood crime are unfounded and that extensions of rail transit into the suburbs will not cause further decentralization of population and employment. However, to maximize transit-oriented development around central city stations, greater police surveillance within transit neighborhoods may be necessary.”

Sounds like, if anything, downtown ATL should be more worried about crime than Gwinnett citizens. I can see it now…”Keep the thugs in Gwinnett!”

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5421/is_200310/ai_n21338024/pg_9?tag=artBody;col1 It is from 2003 but still a good read.

BTW – Kim’s assertion of “class-ism” is embarrassingly accurate.

I lived off by Candler Park and rode my bike to GSU in the 80’s as an adult student (yes, i’m old) and definitely was extra alert when near the station. I live near the Brookhaven Station and Chamblee stations now and the business owners are definitely wary of the foot traffic in and out of the stations.

Here comes the common sense part – public transportation is by definition a solution for higher density populations; higher density populations means more of all kinds – the good, the bad, the ugly. So, yes, I think MARTA stations seem to come with an impact on public safety. I guess the fine point I am making (or not!) is that by the time a MARTA station is coming to your area, you are already “urbanizing,” and experiencing anxiety over crime. It will appear as cause and effect when the station is built when actually they are both effects. “Urbanization” is the real underlying dynamic that instills fear of MARTA in our reasonable, suburban friends.

As was pointed out in Jay Bookman’s column in this morning’s AJC, criminals do not ride MARTA to get to and from crimes. Only crimes against persons in the vicinity of a station could even vaguely be connected to MARTA.