Wheatley reports over on the Loaf about an Atlanta Business Chronicle story that teases the transit-minded with visions of a revived Peachtree streetcar, thanks to that debt-driven dreammaker, the Federal Stimulus package.

But is a Peachtree Streetcar the best use of Atlanta transit money?  A commenter on Freah Loaf argues that transit should instead focus efforts toward expanding into Gwinnett, Cobb and Cumming (and ignore the desire of voters, apparently).

To me, this dilemma strikes at the heart of competing Atlanta visions.  City-lovers are inclined to support the streetcar, which would strengthen public transit in-town and give the city a much-needed iconic image (without employing Calatrava).  In contrast, metro-visionaries see the streetcar as putting the train before the engine at this stage since the reality is still that 4 out of 5 people in the metro-area live in the tragically transitless ‘burbs.  These folks call for a much larger MARTA network.

At a high-level, transit advocates agree that both these components are key to Atlanta’s overall transit vision, but which is more important and therefore should receive priority in the current battle over dollars?

If suburbanites wanted, instead of feared, MARTA, it might actually be a tough call.