How far will the Atlanta suburban sprawl spread?

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

What would you suggest instead? Atlantotte?

Ral-lanta is probably more accurate than Char-lanta.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

it's not like it's a third or a fourth of the population of the region like metro chicago, ringed by pre-war development, that the core city could steer things like metra through that suburban development

a minor distinction here, but chicago wasn't so much able to "steer" metra lines through its vast suburban areas because of it's political gravity, rather, most metra lines are where they are because they've been there since the latter half of the 18th century when all railroad lines in the middle of the continent led to chicago, and passenger service was started up on them because they were there. in most cases, the railroad line was there first and then the railroad suburbs were built around the train stops as they were added to the line.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Ral-lanta is probably more accurate than Char-lanta.

Why not just Georolina.

[Ant131531]

Race is the answer to why Atlanta sprawls so badly today, why public transportation lags, why the region is so balkanized, and why Atlanta only started aggressively urbanizing the core over the last 20 yrs or so. Everything comes back to race and racial politics.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

a minor distinction here, but chicago wasn't so much able to "steer" metra lines through its vast suburban areas because of it's political gravity, rather, most metra lines are where they are because they've been there since the latter half of the 18th century when all railroad lines in the middle of the continent led to chicago, and passenger service was started up on them because they were there. in most cases, the railroad line was there first and then the railroad suburbs were built around the train stops as they were added to the line.

i took liberties with that, however the gravity of the central city maintained/expanded(?) this service to then in turn help maintain the gravity and the political influence/domination of the core over the region. case in point - st. louis also had a metra-type service to pre-war suburban (and edge of the city) stations that stopped running, perhaps the end of service enabling the rise of secondary CBD areas like clayton stripping the central city of political influence over the region and giving it to the county.

kind of a rambling stretch.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Why not just Georolina.

Or how about Georgia-linas (plural to account for both NC and SC).

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

the gravity of the central city maintained/expanded(?) this service to then in turn help maintain the gravity and the political influence/domination of the core over the region .

for sure. the fact that chicagoland has grown up and with a pretty comprehensive commuter rail system that has been feeding the downtown beast for the past 150 years has no doubt had a tremendous impact on keeping downtown chicago the unrivaled singularity for the entire region.

downtown chicago and metra both serve, and feed off of, each other. they need each other.

[jayden]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

What would you suggest instead? Atlantotte?

"The 85 Corridor" would work, or something similar.

Or, it can be like it always has been: Atlanta and Charlotte.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Or how about Georgia-linas (plural to account for both NC and SC).

None of those suggestions are as direct and to-the-point as "Charlanta." I think it would also be assumed that other cities would be in on that megapolitan action too. No need to tack them all together, else you'd end up with something like Winston-High-Graldurcharspargreenlanta.

That's the Winston-Salem, High Point, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, Spartanburg, Greenville, Atlanta megalopolis for those of you in the cheap seats, by the way.

Originally Posted by jayden

"The 85 Corridor" would work, or something similar.

Or, it can be like it always has been: Atlanta and Charlotte.

Once upon a time, Dallas and Forth Worth rarely even thought of each other except for brief moments of longing and reminiscing on a romance that was never meant to be... and look where we are now with the Metroplex. Likewise, Connecticut and New Jersey never even sent cards at Christmas in a purer time long, long ago, and now they're part of the Tri-State Area. Things change and regions grow together. When they do, they get a name.

[jayden]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

None of those suggestions are as direct and to-the-point as "Charlanta." I think it would also be assumed that other cities would be in on that megapolitan action too. No need to tack them all together, else you'd end up with something like Winston-High-Graldurcharspargreenlanta.

That's the Winston-Salem, High Point, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, Spartanburg, Greenville, Atlanta megalopolis for those of you in the cheap seats, by the way.



Once upon a time, Dallas and Forth Worth rarely even thought of each other except for brief moments of longing and reminiscing on a romance that was never meant to be... and look where we are now with the Metroplex. Likewise, Connecticut and New Jersey never even sent cards at Christmas in a purer time long, long ago, and now they're part of the Tri-State Area. Things change and regions grow together. When they do, they get a name.

1. Dallas and Fort Worth are much closer to each other than Atlanta and Charlotte.

2. Jersey and Connecticut are part of the NYC CSA, much bigger than themselves.

So yeah, no correlation.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by jayden

1. Dallas and Fort Worth are much closer to each other than Atlanta and Charlotte.

2. Jersey and Connecticut are part of the NYC CSA, much bigger than themselves.

So yeah, no correlation.

That's nice, dear.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Race is the answer to why Atlanta sprawls so badly today, why public transportation lags, why the region is so balkanized, and why Atlanta only started aggressively urbanizing the core over the last 20 yrs or so. Everything comes back to race and racial politics.

politics or preferences? maybe both I bet. its seems like the black middle class, with the exception of maybe in some select NE ciites prefer suburban life. big cars, big streets, nice yards and trees. lots of white folks like that too obviously. those drawn to Atlanta proper are probably more urban minded and development follows their tastes. public transit will always have an image problem too, especially in the eyes of suburbanites that don't see its benefit. that's too bad...

[tdawg]

Agree with Jayden. We already have the I-95 Megalopolis. Why not an I-85 Megalopolis?

[LSyd]

Originally Posted by The North One

It will sprawl until it reaches the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico, at that point Atlanta developers will start filling the ocean with landfill until the entire planet is nothing but one Atlanta MSA. Then the space elevator will be constructed and Atlanta will officially conquer space with floating, detached, poorly built homes until the universe finally ends itself with the thermal heat death. We are all Atlanta, it's humanity's collective story.

beep Delta.

-

[goat314]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Race is the answer to why Atlanta sprawls so badly today, why public transportation lags, why the region is so balkanized, and why Atlanta only started aggressively urbanizing the core over the last 20 yrs or so. Everything comes back to race and racial politics.

You will find this to be the case in pretty much every metropolitan area with a significant Afro-American presence. It's the real reason America abandoned it's cities, but people like to create other narratives.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Race is the answer to why Atlanta sprawls so badly today, why public transportation lags, why the region is so balkanized, and why Atlanta only started aggressively urbanizing the core over the last 20 yrs or so. Everything comes back to race and racial politics.

How many remember that Oprah show in the 1980's that she hosted in Forsyth county about race?
As for Atlanta's sprawl it has no boundaries in any direction to stop it and how different is it from other sunbelt metros in that regard ?

[M II A II R II K]

Add a greenbelt perhaps.

[initiald]

I'm still just amazed by these growth demographics. These suburban counties will continue to urbanize more.

[Tuckerman]

In some ways it is a misnomer to consider this as Atlanta based sprawl. More accurately this is the sprawl of the suburbs themselves and the continuing urbanization of North Georgia. The city of Atlanta itself and the area within the Perimeter is rapidly becoming dense. Some areas such as Midtown are already at fairly high density and becoming more so. At the same time, the far out northern suburbs, e.g Alpharetta, are getting more dense and creating their own sprawl. Even though, like Chicago, Atlanta was a considerable railroad hub, and remains so, the growth in population occurred after the demise of the passenger railroads and commuter trains were superseded by the interstates and auto-based sprawl. Attempts in the Atlanta area to introduce commuter trains have been miserable failures despite the infrastructure. Thus it is not surprising that major suburban CBD development occurred. Such centers as the Cumberland area, where the new Braves stadium is located, and Perimeter, where many of the major corporate headquarters are located, are tied to highways and create their own sprawl. Only about 8% of the metro area resides in Atlanta.

[pdxtex]

i wish this board would embrace the idea that suburban town centers are good. multiple cbd's with multiple supporting neighborhoods make sense. the notion that a single, all powerful and central cbd is outdated. people and their jobs are less static than they used to be, and one of the missing pieces is interconnecting all of the outlying nodes with transit. the re-urbanized central cities isn't a passing fad but don't think growth is limited to central neighborhoods. gas is cheap and people are still buying suv's like it was 1993. until suburban life become cost prohibitive in a meaningful way, than its growth will continue. that doesn't mean suburbanites can't be urbanists. they need urban light though. the perception needs to be that its fun, not a necessity. but you can trick them and add a little office space in with their retail and café table dining....