The work that was done in the neighborhood, funded by the Federal Safe Routes to School program, is now done or almost done. Yesterday I saw the new high tech pedestrian crossing lights at Sussex and East Rock Springs, installed in time for the start of school next month. The sod that was put down where intersection work was done looks great, thanks to all the rain; when they put it down a few months ago I figured it was doomed, since no one was going to water it, and it would fade to brown once the weather got hot -- I'm glad I was wrong. But on the neighborhood email lists there's still grousing about loss of the right turn lane at Morningside and North Highland and new bike lanes on 10th Street are generating complaints, too.
The traffic is bad in Atlanta and we can't build our way out of it by building more roads -- even if there was the money to do it (which there isn't), extra lanes just generate more traffic and we end up with the same or greater level of congestion. We have to drive less, and that's hard to do in a city with such limited transit options.
Atlanta's sprawl and lack of transit options are especially bad for less well-off people. Combine sprawl with lower-cost housing located far from where the jobs are, and if you doesn't have a reliable car to get to work, well, it's really hard to work. It's not rocket science, but that was one of the findings in a new study that was highlighted in yesterday's New York Times. Atlanta's geography is one of the factors that keeps poor people poor in Atlanta.
Our reliance on cars means state and local governments have to support a sprawling road network that does not generate enough tax revenue in many areas to be self-supporting. It means employers have to plan for parking for their employees, which often means higher costs for them. And if you don't have a car and you don't happen to live in a neighborhood where MARTA can get you where you need to go, you're just out of luck.
But here in Atlanta we just keep driving, and complaining about the traffic.
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Preaching to the choir. I take Marta up to Sandy Springs to work at least twice a week. Traffic in Buckhead is completely non-functional with all those new office buildings now nearly full. Will only get worse with the 3,000+ apartment units under construction or about to start + all the new retail in the old Village. Midtown at least has a street grid so that it's only truly awful around 5:30-6:30pm. And on and on and on.
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