Community Chat

[drizzellla]

I used to work two jobs - so I would do my grocery shopping on my lunch hour. No Problem. Now - forget it - it takes 15 minutes just to get to the store. No way I can do grocery shop on my lunch hourr. And this is within the past 5 years. 

And getting to and from work forget it. I keep leaving 15 minutes earlier in the morning just to try to get to work on time. It now takes more than 1.5 - 2  hours to get home from work on a good day. 

I keep thinking about when I should retire. And the biggest reason that I want to retire is the commute. I am so tired of the commute. And it only seems to get worse with each passing day.

I have lots and lots of CDs in the car and listen to alot of interesting people on the radio.

[terrier3]

Just ANOTHER reason why we have to invest in the infrastructure of our country!

Both light rail AND roads.

The guys in charge of financing highway work have held up projects now for several years...hopefully the stalemate will be broken soon.

BTW - some "genius" had the great idea of dividing up the light rail and bus money equally among all the states - ex.: North Dakota would get the same funding as NYC.

Is that nuts or what??? Luckily people from the NE banded together to try and stop that insanity.

[ID2]

I lived all my life in the metro Detroit area. My last residence was in Livonia. Where we were was becoming so congested! I had stores all near by but it took me a long time to drive there only because of the ridiculous traffic. We now live in upper MI in a rural community. NO TRAFFIC! That's the biggest thing we had to get used to is no one is on the roads! Love it!!

[Hayfield]

Traffic is bad in my area and when I worked full time, when I was younger, I coped pretty well.  Luckily I only work part time and I learned to deal with it.  I make all my appointments for just after the rush hour and make sure I'm home by 3 pm in the afternoon, traffic starts to get bad around 3 pm here due to school getting out (then you have to deal with the school buses) and I live in Northern VA where there's a lot of government employment and some workers go in really early and get out about 3 pm.  I listen to the radio to hear where the accidents are and if it's on the road I need to use, I use a different route.  I do have to think and plan ahead.  If it's a rainy day, I leave a little earlier as the traffic is always worse on a rainy day.   

[Financialgrl]

I live rural now but I grew up in Northern VA.  I presently am back there at least twice a week.  I think for the last two years we've gotten the title of the worst traffic in the nation - and about 3 years ago we surpassed Los Angeles - a title we could do without.   At 60, I feel it's time I no longer live in the middle of nowhere bc as I age, I'll need closer better medical so my house is going up for sale in spring - and I'm moving back to that area. 

Sadly, I'll have to re-learn old habits - mainly, how to drive up I-395 toward DC and cut off ppl just so someone allows mme to change lanes without road rage.  if you think I'm kidding - not so much!  If u visit Washington DC area, don't rent a car - -  take a cab to get to in an area close to the Metro bc here it's hard to tell what's normal traffic, if there's an accident or it's rush hour - it's ALL the same. 

[Laura14]

@gidgetgh  I should have clarified that I think Marta is a must only for those of us in the outer suburbs like Forsyth, Gwinnett and Hall in getting into downtown for events and to the airport which for those of you non-Atlantans is all the way past downtown on the southside.  

I get the resistance if you live closer to town.  I admire you for making the effort to drive in the city and I agree some places (like my occasional Ikea trip) don't make sense to hop a train.  

But I will say I have seriously cut down on my travels into the city of Atlanta and the mayor has lost a lot of money from me and others because we just won't make the trip anymore for baseball games and other events which aren't convenient to public transportation.  It's not worth the fight, time, and parking fees.  God forbid you want to see a concert on a weeknight, if you don't take the train, you have to take the next day off of work because you can't get home from downtown until almost dawn.  

And now they go and build the new stadium completely away from public transportation so everyone has no choice but to drive to see a game or other event when it opens.  If we don't have a good team which we usually don't, I suspect they are going to see attendance drop and a big loss of revenue because most of us after driving once or twice will choose not to do it again if it's not really worth it and completely inconvenient.  

Atlanta is a very nice city and I hate to see it held back financially and otherwise because the city leaders and us won't put the proper infrastructure in place for everyone to enjoy it.  Like you said, we sprawl all over the place now and we need to connect that sprawl so we can enjoy and get to each other without having a birthday in between points a and b.              

[Suziepeach]

I am in Georgia- Cherokee County- used to work in Buckhead and the first thing I didn't miss when I stopped working was traffic.  I don't care how many lanes, toll lanes or HOV lanes they put in, it won't help Atlanta traffic at all..  And as for MARTA, you couldn't pay us to ride that rail so if we even think of going into Atlanta, we drive.  I'm certain they'll be plenty of public transportation for the the new Braves Stadium.. there had to be a good reason for moving to Cobb County.. at least this new stadium will be in a nicer area and offer more... We might even go to a few games now..  All those days I spent sitting in traffic trying to get home, one day it took almost 3 hours!  3 hours!!   So happy I don't have to deal with that now..

[Blahblahvampemer]

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@Laura14 wrote:

@gidgetgh @Blahblahvampemer I live in Gwinnett and it's been on our ballot at least three times since I've been around in recent years.  The problem is that they do it during one of the small local elections that no one takes the time to get out and vote in so it goes down in defeat every time. Plus the locals won't let it pass because they are afraid of it because of this supposed crime issue.  

The entire city of NY lives near a subway station and it is one of the safest cities in the world.  It's just not true.  I would ride next to a Marta rider rather than a NYC subway one any day of the week, safe as it is most times of day.  In my opinion, you guys don't know what a nice system you have and won't even give it a chance.  Your reality because of your traffic issues is that one day you are going to have to go there and take the leap of faith and get with the rest of country.  In fact, it's past time.

And there is no way (and this is from Gwinnett) that the people that take cars to Hartsfield get there before me even with my one hour plus drive to my closest Marta station.  I pay $2.50 and I get dropped off at the airport check in counter in 30 minutes and pay Marta $8 parking rather than the $16 the airport wants.  You can not drive North Gwinnett to Hartsfield in close to two hours even off peak.  

Stop being afraid of your fellow human being.  All of us are just trying to get where we want to go and make a living.  I am a small petite white girl who rides the Marta system alone even at night when I'm downtown for concerts or other events.  I'm still alive and unharmed and have lived to type about it.  Maybe I should get myself a t-shirt.   

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I'm in Gwinnett, too, and you're sooooooooo oversimplifying this by making it just about crime.  On that point though, MARTA has increased crime around the stations, and the crime reports have backed that up for decades.  I'm happy to take MARTA to and from the airport.  

Anyway, not everyone in NYC lives near a station, and dragging your purchases home a quarter mile or more on a hot day is just as bad there as it is Atlanta.  At least that's what NYC friends tell me since rent goes up the closer you are to a station.

I haven't given the system a chance?  I rode the buses and train FOR YEARS.  When the train broke down, it would automatically add an hour to my commute because I'd miss my connecting bus.  Waiting added time.  When I finally got my drivers license, driving in cut up to an hour off my commute and sometimes more.  

If if someone wants to be closer to the airport, then you live closer to the airport.  In the off-peak hours, I wouldn't have a problem going from Buford to Hartsfield in decent time unless there's an accident on the way.  That would apply for getting to Gainesville, too.  

Since I think you missed an earlier post of mine, the MARTA proposals would require me driving in the opposite direction, and I would spend an enormous amount of time in heavy traffic on two-lane roads to get to any station.  Buses would only slow that down further.  For my region of the county, MARTA is insane.  I live near two bus stops that go into Atlanta, but they're never busy.  

Something else you're totally ignoring is that in Atlanta, MOST commuters go from suburb to suburb, and a train/bus system doesn't work for them.  We don't all go into Atlanta to work nor do we really go there for any other purpose.  

Gwinnett residents aren't stupid.  Every SPLOST passes for parks or schools, but we know MARTA won't benefit at least 90% of the county.

[Blahblahvampemer]

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@Laura14 wrote:

@gidgetgh  I should have clarified that I think Marta is a must only for those of us in the outer suburbs like Forsyth, Gwinnett and Hall in getting into downtown for events and to the airport which for those of you non-Atlantans is all the way past downtown on the southside.  

I get the resistance if you live closer to town.  I admire you for making the effort to drive in the city and I agree some places (like my occasional Ikea trip) don't make sense to hop a train.  

But I will say I have seriously cut down on my travels into the city of Atlanta and the mayor has lost a lot of money from me and others because we just won't make the trip anymore for baseball games and other events which aren't convenient to public transportation.  It's not worth the fight, time, and parking fees.  God forbid you want to see a concert on a weeknight, if you don't take the train, you have to take the next day off of work because you can't get home from downtown until almost dawn.  

And now they go and build the new stadium completely away from public transportation so everyone has no choice but to drive to see a game or other event when it opens.  If we don't have a good team which we usually don't, I suspect they are going to see attendance drop and a big loss of revenue because most of us after driving once or twice will choose not to do it again if it's not really worth it and completely inconvenient.  

Atlanta is a very nice city and I hate to see it held back financially and otherwise because the city leaders and us won't put the proper infrastructure in place for everyone to enjoy it.  Like you said, we sprawl all over the place now and we need to connect that sprawl so we can enjoy and get to each other without having a birthday in between points a and b.              

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Have you seen the population density for Hall, Forsyth, and even Gwinnett?  You're going to have people drive up to 20 miles to get to a bus or train?  Really?  Again, you're assuming that Atlanta is the real destination for even a slight majority of the people, but it isn't.  Traffic study after traffic study shows that most aren't going to Atlanta.  You're talking about untold billions of dollars, and we don't have it.  

As as for Atlanta being "nice," I have to seriously disagree.  We're now one of the most corrupt cities in the nation.  No joke, just check out the scandals of the current mayor.  In this city, one if the most corrupt got his name slapped on the airport after Hartsfield.  I was here to witness that bit of cronyism.  

Why are people leaving Atlanta?  It's a mess!  Do you know why the Varsity Jr. closed?  They wanted to rebuild the restaurant and modernize, and the city put so many roadblocks in their way that the owners gave up and closed their doors.  If they did that to one of the area's most famous eateries, do you think they haven't made it just as awful for others?  

[Laura14]

@Blahblahvampemer  Never said anyone was stupid or that anyone had to agree with me.  You missed an earlier post where I clarified that I was talking about light rail for the outer suburbs for those of us trying to get into downtown proper and the airport. Not bus routes.  It just makes sense to do the major routes and destinations and relieve 75 and 85 from being the parking lots that they are for long distance travel.  

I agree with you it makes no sense at all to link any of the suburbs together at this time.  Atlanta isn't that type of city.  And I am well aware that most people in our part of the state don't like to get out much.  They can't.  The traffic is too bad so we stay put and build what we need here instead of taking advantage of the wonderful city we have just below us.

And as someone who was born and raised in the Northeast, there absolutely is a subway station within a couple of blocks of every major part of NYC itself unless you are near the river banks and even then it's not that bad a walk.  I know.  I've done it and go back home several times a year to do it again.  I'm just saying there is an easier way to get people around town in a major city and it's a shame Atlanta hasn't found it yet.