Fun With Affluent Statistics
In the northwest area ITP lies a small sliver of Cobb County, including the very affluent area known as Vinings. While in the course of transit planning residents have resisted the idea of a bus or light rail stop anywhere near this traffic-choked area, one thing is certain: traffic in that area will not improve so long as the area is seen as affluent and stubbornly car bound. Someday, someone will protest mass transportation by lighting himself on fire while chained to the car he loves so much. That will happen in Vinings.
Looking up Vinings in Wikipedia, a few useful statistics show up:
6.2% of the population and 4.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 6.1% are under the age of 18 and 3.9% are 65 or older.…
The population density is 1,174.9/km² (3,039.2/mi²).
The first stat tells us that six hundred residents of Vinings live below the poverty line. Who knew? Perhaps they’re living in the backwoods of Woodland Brook Drive? Or, perhaps in an error of geographical definition, the section of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41) immediately north of the river also counts as Vinings? Where are these poor huddled hundreds, and how do they hide themselves so well?
The population density is also noteworthy, as it’s immediately comparable to Dallas (1,339/km² or 3,470/mi²), which has gradually wisened up in its approach to mass transit (but only gradually).
What does the future really hold for Vinings? A recent AJC article pointed out that in addition to the new cluster homes under construction at the bottom of Mt. Wilkinson, a developer is looking at building a condo tower on the mountain. Certainly, it’s an exciting development for a county commission that wouldn’t mind the additional tax base. Once the tower is built on the mountain, do we then see a slippery slope toward higher density?
With an existing population living under the poverty line and the need for a wider labor pool to work at the local Starbucks and QT, Vinings residents have nothing to fear in light rail. Even if these things are built, nobody will be taking away your beloved cars.
October 7th, 2004 at 1:24 pm
Not only should Vinings Residents have nothing to fear from light rail, they should welcome it as they already have a rail right of way rinning right through the community! It would be relatively easy to link that into the Bankhead MARTA station and really provide some great transit options for CCT!