Bloglanta

Everyone should go see the current exhibit at MODA. The basic message is that Global Warming is coming for us because of the way we live. If we do nothing, we’re  doomed… or at least anyone with current ocean front property is doomed.

It’s also about design innovations that will let us easily transform the way we live. From Nike shoes that help your Ipod work as a pedometer to ways you can reduce the cleaning agents you use that damage water, the good of the future is in smart design.

There are also architecture projects from Jova Daniels Busby and other firms, contributions from Citizens for Progressive Transit and a video by Joe Winter and Cathy Poley. Yes. That Joe Winter and That Cathy Poley.

The exhibition uses Atlanta as a basis and compares other cities.  It points out, for example, that Barcelona packs the same number ofpeople we do into four percent of the land we use. They also use Koolhaas-like maps to visually indicate the direction of change as well as the numbers representing it.

The exhibit can be a bit preachy (one panel exhorts us to stop want to own things for after all, where we put it all?) but much of it is good work and worth catching.

This is being cross-posted everywhere.

The Immortal Game lives in Atlanta!  Chess is among the longest lasting, most powerful contests humanity has created, and Atlanta has a chess culture.  It’s not talked about or covered in the paper, but people here talk about chess, think about chess, and support institutions that let it thrive.   It’s an underground movement.

Here then are three of the most important places on the chess circuit in Atlanta:

1. The Atlanta Chess Center is a great resources.  That there is a cultural center dedicated to chess here speaks highly of the city.  Annual memberships are only $100 and you can sit in and play a casual game for $2.  They sell chess clocks, sets, books, and videos as well as a variety of snacks!  It’s a great place to do play actual people rather than a computer or on line.  It’s also a chance to get some instruction if you want to move your game to the next level.
2. Woodruff Park.  The Southwest side of the park is Chess Hustler Central.   Again, no chess hustlers, no real city.   The chess here is often for money, is fast and furious, and transcends all.  This is where the well-healed and the homeless meet on equal turf.  Everyone’s King is equal and everyone’s a pawn.  Just be ready for the kibitz that will surely come your way.
3. The Village Bakery.  This is the chess players’ tavern in town.   There are four sets in the the building including one that is a meter square!  Located at Memorial Drive and Ponce in Stone Mountain, the German food is excellent, the beer is fresh, and the proprietor, Clause is a great guy.  He’s also not a bad player!  On a recent visit the bar was not crowded and friendly people stopped by to check out the boards in play.  Places such as the Village Bakery deserve community support as they are the real deal.  This might be the true thinking man’s tavern.

Hopefully, Atlanta will begin to acknowledge the broad based support for the game.  It would be great to see Creative Loafing or Sunday Paper carry a regular column on chess.  It would be even better if all the Starbucks and other coffee houses in town which had chess boards on their tables went to their local dollar stores and bought a couple of chess sets.  It would create community for the coffee houses and symbolize the city’s commitment to more than one kind of Queen.

A few key facts are worth extracting from today’s column by Maria Saporta:

• Metro Atlanta is the second-most expensive major city in the nation for middle-class families, a fact that directly contradicts the claims of Atlanta’s pro-sprawl boosters.
• Middle-class families spend a total of 61 percent of their income on housing and transportation together, with transportation taking the biggest chunk of income. Only San Francisco, with its housing prices, is less affordable.
• Sixty percent of metro Atlanta households own two cars, ahead of the national average of 58 percent.
• Atlanta’s average commute distance is 12 miles one-way, ahead of the average among its peers of nine miles.
• Among the top 17 major cities in the country, Atlanta has experienced the slowest income growth from 2000 to 2005, 5.1%, compared to a national average of 13.4 %.

As Saporta points out:

The evidence is clear. In order for metro Atlanta to be affordable to its growing population, it must make sure that its residents can reduce their transportation costs. Building affordable dense housing around job centers will enable people to live close to where they work. And by investing in an extensive public transit system, we will be able to free up our residents from having to rely on their cars to get where they want to go.

The facts here demonstrate only a few of the reasons why metro Atlanta’s current course for problem solving are making things worse, not better. Currently, the two most critical areas are transportation and zoning. The State, in its infinite wisdom, is pushing the Atlanta Regional Commission to favor the Northwest Corridor Project over all other transportation proposals on the table. Widening I-75 to 23 lanes and creating an inaccessible Bus Rapid Transit system are backward steps for the region. (Side note: it turns out the only reason for the BRT system is to use federal transit funds toward more highway building)

Residents within the City of Atlanta, especially many who have easy access to existing transit stations, continue to fight an absurd battle to keep density away from their neighborhoods. Midtown’s proposed historic district is one of the most blatant examples. Despite easy access to two MARTA rail stations and several well-served bus routes, a small band of homeowners have decided that the “historic look” of Midtown is more important than regional access and the public good. Allowing Midtown to grow would have a long-term benefit to regional affordability.

The solutions to these issues are already out there:

• to fund the Beltline and create transit-oriented zones near the stations
• to rezone the proposed Midtown historic district to create a mixed-use zone, not a breeding ground for McMansions (Note: the proposed historic district will not necessarily keep McMansions away)
• to build a world-class transit system for the region. It would cost approximately $10 billion less to build than the building giant toll tunnels under Atlanta. Not to mention, the transit system would be a more effective way to give commuters an opportunity to get out of traffic.

There are plenty of other solutions and resources available. The Livable Communities Coalition has a list of things you can do to help.

The Dekalb County Commission is trying to fight the power.  In a bi-partisan move at their recent meeting, the commission refused to adopt the plan put forth by County Engineers arguing that it puts the cart before the horse.  The road on which cart and horse are being placed is Clifton and the Clifton Corridor has become the poster child for what the Commission is trying to fight.

The Clifton Road Corridor runs from Briarcliff to North Decatur Road and includes the CDC, Emory Conference Center, Emory University Hospital, and other elements of the Emory Campus.  It’s a very tricky busy road with lots of congestion.  The current Comprehensive Transportation plan for the county focuses less on making the corridor usable through improvements in transit and pedestrian access and more on adding vehicle capacity.  They want to widen the road and add items such as double left turn lanes, easing access into the pedestrian neighborhoods surrounding the road.

This flies in the face of the general Comprehensive Plan which emphasizes the importance of building around neighborhood centers that are less vehicularly focused.  Further, it flies in the face of the researchers in Dekalb county who believe that the Clifton Corridor is a central destination in Dekalb county that cannot sustain the level of vehicular traffic that proposed increases in activity and housing density would generate.

Rather they prefer to see Clifton as  transfer point between the first section of the Brain Train (running from Emory to Lawrenceville) and the rest of the transit market such as Emory loop shuttles, MARTA connecting service to Candler Park and Lindberg, and to the beltline.  One employee went so far as to say that, “Before I retire, my goal is to see the Clifton Corridor be served by transit.”  Those are pretty strong words.

There was considerable pressure that the meeting to adopt the plan, but a coalition of Elaine Boyer, Jeff Rader, and Kathy Gannon stopped the adoption in its tracks.  They’re even risking federal dollars for road projects in order to make sure that the philosophy of the general plan is carried in to the choices of projects to fund in the transportation plan.

The next meeting is June 12th and no doubt in the that time, the county attorney’s office and ARC officials will do some serious arm twisting to get the commission to bow their notion of what the county should be.  Will the Commissioners break?  Stay Tuned and Find out!

Recently, Mark McClain, who is the Director of Systems and Development for SignPost Network, gave a rundown of how the system works on MARTA, some of it’s flaws and what to expect in the coming days.  Informative stuff!  The reporting on this was done for the CFpT Yahoo Group by a Member who goes by Amazing Racer.  Bloglanta has edited, but every effort has been made to keep the editorial thrust of the piece in place.

[The System] works with MARTA simply feeding SignPost raw data saying where the trains are. [According to McClain] Much of SignPost problems stem from MARTA’s end. MARTA’s tracking system is largely from the 70s. Direction (Doraville, N Springs, Airport) is captured by receivers that read radio tags from the cabs. Some times they read from the front of the train, some times they read from the back of the train.   The back of the train is normally not coded the same as the front (MARTA’s issue).  Also, the receivers may simply miss because of interference.

MARTA knows where its trains are at all times, but it does not know what they are at all times. This makes SignPost have problems because sometimes all the data is faulty, and they can’t really do anything with the bad data. The result is errors or Ghost Trains. Also it takes 6 trains to produce an accurate forecast. So when condition change (wet/dry etc) it takes six passes to get the timing the right.

MARTA feeds the data to SignPost that converts into the info we see,  so that if a train is not listed, it’s because the system doesn’t know what the train is. The system knows the train is there, but the sign post won’t guess as to what train it is. They are working to make it default to Airport when this happens on the Southbound side because those trains only go one destination.

Full screen ads are required because, unfortunately, the signs do not support scrolling text. So to tell us the next train, they trick the system into moving the next screen.  When the sign goes into a full screen ad, it’s resetting itself to keep everything moving.  They are looking at shortening the ‘next train’ sentence.  Now each message is  nearly two and a half lines when fully typed out.

SignPost has looked at static messages which would just say, “N Springs 4 min”. Then show “Doraville 5 min.” instead of scrolling. SignPost prefers it because it would make the machines run more accurately.  MARTA, however, requires 3 inch text for ADA reasons. and 3 inch text only gives 24 characters. So they are looking to shorten the messages and keep it under 24 characters.

Marta is upgrading its train tracking system over the next 5 years so the times will get better.  MARTA is also revamping signage and announcements in all stations.

SignPost is also currently working on a web interface/application that would allow you to use your cellphone or computer to see when the next train would be at your stop. They have a working rudimentary version working right now.  It shows what time every train arrives at a certain station. They want to make it look better and be a little more user friendly than it now is. Expect that in the next few months.

Being in the ad business, they wanted to discuss their business model.  McCain discussed content, ads, targeting ads to stops (e.g. ‘Did you know there is a Starbucks at Peachtree Center?’).

McCain said Signpost has run into the same problems that MARTA has.  Companies still attach a negative stigma to public transportation and don’t see riders as good potential customers. They are hoping that MARTA’s negative image will improve.  Survey data from riders they have accumulated is quite shocking.  It trends right along with Atlanta in general. For example, the greatest growth in riders are those with an income level of $75,000+ level.  They hope to combine this with additional data from MARTA to make their case to advertisers more persuasive.

So… you want to take a local power broker our for drinks or meal and you want them to be at ease.  Where should you go?

If you’re courting a Democrat, member of metro Atlanta’s finest, a theater person, or beat writer, there is no other place than Manuel’s Tavern.  Manuel’s was named for Manuel Maloof, whose family still runs the bar.  Democrats have been meeting here for years and many a political deal has been cut in this establishment.  Members of Atlanta’s finest, theater folks, and reporters also all mix here depending on what time of day you get there.  Just look on the walls.  You can’t be a Democrat and win the general election without coming to Manuels.  Anyone can get in and anyone can walk around.  It helps however, to know which group your trying to reach as they all sit in different parts of the tavern.  Particularly progressive Democrats have also been known to congregate at Thinking Man’s Tavern.

Republicans have more money and have not really established a single watering whole as their own.  However, the Capital Grille seems to meet the needs of Republicans and their well heeled lobbyist clientele quite nicely.  Apologist Neal Boortz has been throwing his “power lunches” there for some time and the staff makes sure that deals can be made with the utmost discretion.  Some Republicans have also taken to hanging out at the River Room.  First, it’s right next to Matt Towery’s offices, and second, it’s in a Post Community where it looks like a town, but there is no civic authority to create regulation.  Instead, it’s entirely corporate controlled.

In Atlanta, African Americans are a substantial power structure on their own without regard to party (though there are more Democrats than Republicans).  Still, all must pass through Paschal’s at some point.  Many folks don’t even realize that the venerable restaurant is still in business, but it has a lovely location just west of Castleberry Hill.   A visit there on any given Sunday will still show you class of Atlanta’s African American Elite.  As the “Unofficial Headquarters of the Civil Rights Movement”, and as the  place where Morehouse and Spellmen graduates celebrate big events, Paschals remains a vibrant part of the scene.  The tea is sweet, the steaks are good, the cobbler is hot.  Anyone who has not been should go.  Anyone who has been knows that if you want to meet the elite, Paschals is the place to which you should beat your retreat!

Libertarians?  Apparently, you’re free to meet where ever you’d like… but they seem to tend toward the Piccadilly Cafeteria in Cobb County.  That’s scary.  C’mon guys, couldn’t you find a bar in which to drink about Ayn Rand?  Or does the cafeteria form create the best culinary representation of informed consumer choice?

Atlanta is still not a 24 hour city.  Compared to other cities, there are some amenities we need and some changes that should occur.

Atlanta is still a place where Dunkin Donuts closes.  The Brookhaven Dunkin’ Donuts is a mile from Oglethorpe University, yet by 10:30, it’s closed.  Don’t they know if they throw a wifi router in the place and advertise they have access, the place will be packed 24/7?  Worse than that, we don’t have Tims!

The same goes for Starbucks.  Some are closed by 7.  Others by 10.  What’s with that?  There is not a single 24 hour Starbucks in Fulton or Dekalb County.

More Trader Joes are great, but as the NFT Atlanta points out, we like chain stores a little too much.  Other cities have gourmet stores that largely stock local product.  The closest we have is Alon’s.

We lack late night gourmet food.  Only Atkins Park is still serving ‘better than bar food’ on a Tuesday at 1 AM.  Yes, there are more diners, and some pubs still serving, but when you need a 1 AM business dinner, you’re left with Atkins Park or Chinese.

There are too few independent book stores in town, and none of them have a full service restaurant or bar in them.  Someone is missing the opportunity to make some serious cash.

We have too many governments and that is going to quash our regional effectiveness.  While other cities are in uni-gov mode, we’re splintering even more.

At least 3 of our major sports venues are inaccessible directly by subway.  Further, none of them have won a Championship this century!

MacDonald’s here do not serve Newman’s Own Organic Coffees.

One of the better midrange chocolate companies does its manufacturing here and most Atlantans don’t know because local stores don’t carry Flyer Bars!

The Museums around here have no free day, and rather than showing off the great art they own and acquiring more, they rent art from other museums!

Okay… enough snarking, but after visiting other cities, it’s clear we’re slipping.  Still, there is hope.  Housing is surely plentiful.  The city of Atlanta was truly strengthened by the Olympics.  People here are ambitious and want to get things done.  We have Atlantix.

One wonders, however, how long Metro Atlanta can survive until the lack of affordable starter homes, public transportation, and bickering between the various counties cripples the place.

Since MARTA is making money now and since they need to recover their public service momentum, there are two steps they could easily take help riders.

First, they could install a mechanism to measure capacity in the parkings lots and decks and keep real time information on the web about it.  Atlantans would use less gas and would get where they were going more efficiently.  Key would be keeping the information up to date.  20 minutes would have to be the longest lag between updates.

Second, since the train lines are now color coded, they should reflect that on their signage and voice overs.  Just as in Boston, one hears “Red Line!  Park Street“, one could hear “Red Line, North Springs!”  It would clarify the transfer process, especially for tourists and help give each line an identity.

Would this cost money?  Yes.  However, in making the system easier and better to use, MARTA will continue to attract ridership, and that will raise revenue to help offset the cost.  It will also improve the systems public image.

Want definitive proof that the Lindbergh area is changing?  Zesto’s has changed back.

There had been a Zesto’s on Piedmont Road for years.  In the 1990s they did a major overhaul sprucing the place up and then a couple of years later creating Burrito Brothers.  They still had ice cream, but the cuisine changed to pretty good affordable Mexican food and they even served beer!  Tecate Sundaes anyone?

Why did they do this?  Because the Lindbergh area was so predominantly Hispanic.  Then MARTA hit the real estate market, and all the affordable apartments that housed all the Latin Americans who are Buckhead’s chief employees began to be plowed under to create much more expensive homes near the station.

Wealthy White people want to take their kids for a foot long hot dog and some onion rings, so now following the trend, the traditional Zesto’s menu is back.

When the fast food joints change formats you know change is in the works.  The question is where will the Hispanic community that has formed around Lindbergh go?  This is something with which all Buckhead businesses should be concerned.  The folks who live down there are an important part of the Buckhead economy and if they can’t live near where they work, business costs go up.  Higher absenteeism, folks wanting to work fewer hours, and fewer people applying for jobs will only be the beginning.

Then again, this is going to be an increasingly difficult problem all over the metro.  Affordable housing is becoming harder to get, especially walking distance from train stations.  Mayor Franklin?  Have we got a new challenge for you!

The Decatur Square is on its way back. For two years, the city and MARTA cut the square in two in order to renovate and improve access across downtown Decatur. They’re not done yet, but the key half of the square is again accessible.

The space is improved; there are now about 10 torch columns which keep the space illuminated and tiles over the station have grooves which make illustrations. Still one would have hoped for more.

The reconstruction made a huge impact. Stores and shops on the south side of the square really suffered. Sage stopped serving lunch. Other restaurants cut their hours back and the ability to serve people al fresco was severely diminished. The process took over two years and went over budget. They used Chinese marble rather than Georgia stone. They sealed several sections before inspectors could check them out.  Given what the merchants suffered, these mistakes are horrid.
The changes, however, are more aesthetic than practical. While improving the beauty of public spaces is a very worthwhile goal, adding practical improvements would have made a bigger difference. One improvement is a wheelchair ramp, but other than the lighting, that’s about it. Adding another stage, or at least the pre-production electrics, DMX patches, and anchors would have been great.  Swings would have been fantastic.
Yet even with improvements they did make there was another cost. The Decatur station used to have sky lights. Now they are gone. Natural light helped make the station work. Lighting the station will cost more for lower quality light.

Hopefully, the results will pay off. It would be great if more people came on the train for a night in Decatur and if that traffic moved MARTA to keep the Bankhead line running to Decatur all night. A new restaurant, Pasta Please has opened and Sage will soon resume its lunch plans.

Whether the improvements will make a difference you’ll have to judge for yourself.  The city certainly needs to make sure they finish everything else on budget and on time for a while.