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Atlanta can learn from Las Vegas.

Vegas is a city that makes a huge portion of its income from two industries. First is tourism and the convention trade. Second is the high tech industry that Nevada’s business environment draws.

Atlanta and Las Vegas are very similar. Both need the convention trade. Both want high tech jobs. Both use their playground reputation as a way to attract conventioneers.

Las Vegas, however, has an advantage: it’s not ashamed of its sinful more adult side. It revels in it. Atlanta is torn. On the one hand, it tries to keep an image of gentility. On the other, it knows that without the adult industry, it will be quickly blown away by Charlotte and Chattanooga.

The truth is that the laws in Las Vegas aren’t that different from what is legal in Atlanta. If Atlanta zoned carefully, added the right law enforcement coverage, and guaranteed that billing practices were cleaned up, the sex industry could be more above board, safer, and more attractive to conventioneers that it now is.

Atlanta should also consider adding card rooms and sports books. I am not arguing that we need full blown casinos (though, I’m not opposed to that either), but poker rooms and sports books in which people could bet on college football games would assure that programs on which Georgia citizens count could easily continue.

Again, good regulation is needed and fraud prevention is essential, but other states have seen this kind of betting help their economies.

Atlanta can also learn one other practical lesson from Las Vegas in public transit. CAT provides riders a $5 transcard that lets them ride for 24 hours. MARTA could easily adopt such a program.

What Can Las Vegas learn from us? People get really mad when you have a train system and it does not run!

Atlanta Fans just don’t care about greatness. For 13 years, the Atlanta Braves have won their division and made it to the post season. In 2004, even the players were surprised to have made the post season; and yet in a metro area of 4 million, 24,000 seats went empty in the Playoffs.

Moreover, when the Braves needed their city to turn out the fans didn’t show up. Fewer people attended the second play-off game than the first. What does that say about us? What does it say about our civic culture when the $8 seats are mostly empty?

It shows that Atlanta is truly a city of hype and no follow through. It shows that not enough Atlantans are committed to excellence. What is even more tragic is that this part of a general trend. The Symphony, which wins Grammy after Grammy, does not sell out. Theater Events rarely sell out, even though really good work is being done. When a show does do well, it’s largely because it’s navel gazing.

What is it about Atlantans that makes us fail to stand with those who strive on our behalf? What is it that makes us blasé’ about a record of success that would make any other city envious? Ask any Mets fan if they’d like to win the division 13 times and they’d scream “YES!!!!”

I think that part of the answer lies in the hustle. It’s part of the Atlanta way. Hustle yourself into a good deal. Whether you hold up your end is of secondary importance; you can out source that. Atlantans, even more than Donald Trump, live for the art of the deal. Winning 13 division championships and having a Grammy winning symphony is more important to use as a sales pitch to lure K-Mart than to actually enjoy!

So ladies and gentlemen! I urge you to change your plans! Should the Braves make it back to Atlanta for more play-off games, go see ‘em! If they don’t? Take the $24 per person you might otherwise have spent and go see a really cool show!

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.

MARTA is doing at least Something right. Recently, I had occasion to take the bus. It used to be that all the buses were with at least two sets of doors. Some of them were even articulated.

Now, however, MARTA has purchased smaller shorter buses. These buses have one door and are generally 7′ to 10′ shorter than their more traditional sized counterparts.

Why are shorter buses better? There are at least three reasons:

1. They run at higher capacity. Rarely are MARTA buses completely full. The higher the passenger capacity, the less energy is spent dragging around useless empty bus space. The engines can be smaller and hence fuel savings are realized.

2. They reduce traffic congestion. MARTA buses make frequent stops to handle passengers. Shorter buses use less space and hence can pull into smaller curb cutouts and let more traffic by.
3. They have smaller turning radiuses. MARTA often uses residential streets when a route serves a large apartment complex off a main rd. These streets are smaller and in the past MARTA has created a stir because they have driven across the edge of a person’s lawn. Smaller buses are more maneuverable. This lets the buses avoid property damage and let traffic going the other way on the street get through!

Buses are a vital part of MARTA’s service. Many can’t afford to live walking distance from a train station and buses are their lifeline to the world. The more effective they are, the better.