it would've imposed an additional 1% sales tax in exchange for making the marta less of a fuckfest

i'm pretty upset that it got shot down, not in the least because public transport is a choice i actively make

statistically ga spends less on public transportation than any other state

even though the job growth in the atlanta area has a projected expansion rate of about 8% in the next five years according to yahoo finance

forbes.com has also cited atlanta as being one of the top five worst cities to commute to/from

In Depth: 10 Worst Cities For Commuters -
Forbes.com "second only to LA"

what does this amount to? broadly speaking it's fairly obvious that when you invest in transportation, it's easier for people to seek

employment (gainful or more gainful if they are already employed)

atlanta has a lot of burgeoning corporate growth but the crime rate inside the perimeter is pretty staggering compared to just a ways north

now in 2011

reuters reported that atlanta had the greatest income disparity in the country

www.reuters.com/article/... citation

the transportation referendum was brutally shot down in basically a 70-30 vote because people in this area do not like the imposition of

additional taxes

and also because people do not want to believe that the infrastructure here requires a certain degree of financial investment

before that income gap can close

because no one is necessarily interested in closing the gap

so we have, in theory, "more jobs" but no way for the unemployed and under-financed and potentially carless to uh "get to those jobs"

these are all broad overarching statements

but to deny the correlation b/w ease of transportation and employment is downright foolish

and atlanta... is a tense place to live

here's hoping people who rely primarily on the marta don't realise how badly they got shafted i guess

..... ;o;