I grew up in Cobb County, played football there and learned to drive a car there, and I remember – not fondly – that driving a car was the only choice I had for getting around.
When I moved to Athens as a freshman at the University of Georgia, I knew within weeks that it was a special place, a place I wanted to put down roots. Nearly 20 years later, I still call Athens my home. I never once thought about moving back to Cobb.
The main reason I didn’t want to go back home is simple: There’s not much “there,” there. Because of sprawling land-use patterns and a car-dependent transportation system, residents are forced into car ownership and expense, even for a trip a half-mile down the road. Athens appealed to me, and still does, because it is relatively walkable and bikeable, and transit is an option.
My family, and the majority of people in the generation behind us, are looking for these kinds of places — places with distinctive local character and a high quality of life that includes safe, welcoming transportation choices.
It is dismaying to read that Cobb isn’t interested in expanded transit, and that there are already serious issues to creating a people-friendly atmosphere near the planned Braves stadium near Cumberland Mall. The future for Georgia is in the creation of more dense, pedestrian and bike-friendly communities, where cars are one of several options, rather than being the only feasible means of mobility.
Millennials want human-scaled development and neighborhoods linked by “complete streets,” with ready access to reliable public transportation. Indeed, to be economically competitive, Georgia must wean itself from decades of over-investment and subsidy in sprawl and reliance on one (very expensive and inefficient) mode of transportation.
Our neighbors in Memphis and Chattanooga get it. An increasing number of Georgia’s communities get it — Athens, Columbus, Milledgeville, Rome and Savannah, to name a few. For metro Atlanta, including Cobb County, a balanced approach to transportation planning and intelligent land use is essential if the region wants to improve its quality of life and increase its competitive edge.
