Metro Atlanta leaders must be proactive
Thank you for the May 21 page on the real lessons from the Interstate 85 crisis.
I truly appreciated the words from Mark Toro, Hala Moddelmog, and Russell McMurry. Speaking from the northern suburbs, one specific frustration for me is the ongoing resistance of local mayors, such as Alpharetta’s, who have opposed the MARTA train extension up to exit 10 and beyond. On the contrary, our leaders at every level – suburb, city, and state must be visionary, not fearful, regarding transportation issues.
Human nature tends to wait for a crisis to initiate change. My hope is that metro Atlanta can follow Moddelmog’s forward-looking suggestions to be proactive: “To insist that our state and regional leaders catalyze a real movement that diversifies our transportation portfolio and expands transit across our region.”
SALPI ADROUNY, JOHNS CREEK
Commuters should be spurred to live intown
Guest columns in the AJC on May 21 discuss metro Atlanta’s traffic woes. The writers are correct in emphasizing smart transportation planning. However, one important issue was overlooked. Easing congestion isn’t just about getting people from point A (the suburbs) to point B (intown) as quickly as possible; it’s also about getting more people to start closer to point B. We should be encouraging more people to live intown, closer to where they work.
One way to do this is economic: reduce the costs of intown living by encouraging much more construction of high-density intown residential. Not only luxury midtown high-rises (though those help, too) but also affordable housing.
The second way may be more difficult: convincing people that the benefit of living far out in the suburbs – a larger house – just isn’t worth the long commute. Studies show that people tend to overvalue what they get from extra living space but undervalue the time wasted in long commutes. This has been called the “commuting paradox.”
GARTH HEUTEL, ATLANTA
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