Blank may not care; average taxpayers do
I have been a Falcons fan my whole life.
I have much respect for what Arthur Blank has done with the franchise, but I am disgusted by the idea of the city paying a dime for a new stadium when we have major issues to resolve related to education, public safety, transportation and infrastructure.
I would like to see the hotel tax applied toward transportation issues, sewers or even employing more police officers.
Blank may not care that our water bills are some of the highest in the nation or that our public transit gets little state funding — but your average taxpayer trying to get by each week does.
Those below the poverty level still have to pay for water and MARTA.
John Morgan, Atlanta
Out-of-town visitors know blight, dislike it
To the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau: I recently spent a week in your beautiful city and only have one suggestion: Please consider ceasing to promote Underground Atlanta as a place to visit.
The whole atmosphere reeks of dereliction and decline. We found nothing that we were remotely inclined to spend a dime on.
It is a blight on your lovely city, yet you continue to recommend seeing it.
The native Atlantans with whom we spoke concurred with our impressions and admitted to not having been there in years.
They added that occasionally there were pieces in your papers addressing what to do with the Underground.
From an out-of- towner’s view, the solution seems simple: close it and build another beautiful, viable building on its site.
Eliminate it and don’t even try to save it. Save the taxpayers’ money.
I love your city, and would even enjoy living there. And without exception, everyone with whom we had contact within the city’s center or its outlying districts was friendly, polite and helpful.
Peter Krey, Erlanger, Ky.
Murders, traffic, poor schools hurt our image
I recently had dinner with some visitors here on business from various parts of the country.
After a long discussion, comments from the visitors could be condensed to the following: “After seeing local TV news and reading the AJC, our opinion concerning what Atlanta has to offer is two or three murders a day, the worst traffic congestion of any major city (with no possible solution), severe environmental issues that grow worse each year, and a public school system full of scandal, which is giving kids one of the poorest educations in the country. Why would anyone want to visit here, move a job here, work here, or live here?”
That is the impression we give visitors — and it’s hard to disagree with their perception.
Frank Frederick, Gainesville
