What would you like to know?

[Newnan]

there are a lot of Pittsburghers in Atlanta? I haven't noticed. Where are most of them?

[Lady Celeste]

How funny......my husband is a Pittsburgher.

[Andrea]

Wow, Pittsburgh seems like it would be such a great place to live, or to be from. Saying "I'm from Atlanta" just doesn't have the same gravitas as, "I'm from Pittsburgh."

[Lady Celeste]

My husband loves Pittsburgh. I really think it's quite pretty although the winters can be very cold. My daddy worked for and retired from a company headquartered in Pittsburgh. He would have to travel there and to Dover, Delaware quite often. It's odd that I would wind up marrying a man from Pittsburgh...and he and my daddy are an awful lot alike.

Back to Pittsburgh, when I asked him would he ever want to live there again he said no. He talks well about it but he says he just will not go back to live. He has many many many fond memories. He grew up in a heavily Italian neighborhood so in order to "snag" him, I had to learn how to cook just about every Italian dish you can think of. After all these years, he will tell you that I have done a great job in mastering many authentic dishes....wait, did I just toot my own horn. Beep Beep.

Oddly enough, he also is not too terribly fond of Atlanta. He wants something smaller and less of a rat race. That's one of the reasons he thought settling here would be okay. That of course was before Atlanta exploded into what it is today. The reason he is here is because my parents live here and he knows that it is hard for me to settle too far away from them. Although as time goes by, even I am considering making Atlanta a secondary home.

For the record, I really like Atlanta...I just think I may like the beaches, intercoastals, sunshine and palm trees of Florida just as well.

[Andrea]

Celeste, very cool. Although I daresay if any snagging was done, it was he who snagged you!

[Martinman]

Wow, Pittsburgh seems like it would be such a great place to live, or to be from. Saying "I'm from Atlanta" just doesn't have the same gravitas as, "I'm from Pittsburgh."

I don't know. I have family that lives in that part of the country and a lot of them think Atlanta is the land of milk and honey.

[Newnan_Eric]

What I would like to know is....

What are the chances that capping portions of the I-75/85 Connector in dowtown as shown in Central Atlanta Progress' Imagine Downtown drawings?

In those drawings CAP shows two areas growing in their coverage over the highway.

1. East of the State Capital - There is a lawn-like park that would connect to a linear park between MLK Drive and Memorial Drive. This linear park would extend all the way to Oakland Cemetary. (Very nice! I envision somethng akin to our own version of Washinton, D.C.'s National Mall.)

2. Near Ivan Allen Blvd. / Ralph MacGill Blvd they show an expansion of the cap that comprises the intersection of Ralph MacGill and Courtland. This cap would expand Westward to the other side of Peachtree to the Medical Arts Building. New parkspace would be created and connect to the garden grounds of the Episcopal Church on the East side of Peachtree. North of the highway.

I like both of these ideas. They would go a long way to "bridge" some of the gap created by the freeway. I just don't know if there is enough political will behind them. While they aren't on the scale of Boston's Big Dig, they will still be major undertakings.

[teshadoh]

The first portion has a very good chance - it is part of the Georgia Building Authority's redevelopment / enhancement of the Capitol ground area. They do plan on tearing down the parking deck & building a new deck elsewhere, capping over the freeway & creating a park on their property. The next large parcel is part of the Capitol Homes redevelopment, which will create a park with a retention pond as part of Clean Water Atlanta's efforts in improving the storm system there. But the remaining parcels eastward are iffy, especially the blocks east & west of Hill St.

The second portion is part of the Mayor's Park, which I know less.

[LizellaJacket]

There is already a small amount of green space that will be spanning the connector. The 5th street bridge going into Ga Tech is well on its way and will be finished in NOV.

These will lead from Tech square into the heart of Tech's campus.

[Newnan]

What is causing Fulton's large outflow of people (5,000 in 2003-2004)

[AubieTurtle]

What is causing Fulton's large outflow of people (5,000 in 2003-2004)

Ringification.

People are moving either further out to the exurbs or into the city. The older suburbs decline as they don't have the vibe and convience of the city nor do they have as house for the money as the exurbs. Also the infrastructure in the older suburbs are starting to strain under all the growth they've experienced. People don't realize they're part of the problem... they just want to move someplace where everything is fixed up for them. So they move into green territory on the edge of the metro (not realizing or maybe just not careing that they're just going to be part of the growth that destroys the new area they've moved to) or find a part of the city that is on the upswing.

Eventually the inner suburbs closest to the city start to get renewed while the exurbs closest to the suburbs start to decline, and thus the ring of decay grows and moves outwards.

I believe parts of north Fulton are now slipping into the ring of decline, which is hurting Fulton's overall population. Given that the city is growning in population (despite the declining household size) and so is south Fulton, it has to be north Fulton that's shedding people.

[Newnan]

I thought it might also be gentrification pushing large families out

[teshadoh]

That & also again baby boomers w/ a smaller household. Besides the standard suburban household of parents & children - in the next 10 years it will become very common for households with just 60+ couples residing. I think that is happening in Sandy Springs.