PCID Transit Village

Transit Village Problems

If 125,000 employees can work in PCID, then why can’t they live in PCID.  That’s the fairytale.  The Live Work and Play theme is ok in theory, but it’s too expensive to replace built-out cities with a “planned city”  

Live Work Play

This would require a large, self-contained development of condos, apartment, parks, playgrounds, grocery shopping and schools residents could walk to.  It makes perfect sense to locate an elementary school on the ground floors of one of the high-rise apartments.  Kids could walk or bike to school and school buses would be unnecessary.  This would take a lot more land than is available in PCID, so it may never happen or may fail due to lack of demand.

Where to Live

Employees working in retail jobs can’t afford the expensive condos or apartments PCID wants to build. 

Immigrants with engineering jobs often move to apartments charging $1600 a month until they get their Green Card or become citizens.  Then they buy a home, but they want to be close to work.

Others who can afford an apartment charging $1600 a month have other options and would have to prefer being close to a MARTA train station and Mall to choose PCID

Working couples who work in different areas might prefer a PCID apartment because of its central location.

Renters with children would like to be close to schools. It makes sense to locate schools inside Transit Villages if the population is large enough to allow continual demand.  These should be K through 8 schools.  

If only we were Europe

Europe has a 60% tax rate for its trains and buses and its socialist welfare state expenses.  Trains cost $billions  and $trillions to build, maintain and staff.  The U.S. is a tourist destination because it’s different.  Europeans vacation here and are amazed at and envious of the space we have.  But the socialist brainwashing propaganda they absorb and the fact that Europe is home to them keeps them happy to return home.

But we are Atlanta

It would cost $trillions to tear down and rebuild Metro Atlanta and therefore it won’t happen. It will take a long time for economy to recover, if it ever does.

What we will do is to create tax subsidized isolated versions of transit villages for urban living fans and millennials who can find jobs that pay enough to move there.  But our roads will continue to be abysmal. 

Taxpayers are tapped out.  Cities and Counties could have enough money to fix the roads if they stop subsidizing commercial developers, engineers and planners who build more attractive retail space.

MARTA only goes where it goes and it doesn’t work for most commuters.  Any expansion to the current MARTA train footprint is financially unsustainable. The $3.5 billion earmarked in the failed T-SPLOST only paid for expansion, not maintenance. 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader