Judith Dovers
Coordinator of Public Involvement
Atlanta Regional Commission

Ms. Dovers,

I write to express my enthusiastic support for the proposed C-Loop and Beltline transit projects.

As a native of Oklahoma City, I grew up without any meaningful public transit. Using cars was so ingrained in the culture of Oklahoma City that persons using the meager bus system were viewed with suspicion, even requiring police attention. When I moved to Boston for seminary, I sold my car, deciding to risk depending upon public transportation. I was not disappointed with my decision, taking the rare taxi when public transit would not suffice and enjoying the extra study time on my way to class.

Atlanta seems to lie somewhere between these two extremes. A disabled friend of mine relies on MARTA for his day-to-day transportation and is usually able to get where he needs to go. But late buses and circuitous routes often make what would be a fifteen minute trip by car into a one or two hour ordeal. My commute from East Atlanta to Emory takes between twenty and thirty minutes by car. Judging from the bus schedule, that commute would easily take an hour by MARTA (assuming both connections arrived on time). So I limit my MARTA trips to the airport and downtown cultural and sports venues.

The Beltline project seems to me to be a “no brainer.” Connecting dozens of Atlanta neighborhoods and relatively inexpensive to build, the route seems to be begging for transit (and other) development. I could use either the Glenwood, West Point, or Inman Park stations to visit friends, shop, visit city parks, and enjoy Atlanta nightlife. Judging by my experience in Boston, my proximity to three Beltline stops would make my home’s property value soar. The 22-mile park would alleviate Atlanta’s green space deficit, and the route can only decrease in-town traffic since it will get people within a short walk or bus ride of just about anywhere in Atlanta proper.

It is embarassing that the premier private university in Georgia has no train stop and only four bus routes. It’s embarassing that there is no easy way for students and faculty to get from one Atlanta-area university to another, crippling cross-school cooperation and thereby hurting Atlanta’s reputation as a hub of higher education. When I graduated from seminary in Boston, I worked for a consortium of nine Boston-area semaries. Seven of the nine were accessible by public transportation, allowing students to cross-register for classes and faculty to collaborate face-to-face across university lines on projects. It is a shame that Atlanta students and faculty cannot easily do the same. The C-Loop would fix this.

It perplexes me that in the past the ill-considered wishes of a few dozen Druid Hills residents have trumped the real needs of Emory’s 23,000 employees, 12,000 students and 6,000 patients. Many of those employees are the “working poor” and cannot afford cars, even with second jobs (and, one assumes, a second interminable MARTA commute). The C-Loop could dramatically reduce traffic in the area, returning motion to the virtual parking lots of N. Decatur Road and Houston Mill Road, making the entire area more livable. And property values can only rise in response.

Funding aside, I can think of no reason why anyone would oppose development of the C-Loop, besides the thinly veiled racism and wealthism of not wanting the “urban element” in Druid Hills’ “backyard.” In fact, Druid Hills is in Emory’s backyard, and the real needs of the many should outweight the parochial desires of the few.

Sincerely,
Chutney