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Atlanta As A World Class City (updated to 1997)

Here are the needs listed by McKinley Conway in his 1987 report, with his 1997 comments:

Need 1.  Airport. Increased capacity at Hartsfield and new second airport.

1997 comment: Several substantial improvements have been made at Hartsfield. While sites in Paulding County and in Dawson County have been reserved no development has been started on a second airport. Meanwhile, several Southeastern cities have begun cutting into the Atlanta air transport market.

Need 2. Outer perimeter.

1997 comment. A tentative right-of-way has been marked on the map and considerable planning has been done on the Northeast quadrant. No earth has been turned. No studies have been made of economic development potential. No interest has been shown in the opportunity to create a world-class greenway encircling the city. Click on Atlanta’s outer loop project for details.

Need 3. Domed stadium.

1997 comment. Done! Chalk up a major achievement for the state team which funded and built the facility. Also noteworthy is the development of the adjacent World Congress Center. Further expansion of the WCC is not only justified -- it is a must.

Need 4. Water. Another dam to guarantee future supply.

1997 comment. Various proposals for a re-regulation dam on the Chattahochee and/or smaller dams in the North appear to be gathering dust on the shelves of state and local agencies. In the future the metro region may pay a high price for this lack of vision!

Need 5. Technology centers.

1997 comment: Seed planted many years ago are now producing important results. Technology Park/Atanta has spilled over Gwinnett County and there is a new park at Johns Creek. The "Clifton Corridor" in the Emory area has bloomed with key biotech facilities. There is a new Georgia Tech/Emory biotechnology program. A small-firm "incubator" facility has been established at Georgia Tech. Additional efforts of this type should be supported.

Need 6. Communications center.

1997 comment. Thanks to CNN and other private enterprises Atlanta has earned significant global status in advanced communications. The 1996 Olympic games spurred development of new facilities and brought thousands of media people to Atlanta. Despite the negative publicity stemming from some glitches in the system installed for the games Atlanta continues to enjoy the opportunity to emerge as a key global communications center.

Need 7. Public transportation.

1997 comment. Marta has been extended to Doraville and Perimeter Mall. There are proposals and plans for additional Marta extensions, as well as a downtown rail terminal. However, no real progress has been made toward building a true metro area system. Voters in outlying counties such as Cobb and Gwinnett will not approve Marta line extensions as long as they perceive that it will bring in the criminal element from downtown Atlanta. If an intermodal terminal is built, an airport site should have top priority.

Need 8. Political mechanisms.

1997 comment. There have been virtually no new arrangements and the need is greater than ever. In the 20 county metro region there are 125 city and county governments plus some 200 authorities and special bodies. Add to that the state and federal agencies and you have a bureaucratic jungle which makes almost any large project far too expensive, much too late, or just impossible.

Need 9. Waste disposal.

1997 comment. The city of Atlanta and Fulton County continue to pollute the Chattahoochee. If these jurisdictions cannot or will not stop polluting the river, what hope is there for more sophisticated waste processing systems for the future?

Need 10. Green infrastructure.

1997 comment. Some small areas along the Chattahoochee have been acquired, but otherwise, there has been little significant progress. While growth continues unabated and forests are bulldozed there is no plan for a regional system of integrated nature preserves. No conservation agency has taken any positive action on the proposal to set aside a world-class greenway encircling the region.

Summary

Of the 10 needs, less than half have been met.

Looking more closely, we find that the successes have been in the realm of private enterprise (technology, communications) or mixed state-private ventures (stadium, world congress center).

Of the needs dependent on action by local public agencies, no satisfactory progress has been achieved in any area! This is a dismal report card!

Clearly, there is an abject failure of leadership. At the center is the Atlanta city government which has been characterized by incompetence and corruption. In the surrounding area, the primary problem is overlapping and uncoordinated bureaucracy.

Until these problems are solved Atlanta and its hinterland will lose competitive position and fall short of global goals.