ReasonTV
Published 22 Sep 2022Transit ridership, especially rail, has collapsed post-pandemic, but the Atlanta BeltLine Coalition says now is the time to take federal dollars and build a $2.5 billion streetcar.
Full text and links: https://reason.com/video/2022/09/22/i…
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Twenty-three years ago, Atlanta-native and architecture and urban planning student Ryan Gravel had an experience that opened his mind to what urban living could be.“My senior year I spent abroad in Paris and lived without a car for a year and traveled by train everywhere,” says Gravel. “And within a month of arriving, I had lost 15 pounds. I was in the best shape of my life because I was walking everywhere, and the role of the physical city was made clear to me in a way it really had never been before.”
For his Georgia Tech master’s thesis, Gravel sketched out a plan to make Atlanta more like Paris. He proposed redeveloping the land along the city’s historic rail lines to create a 22-mile loop called the Atlanta BeltLine. He proposed turning the city’s abandoned industrial areas and single-family home neighborhoods into business districts and walking trails. And he proposed connecting downtown to the rest of the city all with a new train running along the entire Atlanta BeltLine.
“I never imagined we would actually do it,” says Gravel.
But they did — for the most part. Cathy Woolard, who was president of the Atlanta City Council, read Gravel’s thesis and decided to use it as a blueprint to remake much of the city. Today, the Atlanta BeltLine is a walking and biking trail, parts of which are bordered by retail and condos.
But one piece of Gravel’s grand vision didn’t get built: The train.
Today, Gravel runs a co-working and event space along the BeltLine, which also serves as a gathering place for urbanists interested in making Atlanta less dependent on cars. He says that the train line is essential for improving city life.
“In those early days, when we built the movement behind the [BeltLine] project, it was around transit,” says Gravel.
The three COVID relief bills set aside $69 billion in federal funding for local transit agencies to operate and add to their transportation systems, meaning that Atlanta might finally get its train—with many American taxpayers who will never step foot on it picking up much of the tab.
Many American cities have used federal money in the past to build rail transit lines that suffer from dismal ridership, that are expensive to maintain, and that are a major drain on their budgets.
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September 23, 2022
Is This Atlanta Streetcar “The Worst Transit Project of All Time”?
April 26, 2021
Was GENERAL SHERMAN a WAR CRIMINAL?!?!?!?!
Atun-Shei Films
Published 11 Aug 2020Checkmate, Lincolnites! Debunking the Lost Cause myths surrounding William Tecumseh Sherman during the American Civil War, including the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the burning of Columbia — and tackling the “slavery would have gone away on its own” thing while we’re at it. Surprisingly, Johnny Reb gets in one or two really solid points.
[Updated 8 Feb 2023: Vlogging Through History’s reaction video to Atun-Shei’s interpretation is here – https://youtu.be/CTVr4YgB5VI]
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February 9, 2020
Bastiat’s parking meters
At the Continental Telegraph, Esteban explains why nineteenth century French writer Frédéric Bastiat would be able to fully explain Atlanta’s parking meter woes even though Bastiat never saw an automobile in his life:
“Parking meter FAIL” by kingdesmond1337 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
One of Frédéric Bastiat’s most famous observations was the importance of recognizing “That which is seen and that which is not seen”. A government agency builds a road, some people get jobs working on the road, voila, look at all the benefits the government has brought us. What is unseen is what would have happened if the government hadn’t taken our resources to build the road, perhaps we would have spent them on something of greater value?
That people often (perhaps usually) overlook the unseen isn’t too surprising, but the inability to see is sometimes striking. A couple of years ago the City of Atlanta decided to get rid of its parking meter enforcement staff and outsource this work to a private sector company (let’s call it NewCo). Some time after the transition there were discussions at the City Council that perhaps they should reverse this decision, or at least find another provider.
What was the source of these complaints? Was NewCo inefficient? Was the City getting less revenue from the meters? No, meter revenues were actually up as were parking ticket revenues. Some misbehavior by NewCo’s employees, bribery, favoritism, kickbacks? No, no, no and no. The problem was that NewCo was doing a better job. Seriously, the City Council was inundated with complaints such as “I was, like, 2 minutes late getting back to my car and they had already ticketed me”. People who had been ticketed as well as many businesses complained about NewCo’s efficiency.
[…]
What really stood out is that no one involved in these discussions – aggrieved parkers or Council members – seemed to think about why we have meters, time limits and tickets. If enforcement is lax, more people overstay their allotted time, one consequence of which is that you have to drive around longer to find a parking space. People notice their parking ticket or the inconvenience of having to run out and feed the meter (that which is seen) but were oblivious to the shortage of parking spaces that is exacerbated by lax enforcement (that which is not seen, or perhaps not identified as connected?).
One wonders how people who live in a City where finding a parking spot is very difficult could “not see” the value of good enforcement. The time spent circling the block, rushing to turn around and grab the space that just opened up before somebody else snagged it, then just missing out and starting the dance over – nobody thought of that? Bueller, anyone?
Emphasis added.
September 9, 2019
Minnesota Vikings defeat Atlanta 28-12 in home opener
The home opener for the 2019 NFL season saw the Minnesota Vikings welcome the Atlanta Falcons to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Las Vegas oddsmakers had the Vikings as four-point favourites to win this game, but Atlanta had trouble from the get-go and didn’t manage to score until the fourth quarter, then were unable to get the two-point conversion. The final score of the game came with just over a minute left to go, but Atlanta was once again unable to convert the two-point attempt. Despite the final score, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins set a career low for pass attempts, tallying 8 of 10 for 98 yards and one passing touchdown (but he did score another on a quarterback sneak). The running game, however more than compensated as Dalvin Cook ran 21 times for 111 yards and two scores and rookie Alexander Mattison added nine carries for 49 yards.
Kyle Rudolph joking about the #Vikings winning with 10 pass attempts: “I guess that’s how we’re going to celebrate the NFL’s 100th year — we’re going to set the game back about 100 years.”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 8, 2019
Defensively, the star of the game was safety Anthony Harris who had two interceptions (one in the end zone) and also recovered a fumble forced by cornerback Trae Waynes. The Vikings defence tallied four sacks of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, one each for Anthony Barr, Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, and Danielle Hunter (a second sack by Griffen was negated by a penalty).
A view of the Minnesota Vikings’ home stadium by “www78”
“Viking Stadium” by www78 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Chris Tomasson reported on the game for the Pioneer Press:
The Vikings vowed to run the ball more this season, and did they ever on Sunday.
They rolled up 174 yards rushing, including 111 by Dalvin Cook, in drubbing the Atlanta Falcons 28-12 in the season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Cook had touchdown runs of 19 yards in the first quarter and seven yards in the third quarter. It was the third career 100-yard game by Cook, who is one of the keys to Vikings’ hopes of bouncing back after missing the playoffs last season.
The game was never in doubt as Minnesota took leads of 14-0 after the first quarter, 21-0 at halftime and 28-0 after the third quarter. The Vikings were dominant on offense, defense and special teams.
On defense, safety Anthony Harris intercepted two Matt Ryan passes and recovered a fumble. The Vikings sacked Ryan four times.
On the first possession of the game, linebacker Eric Wilson broke through to block a punt by Matt Bosher and the Vikings recovered at the Atlanta 21. It was Minnesota’s first blocked punt since Jasper Brinkley had one Nov. 30, 2014 against Carolina.
At the Daily Norseman, Eric Thompson fills in for Ted Glover on the post-game Stock Market Report:
Buy: Establishing the run is something this team can do going forward. The Vikings’ run blocking was very sound for the most part on Sunday, and it appears that should be replicable. The offensive scheme seems to fit the personnel when it comes to the ground attack.
Sell: Leaning THAT much on the run going forward. The Vikings aren’t going to jump out to a 14-0 lead every week. There will be plenty of times where they have to move the ball through the air throughout the season. Even with the extremely small sample size, the pass blocking was pretty suspect at times. It’s an area of the offense worth paying attention to going forward.
Buy: This was a great defensive performance against a very good offense. Atlanta, a team that had the sixth ranked offense in the league a year ago, didn’t score a single point for the first 50 minutes of the game. Of their 345 total offensive yards, 129 of them came on their final two drives when the game was all but decided. Julio Jones had 31 yards a day after signing a contract extension worth $64 million guaranteed. The Vikings defense kept a very dangerous Falcons offense in check until garbage time.
Sell: This was a clean defensive performance against a very good offense. The defensive performance could have been even better if they hadn’t jumped offside FOUR times on Sunday. I’m sure that drove Mike Zimmer as crazy at it drove us. The Vikings need to cut down on the mental mistakes going forward. The opposing quarterback next week has a reputation for making defenses pay on free plays.
Buy: It’s tough to start the season much better than the Vikings did on Sunday. Punt block. Touchdown. Interception. Touchdown. Exchange punts. Force a fumble. Touchdown. If Sunday’s game was being played out on Madden 20, there’s a 100% chance the guy controlling the Falcons rage quits by halftime. The Vikings didn’t just hit the ground running; they hit the ground driving a Bugatti.
Sell: It’ll be that easy going forward. While the Vikings forced the Falcons into most of their mistakes, Atlanta did some of it to themselves with drive-extending penalties and uncharacteristically bad decisions from Ryan. The Vikings have historically done very well hanging onto an early lead under Mike Zimmer; we’ll see just how good this team is when they don’t get off to such a hot start.
Buy: Special teams were outstanding. As we touched on with Maalouf, the special teams phase was virtually flawless on Sunday. Anxiety levels have been significantly lowered for the time being.
Sell: We’re completely out of the woods there. There weren’t any field goal attempts by Bailey, and there were was some space for Kenjon Barner to make a few decent returns. We should know better than to completely let our guard down when it comes to the Vikings kicking game.
December 4, 2017
Vikings defeat Atlanta 14-9 to boost winning streak to eight games
On Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings visited Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta to play the Falcons. Many commentators were expecting a high-scoring game, but both teams’ defences played at a very high level, keeping the score low and the tension high. Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes may still be a bit hobbled by a leg injury he’s been nursing, but he still did a great job of taking away the other team’s top receiver — in this case the excellent Julio Jones. Jones ended up catching two passes of the six Matt Ryan threw in his direction for only 24 yards. Case Keenum had a down first half, but a much better second half to finish with 25 completions on 30 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdowns, one to Jerick McKinnon and the other to Kyle Rudolph. Keenum is now 8-2 as a starter since taking over for Sam Bradford in week 2.
February 7, 2017
I pity the Atlanta fans, but they’re reliving the Vikings fans’ emotions from the 1998 NFC Championship
For the record, I disagree with this take from the Minneapolis Star Tribune: I hated Atlanta for about two seasons (at most) after the demoralizing 1998 NFC Championship game outcome. (However, I still hate the “Saints”…)
The Atlanta Falcons, leading by a touchdown (and two-point conversion) 28-20 in Sunday’s Super Bowl, reached the New England 22-yard-line with less than 5 minutes to play after a remarkable catch by Julio Jones along the sidelines. At that point, all Atlanta *probably had to do, at the very worst, was run a few plays that didn’t lose yardage, attempt a reasonable field goal using a pretty much automatic kicker, and watch the time melt away while New England pushed uphill in desperation against a two-score deficit. If that set-up sounds familiar, dear Vikings fans, it should. Eighteen years ago in the NFC title game, the Vikings led these very same Falcons by almost exactly the same score (27-20) and pushed into Atlanta territory in the closing minutes *probably needing just a field goal from a very accurate kicker to salt the game away. (*Probably in both cases because you never know, but still). And, of course, we know what happened in next in both cases. Last night, Atlanta ran a series of plays that pushed the ball backwards — a sack and a penalty being the most damaging — and got driven out of field goal range. Instead of a Matt Bryant try — he missed just three field goals all year, and only one from inside 50 yards — the Falcons punted. New England predictably took that gift, marched down the field and tied the game. The Patriots then won in overtime. In the NFC title game following the 1998 season, Gary Anderson — who hadn’t missed a field goal all season, a fact that is seared into our brains and adds to the pain — missed his try wide left. Atlanta used that gift to march down the field and predictably tie the game. The Falcons then won in overtime. Vikings fans who secretly (or openly) have been wishing for some sort of revenge for that moment 18 years ago found it Sunday, albeit courtesy of a Patriots team that plenty of fans love to hate.
The Daily Norseman‘s Ted Glover offers words of comfort to ailing Falcons fans:
Not a lot of fanbases could mentally process what happened to the Falcons and come out sane on the other end. Vikings fans have been doing it since the 1960’s. And we’re here to help
Dear Falcons Fans,
Hi. I’m kind of at a loss for words for you guys, but I want you guys to know that you’re not alone. As Vikings fans, we’ve been there. Yes, every year one team loses the Super Bowl, and it sucks, but rarely is a loss this brutal, a collapse this complete; a disbelief this consuming that leaves you in a stupor. And right now it’s a feeling you don’t think you’ll ever get over. You’ve probably even considered cheering for another team after last night.
that’s just reactionary and stupid. You’re a Falcons fan, and you don’t change fandom because of one game. Even if that game was last night.
They say time heals all wounds. ‘They’ are wrong. Some things you will not ever get over, and this will be one of those things. And that’s okay. But time does put distance between what happened yesterday, and as the years pass, time also adds perspective, and will give you an appreciation of what was one hell of a 2016 season.
Even though there’s no way you believe that right now. I understand. I am a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, and processing sports grief is what we do. If I may have just a couple minutes of your time, I think we can help.
Right now you’re feeling a mix of grief, anger, and disbelief, and it’s all justifiable. Virtually no one blows a 25 point lead late in the third quarter, and never on football’s biggest stage. Seriously, how rare was this feat?
Since 2001, 394 teams trailed by at least 25 points in first three Qs of game. Record: 3-391. On #Falcons collapse: https://t.co/lj30p1yTVi
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) February 6, 2017
That’s just brutal. And in the Super Bowl. Reading that, you’re pissed off all over again, and you think back to one or two plays that, if they go the other way, you win the Super Bowl. After Julio Jones’ eleventy third ridiculous catch, all you had to do was run the ball three times, kick a FG, and it’s over.
But that didn’t happen. And the Falcons lost. And it might have been the worst loss in NFL history, certainly in Falcons history. I’m going to be brutally honest with you, and you might not want to hear this, but this game will gnaw at you for the rest of your life, and you’ll never truly get over it. Most games, yeah, eventually you move on and shrug your shoulders over.
But there are moments that you will never, ever truly put aside, and it doesn’t matter how many championships or big games your team eventually wins.
January 24, 2017
“After a drab regular season and shoddy postseason, the NFL owes us a dramatic Super Bowl”
Jim Souhan on the survivors of the AFC and NFC title games last weekend:
The New England Patriots will play in the pre-Minneapolis Super Bowl. Tom Brady will try to become the first quarterback and Bill Belichick the first coach to win five Big Bowls.
The historic implication: With a victory over the Atlanta Falcons in two weeks in Houston, the Patriots can prove themselves one of the most dominant franchises in NFL history, if not all of sports.
They will face a franchise, Atlanta, which lost its only Super Bowl appearance, after upsetting the Vikings in 1998. The Patriots will be expected to win, perhaps will be expected to dominate, and yet the most interesting aspect of episodic dynasty is that they rarely dominate in the games that have made their reputation.
In six Super Bowls featuring Brady and Belichick, the Patriots never have won or lost by more than four points. Their composite score in those six games: 135-129.
In Atlanta, they will face an offense that has surrounded star receiver Julio Jones with worthy skill-position threats, which enabled quarterback Matt Ryan to have his best season, one in which he probably will be named the league MVP.
Belichick is known for taking away an opponents’ best weapon, but the Falcons’ dominance and health, combined with the Patriots’ Super Bowl history, hints that Super Bowl LI will be dramatic.
December 7, 2016
NFL time is weird
Dave Rappoccio on the least likely event that just apparently happened in the NFL:
What I think is funny is an irony that I don’t think anyone else has picked up on yet. Andy Reid, a coach with quite possibly the worst reputation for time management on final drives, now effectively, in a way, holds the record for fastest game winning comeback drive in an NFL game.
It is. It’s the fastest. The only way a comeback can be faster is if the exact same thing happens but the guy runs to the endzone slightly faster. There is no way to score a faster comeback. Extra Points or conversion attempts do not take time off the clock. Effectively, the Falcons, despite scoring the go-ahead touchdown…were never actually ahead. When the clock started again, the Chiefs had the lead. The Falcons lead was maybe a minute of real time, but in game time sits in a weird vacuum between dimensions, never to be found. This is the fastest game winning drive in NFL history, and the man who owns it couldn’t call a timeout properly if his lunch date depended on it. Andy Reid, a man who is so baffled by clocks he’s still trying to understand how daylight savings works, owns this record. This might low-key be the most amazing thing that happens all year. Sometimes football can deliver in ways you’d never expect.
November 30, 2015
Vikings beat Atlanta 20-10 to move to 8-3 on the season and first place in the NFC North
Adrian Peterson was the engine that kept Minnesota in this game (29 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns) … with more than a bit of help from a stout defence that didn’t give up a touchdown until the final two minutes. Atlanta committed enough mistakes to cripple their own scoring chances, including a Terence Newman interception in the Vikings end zone.
Minnesota’s defensive secondary was missing star safety Harrison Smith who injured his knee in a collision with Newman in last week’s loss to Green Bay and rookie first round cornerback Trae Waynes. Despite that, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t seem to test the deep secondary much during the majority of the game. Even more puzzling was that pattern continued after Andrew Sendejo, the Vikings’ other starting safety, left the game with an injury to be replaced by Robert Blanton (Antone Exum, Jr. got the start in Smith’s place). On the other hand, linebacker Anthony Barr was everywhere, notching tackles, a strip-sack, a forced fumble that prevented a touchdown, and a dramatic pass break-up. I imagine his Pro Football Focus rating this week will be pretty gaudy.
ANTHONY BARR IS A DESTROYER OF DREAMS AND AN EATER OF SOULS
— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) November 29, 2015
September 29, 2014
Vikings beat Falcons 41-28 in Teddy Bridgewater’s first start
The Minnesota Vikings have had a carousel at quarterback for the last few years: at the most important position on the field, the team has been unable to find consistency. This year has already seen three quarterbacks playing all or part of a game, but yesterday’s first career start for rookie Teddy Bridgewater gave Vikings fans a glimpse of something potentially great. On Twitter, Rick Gosselin noted that Bridgewater is only the fourth quarterback to record 300 passing yards and win his first NFL start since 1980.
Despite the margin of win, yesterday’s game was much closer than it needed to be because the Vikings defence was unable to get off the field on third down far too often, and communication breakdowns in the defensive secondary led to big plays for Atlanta. After a good series to start the game, the Vikings seemed to lose focus and Atlanta’s receivers were open too easily — fortunately for the Vikings, several passes were dropped or the score might well have been reversed.
Dan Zinski posted his immediate reaction to the game at The Viking Age:
Nothing good can come the Vikings’ way without some kind of negative note sneaking in there. The Vikings beat up the Falcons on the scoreboard 41-28 Sunday, but there were plenty of negative notes.
The biggest, ugliest negative was the injury to Teddy Bridgewater. The rookie QB was having a very strong day when he hurt his ankle on a run and was forced to leave the field on a cart.
The good news is that x-rays came back negative and Bridgewater is reported to only be suffering from a sprain. Still, the sight of Christian Ponder finishing out the game at QB did not exactly do a lot to inspire happiness in fans.
Thankfully the Vikings were well in control of the game by the time Ponder was forced to come in. Things didn’t look so rosy earlier when the Falcons were tearing up the Vikings’ defense and scoring seemingly at will.
Huge defensive breakdowns plagued the Vikings throughout the first half and third quarter. Captain Munnerlyn and Robert Blanton were primary offenders as the Falcons rolled up 28 points on Mike Zimmer’s D.
Bridgewater’s favourite target in the passing game was Jarius Wright (who had his first 100-yard receiving game), while running back Jerick McKinnon (first 100-yard rushing game) did most of the damage on the ground: the three are familiar with one another from the time they spent working together on the second team. In general, the Vikings got very good results from their reserves in this game: not that the injured starters weren’t missed, but the team showed it still has good depth.
At the Daily Norseman, Christopher Gates heaves a sigh of relief:
As fans of the Minnesota Vikings, the last two or three weeks … well, it’s been pretty rough in the land of the purple and gold. Between having to keep up with the injury list and having to, seemingly, keep one eye on the police blotter, it has been a pretty big downer.
And I don’t know about you all, but starting at about 3:30 Central time on Sunday afternoon … I forgot all about all of that. Every damn bit of it. I forgot about Adrian Peterson’s ongoing situation. I forgot all about Kyle Rudolph and Brandon Fusco and Matt Cassel being injured. I forgot about the fact that, in their previous seven quarters of football, this team had scored all of nine points.
The reason I forgot all about those things is because, early on in Minnesota’s game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon, I had the calming realization that this team is going to be just fine.
This team put together one of the most impressive offensive performances that we’ve seen around these parts in a while, and it was put together, largely, by guys who are barely old enough to have a drink after the game. We finally got to see some repetitions for running back Jerick McKinnon, and he responded by racking up 153 total yards on 18 touches, including a 55-yard run that was incredible to watch.
November 28, 2011
Vikings fall short (again) against the Atlanta Falcons
Yesterday’s game had some great work by Percy Harvin, fewer rookie mistakes from Christian Ponder, and random guys pulled in off the street playing in the Vikings’ secondary. Okay, that last part isn’t quite true, but when you’re playing your fourth-best corner against the opponent’s number one receiver (at least, until he leaves the game with a shoulder injury), and your third-best safety (until he leaves the game with a hamstring pull), it’s going to be a long, long day for the defence.
In traditional Viking style, Harvin entered the record books, but not in a good way: his 104-yard kick return is almost certainly the longest in NFL history that didn’t conclude with a touchdown.
