The election will be stolen by the unauditable, Diebold/Premier Election Systems machines. But, oh, it will be SOOOOO close. Too bad the opponents lost but only by 1 percent. Oh, well, maybe next time. (didn't they say that last time?)

My vote will be NO. Project list for Region 3: http://www.velag.org/3_atlanta-invlist.pdf. Too many projects which will not significantly relieve traffic congestion. Given today's economy, w/multiple tax increases beginning January 2013, expiration of "Bush" tax cuts & payroll tax cut, Obamacare, etc, we can't afford TSPLOST. Many projects are not scheduled for completion w/in the 10yr time frame; many will require additional funding for operations and maintenance. Most Georgians may do better keeping the estimated $5189 per household (bit.ly/KpbRAP), and spending, saving, or investing it as they see fit. TSPLOST hurts the elderly and poor disproportionately. Increasing the gas taxes or a county-specific splost may be more appropriate for projects which will actually bring congestion relief soon, as voters expect. Is GDOT really capable of managing $16+ billion in revenue if tsplost passes? http://bit.ly/LPI6sx. Tad Leithead, Chair of ARC, said “Traffic has gotten worse. We’re not going to fix it in the first three years or even the first 10 years.” Do GA taxpayers want to endure 10yrs+ of largest tax increase in GA history during "the worst economy since the Great Depression"? Vote "NO"

I'm voting "YES". Cobb County and Cumberland is being left behind by Buckhead and Perimeter. My investment in a single family home in the Smyrna/Vinings area is not going to be destroyed by rednecks who think a strip mall and Levvittown development is progress and oppose liveable, walkable, transit-oriented development.

Anyone who thinks we are paying for the projects through regular taxes is mistaken. The T-Splost is a sales tax. Temporary federal incentives exist as well. Additional commerce, including Town Center and Cumberland, will help our economy and bring many jobs.

It will solve some traffic woes by offering alternatives. For instance, the Windy HIll / Cobb Pkwy intersection is one of the most dangerous intersections in the country, and it will be made safer. However, the problems there should demonstrate the problems with building more roads and more lanes as an attempt to spur economic growth. Eventually, the roads hit capacity. I-75, plus Cobb Parkway, plus Powers Ferry, plus Atlanta Rd, plus S. Cobb Drive combined has about 35 lanes of traffic to supposedly move people quickly between North Cobb and S. Cobb. Yet they all get backed up. So no, building transit-oriented development won't solve this unsolvable problem of traffic. It is not possible to tar our way out of it. Instead, transit-oriented development will bring us closer to the places we shop, play, and often even work meaning we have to get in the car less and can walk more. We'll be healthier.

I know that post sounds divisive, however it is meant to be. It is time for people to decide what we want metro Atlanta to be. Do we want to continue down the path we have had for 20 years of exceptional growth? Or do we want it to become the next Detroit, start sprawling out further and emptying out in the core aside from some forward-thinking areas like Buckhead and Perimeter that were smart enough to embrace transit?

I don't think we can look back. If you don't like progress and growth into an international city with interconnected transit, move to Birmingham or Macon. We don't need you here.

Here's the rub: Atlanta is the capital of the South. Yes, it has a high population, but it's more than just abut population but about being a center of culture, center of international presence, a center of commerce. A lot of metro areas including Dallas and Miami, even Orlando and Charlotte, even Austin are working hard to dethrone Atlanta. The metro area as a whole has faltered recently by not expanding rail and ridden on the success of MARTA in Buckhead, midtown and Perimeter plus the "promise" of the beltline to spur development.

First of all, the promise of the beltline, if not followed-through on, will kill Atlanta. Much of the development in earnest will stop. That will have ripple effects on inner core cities/communities close to the beltline (Smyrna/Vinings, Decatur, Virginia Highlands, Druid Hills, etc)

Secondly, we need a connected metro and to stop sprawl.

Hey Brian, when will your road projects be done and are they worth $8.5 billion?

Hey Brian, the road projects are supposed to be done almost a decade from now, but who knows. There are no tier levels of how and when the projects will be done.

The decision is simple:
(1) You vote for T-SPlost and traffic doesn't necessarily improve, however ten years from now you can drive or walk to Cumberland or Town Center, Marietta Square, etc with tons of shopping and parks within 1/4 mile, then hop on the rail to another liveable center. Blighted strip mall areas like S. Cobb Drive in unincorporated Cobb County, Veteran's Memorial, etc get replaced with attractive Main-street style developments flanked with towhomes and green space. Beltline re-development in Atlanta causes spreads into S. Cobb and increasing metro home prices.
(2) You vote against T-Splost and witness sprawl out to Canton, Woodstock, due West, etc and the inner core except for midtown/Perimeter/Buckhead starts to empty and turn into a ghetto (including East Cobb) with abandoned strip malls, etc. Some high-end housing near Chattahoochee plantation and Vinings will be islands in a sea of blight and decay. Traffic from thriving Canton, etc, bring more cars through Cobb County, driving more people out since there's no alternatives. Cumberland and Town Center will stop growing. Much of the older Levvittown style housing in E. Cobb turns into a ghetto. At the same time, the lack of a beltline causes values to drop in Atlanta, impacting Cobb County. State/federal funding saves Cumberland 10 years out by bringing light rail. But too little, too late for most of Cobb. Rising gas prices make cars unaffordable, continuing the trend.

Nice posts Brian. It is beyond me how Cumberland wants to continue without rail/Marta. It would be even more attractive to business being connected to the world's busiest airport. Sadly too many people in Cobb think Marta = people getting on trains to walk to your house to steal, to get back on the train with stolen items. Its utterly ridiculous.

Cobb to Perimeter is one of the busiest intersections in America and there is no rail? Look at what has happened, not only is 285 backed up but now all the local roads around 285 as people try to find another route.

It is utterly crazy to think I can't take a 2 minute drive to Cumberland to catch Marta to go to the airport..

Billion of dollars have been spent all over the US on transportation. Traffic engineers have a phrase for it - induced demand. New and improved roads just attract more traffic.

I would vote YES and encourage my colleagues to vote YES! I'm tired of having to go to other great cities such as Chicago and New York to be able to ride great transportation. Atlanta is a great city as well and it's infrastructure should reflect so.

I will vote NO for this tax increase. I am retired and my income today will be the same ten years from now. That is, if Social Security even exists in ten years. That's a scary thought when more and more taxes and other demands on my income keep on coming. I live in the Mableton area of Cobb County and have never used Marta to go anywhere. I drive my own car. Americans have a very insecure future with obamacare looming in the near future. We will be very heavily taxed by the government for "health insurance" whether we want it or not. And we will be fined and otherwise penalized if we don't buy this socialized form of medicine. Retirees and a lot of others are in the position of needing to keep their expenses down at all costs. This is true especially for Cobb folks who this extra 1% won't help very much at all. We voted in a 1% road tax a year and a half ago and I'm wondering where all the road improvements are. I run into as many pot holes now as before. A yes vote would mainly be a vote for commuters who drive downtown to work. I'm sorry for them, but that is their choice. The rest of us should not be penalized.
Frances M.

Brian,

You said: "ten years from now you can drive or walk to Cumberland or Town Center, Marietta Square, etc with tons of shopping and parks within 1/4 mile, then hop on the rail to another liveable center. Blighted strip mall areas like S. Cobb Drive in unincorporated Cobb County, Veteran's Memorial, etc get replaced with attractive Main-street style developments flanked with towhomes and green space. Beltline re-development in Atlanta causes spreads into S. Cobb and increasing metro home prices."

Could you please answer this? 1) show us where the law says the projects you mention above will be completed in 10 yrs. I believe you are misleading folks by suggesting they will be. Because in many cases the law only requires, studies, surveys, and property aquisitions to have taken place within the 1st 10yrs. Also, aren't you basically admittting the whole TIA isn't really about solving traffic congestion, but about "social engineering" to create high density "livable communities" which will benefit the developers, construction companies, lawyers, and real estate companies who are politically connected.

The bottom line is that traffic will be around forever, If cities like Chicago and NYC did not have their trains their traffic issues would be so much worse. The plan for the Atlanta metro is to help alleviate traffic. More people are moving here every year and we have to compensate somehow. I would take a train in a hearbeat if I could. And for those people that say they have never taken MARTA before, it's because it doesn't go far enough in the first place to serve your area. It's a system that must be expanded in order to function as it should. Will it take less than 10 yrs? Heck no, Any fool would know it's going to take longer, but the sooner we start, the better. If we don't start, the problem will just keep growing and growing. Relief has to come in some form or another. Maybe someone should invent a flying a car...