re: Confirmed: Braves Leaving Turner Field After 2016 Season

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sit through 45 minutes while the train stops 10 times, then get off and hop on another train for 1 stop.

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That's a bit of an exaggeration. It's a 35 minute ride from Doraville to the Dome including the transfer if you time it right.

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Rather than having the possibility of dealing with black people

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Well, I didn't want to say anything...

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Also, Cobb and Gwinnett turned down MARTA decades ago and the minorities still moved up there. Apparently they know how to drive cars as well.

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Which is just one reason why the whole not wanting MARTA thing is stupid.

Gwinnett and Cobb have bus service which do go to MARTA stations, why should the suburbs add a 1% sales tax just to change the name on the bus to MARTA. It took the suburbanites of northern Fulton County over 20 years of paying the 1% sales tax for MARTA rail to finally make it outside 285.
There is no question that many vote no for MARTA because of the fear of the wrong element making their way to the suburbs, but there are probably more that realize the MARTA is a poorly run program and do not want to contribute for services they may never see.

Please tell me how it is wrong?

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Isn't Cobb County the youth baseball mecca of America?

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F'n A you are right. East Cobb travel teams still rolling out the playas right and left.

FWIW, areas around MARTA stations have pretty high break in occurrences. There are good apartment chains in Atlanta (or decent, safe ones at least) like AMLI and Post, and the facilities adjacent to MARTA stations, even in good areas, have the most problems. That is micro rather than macro, but there are impacts from the ease of access.

That said, you can't really blame people for wanting no part of MARTA. It sucks, it's dirty, it is far inferior to just about any decent sized public transportation system in the country. Kiosks are regularly broken, and people that work for MARTA are rude. MARTA has a FUBU mentality, much like the rest of the City of Atlanta, so it is no surprise that suburbanites don't feel that welcome.

If we're being honest, you can't get to the root issues in scenarios like this without talking about racial divisions. And while there is certainly some truth to your statement about suburbanites, there are a lot of really valid reasons why suburbanites don't want much to do with institutions like MARTA, the City of Atlanta, and the City's downtown projects.

In an ideal world where the suburbanites are just being delusional, those less delusional among us would find the hidden gems that are Riverdale, Vine City, College Park, Union City, Lakewood, etc. But we don't, because not all of those concerns are unfounded prejudices. Those places legitimately suck, there are pockets of really bad areas in Atlanta, and there are probably socioeconomic correlations to some of those bad areas.

You really believe that MARTA is some competent organization handcuffed by the GAGOP? Come on. They tried to cancel the Braves shuttle, FFS.

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Part of that is because of how long it takes to get from the top end Marta stops to midtown Atlanta. I could drive just as quick from Suwanee to the GA Dome, as it would take me to drive to the Doraville station, park my car, wait on a train, and sit through 45 minutes while the train stops 10 times, then get off and hop on another train for 1 stop. Just no reason for me to take Marta.

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I have nothing against MARTA if it is convenient, but case in point this weekend:

I live just outside Vinings, say roughly 12 miles from downtown. 4 of us were going to the Decatur wine festival, which is obviously in Decatur on the east side, + one friend from Roswell. The four of us drove in one vehicle 22 miles, got there, parked for $5 and were near the front of the entry line in less than 25 minutes total. Friend from Roswell drove to North Springs Marta station, which is close to his house, and got to the festival 75 minutes later and bitched about it for an hour, mostly about the wait time for a train to arrive at the NS station and the transfer time at 5 Points. We had been there almost 1.5 hours when he arrived. I was like, yo, control your wine intake and drive your vehicle. He said the return trip took 55 minutes.

Yep. I'll take Marta to the airport, but any other time I'm going somewhere ITP, I'm driving. I get the convenience if you already live in town and are gonna ride it a couple stops. But getting on at the very end of the line and riding it in is just not advantageous compared to driving.

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I live just outside Vinings, say roughly 12 miles from downtown. 4 of us were going to the Decatur wine festival, which is obviously in Decatur on the east side, + one friend from Roswell. The four of us drove in one vehicle 22 miles, got there, parked for $5 and were near the front of the entry line in less than 25 minutes total. Friend from Roswell drove to North Springs Marta station, which is close to his house, and got to the festival 75 minutes later and bitched about it for an hour, mostly about the wait time for a train to arrive at the NS station and the transfer time at 5 Points. We had been there almost 1.5 hours when he arrived. I was like, yo, control your wine intake and drive your vehicle. He said the return trip took 55 minutes.

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Public transit usually involves a little bit of waiting, it is like this everywhere. If you want convenience driving is the way to go. If you want a cheaper option, mass transit is the way to go. From my experiences in various cities, very rarely is it actually quicker to use public transit than driving yourself.