Marta link from ATL a breeze!
 

Just got back from a trip to Atlanta. I had to take the Marta train from the airport to a station near my friend's house. Getting on the Marta train was really easy--there are signs everywhere once you get to the main terminal.

Compared to the BART system in the S.F. region or the Tube in London, it was pretty mindless....

Lil

I would agree. The system is very user friendly. I have been used to the MAX system in Portland - but ATL is great. I just returned yesterday from my 1st trip there. But - will be returning in early November ... do you have any sights/activities to suggest?

The botanical gardens was the only thing I saw on a 4 day trip--I hung out mostly with my friends at their house.

My friends suggested checking out all the museums, galleries and theaters on Peachtree St. I also took a stroll on the Virginia Highlands district, and it's pretty small and not worth the bother. It's NOT Haight-Ashbury, regardless of what Atlantans may say.

Lil

The High Museum is a nice day visit if you're into art---there's usually a special exhibit worth visiting. The Atlanta History Center/Swan House/Tullie Smith Complex is probably the most distinctively "Atlanta" attraction, and very well-done. Margaret Mitchell's home (where she wrote "Gone with the Wind") is now a museum, and includes some interesting civil rights exhibits as well as movie memorabilia. Fernbank Natural History Museum and the Micheal C. Carlos Museum (on the Emory University campus) are both cool.

I've never heard of VaHi (there's no "s" on the end of Highland, by the way) as being anything remotely like Haight-Ashbury: no homeless, no panhandlers, no drugs. A two mile strip of small shops and restaurants, flanked by a pleasant residential neighborhood, that's all.

A less upscale mood prevails in Little Five Points, but it's also pretty small.

Hi. I live in Atlanta, and Virginia-Highland is one of my favorite areas to stroll. There are cute neighborhoods and stores and restaurants. If it's a nice day, take a few hours and get down there and walk around. For a special dinner, Dish in Va-Hi is great and not overpriced. Recommend you get reservations.

Also, if it's a nice day, Piedmont Park is also a great place to go. Large park with great people watching opportunities. The botanical gardens connects with the park so that could be a good half day activity.

If you like the nightlife scene, Midtown is now the hopping place to be. I would say to skip Buckhead for nightlife. Lots of great clubs and restaurants in Midtown nowadays.

If you want to do some touristy things: Six Flags, Margaret Mitchell house (in Midtown), Cyclorama or the zoo(in Grant park). Fernbank (the natural history museum) is pretty neat particularly if there is an IMAX playing, as is the High Museum if there is a special exhibit showing.

Check the weather before you come. November can be cold (for the South) or very mild. Enjoy your visit!

I am a big mass transit geek and I was surprised by how easy MARTA was to use, but apparantly it isn't well used by natives. Talking to locals, it appears that the "wrong type" of people are perceived to use the system, which means that it isn't used by people living in the suburbs. Sad really how race hang-ups influence such things.

I think the reason the locals or folks in the suburbs don't use MARTA a lot is because it's not really designed to take you from one suburb to another. Unlike other subway systems with multiple lines, there are basically two lines, one running north-south and one running east-west.

It does what it does well, but is limited. "Us local folks" in the suburbs use it to get to downtown or the airport and back, but that's about it. Atlantans love their cars and to go from one suburb to another, a car is about the only option.

If you don't have a car, you can connect with a bus, but MARTA has been cutting bus routes. I don't think it's a "race thing" or "wrong people". I just think that unlike other cities with a large subway network that is useful for mass transit, MARTA by nature of its design is self-limiting.

Fair enough. It does appear that Atlantans have abandoned their urban core and few people come back into the city (or live in the city) but instead spend time in far-flung suburbs. It's a city with loads of potential and possibillity, it seemed, but oddly soulless. The fact that people recommended Buckhead as a place to hang out to someone staying downtown said much.

Yup, my parents abandoned their urban core and moved us out to the suburbs. Quality schools were the reason. I don't think that's just an Atlanta phenomenon. There are people moving back to the city, but the taxes are high and the infrastructure is declining. That doesn't seem Atlanta-specific either.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but downtown Atlanta was never a vibrant live-in city. When my parents took the trolley into downtown to work, they came back to their version of suburbs at night. East Atlanta, Ormewood, Grant Park, etc. were considered the neighborhoods one lived in and you worked downtown. Now, these are the area where people are moving back into the "city" but they weren't considered the city in my parent's generation. They were perhaps the close-in suburbs? By the way, my parents grew up in Atlanta and my mom went to Girls High and my dad went to Boys High.

MikeT.

Actually, I believe you are right on. Live in ATL and have had similar conversations with co-workers. We find many reasons not to use MARTA. Granted it is not Chicago or NY. However, folks here don't want it to be either. Folks complain about Marta's capacity to get to the suburbs, then fight proposals to extend it into other areas. Especially north of Atlanta.

Nuff said.

Yes, MikeT is right on . . . the *reason* the people North of Atlanta fight the expansion of Marta into their pristine suburbs is for the reasons MikeT suggested.

Those are the same people who drive to work all by themselves in their SUV's (his and hers, probably!) and then complain constantly about the traffic in Atlanta. Gee, why is that, you think?

I live near Atlanta. The use of I85 and I 75 must be an addiction. People had rather sit for 2 hours in their car than ride 35 minutes on Marta.

Marta is Smarta, but my SUV is where I wanna be!

I lived in ATL for 20 years and basically only took Marta to the airport, concerts, or sporting events. I think that's just the way it is for folks in the Northern suburbs. I agree that they should expand the system, but the locals will fight it to the bitter end. They're afraid it will bring the "wrong element" to their pristine neighborhoods. I think it's bogus. Living in L.A. has really shed some light on how prejiduce the south still is, in general.

The MARTA train is easy to use because of the few routes and single fare. It's great for visitors to use from airport to downtown and the Lenox areas especially. For locals it provides limited access.

A funny story--I lived in one of the suburban counties 15 years ago and it was debating whether to join the system. Indeed some people protested that the criminals from the inner city would use the mass transit to commute as well. I got a mental image of robbers riding out each morning with empty bags just like workers with briefcases.

The next day I rode the train to downtown 5 Points station and as I was riding an escalator up I could see a man riding another escalator down carrying a large television! Now, I assume he was taking it to the repair shop via mass transit, but it was funny considering the public hearing concerns the night before.

Well our local criminals in the SF Bay Area are very civic minded.
The drug dealers often use BART to transport their "wares" back and forth from Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco.
And just yesterday a bank robber robbed a bank in Berkeley (that is what bank robbers do for a living, sigh). Than the yoyo entered the Berkeley BART station.
Unfortunatly for him the money he had "received" from the bank had a dye packet in it. Before he could board BART the dye packet "poof" exploded. Dye and money everywhere. BART station closed, Berkeley PD running all over the place trying to pick up the money.
Than this knuckelhead is discovered on the local AC Transit bus. Arrested of course.
It is nice to know that our local crimals are trying to work with the local authorities that promote "Spare the air day" by using public transportation, don't you think?