Author Archives: jimgilvin

Alpharetta High School Redistricting Continues Next Week

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Next week on Wednesday, March 16th, the Fulton County School System will host the second of three public meetings to determine attendance zones which will be used when the new high school in the city of Milton opens. The meeting will be held at Alpharetta High School on Webb Bridge Road from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

The new districts will have a major impact on two of the best public high schools in the state, Alpharetta High School and Milton High School, in addition to the new school on Bethany Bend Road. And since the great schools of Alpharetta continue to be the foundation of our property values this process will affect your home’s worth whether you have children in the schools or not.

There are only two more meetings planned so if you can’t make it next week make sure to mark your calendar for the final meeting on April 13, 2011. You can keep abreast of the latest developments at the Fulton County School website here: http://bit.ly/estsjn

GA 400: Atlanta’s Information Highway

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Yesterday I wrote about the distribution of Atlanta’s high wage workers and low wage workers as reported by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Not surprisingly the maps showed that the overwhelming majority of high wage earners in the metropolitan area live in the wedge formed between I75 and I85 on the North side of Atlanta.

That was interesting but not surprising. What I found more interesting and definitely more surprising was that is a big difference in the types of high wage earners that reside inside the perimeter (ITP) and those that live outside the perimeter (OTP). And counterintuitively I found that the higher earning professionals were actually more concentrated OTP.

As you can see on the map below the vast majority of people described as professional, scientific and technical workers live ITP in Buckhead or Dunwoody. According to the report this would include lawyers, accountants, architects and presumably doctors since the area includes Pill Hill where many of Atlanta’s hospitals are concentrated. Just like the location of high earners in general I found that interesting but not surprising.

What I found surprising was that the overwhelming majority of so-called “information” workers actually live outside the perimeter in North Fulton and South Forsyth county. The information workers are described as internet, telecommunications and data processing professoinals and according to the chart they average almost 20% higher monthly salaries ($6900 mo./ $5800 mo.) than the more traditional professionals who choose to live inside the perimeter.

It’s widely known that Alpharetta has many computer, telecommunications and data companies located here but I was really surprised to see that so few of these professionals choose to live downtown. Maybe they got tired of paying the tolls?

Perhaps we should change GA 400’s nickname from the Hospitality Highway to the Information Highway. Who came up with that silly Hospitality Highway in the first place?

(click to enlarge)

Where High-Income and Low-Income Workers Live in Atlanta

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In 2009 the Atlanta Regional Commission published an interesting report called Where High Income and Low-Income Workers Live in Atlanta. The study’s basic conclusion was that,” Low-income workers, for example, tend to live south of I-20, while high-income workers live north of I-20 along the GA 400 corridor”. Of course anyone casually familiar with Atlanta could have told you that but the maps used to illustrate the conclusion are worth seeing. (You can click on the images to enlarge)

The difference is stark. And if you notice how many of the high wage earners live in the proposed Milton County you can see why the rest of Fulton County and the City of Atlanta are desperate to make sure it never happens.

How much does Georgia spend on Transportation?

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The state of Georgia expected to take in over 14 Billion Dollars of income taxes and general sales taxes for 2010. How much of that general revenue do you think they spent on roads?

Ten percent? Not even close. Five percent? Dream on. One percent? Nope. Try less than 1/10 of one percent. Yes you read that right. Out of 14 Billion Dollars in sales taxes and income taxes the state of Georgia spent a measly 15 million on the entire Department of Transportation.

That means less than 1/10 of one percent of those general taxes went toward maintaining and improving the lifeblood of our state. For perspective, the state spent more than 2 Billion Dollars on community health departments but .0075 of that for the roads that allow Georgians to get to the hospital and drugstore. The state did spend other money on the Department of Transportation in 2010. Fuel taxes or other money from the federal government made up 99.24% of the state DOT’s budget.

In 2012 the state of Georgia will ask voters to raise taxes on themselves because infrastructure needs are so dire the situation demands it. I submit to you that a lack of money isn’t the problem and raising taxes shouldn’t be the solution. If Georgia spent more than 1/10 of one percent of the 14 Billion they already collect on infrastructure there wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.

(Update 3/5/2011)

Regular reader Lee from rootsinalpharetta.com asked for clarification on this post so I am adding the following explanation to hopefully clear up any confusion.

As I mentioned in the article more than 99% of the state DOT budget of approximately 2 billion dollars is funded by fuel taxes and federal money. Georgia drivers pay about 800 million dollars in fuel taxes for the DOT and the feds kick in the other 1.2 billion.

Based on that it appears a person who doesn’t drive a car in Georgia pays less than the cost of a round trip ticket on MARTA for the state’s entire Department of Transportation. Since the DOT is responsible for making sure groceries can reach stores, ambulances can reach homes and buses can reach schools that seems like a heckuva bargain.

The point being that instead of proposing another huge tax increase for transportation projects the state of Georgia should reevaluate the way they spend the 15 Billion already being collected.

Different party same plan

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Yesterday I pointed out that President Obama’s Secretary of Education was on capital hill asking for a 68% increase in spending despite our presently catastrophic federal deficits. You can see that article here.

Today it is President Obama’s Secretary of Transportation on capital hill asking for ridiculous sums of money that the American people don’t have. According to this report in The Hill, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking for a 62% increase in spending and wants congress to raise taxes by 435 Billion Dollars so that he can implement a transportation infrastructure bill. Fortunately Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is unsympathetic to the administration’s plan.

But if mean old Republicans won’t agree to higher taxes how will the federal government ever afford to turn hamlets like Alpharetta into livable centers? What will happen to sustainability and trains if the feds don’t have billions to pump into organizations like the Atlanta Regional Commission? Will people be forced to drive cars and live in those terrible neighborhoods with cul de sacs? The horror!

Of course an attempt to raise taxes during a miserable economy is something one might expect from Washington liberals. Too bad it’s the same thing being proposed by Georgia Republicans.

Atlanta Regional Commission pushes the Obama agenda

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In case you haven’t noticed the Atlanta Regional Commission has become a major player in the future of Georgia. The ARC receives most of its funding from federal grants to aid the elderly and promote “livability”. ARC then uses that money to promote the federal objectives by working closely with local municipalities. By doing that ARC serves as a tool for the federal government to insert their social engineering ideas into seemingly local issues.

The Northpoint Livable Center Initiative which brought Alpharetta the recent MetLife mixed use project is an example and so is the LCI grant which the city of Milton is now considering.

I mention this because of a recent editorial in the Washington Examiner which says:

A third and fourth  reason for the explosion in proposed transportation spending is the president’s commitment to create two new programs –  a livability program and a new train program where Amtrak gets to masquerade as high speed rail. Both programs have strong appeal to unions and environmentalists, and combined would cost $101 billion over the next six years.

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Ray LaHood defines livability as “being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get in your car.”

Achieving the LaHood vision means nudging/forcing/coercing people into buses or trolleys, and creating tighter living arrangements.  The president proposes $48.1 billion over six years to implement the LaHood social engineering scheme.

So the federal government plans to spend nearly 150 billion dollars to push a liberal agenda but the conservatives are balking. Isn’t it curious that zoning issues in North Fulton County reflect that same conflict? What’s even more curious is watching which side the Atlanta Regional Commission and supposedly conservative elected officials take in that struggle.

You should read the whole thing here.

‘Why Don’t We Just Spend Three Times as Much?’

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Nationalreview.com has a great article about the futility of increasing government spending to solve America’s societal problems. In this case the example is an exchange between President Obama’s Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the Senate Budget Committee today, in large part to defend the massive increases in education spending that have occurred under President Obama (68 percent, including the stimulus). In his 2012 budget, Obama calls for an 11 percent increase in spending on education.

Sen. Jeff Session (R., Ala.), ranking Republican, pointed out that when it comes to education, more spending doesn’t necessarily produce better results. Case in point:

Spending per student — South Korea: $8,000; United States: $12,000.

International ranking (reading, math) — South Korea: 1st, 1st; United States: 14th, 25th.

After Senator Sessions pointed out that just spending more money didn’t lead to better results the Secretary of Education persisted in trying to justify more money. Senator Sessions finally responded,”Why don’t we just spend three times as much? Won’t that just help us fix it all?”

Senator Sessions is right. Both of my children attend public schools and a 68% increase in education spending hasn’t improved their education one bit. Neither would another 167 billion dollars. The problems with our educational system are structural and societal and no amount of spending will change that.

You can read the whole thing here.

Alpharetta continues urbanization to attract MARTA

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Tonight the Alpharetta City Council voted to approve another high density mixed use project with nearly 500 condos. The vote was unanimous and it was embarrassing to watch how council members fawned over the developers. The council toothlessly imposed ownership restrictions but MetLife balked at an amendment that would prevent the property from converting to 500 apartments within five years so council decided to take their word for it.

Below are my comments to the council.

Good evening. My name is Jimmy Gilvin and I live in Alpharetta. I’ve come to speak against the Peridot project being proposed by MetLife.

Tonight this council will decide whether to continue urbanizing the city of Alpharetta by adding dense housing. The MetLife parcel is currently zoned for more than a million feet of office space which would provide more than 3300 badly needed jobs for the people of Alpharetta. The new proposal replaces 1800 of those jobs with 500 condominiums.

Why would this council trade $123,000,000 in annual salaries for 500 condos? This letter from MARTA’s Office of Transit Planning explains,

“MARTA is also working with the City of Alpharetta to initiate an LCI for the North Point Mall area as part of a north line rail extension… the city of Alpharetta had inquired from MARTA on the feasibility of having the proposed rail station at a location across SR 400 from the mall in the vicinity of the development site. MARTA has not yet made a firm decision on the station location but believes this development will add density in the area, making for better transit supportive environment.”

So for more than 5 years Alpharetta City officials have been quietly but methodically urbanizing this city in the hope of attracting MARTA. Was it happening when current City Councilman Chris Owens was working for the developer of Prospect Park as the civil engineer of the project? I don’t know. But it was happening when the city approved a 12 story condo tower in the Alpharetta High School district and it will continue tonight if you approve this MetLife proposal.

This year Alpharetta voters like me will elect a new mayor and several of you will be up for reelection. With your votes tonight you will help make those choices clear. We can either choose leaders that continue to urbanize our city in the hope of attracting MARTA or we will elect people that will protect what already makes Alpharetta a great place to live.

Alpharetta is a special place. We enjoy a fantastic quality of life with great public schools and low crime rates. As a result we are one of the finest places to live in all of Georgia.

I stand here asking you not to throw that all away. Despite what consultants, developers and land use attorneys may tell you the majority of people that live here don’t want Alpharetta urbanized to attract MARTA. Many voters don’t want MARTA here at all. All of you live here and in your hearts you know that is true. I am asking you to vote accordingly. Please vote no on this project.

The council members that voted for the project were: Douglas Derito, Jim Paine, Cheryl Oakes, Chris Owens, Mike Kennedy and DC Aiken in addition to Alpharetta mayor Arthur Letchas.

AJC explores the urbanization of Alpharetta

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The Atlanta Journal Constitution has an article which explores the ongoing push by City Council to urbanize Alpharetta. You can read the whole thing here.

The piece includes comments from yours truly and another like minded resident. MetLife refused to comment. I guess they feel no need to defend the loss of 1800 jobs in exchange for 500 condos since it was the city’s idea in the first place.

A few snippets:

“The City of Alpharetta continues to add density, add condominiums and it’s going to have a negative impact on the future,” said resident Jimmy Gilvin, who plans to attend Monday night’s meeting. “We have a great quality of life, we have great public schools and for some reason that seems to be under attack right now.”

“Alpharetta is probably the only city in the country where a developer walks into the Community Development Department requesting a simple stream variance, and he leaves with the promise to push through zoning for a high density, mixed-use project,” resident Mark McKean said.

In response to the comments by Alpharetta residents the director of Alpharetta’s Community Development Department, Diana Wheeler, had this to say:

Wheeler denies the charge, and said there has been no attempt to alter the zoning code to fit MetLife’s plan. “If the plan met the code, it wouldn’t require a public hearing,” she said.

Well the city is holding a public hearing. So is Ms. Wheeler saying that the MetLife development doesn’t meet the code? Ms. Wheeler’s comments make no sense to me but then again neither does the Unified Development Code she devised in an attempt to permit developments that most city residents abhor.

There is still time to call the city and notify them of your position before the vote tonight. The phone number is 678-297-6000.