N E W S S O U R C E
TOPIC: Suburban Sprawl Out of Control
SOURCE: Dr. Richard Martin, Assistant Professor of Economics, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA
CONTACT: Dolly Purvis, Manager of News Services
(404) 471-5451
DATE: March 30, 1999
Early in April, Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes will be signing a bill creating the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), a superagency with broad powers to impose transit systems and highways on local governments, restrict development, and even put pressure on cities and counties to raise taxes. Many thought this radical idea would never pass the Georgia Legislature. The seriousness of uncontrolled sprawl and its attendant problems, however, won over both houses of the Legislature.
With the bill signing imminent, Georgia will be taking a bold, leadership role in addressing one of the nation's most pressing problems -- suburban sprawl and the soaring taxes, overstressed schools and emergency services, and rampant traffic congestion which it spawn. Richard Martin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics at Agnes Scott College, believes that the solution to suburban sprawl lies in four key concepts:
Cure rather than contain: -- Planning must be long range (25 to 50 years) and the quick-fixes such as wider highways must be avoided in favor of expandable mass-transit systems designed for the high-speed transport of commuters.
Cut to the core of the problem -- Address not only issues of transportation infrastructure, but also the human behaviors that cause commuters to flee densely populated areas. Develop sustainable strategies that encourage employees to live near where they work.
Involve rather than isolate -- Engage elected officials, citizens, and governmental departments of transportation equally in planning and implementation processes. Create taskforces of commuters, commercial interests, and tourists to propose solutions to transportation issues and listen to what they say.
Make the tough choices and take action -- Entities like GRTA must avoid incredible pressures for quick fixes that satisfy politicians and developers and demonstrate the discipline to think regionally, accept the best concepts, throw out ideas that serve only special interests and actwithdispatch. In addition to transportation, Martin also studies urban labor markets. His research has explored the combined impact of employment and "suburbanization" and racial discrimination in suburban housing markets on central-city residents.
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