Although, there is possible a silver lining here… there are plans for a second major transit line in the Perimeter area, a busway that would run across the I-285 corridor from Cumberland to Doraville with service along Hammond Drive. This would help create a real transit infrastructure in Perimeter Center, with two major axes intersecting at the Dunwoody MARTA station. (from there the first station west on the busway would serve the front door of these Concourse towers… assuming, of course, that they actually have a front door).

The 285/Hammond busway is actually a pretty exciting project: a true bus-only facility (with a provision for long-term upgrade to rail) with appropriate deviations off the expressway so that it can actually serve places that are designed for people, as opposed to freeway interchanges… a very rare example of BRT done right in Atlanta.

So of course it is on the back burner. At least compared to other projects like the I-75 “BST” nonsense which is still full speed ahead (for now). We wouldn’t actually want to spend our transit money on something useful, now would we…

Thanks for the comments. You’re right that it’s no simple thing to look at the real costs for any of the things you mentioned. They’re all either public goods, or exhibit so many characteristics of public goods that to apply private market economics to the picture is really shortsighted.

Dumpwoody.. very nice Maybe someday the folks there will want to form a city, too.

Nice piece. It’s no simple thing to look at “real costs” of transporation (or anything in government - what are the “real costs” of education, healthcare or the military - government spending has countless effects both positive and negative).

But you hinted at the real problem up there in Dumpwoody - horrid land use and transporation planning. For 30 years, The DeKalb County Commission hasn’t been able to say no to a developer wanting to pour some concrete in Dunwoody, but at the same time they’re refused to deal with the infrastructure.

Residents have - usually successfully - fought every road widening with great fury, and while widening roads is never a cure-all, it gets to the lack of will and foresight among county leaders.

Look at what Cobb County has done between the Kennedy Interchange and Windy Hill Road in the last five years. They have that Galleria tax district and have done a great job on road improvements. As a result, moving through what used to be a horrible area (pretty much just Cobb Parkway and Powers Ferry to get you around), is now a breeze.

Dunwoody lacks any kind of thoughtful transporation plan. It’s like the county saw MARTA coming in as the solution to all their problems. But as you point out, what have they done to leverage MARTA? Nothing like what Atlanta has fostered around Lindbergh, that’s for sure.

Personally, I avoid Dunwoody at all costs. I’d never attempt to get near Perimeter Mall on the weekend (too bad for Home Depot Expo - a great store that I never go to anymore), and there’s a major employer in the area I could work for but won’t consider because of the Dunwoody hassle (I live intown and worked around Cumberland for two years. That wasn’t a problem, but I’d never subject myself to Dunwoody traffic).

So in short (a little late for that), it would be typical of DeKalb County to let a new tower go up there with little consideration for the impact.