
Mapping the Segregation of Metro Atlanta’s Amenities - jonbaer
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/05/mapping-the-segregation-of-metro-atlantas-amenities/560912/
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shaftoe
This article completely fails to address the reality of visiting South DeKalb.
Go drive around in Google Street view and you'll see abandoned commercial
property after abandoned commercial property. Businesses struggle to exist
there.

The problems there cannot be fixed by zoning more commercial real estate and
the comments about healthy restaurants are laughable: look at the restaurants
that thrive in the area in question and look at the areas with the abundance
of healthy restaurants. There's zero overlap.

If a salad bar chain could do well in South DeKalb, they'd have no shortage of
venues to consider. Atlanta is self-segregated in a multitude of dimensions
that are much deeper than race.

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perfmode
you’re missing the big picture.

[https://www.atlantastudies.org/2017/09/07/jason-rhodes-
geogr...](https://www.atlantastudies.org/2017/09/07/jason-rhodes-geographies-
of-privilege-and-exclusion-the-1938-home-owners-loan-corporation-residential-
security-map-of-atlanta/)

~~~
throwaway59928
That article you posted uses a set of maps as its source, but if you go to the
maps they refer to, a lot of cities have changed drastically where there was
redlining. Atlanta may not have changed much from the redlined map, but Los
Angeles and San Francisco definitely have, and those were the only ones I
looked at. Many of the areas that were redlined are full of multimillion
dollar SFRs and lots of great shops and commercial properties.

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dpeck
One thing that is missing from the maps is the interstates, 20/75/85/285\.
Atlanta is very much defined by its interstates and it contributes to our
overly divided mature. Leaving them out clouds the analysis of the food part,
though the others seem to mostly stand fine without it, but it’s still be nice
to see.

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Simulacra
I own a home in Atlanta and I've noticed this too, but I think this article
misses a bigger point: Crime. If you're a corporation, or business owner, it
seems obvious you'd want your business in a lower crime area. The city wants
you to build in neglected areas because the hope is commerce brings higher
incomes, which may result in safer streets, etc. Which begs the question: Who
should take the lead in this, the businesses, or the government? I think it's
asking a lot to ask/demand businesses take the risk first, before the
government has done a better job of reducing crime, poverty, and improving
infrastructure.

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mark_edward
That's what the subsidies and other incentives that usually accompany that are
nominally for

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mapmeld
Segregation is common in US cities, and not just in the South. A friend in
civic tech likes to say, "there is only one map of Chicago". Over time I've
found it to be true: whether you're looking at these types of amenities,
census data, crimes, health metrics. If you look at mapping apps like
Runkeeper, you'll be able to point out U.Chicago as an island of activity
within the South Side.

Over time, ideas of how our cities are and ought-to-be get cemented in and
polarized. Housing prices reflect that pretty well and businesses listen to
that before opening a new location. When economies do grow, instead of gradual
betterment of everyone living there, you see a neighborhood flip/gentrify so
quickly; look at Bushwick or Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

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skookumchuck
> persistent segregation which was caused by government and private market
> policies and practices.

It could also be related to crime. The researchers should overlay their data
with a map of crime.

In Seattle, bank branches in some areas have the tellers protected by
bulletproof glass. In others, there is no protection at all. These are
branches of the same bank. My neighborhood bank closed and left because of
regular armed robberies.

~~~
rainbowmverse
It's the policy of redlining, outlined in this extensive history:
[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-
cas...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-
reparations/361631/)

The resulting economic disparity may sustain the segregation without anyone
doing it on purpose anymore, but the source is clear.

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willvarfar
An interesting article

But a very bad GDPR opt-in experience. You can't say "no thanks", only "set
preferences". From that popup I couldn't spot how to continue without opting
into to anything. Very "dark pattern" feeling, which is silly for a company
that has put any effort at all into GDPR compliance. If a company puts in the
hours making sure you don't opt in by default, why risk the wrath of
regulators by trying to funnel opt-in? It's like they read the rules without
groking the spirit of them.

Luckily I was on an iPhone so I just hit the reader view without accepting
anything.

