Suburban Cobb County Leader Fears Rail From Atlanta to New Braves Stadium

When the Atlanta Braves announced their decision to move their stadium from downtown Atlanta to a highway nexus in suburban Cobb County this week, they cited transportation problems as part of the impetus. But it wasn't long before everyone started wondering if the new site, only marginally connected to the region's transit system, could actually handle the additional traffic on game days.

A major transit upgrade had been proposed for the Cumberland Mall area, where the new stadium will be located, but that project isn't on the table anymore. It was part of a transportation tax package that voters in the Atlanta region -- particularly suburban voters -- struck down just last year.

Now Joe Dendy, chairman of the county’s Republican Party, has revealed perhaps more about his attitudes regarding various modes of transportation -- and the people who ride them -- than he actually meant to. In a statement about the Braves' move to Cobb County, he said:

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Jay Bookman heard an unuttered "those" before the word "people." He says Dendy's statement explains a lot about Atlanta:

In the 2001 book, "Atlanta: Race, Class and Urban Expansion," Georgia Tech Professor Larry Keating argues that sprawling development patterns and meager transit investment in the Atlanta region has historically served to promote and reinforce racial segregation.

There may be a certain poetic justice in how this all plays out. Downtown Atlanta could very well be better off with something besides a gigantic sports stadium on the Turner Field site, while the Braves have chosen a future that apparently condemns all their fans to sitting in traffic, and Cobb County will be shelling out big bucks to make it happen.