Photo posted to Reddit by miikememe

A recent article in the New York Times, part of the paper's admirable 1619 Project about the 400-year anniversary of the advent of slavery in the Americas, explains how traffic congestion in Atlanta is due to segregation.  By and large, they got it correct.

The most obvious example is the east-west Interstate I-20, which effectively separates predominantly black south Atlanta from the white neighborhoods to the north.  It's one thing to cross a railroad line if you live on "the wrong side of the tracks," but it's a lot harder to cross five lanes of east-bound, limited-access highway, a concrete Jersey-barrier divider, and then five more lanes of west-bound, limited-access highway, all with multi-ton, glass-and-steel vehicles whizzing by at high velocity.  The few bridges crossing the gulch weren't designed with pedestrians in mind.  To be sure, I-20 wasn't invented to segregate the city, but it was an easy decision to run it along the course of railroad tracks and roads that were already effectively doing just that.

The north-south highways that served to assist the "white flight" from downtown in the 60s and 70s today provide the only practical means of transportation from the predominantly white suburbs to the downtown jobs and offices.  Use increases every year and more lanes are added in an attempt to meet demand; when my car broke down last February in the high-speed HOV lane, I couldn't get to safety without crossing eight lanes of traffic.  To meet the demand for more lanes (and a government-required HOV lane for continued eligibility for federal DOT funds), every foot of the corridor has been devoted to traffic, and there was no break-down lane, shoulder, or any other safe spot to pull over.  

The lack of a public transit alternative, other than the very rudimentary MARTA system, is largely due to the NIMBY resistance in the white suburbs to allowing non-vehicular access to their communities.  The fear is that light-rail access will bring with it hordes of criminal minorities, drug addicts and muggers, as if the felons don't already know where the rich live and how to get there.  Besides, I challenge anyone to ride MARTA now and find criminals carrying flat-screen TVs and microwave ovens.  Criminals prefer vans and pickup trucks to riding public transportation, and the highways provide them the means for a quick getaway. 

So the layout of the highway system has it origins in segregation, the volume of traffic is based on white self-deportation from the city, and the lack of public transit is due to racist stereotypes of who would use the system.  But before you "tsk, tsk" Atlanta, take a good hard look at your own community and you might see similar patterns.

Plus, things are getting better.  Times  change and people change, even in the Deep South.  South of I-20 is no longer considered "all-black," and vibrant, diverse communities have sprung up in East Atlanta Village, Grant Park, and East Point, all south of I-20 and among the hippest addresses in the city.  Due to low rents and cheap real estate, the arts community is increasingly moving into abandoned or underutilized warehouses and industrial space on the south side. Plus to the north, a combination of black prosperity, more relaxed views on race, and anti-discrimination laws and statues have made the top side more diverse.  Meanwhile, many immigrant and ethnic communities are forming in the once all-white suburbs due to the high cost of in-town living.  

We still have a long way to go, and I for one would love to see more and better public transit, as almost anyone who's lived in a city with a functioning transit system would tell you.  But part of the progress that's needed is contingent upon recognizing the problem for what it is and getting to the roots of the current situation.  A prescription for change is not possible without a proper diagnosis of the problem.