The abject failure of the T-SPLOST referendum in metro Atlanta is old news by now. But as the voting data is parsed, some stark realities have been officially established, with data to back them up. The robust opposition to the proposed penny tax that would have funded transportation infrastructure projects was pretty clearly rooted in the suburbs. But the final voting numbers affirm that the "two Georgias" narrative that's plagued state politics for generations now officially applies to the bounds of the metro Atlanta area as well. As seen in both the map released by the Atlanta Regional Commission and one created by a Midtown resident for the East Atlanta Patch, T-SPLOST had a lot strong support inside the Perimeter and extremely strong support in town. The common read on this data is that the folks that live in the suburbs are reluctant to support projects in town and want more localized spending control. But while understandable, this attitude misses the point underlying the entire affair- it is precisely because "Atlanta" is actually a spread-out collection of suburbs and small towns that a regional approach is needed. And as much contempt apparently exists for the City of Atlanta in its suburbs, it seems difficult to argue that the entire region's fate isn't tied to that of its primary economic engine- "Atlanta" proper.

· How metro Atlanta voted for TSPLOST [Atlanta Business Chronicle]

· T-SPLOST: How We Really Voted and Three Things I Took Away [EastAtlanta Patch]