VENDORS GET WORST OF BOTH WORLDS: HEAT, NO HUMANITY

     There are a number of reports this morning on the fallen
expectations of merchants and street vendors in Atlanta.  In
Philadelphia, Larry Copeland reports that parking-garage owners
who had advertised rates of $50 a day "were gladly accepting $7"
and that business owners on Auburn Avenue (where Martin Luther
King is buried) claimed that ACOG reneged on a deal to close the
avenue to traffic and turn it into a pedestrian mall (PHILA.
INQUIRER, 7/23).  Donald Ratajczak, Dir of Georgia State Univ.'s
economic-forecasting center, said businesses ignored the
"displacement factor" in that visitors are merely replacing the
locals.  Roger Tuttertow, Chair of Economics at Kennesaw State
Univ.:  "People who thought they were going to make a killing
were probably a little on the naive side" (WALL STREET JOURNAL,
7/21).   In Atlanta, Ronald Smothers reports business is "slow to
spotty," with taxi drivers "among the few to cash in so far" due
to "glitches and overcrowding" in the transportation system
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/23).