What worries Atlanta residents most

Hi, this is AJC business reporter Amy Wenk with this week’s issue of Georgianomics.

Democrats completely reshaped Georgia politics Tuesday night, sweeping every statewide office and gaining control of the Public Service Commission and possibly the House, with some races still too close to call early Wednesday.

Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman ever elected as a governor in U.S. history. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff also coasted to victory. See the full results and how your neighborhood voted.

Stay tuned for a special edition of Georgianomics on Friday, where we will break down what it all means for businesses and consumers.

For now, here are this week’s highlights:

• The region’s biggest issue
• SNL pokes fun at Delta
• Office building sale is brewing

1. Metro Atlanta has spoken 📢

Pocketbook issues and voter displeasure over President Donald Trump and the direction of the country appeared to carry Tuesday’s election.

And a new poll out Wednesday shows the biggest problem facing the Atlanta area is something that impacts us all — the cost of housing.

About 30% of respondents to the Atlanta Regional Commission’s 2026 annual survey said housing affordability is the region’s biggest challenge, the AJC’s Zachary Hansen and Mirtha Donastorg report. It’s the second straight year that housing costs led the way.

• Rents have surged more than 18% in the broader 29-county Atlanta metro area since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Apartmentlist.com.
• The median sales price for a house in September was 57% more expensive than eight years prior, according to Georgia MLS, which tracks a 12-county Atlanta metro.

The Atlanta area’s relative affordability compared with other major metros has long been an economic advantage in attracting businesses and residents.

2. What to do about it? 🏗️

Two things have become clear, said Anna Roach, the ARC’s president and CEO.

• Enough housing isn’t being built in the right places
• Most of the housing being built is too expensive

Neither of those are quick fixes.

ARC’s Housing Forward 2035 initiative lays out a county-by-county housing prognosis, issuing goals for new housing construction, its location and its price point. She said it’ll take buy-in from local elected officials and developers, but it’s something ARC and its board chair — Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens — are throwing their heft behind.

• “The challenges facing our families do not stop at city or county lines, and neither should our efforts to solve them,” Dickens said in a news release.

Many of the concerns raised in ARC’s latest survey helped inform a new coalition announced Wednesday called Opportunity Rising, a task force that will evaluate ways to better help people rise out of poverty.

🔍 READ MORE: Feel financially trapped? New Atlanta coalition to address economic mobility

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3. Going viral 👀

Two big Atlanta brands were recently thrust into viral media moments.

Delta Air Lines found itself at the center of the joke over the weekend when Saturday Night Live aired a spoof commercial called “Delta Disruptive.” The sketch parodied unruly passengers aboard flights by imagining “a new section of the plane exclusively for crazy people.”

Waffle House was thrown into political debates about rising costs in social media posts by former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who sat down at one of the chain’s diners.

4. Tough year for trade fair 🚢

Later this month, the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce will host a trade fair bringing 42 Indian companies to College Park to showcase their wares and capabilities to local manufacturers, ranging from electronic components to pressure casting.

The Nov. 18-20 event is one of the first trade fairs in the U.S. focused on Indian manufacturers, according to its organizers.

But it’s remarkable the trade fair is happening at all. The GIACC had to reschedule it twice already after facing obstacles far outside their control, SK Raj, one of the group’s board members, told the AJC’s Mirtha Donastorg.

Among challenges, they’ve faced:

• Tariffs
• The raid on the Hyundai plant near Savannah chilling international firms
• Difficulty getting visas
• The war with Iran, which scuttled both flight routes for Indian business owners and the shipping of their products

Over the past few years, the GIACC has wooed 13 Indian companies to incorporate in Georgia, and is currently working on bringing over at least four more, which could bring more than $170 million in investment to the state and about 350 jobs — if the leaders can get visas for site selection, Raj said.

5. On the beat 🖊

Real estate firm Hines is gearing up to sell T3 West Midtown, a timber office building at Atlantic Station, to Zalik Investment Group, for an undisclosed price, according to a Development Authority of Fulton County document.

Atlanta-based contractor Cleveland Electric Co. has transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan. The firm, which employs more than 1,700 people, has completed electrical work for projects such as Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Walmart broke ground last week on a $1.3B fulfillment center in Carnesville, a project bringing 1,000 jobs to the small North Georgia city.

State officials recently held a ribbon cutting for the Gainesville Inland Port, which promises to eliminate thousands of truck trips along Georgia’s highways.

6. Turning history into art 🎨

Audrey Davenport spent years working as a graphic designer for corporate clients. After studying architecture at the Savannah College of Art and Design, she then turned to steering a string of public art projects.

Now, the resident of Cornelia calls herself a community architect. This year marked the debut of “Brushstrokes of Change,” Davenport’s 12-panel installation adorning Cornelia’s Jim Smith Park that tells the stories of the town’s historically Black community.

🔍 READ MORE: Meet the Cornelia ‘community architect’ turning history into art

Moving on and up 🪜

• Georgia Power has a new chairman, president and chief executive: Stan Connally. He replaces Kim Greene, who will become the president of Southern Company Operations, a strategic and operational division of the energy giant.
• Robin Godwin, former executive director of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, will join Partners Real Estate as chief operating officer of the Southeast region. Haley Casola replaces Godwin at ACBR.
• Greater North Fulton Chamber CEO Kali Boatright will retire in June 2028 after a decade with the organization.