Compare metro Atlanta’s northern arc to its Southside, and it’s been no different than putting a Porsche up against a beat-up Volkswagen. One area is seen as the region’s economic driver; the other is regarded as a neglected stockyard of manufacturing plants and foreclosed properties.
Yet soon, the Southside will become a new home for Porsche, welcoming the German automaker’s North American headquarters and a state-of-the-art test track — an infusion of up to $100 million — to the former Ford Motor Co. site near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
And Porsche, which fled Sandy Springs in search of more space, changes addresses at a time when the world’s busiest airport prepares to open its new international terminal — considered Georgia’s gateway to enhanced global trade.
All this suggests the Southside, also known as the Southern Crescent, has ample opportunity to improve its flagging image and assume a more concentrated role in future regional economic development.
“What you’re starting to see is significant corporate and business investment south of I-20,” said Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission. “What’s driving this is immediate access to downtown and to the airport.”
In Sunday's newspaper, the AJC takes a deep look at the Southern Crescent's recent business resurgence. It's a story you'll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
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