Similar to many Atlantans in their twenties, I grew up in the suburbs and moved to Atlanta for college. In the city, I felt energized by constantly being around people and decided to make Atlanta my home.
However, despite growing up in a suburban picket-fence community, the feeling of constant connectedness was not new to me. I had been on Facebook for a few years before I began college and had been texting and instant messaging friends even before then. While social media and urban life seem unrelated, both share a deep commitment to interconnectivity. Interconnectivity is a theme that underpins my generation’s desire to live in urban spaces and immediately share information. I am confident that embracing an ethos of interconnectivity is necessary for Atlanta to grow in a direction that makes the metro area more desirable for millennials.
My point is reinforced by a common criticism of Atlanta: that we lack an effective public transportation system. This observation, however, does not always reveal the root concern. Although a public transit system can lead to less traffic, there is more to my generation’s desire for bike lanes, streetcars and walkable living spaces.
People growing up with the ability to constantly interact with each other expect that they can similarly share experiences with people in the non-virtual world. We want public spaces to exchange ideas, run into friends, meet new people, promote our passions and learn about others. Because the greater Atlanta area is split into geographically distinct neighborhoods, it is even more important that our leaders focus on encouraging interconnectivity to make our city more desirable to millennials. Of course, public transportation is a large step towards that goal.
We must also encourage more methods of cross-cultural exchange within our region. Although millennials are notorious for having their noses buried in a phone, we are actually extremely social and communal. We just need places in the non-virtual world that reflect these desires.
The proliferation of public spaces that promote the open exchange of ideas is an effective means of achieving this goal. As a city of transplants and commuters, metro Atlanta traditionally lacked such spaces. As the millennial generation becomes more important for the success of our region, we need to find ways, beyond expanding public transportation, to support and promote interconnectedness in order to win the future.
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