The incessant volley of national issues presently raking across our land should not distract from the wisdom of periodically taking stock of metro Atlanta’s overall standing and situation.
We believe a measure of introspection is a natural, year-end kind of activity – one that seems especially appropriate for the final weeks of an often-explosive election year.
The Atlanta Regional Commission’s annual State of the Region breakfast provided a worthwhile sketchpad for a thumbnail assessment of our influential metro.
Data produced by the ARC and others shows that a divisive season of politics-gone-wild did not deter Atlantans from doing what we’ve historically done best – coming together somehow across various fault lines to continue pulling this great region forward. Kerry Armstrong, ARC chairman, put it well during the event, “There is one thing we know; we will never stand still.” We agree.
ARC data indicates the region and its economy are still growing. Defined as 10 counties, metro Atlanta drew in more than 69,000 new residents in the past year. That meant a growth rate of 1.6 percent, up from 2014’s 1.2 percent.
Measured across the 29-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area, we added more than 71,000 jobs in the past year.
It’s safe to say that Atlanta, and Georgia’s, recent progress has been notable, if not go-go spectacular. Unemployment in the 10-county metro area was 4.9 percent in October, as compared to 5.3 percent a year earlier, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. Statewide, unemployment also fell during the same period.
The ARC’s 2016 Metro Atlanta Speaks public opinion survey indicates that people are aware of the economic improvement. Nearly half of survey respondents described job opportunities here as either “excellent” or “good.” Only about one in three were that optimistic in 2013. This year, 12 percent of area residents named the economy as the region’s biggest problem – down by about half from 2013’s 24 percent. Those are encouraging stats.
The survey of 5,400 people across 13 counties also injected a substantial note of realism when it came to citizen awareness of our shortcomings. Nearly one in four people surveyed – 23 percent – said crime was the biggest issue hanging over the region. That’s unfortunately up substantially from the 14 percent who felt that way in 2014. Thankfully, 65 percent of respondents said they felt safe in their own communities this year, up from 60 percent in 2015.
And in terms of outlook for the future, 35 percent of people surveyed believed life will be better in metro Atlanta in the next three to four years. That’s up from 28 percent in 2013.
The survey results as a whole point toward a broadly shared levelheadedness in assessing where the metro area stands in terms of prosperity and quality of life. We seem to have broadly absorbed the admonition in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to “This above all: to thine own self be true.” That wisdom holds true for communities as well as individuals, we believe.
Seeing the city, state and world around us with an appropriate blend of optimism and clear reality will – as has long been the case around here – give us the best chance of chiseling away at the significant obstacles to further progress.
The rough spots still before us are not hard to see. For the third year running, ARC survey participants identified inadequate transportation resources as the area’s biggest problem. Nearly 1 in 3 people surveyed said they frequently lacked the transportation necessary to travel where they needed to go. This shows the need for continued investment in mobility infrastructure.
And who is not distressed to learn that only half of those surveyed could immediately pay out of pocket for a $400 emergency expense. About 14 percent said they couldn’t handle such an unexpected cost at all. Another survey question saw nearly one in five residents admit they sometimes skipped meals, or ate smaller portions, because of a lack of money.
Such sobering statistics lend a powerful exclamation point to the continued need to create more jobs, especially good-paying ones, in the metro area and state.
There is much work that remains for this great region, most of us would agree. We’d submit that few other places, if any, are as well-situated to attack dug-in problems as a metro Atlanta at full stride.
In remarks during the ARC event, Andrew Young said, “There is a can-do spirit here. When we meet a crisis here, rather than run from it, we embrace it and work our way through it.”
“It’s kind of a y’all come city,” said Young. “If you can believe in it, and work with us, there’s almost nothing we can’t do.”
The former Atlanta mayor and U.N. Ambassador contended that “The Atlanta Way” could help a beleaguered, angry, fearful nation and world fin a productive path forward.
“There was something about this place that made us want to work together,” said Young.
“Yet the country has never been more divided.”
“I can’t think of a better place to heal this nation after the wounds of the present election,” he said.
We heartily agree. Doing what Atlanta does best can once more have global reach, if we’re up to this latest task.
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