Former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, speaking at the Atlanta Regional Commission's State of the Region event: "Well, if you are here, you have met the future — and it is us. Believe it, conceive it, achieve it."
From ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker's State of the Region message: "We've come a long way since our region's journey began back in 1837. We've risen from the ashes of war, fostered the Civil Rights movement, joined together to host the Centennial Olympic Games, and built a globally competitive economy," said Hooker. "But our region's journey is far from complete. As a regional community, we must constantly evolve to adapt to a fast-changing world and anticipate new challenges. Other regions aren't standing still, and neither can we."
From the Oct. 20 AJC: "In 2013, the economy was the No. 1 issue. We were still struggling to get out of the doldrums of the Great Recession, " said Mike Carnathan, manager of research and analytics at the ARC. Though by most every indicator, the economy is improved, he said, "that doesn't mean that everyone is perceiving and feeling the economic benefits equally."
ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker, elaborating on a survey question that found that half of respondents would struggle to meet an unanticipated $400 expense: "It turns out we reflect the same types of national trends, " he said. "It's shocking because I think a lot of us would think of $400 as an inconvenience, not as something threatening our family budgets. But this is telling us that for a large number of people taken together, $400 is a serious threat to a family's budget. It is very sobering."
From an ARC press release: "While our economy is improving overall, this survey makes it clear that not everyone is benefitting, said Ginneh Baugh, Associate Vice President of Strategy and Knowledge Development at United Way of Greater Atlanta. "This is not an isolated problem. Many families are still walking a financial tightrope, and poverty exists across the Greater Atlanta Region. The Metro Atlanta Speaks poll provides a greater understanding of the challenges facing our communities and helps us to direct the work needed to ensure that every individual and family can thrive."
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