> The fact that the whole state of Georgia didn't figure this basic math equation out is unsurprising
Quite the backhanded compliment. What do you have against the state of Georgia?
Quite the backhanded compliment. What do you have against the state of Georgia?
The reality is Georgia is kicking butt in terms of attracting economic development, especially industrial.
* Georgia DOT is notorious for not building infrastructure. Their gameplan consists almost entirely of maintaining & expanding existing highways/arterials. This isn't for lack of funding, mind you -- last year GDOT had a big budget surplus and all they did with it was refund a bunch of vehicle taxes (this happens surprisingly often)
* Related to the above... ask a GA resident how they feel about metal plates. If that person regularly drives, they'll know.
* The City of Atlanta, despite supporting millions of jobs, only has 500,000 residents. It is perpetually operating on a shoestring budget and the state makes a point of avoiding reinvestment into the city (indeed, slashing the city budget is a common campaign promise)
* Despite (more likely because of...) an almost chronic shortage of cash, the City of Atlanta government is rife with misappropriation and self-dealing. There is little will to do anything about it because of how regionally polarized the politics here are
* The City of Atlanta regularly trades places with Miami as the U.S.'s "most unequal major city" by gini coefficient. We used to be securely #1 before South Fulton seceded from the CoA in 2017 (Tragically relevant: South Fulton is now America's blackest city)
* Related to the above... regions regularly threaten to seceed from the CoA because they are (understandably) frustrated with how poorly things are run. These movements to seceed often succeed. Unfortunately, it's just plain hard to run any city in this state, so both parties usually come out of the deal faring worse than before
With that being said, Georgia isn't a hellscape or anything. Yes... we do punch well above our weightclass in the twin realms of corruption and political infighting, but on the other hand the rent's pretty affordable and we have a really nice forest!
I'd edit my original post to reflect the correction, but HN puts a timer on these things. If I could go back I'd also try to spell "secede" properly
Growth like that is a rare boon to have in the coming world of negative population projections and (despite my criticisms) city leadership is meeting the challenge with some of the most aggressive housing expansions seen among any major American city in the modern age. Every political voice in the city is unified in this. For all of our faults, we are a city of transplants who hail from across the entire south and beyond -- no matter where you come from you'll be accepted here with open arms.
With all of that being said, some of the better ways to keep in touch with the local issues are probably the AJC and the Atlanta section of the URBANIZE website[1]. Truth be told, I personally get most of my news by participating in local events. I live in the Midtown area, so I keep an eye on our local event calendar[2] and just show up for whatever feels interesting. I'm actually a very big fan of Midtown -- it's one of the few truly viable places in the state to live completely car-free and being here is what continues to drive my passion for making such a lifestyle accessible to as many people as possible.
[1]: https://atlanta.urbanize.city/ [2]: https://www.midtownatl.com/visit/event-calendar