Metro Atlanta is on a roll.
More than 6 million people now live in the area, according to recent Census Bureau estimates. Experts say that’s about a 50% increase from 20 years ago.
“That’s a huge increase in population,” said Dan Immergluck, professor of urban studies at Georgia State University. “It has taxed the region environmentally.”
Financial and technology companies continue to flock to metro Atlanta. This builds on the city’s strong logistics, entertainment and film and healthcare services industries.
The demand for quality housing in the area has become fierce, especially in the city centre.
“Atlanta is becoming a bigger city,” said Nathaniel Smith, founder and chief equity officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity. “Now whether we’ll be able to balance that and make sure that, you know, black people don’t get kicked out…I’m not sure.”
In September 2022, the median home in the city of Atlanta was valued at around $400,000, according to Zillow House Values Index. This price would be out of reach for the typical household in the city of Atlanta, which made approximately $64,179 per year over the past few years. Rents also exceeded the national median.
Some Atlanta residents believe that ambitious urban redevelopment projects, such as the BeltLine, have contributed to rapidly rising prices in the area.
The BeltLine is a 22-mile loop of walking and biking trails built largely on abandoned railroad tracks and developed through a public-private partnership.
It aimed to link different parts of the city together and create walkable communities along the way where residents could access a variety of services without needing a car.
“We’ve invested approximately $700 million in BeltLine to date,” said Atlanta BeltLine Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs. “What we’ve seen is about $8 billion in private investment following the BeltLine. It caused a number of good things and also a number of pressures within the city of Atlanta.”
As the region evolves, a multitude of community organizers are launching efforts to preserve housing affordability.
“It would have been great if we had the opportunity to get more land earlier in the life of the BeltLine,” said Amanda Rhein, executive director of the Atlanta Land Trust, “because property values continue to to increase near the project. ”
Watch the video to see how Atlanta plans to preserve housing affordability amid rapid growth.