True to ATL? Refocusing On Our Neighbors

Old Forth Ward Park apart of the Beltline brings both good and bad to East Atlanta: redevelopment but also affluence

When it comes to inclusionary zoning, Atlanta is behind in the game. It's not that Atlantans do not care about ensuring affordability toward every Atlantan, it is just an issue we haven't really had to deal with before. But with the rapid redevelopment of East Atlanta, there are some problems that have accompanied its gentrification. While it should be commended that new luxury apartments are bringing in thousands of new residents increasing the city's density and property owners are reaping the rewards of increasing rents, the rapid increase of property values have negatively impacted owners who bring in a low income as well as forced many renters to leave the area because they can no longer afford the rent.

Once the catalysts of white flight, older Atlanta suburbs are facing "slumburbification" 

Where do they go? One option is to move to other areas of Atlanta where crime and poverty is rampant, and the public education is no match to the Grady High School district schools (which isn't perfect either). Another option is to move to the suburbs, but this presents several problems. Firstly, Atlanta suburbs lack reliable public transit service therefore hindering these displaced low income residents' ability to get well-paying jobs because they are forced to rely of CCT or GCT buses, walk far distances, or purchase a car and handle the expenses that accompany a car (which is costly for families on tight budgets). Secondly, their displacement is contributing to a relatively new suburban phenomenon called "slumburbification" because suburban governments choose to divert funds to higher class areas. This leads to the decay and deterioration of older, low-density neighborhoods that already have a long list of needed repairs. Thirdly, it continues to exemplify Atlanta's age old problem of income inequity. This removal of low income residents from the city core to other areas does not fix the rampant income inequality present throughout the region but only furthers our inability to overcome race stereotypes that hinders the upward mobility of hundreds of thousands of Atlantans.

But luckily with strong leadership from the Atlanta city council and the city's new planner, inclusionary zoning has been placed in the spotlight for the first time in the city's history. Mayor Kasim Reed has recently said that Atlanta is now the beacon for affordability in American cities. He has identified creating greater housing diversity as one of his final goals to his mayoral term. He said that while cities like New York and San Francisco are no longer affordable to even middle class families, Atlanta has a chance in becoming a city of income diversity where no matter what your income, you can find a safe and reliable home. But what cities like New York and San Francisco have that Atlanta lacks is inclusionary zoning laws. But with the planning department now under the new direction of planning director Tim Keane who was the director of Charleston, he has already outlined his plan to add inclusionary zoning laws into Atlanta's zoning code. Inclusionary zoning would help create greater housing diversity across the city because it would put into law that new residential developments would be required to have a certain number of units be considered affordable.

The Westside Beltline could uplift the Westside or could gentify

Finally, I feel it is also up to the citizens of Atlanta to reach out and stand up for their neighbors. While we can stand by and watch private interests redevelop Atlanta into a affluent center for only the rich to live, work, and play in, I know the citizens of Atlanta do not want this. The conflagration of diverse people that walk the Beltline everyday makes Atlanta special, not the Beltline itself. By taking ownership of our spaces such as the neighborhoods around the new Atlanta stadium and the developing Westside Beltline, the public can force their input on the developers rebuilding different parts of Atlanta. So far, residents have done this and stood up and made demands for the historic neighborhoods that they live in in the Westside, but soooo much more is to come in the rapid redevelopment of the Westside. It could easily become Atlanta's new center of inaffordable gentrification where low income residents are passed over for new residents that can pay more for these homes. Redeveloping Atlanta shouldn't be about making Atlanta a new, shiny place where longtime residents are forced to leave their homes because they can no longer afford it, but about raising these residents up along with the streets they call home. I agree with Kasim Reed, Atlanta can and will be a beacon for affordable housing, but I also believe that in order for this to happen the residents of the city have to stay true to Atlanta and stand up for their neighbors first, rather than be blown away by the spectacular new developments that accompany the city's redevelopment.