The Atlanta region is at a significant moment in time. Leaders of several regional entities have one attribute in common. They all are from the City of Atlanta.
For several organizations, it’s unprecedented to have a leader from the City of Atlanta serving at the helm.
Take the Council for Quality Growth, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc., is the Council’s 2025 chair.
One of Higgs’ first major events as chair of the Council was speaking at the 2025 State of MARTA breakfast on Jan. 30, celebrating the connection between the Beltline, MARTA and the region.
“From its inception, the Beltline has always been about transit and economic development and shaping the city’s core,” Higgs said.
When the Council was formed 40 years ago, it was led by developers from Gwinnett County. But over the years, it has broadened its scope – becoming a prominent voice in the region. But the Council’s chairs have tended to come from the suburbs.
“We are proud to have the opportunity to have city-centric leadership this year,” said Michael Paris, the Council’s president and CEO. Paris said the core of the region is important to our wellbeing. He also noted that the Beltline is an integral part of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s metro-wide trail network.
“All of our suburban partners are linked to it,” Paris said.
Higgs welcomed the opportunity to chair the Council because it was a way of thanking the organization for helping the Beltline at a pivotal time.
“A lot of people don’t remember four years ago; the Council for Quality Growth was one of the first organizations that supported the establishment of the Special Service District,” Higgs said. That translated into bringing in about $100 million for the Beltline, which became one of the most important funding sources for the urban project.
Since Higgs joined the Beltline in 2015 and became CEO in 2019, the Beltline has seen $9 billion in economic development, completed 11.3 miles of trail of the 22-mile Beltline mainline loop and 10.3 miles of connector trails while creating or preserving more than 4,100 units of affordable housing in the Beltline Tax Allocation District.
“We always talk about the Beltline being a regionally significant project,” Higgs said.
From my perspective, it appears our core — the City of Atlanta — is finally emerging as a center of gravity for the region.
Take the Atlanta Regional Commission. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is beginning his second year as chair of the commission. He is the first Atlanta mayor and the first mayor in the region to chair the 11-county planning body.
It was no coincidence that Anna Roach, ARC’s executive director and CEO, introduced Dickens at the annual Georgia Trend luncheon on Jan. 29. Dickens was honored as the Georgian of the Year. He joins other Atlanta mayors who have received the same honor: Shirley Franklin in 2007, Kasim Reed in 2014 and Keisha Lance Bottoms in 2020.
“Atlanta made me, but Georgia really helped to shape me,” Dickens told people attending the 100 Most Influential Georgians lunch. “Being named Georgian of the year is hugely humbling to me.”
That’s not all.
A City of Atlanta representative also is the current chair of the MARTA board.
Jennifer Ide, a former member of the Atlanta City Council, has started her term as chair, which rotates among the various governmental entities that are part of MARTA jurisdiction.
After a recent meeting of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, Dickens spoke of the significance of having Ide as chair of MARTA at this time. ACP and the mayor said the city would be focusing on having a stronger MARTA in 2025 with the goal of getting the agency to implement and expand transit in the City of Atlanta and the region.
Two other events in the past months also highlighted the emergence of Downtown as a vital component of our region.
Central Atlanta Progress installed David Cummings as its new chair. Cumming is the founder of Atlanta Tech Village, which is based in Buckhead.
But today Cummings is spending much of his focus on revitalizing the city’s most historic district, South Downtown Atlanta, or SoDo.
Meanwhile, the prestigious Buckhead Coalition installed its new board chair, Jonathan Rodbell, a partner and co-founder of Atlanta Property Group, which is based in Midtown at 14th and Peachtree.
Rodbell succeeded Eric Tanenblatt, global chair of public policy and regulation at Dentons, an international law firm that has its Atlanta offices Downtown.
We are an interconnected region, with people living in one part of the metro area while working in another.
The current alignment of leaders — all who have a vested interest in the City of Atlanta and Downtown — offers a unique opportunity for our region. They can rally around a common goal of strengthening the entire region by focusing on its center.
The question is whether there will be a coordinated effort to leverage this moment in time to fix the issues at MARTA, to rally around transit investment on the Beltline, to implement strategic investments in Downtown — especially the public realm, and to strengthen the regional relationships around having a vibrant urban core.
The leaders are in place. Now it’s up to us to make a real difference in Atlanta’s future.
