Category: Region Matters

By Aixa Pascual A new development of Craftsman-style micro-cottages one block from downtown Clarkston is giving some a shot at home ownership. Cottages on Vaughan, a neighborhood of eight one-bedroom homes – each under 492-square-feet built – sold out quickly earlier this year at prices that ranged from $120,000 to $200,000. None was subsidized. Cottages […]

By Paul Donsky The pandemic has changed so many of our routines: how we commute, how we shop, and how we spend our free time. A key question for regional planners and elected officials: How will this affect traffic on our roads and highways in the years and decades to come? It’s a complex, highly […]

By Paul Donsky ARC’s interactive housing data tool has received a makeover fit for an HGTV reality show. No walls were broken down or bathroom tile obliterated in the renovation, of course. This upgrade is all about the data. The Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy site’s goal remains the same: helping local officials better understand their local housing […]

By Aixa Pascual Recently released 2020 Census data confirms that the Hispanic population continues to be a major engine of growth in the 11-county Atlanta region. As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we share some key data points that show how the nation’s second-largest racial or ethnic group is shaping demographic trends across our metro area. Read […]

By Aixa Pascual COVID-19 has put the economy on a roller coaster ride. In the early days of the pandemic, unemployment rolls soared as businesses shed jobs. In April 2020, a record 20.5 million Americans lost their jobs, with unemployment reaching a mind-blowing 14.8%. The economy has recovered over the past year, but labor markets are still […]

By Aixa Pascual The U.S. Census Bureau recently released population counts for counties and metro areas from last year’s decennial Census, providing a treasure trove of data on growth and diversity in our region. The bottom line: Metro Atlanta continues to grow at a healthy clip. And we’re getting much more diverse. Dive into the numbers. […]

By Aixa Pascual With the U.S. Supreme Court overturning on Aug. 26 the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction freeze, distressed tenants in metro Atlanta and across the U.S. are running out of time and options, with many at risk of being evicted. Across the U.S., almost 8 million households are behind on their rent, according to the most […]

By Kate Sweeney How could 125 miles of trail along the Chattahoochee River transform our relationship with Atlanta’s natural landscape while truly serving the underinvested communities in its path? On the latest episode of the What’s Next ATL Podcast, we dig into the Chattahoochee Riverlands Project. It’s big. It’s ambitious. And it could transform the […]

By Paul Donsky and Jo-Leigh Warren When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, restaurants across metro Atlanta faced a crushing dilemma. How could they serve customers and stay in business while indoor dining was off limits or severely restricted? Some savvy eateries found a solution in an unlikely place: the parking lot. They moved […]

Peachtree Demonstration Project Creates Shared Space on Atlanta’s Signature Street By Kate Sweeney In this 9-minute listen, the What’s Next ATL podcast spent a morning out at the Peachtree Street Demonstration Project, which is testing how a three-block span of shared space for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists works for all those groups. Listen here or wherever you get […]

By Kate Sweeney 43 leaders from metro Atlanta’s public, private, educational, and nonprofit spheres have been selected to participate in the 2021 Regional Leadership Institute (RLI) from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Members of the 2021 RLI class will have the opportunity to dig into key regional issues during the week-long leadership development program, to be held […]

By Aixa Pascual Last year, Mamie Rogers and her husband, Star Lee, patched their leaky roof. The leak wouldn’t stop, and they had to add fresh patches earlier this year. Even then, water continued to seep through the roof of their southwest Atlanta home. The retired couple couldn’t afford a new roof, which they estimated […]

By Kate Sweeney The language we use to talk about a topic influences how we think about it. And with an entrenched issue like housing affordability, it also impacts the solutions we imagine are possible. On this episode of the What’s Next ATL podcast from the Atlanta Regional Commission, host Kate Sweeney talks with Dr. Tiffany Manuel […]

By Kate Sweeney These days, so many of us are looking to live in dynamic, pedestrian-friendly places, the kind where you don’t have to get in your car to do everything. But creating these communities can be difficult. That’s the challenge Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program is set up to address, awarding […]

How do we build communities that work for everyone—including our fast-growing 65+ population—when many of us don’t particularly want to think about aging at all, especially not our own? That’s the topic of this exhilarating 14-minute episode of the What’s Next ATL podcast from the Atlanta Regional Commission. Warning: It might make you excited about […]

If you’re a homeowner, much of your house’s value comes from the land it sits on. That’s the fact driving community land trusts, a strategy to fight gentrification that’s gaining traction across the county. This 15-minute episode of the What’s Next ATL podcast serves as an explainer — of community land trusts, and the legacy […]

By Paul Donsky It’s been over a year since so many of us left the office for the last time and set up shop in our living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and home offices. Now that COVID cases are on the wane as vaccinations pick up, organizations are thinking about returning to the office – and […]

By Paul Donsky Doug Hooker, who has served as Executive Director of the Atlanta Regional Commission since 2011, has announced that he will retire in March 2022. Hooker has led the agency through a dynamic period of growth and change. We recently sat down with him for a Q&A in which he reflected on his nearly 10 […]

Loneliness and social isolation were already widespread in older adults before COVID-19. We look at the reasons—and what we can do about it. By Kate Sweeney Retirement! Time to reconnect with family and friends, travel to destinations we’ve long dreamed of, and do that volunteer work we’ve been meaning to do, all while maybe sleeping […]

The Way Forward is Made Clearer for Gwinnett Place and North Point Malls By Kate Sweeney Shopping malls. They’re not what they used to be. This is true, both in terms of the decline in indoor shopping centers’ success and popularity, and in that some malls are truly dramatically evolving to fit today’s more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use-oriented lifestyles, […]