Latest from David Pendered
A report that criminal suspects facing more than 2,000 felony charges were released without bond last year in Fulton County – including 35 charges of child molestation and 11 charges ...
About David Pendered
David is an Atlanta journalist with 30 years experience reporting on the region’s urban affairs, from Atlanta City Hall to the state Capitol. Since 2008, he has written for print and digital publications, and advised on media and governmental affairs. Previously, he spent more than 26 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and won awards for his coverage of schools and urban development. David graduated from North Carolina State University and was a Western Knight Center Fellow. David was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in North Carolina and is married to a fifth-generation Atlantan.
More from David Pendered
A report that criminal suspects facing more than 2,000 felony charges were released without bond last year in Fulton County – including 35 charges of child molestation and 11 charges of enticing a child for indecent purposes – has renewed calls for reform from members of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods.
Editor’s Note: This is the first of four stories this week that look at topics and trends likely to appear on devices and news platforms in metro Atlanta in 2020. Journalism that appears this year in metro Atlanta on screens small and large, on radio and in print, will inform and engage with elements that will be like fresh air to some readers – including more diversity in voices in stories, more podcasts, more visual stories, and more stories that percolate up from neighborhoods, according to a collection of predictions gathered by an affiliate of Harvard College.
A threatened federal program that has helped fund redevelopments throughout Atlanta has been taken off life support – for another year. The Flatiron Building, Christo Rey Atlanta High School, Grady Memorial Hospital and the Tyler Perry studio are among the projects Invest Atlanta has funded through the New Market Tax Credit program.
Sandy Springs’ city officials have called for mixed income housing development to be on the site of a zombie shopping center, and have hired a consultant to help devise a plan to with input and support from city residents. Mayor Rusty Paul has specifically warned against any outcome that looks anything like the sky-high housing market typical along the Atlanta BeltLine.
Atlanta has made the list of “Superstar Metro Areas” for the number of jobs in the innovation sector. Long commutes and sky-high housing costs come with that badge of honor, according to a report released Monday by the Brookings Institute that recommends a set of national policy solutions.
In Georgia alone, an estimated $34-plus billion in property has no owner with a clear title. If the value were unlocked, this heirs property – most of it presumed to be in black hands – could help address the black-white divide in homeownership and issues related to poverty, according to an emerging body of research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and others.
Atlanta issued building permits for $4.6 billion of new construction investments in fiscal 2017 and charged the same rate for impact fees as in 1993 – money that’s used to improve mobility, parks and public safety. The mayor’s office says any potential revisions in fees won’t be ready until June 2021, not the February 2020 date sought by some on the Atlanta City Council.
A spirit that feels a lot like hope surrounds the Vision Zero mobility policy announced by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The city may have found a guiding light for moving folks no matter how they get around.
No one seems to talk about stalactites in the Florida caverns, or the bass and ducks in and around Lake Seminole. Oysters, farmers and metro Atlanta get all the attention in the ongoing water litigation between Georgia and Florida. Last week’s hearing was no different.
The competition for development rights at MARTA’s North Avenue Station is delayed by eight weeks to give companies time to digest additional technical information. Major companies have assembled at the table to review a premier live-work-play site in Midtown.
