“From tacos to technology, and everything in between.”
That’s how Clyde Higgs sums up the Beltline appeal. The bustling attraction and “new business mode” has a little bit of everything –grocery, offices, retail, dining and plenty of people.
In the early 2000s, the city of Atlanta was losing residents en masse. But the Beltline turned it around. Now, the region is growing, and the “Beltline Planning Area” has gained 26,000 residents.
A newly released analysis examined changes from 2000 to 2025 in the half-mile radius surrounding the corridor, with a specific focus on economic and development trends. It found some hefty numbers: the Beltline has generated an estimated $23 billion in economic output for the city in the past twenty years.
Since the Beltline began, it has invested almost $1 billion through Tax Allocation Districts, or TADs, grants and philanthropic support. Those dollars drove about $14.2 billion in private investment, passing the original $10 billion goal five years ahead of schedule.
“It demonstrates the confidence that the private sector has in this public infrastructure project,” Economic Development Vice President Kelvin Collins said.
That investment created even more results. Through job creation and lots of dollars, the Beltline has generated $23 billion in annual economic output.
Higgs thinks the results have created a “new node” for business in Atlanta, apart from the spine of development along Buckhead, Midtown and downtown. It has turned long-abandoned industrial sites into hubs like Lee + White, and drawn 318 private developer projects in two decades.
But it’s not about the numbers. After all, most Beltline visitors are unaware of the dollars and cents impact of each paved mile. Collins said the “bottom line is the quality of life,” and the investment is represented through the city’s revitalization.
“It’s more than $14 billion,” Collins said. “It’s really a transformation that impacts community and impacts quality of life. That is the ultimate benefactor of the Beltline project — the people.”
The person-level impacts are apparent. The half-mile planning area “sustains” 91,100 direct, indirect and ripple-effect full-time jobs in 2025 alone. The Beltline has made job creation a core goal — it aims to create more than 50,000 permanent jobs and 48,000 construction jobs — it has achieved 69 percent of the permanent goal so far, and has created 60,5000 construction jobs.
Some of the major employers include BlackRock, Mailchimp and OneTrust, alongside hot spots like Ponce City Market and Emerald City Bagels. Like Higgs said, it’s “everything in between.”
Collins said the jobs (and the customers) are proof of the Beltline’s booming success. “That’s why 26,000 residents have repopulated areas of the Beltline,” he said.
“Now they can benefit from the offerings, the job creation and the job opportunities,” Collins said.
More than half of the 2.5 million annual visits are from locals, drawn to commerce and lifestyle offerings. Both Beltline leaders admitted the numbers mean little to a Beltline visitor, but what they represent is the point.
“People don’t need to know the key numbers, but can they live their whole life along the Beltline?” Higgs asked.
Billions of dollars and a few decades in, he seems to have an answer.
“That answer is becoming, more and more, yes,” Higgs said. “And that’s exactly what we want people to do.”
