Momentum is building to address metro Atlanta’s dismal ranking of 50th out of 50 cities when it comes to economic mobility. On Jan. 13, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation invited Harvard Professor Raj Chetty to come to Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium to talk about his research on economic mobility, with a focus on the […]
Tag: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
Posted inLatest News
Mayor Andre Dickens: ‘We will close the book on a tale of two cities’
During his second inauguration, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens looked back at where the city was during his first inauguration — held outdoors at Georgia Tech’s Grant Field on a blustery, cold day. “Four years ago, Atlanta faced a test unlike any that we had seen before,” Dickens told hundreds of people gathered Jan. 5 at […]
Posted inColumns
New partnerships needed to create a healthy Downtown and Atlanta region
Two events served as ideal bookends of how Atlanta is doing — good and not so good. Central Atlanta Progress held the “State of Downtown” breakfast on Wednesday Oct. 22 at the Commerce Club. Two days later, the “State of the Region” breakfast was held at the Georgia World Congress Center, also in the heart […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Transit in Atlanta is at a crossroads
As Atlanta Beltline Inc. celebrates its 20-year anniversary, it is still up in the air on how the city will move forward to build out the vision for transit. The most tangible Beltline rail project is putting light rail on the Eastside Trail, extending the downtown streetcar to the Beltline and continuing the rail to […]
Posted inColumns
Insider or outsider? Atlanta City Council president voters have clear choice
The election for Atlanta city council president promises to be the most highly charged race in the city in 2025. By the end of qualifying on Aug. 22, only two candidates had put their hats in the ring — Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet and Rohit Malhotra, a nonprofit leader who is on leave […]
Posted inLatest News
ARC convening inaugural Regional Assembly of Public Officials
For the first time ever, the Atlanta Regional Commission will convene the mayors, city council representatives and county commissioners from the 11-county region. The all-day Regional Assembly of Public Officials will be held June 26 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Cobb County. The event will bring together elected leaders from 76 cities and 11 […]
Posted inColumns
Enough already! We need to preserve our city’s trees
It is maddening to be a tree lover in Atlanta. Everyone in leadership claims to want to protect Atlanta’s trees. But when it comes time to take a stand and actually pass a new tree protection ordinance, leaders respond by delaying or diluting a proposed tree ordinance. This is not new. Since 2014, Atlanta has […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin finally getting her due
Although she was only mayor for two terms, from 2002 to 2010, Shirley Franklin has been a force in Atlanta dating from first term of Mayor Maynard Jackson, elected in 1973, when she served as his commissioner of cultural affairs. On Thursday, March 27, Franklin was honored with the naming of several blocks of Central […]
Posted inLatest News
Maryland’s Ricky Smith named as Atlanta’s new airport commissioner
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Tuesday that Ricky Smith will be the new general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport beginning April 2. Smith most recently has served as executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration, where he was responsible for managing and operating the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Martin State […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Atlanta keenly positioned to be the region’s center of gravity
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 […]
Posted inColumns
Remembering Steve Mensch, 62, a thrill seeker and film industry leader
The Sunday before he died in a small plane he had built, Steve Mensch was honored by the Atlanta Falcons as a tribute to all he had done to support Georgia’s film industry. Mensch, 62, was president and general manager of studio operations at Tyler Perry Studios. Mensch was so much more than his title. […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Mayor Andre Dickens says fixing MARTA will be a ‘big push’ in 2025
The Atlanta business community and Mayor Andre Dickens expressed concern about the state of MARTA, and they vowed that the transit agency would be a top priority in 2025. MARTA was a focus of the Dec. 13 meeting of the highly influential Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), an organization that includes top business, civic and […]
Posted inColumns
Andre Dickens: ‘I just want to be mayor’
At the Monday luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens made a pitch for his top priorities — affordable housing, early childhood education, housing the homeless, public safety and water infrastructure. Dickens will be running for a second term as mayor in less than a year. Monday’s Rotary meeting was a […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Self-Help Credit Union opens first Georgia branch in West End
Self-Help Credit Union opens its first Georgia branch in Atlanta’s West End community to help serve residents and businesses in underserved areas.
Posted inColumns
Integral’s Egbert Perry on Wellstar project: ‘We see this as re-knitting a part of the city’
Integral executives speak exclusively with SaportaReport about their plans to redevelop the Atlanta Medical Center site.
Posted inLatest News
Wellstar and Atlanta moving forward on redeveloping Atlanta Medical Center site
Wellstar Health System announced Thursday morning that it is partnering with the Integral Group to redevelop the former hospital site on Boulevard with the spirit of implementing the land-use plan that was approved last month by the Atlanta City Council.
Posted inLatest News
A birthday party like no other – cutting the ribbon of the Arthur M. Blank Hospital at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta held a private opening ceremony and ribbon cutting on Sept. 27 of its new $1.5 billion Arthur M. Blank Hospital
Posted inColumns
Let’s leverage our loss of the Sundance Film Festival into action
We had a real opportunity to attract the Sundance Film Festival to Georgia.
Posted inColumns
Seeing New York City through an Atlanta lens
Metro Atlanta leaders returned from a three-day trip to NYC full of ideas and observations of how our region can evolve into a vibrant metropolis.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens ‘thinking big’ while on NYC LINK trip
On Mayor Andre Dickens’ third LINK trip, the mayor clearly was impressed by the scale and scope of New York City, the most populous metropolitan area in the country.
