Posted inColumns, Main Slider, Maria's Metro

Unlocking economic growth: Atlanta’s BeltLine, corridors and public spaces are key

If we can get the City, the BeltLine and APS all working in concert to promote quality development in marginal Atlanta neighborhoods, an economic renaissance could be in our future.

The bottom line is that multi-use trails have a greater economic return on investments than stand-alone parks. Trails also are a way to provide greater equity by offering greater access to green space that connects diverse neighborhoods.

Posted inColumns, David Pendered, Main Slider

Why can’t Atlanta’s jobs training agency help more people find work, city councilmembers ask

The conversation last week about the effort to salvage Atlanta Workforce Development Agency reminds of the quip about it being hard to drain the swamp when you’re up to your ears in alligators.

Michael Sterling wanted to focus on the systemic changes he’s made in the 10 months he’s served as the agency’s executive director. He took over after a city audit recommended the city consider closing AWDA because it was so deeply troubled.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta “showing signs” of economic recovery, credit outlook improved, says report with regional implications

The city of Atlanta is “showing signs” that it is rebounding from the recession, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.

Among the signs Moody’s identifies: The tax base is inching up; foreclosures are down to pre-recession levels; the unemployment rate is still stuck above 10 percent, but city officials attributed it to people moving here to look for work rather than to locals unable to find a job.

The report could be a guide in gauging the economy in other parts of the region, though Moody’s did examine only the city of Atlanta in order to rate the credit of a $60 million bond package Atlanta plans to sell Oct. 28.

Posted inDavid Pendered

ARC: Atlanta gains more residents in year than decade; no housing news

The city of Atlanta added more residents in the past year than it did during the entire first decade of the 2000s, according to an unofficial report from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Atlanta’s gain of 4,100 residents was part of a 10-county population increase of 52,700, calculated from 2013 to 2014. ARC planners said in a statement the increase is a, “sure sign that the economic recovery is continuing.”

ARC’s latest report does not examine the housing supply or construction industry. The city of Atlanta had a glut of housing after the last decade, with more than 37,000 units added to serve a city population that rose by 3,500 residents, according to an ARC report from April 2011.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Black employment gains a sign of continuing economic recovery, Ga. Tech professor says

Georgia Tech Professor Thomas “Danny” Boston said the jobs report issued Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department contains several signs the economy continues to improve.

The jobs report indicates the nation’s unemployment rate should dip into the 5 percent range when the July report is released, Boston wrote in a column posted on Georgia Tech’s website. That report is to be released Aug. 1.

The unemployment rate among blacks continues to decline, which Boston wrote is a particularly positive indicator because unemployment among blacks is, “particularly intractable.”

Posted inDavid Pendered

Credit scores as social barometers, other job news from Gen Y front

Walter Jones, Jr. did all the right things in college and he’s still looking for a full-time job.

“It’s incredibly frustrating, because everything my parents taught was to go to school, get an internship, and it ends with a job,” Jones said, some six months out of Georgia Southern University.

One can only imagine where Jones fits into the pecking order of the Gen Y generation, some of whom view a credit score as a social barometer. The aching familiarity of his story was covered in a segment of a recent economic forum hosted by Georgia State University.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Georgia’s jobs deficit tops 372,000 as companies hire slowly, GBPI reports

Georgia’s deficit of jobs was 372,300 in March 2014 and Georgia companies employ fewer workers than before the recession began as they continue to hire slowly, according to a report released Thursday by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

To fill the gap by March 2017, the GBPI report states: “Georgia’s economy would need to add an average of about 13,000 jobs per month. Georgia averaged only 5,670 jobs per month over the past year.”

The GBPI findings on employment trends are in line with those contained in the April 16 Beige Book, released by the Atlanta district of the Fed. The Fed report states: “Firms continued to show a preference for implementing technology to increase output as opposed to adding staff.”

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