The City of Atlanta: Recent Trends and Future Prospects
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
A Conference Sponsored by the Dan E. Sweat Chair in Education and Community Policy
Friday, February 23, 2007
8am to 5pm
7th Floor, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
14 Marietta Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30303
Directions • Schedule
Eleven years ago, a headline in the Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted the questions: "Is Atlanta the Next Detroit?" It implied that Atlanta may come to share Detroit's plight: declining employment, high poverty, excessive crime, a vanishing middle class, too many vacant or crumbling buildings, deteriorating infrastructure, high tax rates, and hostile relations with suburban jurisdictions.
Today, Atlanta still faces some of those same problems, but virtually no one examining the tea leaves for the city's future is predicting "Detroit, South"; instead, a more positive mood has been constructed and has settled around us. With a population that has grown since 1990, a half dozen high profile new developments completed or in progress, the dispersion of some of the poor to other areas, new cultural amenities, and a mayor held in higher regard by suburban and state officials than her predecessor was, the City of Atlanta envisions much better times.
This conference will examine, from many perspectives, the recent changes in the City of Atlanta, documenting the changes and exploring the reasons for the changes. The papers will also assess the prospects for the City and explore factors that might impact the future prospects. Might the city become the dominant, vibrant pulsing heart the generates new opportunities, information, and solutions in business, education politics, and entertainment for a huge regional megalopolis in the making? Or perhaps the recent optimistic mood is the wishful thinking of those who discount or do not recognize the extent to which poverty, dependency, and need will continue to grip many Atlanta residents.
Download the Conference schedule here. (pdf)
Please RSVP by noon of February 19, 2007, to attend this event. You can call 404-651-4342 or e-mail Dorie Taylor at dtaylor4@gsu.edu to reserve a seat or for more information.
The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies building is located on the southwest corner of Five Points in Downtown Atlanta on the Georgia State University campus.
The Five Points MARTA station is one block south.
There are several public parking lots nearby, including the Underground Parking garage on the southeast corner of Five Points (enter off of Decatur Street or Wall Street) and the Commerce Building Parking garage located at 34 Broad St. NW (the northwest corner of Marietta Street and Broad Street).
The Fiscal Research Center is coordinating this event.
