Atlanta reverses its population stagnation
City has become a growth magnet

By MARY LOU PICKEL, STEVE VISSER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/10/07
Lucile Lansing became part of the Atlanta surge five weeks ago when she moved from Sacramento to a condo in Atlantic Station.

For the second straight year, more people have moved into Atlanta than moved out, making the city one of the hottest areas in a booming metro region. Buckhead and Midtown are sprouting condo towers and enclaves from West End to Kirkwood have seen massive gentrification.

Ben Gray/ AJC
(ENLARGE)
Condos and apartments are in various states of completion along North Highland Avenue in Atlanta.

Ben Gray/AJC
(ENLARGE)
The Midtown skyline forms a backdrop for the Block Lofts in the Poncey Highlands neighborhood.

The City of Atlanta lost almost 80,000 residents between 1970 and 2000, but has added almost 50,000 since then.
– Henry County remained the eighth-fastest growing county in the country, added 8,800 people.
– Fulton County had the most growth, adding 33,400 residents, followed by Gwinnett with 20,600.
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The city grew by another 12,600 people in the 12-month period ending in April, the largest single increase in 30 years, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The metro area’s 10 counties are booming, too, surpassing the 4 million population mark, according to the estimates released by the ARC on Thursday.

Atlantic Station, a former steel mill site, is the textbook example of the trend in Atlanta. It supports condos, homes and retail shopping from groceries to furniture along with bars and a movie theater.

Lansing chose Atlantic Station over Duluth, where her grandchildren live, because of the convenience, the diversity and public transit.

“It takes me everywhere I want to go, from IKEA to the symphony,” the 65-year-old woman said. “This is an up-and-coming city within a city.”

More and more people in the metro region are moving into Atlanta because they’re tired of commuting to work and for entertainment and cultural events, said Steve Corver, commissioner of Atlanta’s department of planning and community development.

“They’re looking for communities where you can literally walk to anything you want —- the park, the museum, the grocery store, Georgia Tech,” Cover said. “Younger people, young couples, empty nesters, that’s the trend that we’re seeing.”

Henry County’s growth rate remained the eighth-fastest in the country, as it has been since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Henry added 8,800 people.

Fulton County added the most people in the last year —-33,400—- fueled by Atlanta’s growth. Gwinnett was No. 2, adding 20,600 residents.

But growth is slower than in the 1990s, when Gwinnett added more than 23,000 people annually.

“We needed to catch our breath and these numbers show we have done so,” said Gwinnett County Commissioner Lorraine Green. “It’s a natural slowing of the growth process. We’re taking a much more pro-active approach to saving greenspace and planning for the future.”

Many of Atlanta’s new residents are moving into new housing. The city issued 10,779 housing building permits in 2006 —-more than any of the 10 counties. Gwinnett came in second at 8,956, according to ARC numbers.

Much of the new intown housing is condominiums, an alternative to life in the suburbs, said Sonya Moste, director of marketing and public relations for the Atlanta Development Authority, the city’s economic development arm.

“Look at Atlantic Station. You can just look at the cranes,” she said. “In the past, people had to move to the suburbs because there wasn’t enough housing, and affordable housing in Atlanta.”

The city’s boom struck the ARC’s number crunchers, said Mike Alexander, chief of the ARC’s research division.

“We thought, ‘Oh my God! The city of Atlanta is doing something!’ ”

In the 1970s and 1980s, Atlanta lost population as people gravitated toward the suburbs. The city population stayed flat in the 1990s.

That trend started to turn around after 2000. The ARC noted a significant trend during its measurement period last year —- from April 2005 to April 2006, when the city gained 9.500 people, according to ARC estimates. It topped that feat this year, suggesting the city’s turnaround was on solid footing, with the gain of 12,600.

“That’s a monumental change,” Alexander said.

The construction activity is all over, not just Midtown and Buckhead, but also older neighborhoods that were once stagnant, like Reynoldstown, Cabbagetown and sections of East Atlanta, he said.

Moste, the marketing director for the Atlanta Development Authority, summed it up as a burgeoning population means a burgeoning economy.

“It’s the population that creates the vitality and the vibrancy of a city,” she said. “You want people on the street.”

AJC reporter Juanita Cousins contributed to this article.

CITY OF ATLANTA

The core of the metro area lost almost 80,000 residents from 1970 to 2000, but has added almost 50,000 since.

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