Some 125 mayors, city council members and county commissioners recently got together at the Cobb Galleria Centre for the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) first Regional Assembly of Public Officials. The event featured a number of speakers discussing the biggest challenges facing the region and what some cities and counties are doing to address them.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, also the ARC Board Chair, hoped that officials at the event would think regionally in a new way.
“The reason is simple: None of us works in isolation. What happens in one part of our region affects others,” said Dickens. “Think about it. Things like traffic, housing costs, and air quality don’t stop at the city or county line. They affect ALL of us. Our region must work together to tackle these complex challenges. Collaboration isn’t a ‘nice to have.’ It’s a must have.”
ARC Executive Director and CEO Anna Roach welcomed attendees and focused her remarks on the impact ARC’s investments have in our local communities. ARC is often the allocation entity for federal spending, including more than $5 billion in federal, state and local transportation funds through 2028. The Livable Centers Initiative grants have been going for 25 years and have invested $414 million for grants and transportation projects for local communities to build more vibrant, walkable spaces – think some of the development in downtown Alpharetta or Woodstock.
“ARC works every day to improve quality of life in the Atlanta region. This includes every jurisdiction represented here today,” she said. “At ARC, we like to say that great places don’t happen by accident. It takes careful, deliberate planning, driven by feedback from the community, to develop a shared vision for the future. ARC is your partner along this journey.”
ARC has also focused on helping the senior community in the region, providing more than $150 million for senior services to help the elderly and disabled community remain in their homes and find services as their needs and communities change. This is critical work as the fastest growing age group between now and 2050 in metro Atlanta is projected to be those age 75 or older. The region is also now forecasted to add nearly 2 million people overall in that time. Other key data shared during the event include that housing permits are still at about half the level they were before the financial crisis in 2007. Frustratingly, traffic congestion has returned back to previous levels, returning to where it was – or even exceeding, in the pre-pandemic years.
“I actually got some good information in reference to attainable, affordable, and accessible type of housing,” said Anthony Ford, mayor of Stockbridge. “The City of Stockbridge is growing quite a bit. We’ve approved a lot of different housing options in the last several years, so I just wanted to get a better idea of how we could market that to the community. I’m glad ARC decided to do this for the first time. I think it’s great. I look forward to participating more often.”
