Atlanta Revitalization Case Study

548 Words2 Pages

The dramatic revitalizing of Atlanta garnered the admiration of researchers, politicians and government officials. People and businesses flocked to the Downtown area. Restructuring however has come at a cost, and the urban poor, mostly Black, have suffered the negative consequence of revitalization. Before winning the Olympic bid in 1990, Atlanta was plagued with homelessness, dilapidated housing, and high unemployment rates. The 1996 Olympics ushered in revitalization/gentrification (the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying by the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displace poorer residents), new residential, commercial and mixed-use development projects. The development projects increased the amount of income to the city and new housing choices resulted in an influx of middle-class, generally white professional professionals. The success story omits the displacement of longtime residents; moreover, it omits a group of individual residents—Black professionals—who played a large role in the restructuring and coalition building of the city of Atlanta. During the Civil …show more content…

The second wave of gentrification encompassed young urban, mostly white professionals moving into the city of Atlanta after the 1996 Olympics. The third wave of gentrifiers included Black middle and upper class professionals. I hypothesize that the third wave took place from 2000-2010. The third wave was comprised of middle and upper class Blacks who moved into the inner ring of the city of Atlanta. New construction and increased taxes accompanied the three waves of revitalization in Atlanta. Increases in taxes and property values ultimately forced out most of the long-time lower-income

Open Document