Articles

Regional Dilemma: Tale of Two Families

Opinion by James T. Laney and Andrew Young
Founding Co-chairs, Faith And The City
Faith And The City Newsletter
Winter/Spring 2002

Mayor Shirley Franklin's guest column makes two key points: First, our physical and social environments are interrelated. Second, Atlanta and the 20 surrounding counties are mutually dependent--economically, ecologically, and socially. As the mayor suggests, one example of this relationship is urban exodus and its impact on our entire metropolitan community. This impact is illustrated in the following story of the dilemmas faced by two fictitious families, a story drawn from the experiences of many real families in our region.

Urban Exodus
Some years ago, the Smith and Jones families were friends and neighbors in an attractive in-town neighborhood with good schools, public services, retail outlets, and other amenities. Property was affordable, taxes were reasonable, and most families enjoyed the community. Then, problems arose. Crime increased slightly. The quality of education slipped. And, for some, the changing racial composition of the neighborhood was a concern. For such reasons and a host of others, several families, including the Joneses, opted for life beyond the city limits.

Some who moved to the suburbs were motivated largely by their need to escape from problems in their urban neighborhood. Other families were drawn by the suburban appeal of a slower-paced lifestyle, less traffic, larger homes, and more green space. On the other hand, the Smiths and many families remained in town because they preferred the energetic pace of urban life, the short commute to work, easy access to public transportation, and proximity to the arts and entertainment. Each family made what it believed to be the best decision. The urban exodus was underway.

Impact on the City
With families departing the Smith's neighborhood and others across the city, property values dropped in many areas and the value of the citywide tax base decreased. City services and community resources declined, and soon the old neighborhood found it hard to maintain the quality of life that it had offered for generations. Crime continued to increase, drug use spread, and the quality of public schools deteriorated despite increased expenditures on education. The city raised property taxes several times, further straining household incomes. Like urban centers nationwide, the city was struggling to stretch the resources of a diminishing residential population to serve a rapidly growing daytime workforce, much of which lived beyond the city limits and paid no property taxes to city government.

The Smith household income could not keep pace with increases in property taxes and the rising overall cost of living. Like other families, they cut expenditures. So, business revenues in the neighborhood decreased as business costs increased. Feeling the pinch, retail outlets trimmed services and some moved out. This reduced the number of jobs available for young people. At the citywide level, larger businesses were moving to the suburbs, also taking jobs with them. Unemployment rose in the city, partly because public transportation did not reach the suburban communities where jobs now were, and many city residents without cars could not get to those jobs.

Before long, the old neighborhood lost most of its appeal. Property values hit rock bottom along with the Smiths' net worth, which was tied to their home equity. The family found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet and, at the same time, help their children with college tuition. Adding to these problems, the deterioration of the neighborhood was straining relationships within the family and throughout the once friendly neighborhood. Even worse, the youngest Smith was arrested on drug-related charges.

Impact on the Suburbs
Meanwhile, the Jones family faced challenges in suburbia. Their commute to work was long and grew more time-consuming as neighborhoods around them expanded and rush hour traffic mushroomed. Vehicular exhaust added substantially to air pollution throughout the region and complicated illnesses for thousands of residents, including one of the Jones children. The resulting ozone problem violated federal standards and led to the city losing millions of dollars in federal aid, which further aggravated the residential tax burden. In addition, the sprawl that characterizes suburban development contributed to water run-off issues and increased pollution of the regional water supply.

The Jones parents, spending more time commuting and less at home, noticed that family relationships too were suffering. They also missed the close ties they had enjoyed with families in the old neighborhood. In their suburban community, folks were friendly, but everybody seemed too busy to really get to know one another. In fact, the Joneses rarely saw their neighbors except at community events, where conversation often turned to crime, drug use, and other issues emerging in the community, the same problems many had fled in their exodus from the city. Then, one of the Jones teenagers was also arrested on drug charges.

Faced with such circumstances, some suburban residents moved even farther away from the city. But the Jones parents did not relish a longer commute, nor did they find much appeal in the option to change careers, with both adults nearing retirement age. In short, they felt trapped.

Impact of Regentrification
Ironically, some suburban folks were moving back into the city. In fact, several young couples had bought homes in the old neighborhood, anticipating that this depressed area would rebound, quality of life would improve, and property values would follow. The Smiths realized that regentrification brought advantages and disadvantages. They graciously welcomed the newcomers, delighted to see several of the old homes purchased and restored. The Smiths were also excited that property values were significantly appreciating for the first time in years. But, they soon realized that higher property values were further driving up property taxes, which were already straining the family income. Within a few years, the Smiths and many other longtime residents could no longer afford to live in the old neighborhood. With limited affordable housing available in comparable neighborhoods, only a handful of longtime residents, even those who could sell their homes for a good profit, could afford to live elsewhere. Housing prices in the city and the suburbs were simply growing beyond their reach. The Smiths, like the Joneses, felt trapped.

We are a Regional Community
The dilemmas facing the Jones and Smith families are repeated time and again throughout the metropolitan region with thousands of real-life families of various backgrounds. When families suffer economically, psychologically, and emotionally, our entire metro region suffers--economically, environmentally, and socially. We are connected to one another today more than ever. We are neighbors sharing one regional community, and we must begin to act like neighbors to successfully meet the complex challenges that confront the Atlanta region. We need regional cooperation--not only to address our physical environment--but regional cooperation on issues related to our social environment as well. Only then will the words "neighbor" and "community" truly describe us.