Economist.com Cities Guide: Atlanta Briefing - November 2005

News this month

An easy win

Shirley Franklin, Atlanta's popular mayor, easily won a second term on November 8th, receiving 91% of the vote. She promised to continue promoting the city and to build 2,000 units of affordable housing each year. Races for two city-council seats were much closer: two candidates vying to represent the fashionable neighbourhoods of Virginia-Highland and Morningside are in a dead heat, and the contest to represent south Atlanta's District 12 will have a run-off.

The big surprise was in nearby DeKalb County, where voters living outside the county’s nine cities approved $230m in bond issues for public improvements, including $54m for county libraries. (The cities were not included because officials pulled out of the programme over fears that urban residents would have to pay too much tax.) Vernon Jones, the county’s chief executive, was relieved by the victory, as it comes at the end of a tough year. He has been criticised for an autocratic leadership style, and faced rape accusations earlier this year, which have since been withdrawn.

Belt tightening

The BeltLine project, a 22-mile stretch of abandoned railroad tracks set to become a circular “greenway”, received a big boost on November 7th. The city council approved the creation of a $2 billion tax allocation district (TAD), which would freeze property-tax allocations at current rates and use future increases to pay for BeltLine improvements. Both the Fulton County board of commissioners and Atlanta’s school board must now agree to the TAD, as it will freeze taxes earmarked for public schools and other services. BeltLine supporters in the city council, who talk about the need for more accessible green spaces, have included incentives to grease the approval process: the commissioners should welcome the planned closure of a noisy quarry in western Atlanta, while the school board should be placated by $95m to make up for tax revenue that they would lose to the project. Both boards could vote on the TAD by the end of the year.

Meanwhile the Trust for Public Land, a non-profit group, is identifying land that the city would have to purchase to create the proposed parks, expected to exceed 1,200 acres. The city plans to set aside $111m to buy the land from its various owners.

Baghdad on your CV

Thousands of American soldiers pass through Atlanta—an airport hub—flying to or from deployments. Now it seems many are staying in the city permanently. Atlanta is one of the best towns for veteran employment, says a new report from GI Jobs magazine. Four Atlanta-based firms—Home Depot, Coca-Cola, BellSouth and Georgia-Pacific—appear in the magazine’s list of the 25 most military-friendly employers. The companies have sometimes found innovative ways to get noticed by potential future employees: Georgia-Pacific, a manufacturing company, surely curried favour by showing up to a deployment ceremony for a National Guard unit with 115 cases of toilet paper, paper towels and moist towelettes for the troops.

Gorillas in their midst

Zoo Atlanta's gorilla breeding programme has paid off: western lowland gorilla twins were born on October 31st and another male western lowland was born a week later. Only six sets of twin gorilla births have been recorded since 1966, three sets of which have survived. “No scientific information on twin development exists for these species,” wrote Tara Stoinski, the zoo’s manager of conservation partnership, in a blog devoted to the twins. The twins—a male and a female—have not yet been named.

The gorilla born on November 7th marks a zoo milestone of a different sort: he is the first grandchild of Willie B, the silverback gorilla who was the zoo’s mascot and best-known attraction for nearly four decades until his death in 2000.

Death of a big man

The Atlanta Hawks, the city’s professional basketball team, was hoping for a strong 2006 season after a wretched performance in 2005 and an ugly ownership struggle over the summer. But the team suffered a heavy blow when Jason Collier, a 28-year-old, seven-foot centre, died of heart failure at his home on October 15th, two weeks before the start of the season. An autopsy showed that Mr Collier’s heart was abnormally enlarged, although he had passed a pre-season physical exam. Mr Collier, like his father before him, had played basketball for Georgia Tech, a state university, and was beginning his second season for the Hawks.

Despite the loss, the Hawks are expected to improve upon last year’s record of 13 wins and 69 losses. They will hope for great things from Joe Johnson, the team’s new point guard, who was signed in a $70m deal in August. One of the consortium of owners, Steve Belkin, tried to block the deal, but then agreed to sell his stake in the team to the other owners, after a judge ordered him to.

Catch if you can

November 2005

“Metropolis”: Paintings by Kevin Wixted

November 18th-December 31st 2005

“When I visit downtown Atlanta”, Kevin Wixted, a New York–based artist, has said, “it feels like a three-dimensional version of the work I’ve been doing these last few years.” Cynical locals may be hard-pressed to see art in the jagged downtown skyline, but Mr Wixted’s abstract, geometric takes on urban designs are simultaneously playful and thoughtful.

Thomas Deans Fine Art, 74 Bennett St, K-2, Atlanta, GA 30309. Tel: +1 (404) 352-3778. For more information, see the gallery’s website.

More from the Atlanta cultural calendar