The Birth of Two Black Atlantas
White Flight
The Land of Black Public Housing
Urban Displacement
In the 1960’s, the construction of Interstate Highway 20 , coupled with the outlawing of discriminatory housing convenants, spurred white flight to the suburbs (Kruse 2013). Suburbanization resulted in severe public and private disinvestment in Black Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods as commercial infrastructure, businesses, franchises and jobs also migrated to the suburbs.
Atlanta was founded at the end of Georgia’s state-sponsored Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1835. Although a thriving Black middle class community emerged in the 1860s, Black neighborhoods were still in substandard conditions when compared to their white counterparts positioned closer to the rail hubs
In 1980, the completion of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) allowed suburbanites to easily commute to the city for corporate jobs and encouraged the Black elite to leave the deteriorating city. Atlanta lost 21% of its population between 1970 and 1990
In 2019, historic Black neighborhoods along the recently completed Eastside Beltline Trail have seen an influx of middle-upper class populations, luxury infrastructure, and non-Black culture that have displaced original low-income residents and reduced the amount of affordable housing and Black cultural centers (HJL 2017).
(U.S. Census Bureau 2012). By the 1990s,
Atlanta had the highest proportion of residents in public housing in the U.S.
Only three out of the nine alliances researched in the landscape analysis mention racial equity as part of their organizational mission: TransForm based in the Bay Area, Elevated Chicago, and Puget Sound Sage located in Seattle. Transform is funded by more than seven prominent foundations (i.e. Ford, The California Endowment,Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Kaiser Permanente,William and Flora Hewlett Foundation). TFA is also funded by SPARCC, and have challenges getting community foundation support. While each of these alliances referenced racial equity, this focus area is not placed at the center of their agendas. Furthermore, these cities do not have a concentrated population of Black neighborhoods as large as Atlanta. Despite its potential to champion racial equity, the TransFormation Alliance’s measures of impact and branding awareness are weaker than the aforementioned three alliances. In terms of funding trends, the three aforementioned alliances are still prime examples of partnerships that address racial equity and receive substantial funding from either major local, regional and national foundations. TransForm receives substantial funding partially because they operationalize their goals into common measures that can be reported to key investors and stakeholders. Some of these measures include the reduction in transportation pollution, a decrease in the combined cost of housing and transportation, higher rates of safety in walking and biking, and greater access to jobs via public transit. Recommendation: TransFormation Alliance should develop a set of metrics that are easy to understand, communicate and track. The metrics should demonstrate to key stakeholders and funders the impact of TransFormation Alliance’s work. “Thank you, TransFormation Alliance. I look forward to the next five years”
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TRANSFORMATION ALLIANCE STRATEGIC ARTICULATION MAP & FUND DEVELOPMENT PLAN REPORT
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