Pocketbook issues and economic opportunity have supplanted crime as the top concerns facing metro Atlanta residents, according to a new survey released Friday by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Nearly a third of respondents to ARC’s regular metro Atlanta Speaks Survey labeled the economy as the biggest issue facing the 11-county region. Crime, which was the runner-up topic at 20%, had placed first in the survey for the past few years, but concerns seem to have ebbed amid a decrease in violent crime rates.
The ARC, which is the metro’s regional planning agency, has conducted its survey annually since 2013 (except for 2022) to understand how residents perceive their quality of life. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called the survey “an invaluable tool” that helps guide policies on civic issues ranging from housing availability to transportation infrastructure to public education.
“This year’s survey shows that people remain concerned about the economy and other pocketbook issues like housing costs,” Dickens said in a news release. “Addressing housing affordability remains a priority for ARC and our local partners. We’re committed to driving meaningful change.”
The hybrid phone and online survey polled 4,081 residents across the 11-county Atlanta area during August, acting as a snapshot for pressure points felt by the region. The survey was administered by Kennesaw State University’s A.L. Burress Institute of Public Service and Research and has a margin of error of 1.5% for the overall region, and a varying margin of error of 3.8% to 5.7% for individual jurisdictions.
The increased focus on economic issues matches other Georgia polls, including those done by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in the lead-up to this year’s presidential election. The polls have consistently highlighted inflation and the cost of living as top-of-mind issues for prospective voters, although the AJC’s most recent polls have also found that voters are becoming more optimistic about the economy.
ARC’s study found Atlanta area residents were split when asked about whether they felt their financial situation was better or worse than a year ago. About 39% said they felt their financial situation was the same, 31% said they were worse off and 28% said they were better off.
Geography also plays a factor. Cherokee and Forsyth counties, two of metro Atlanta’s wealthiest and most conservative-leaning enclaves, had the largest number of respondents focus on the economy rather than crime. In urban and deep blue DeKalb, Fulton and the city of Atlanta, the opposite was true — crime eked out the economy to remain residents’ top concern.
Housing affordability was also a widespread concern. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they could not afford to move to another house or apartment in their current neighborhood, roughly matching 2023′s survey results.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation issues consistently ranked as the region’s top challenge in the ARC’s surveys. But transit has ranked fourth in the past few surveys, even though more than 9 in 10 respondents said improved public transport is “very important” (64%) or “somewhat important” (27%) to the region’s future.
When it comes to financing regional bus and rail expansions, fewer than half of respondents said they would be willing to pay more in taxes. Fewer than 45% of respondents in both Cobb and Gwinnett counties — which have transit referendums on this year’s ballot — said they were willing to pony up more funds to expand public transportation.
In Atlanta and Fulton County, about 50% in each said they would pay higher taxes for transit expansion.
More information on the 2024 survey is available at atlantaregional.org/metroATLspeaks.
