Everyone knows that metro Atlanta is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation, but what does that look like in the cities of the most populated county?
The populations of all 15 cities in Fulton County grew between 2010 and 2018, according to population estimates newly released by the U.S. Census.
The city of Atlanta will probably pass the half-million mark in 2019, but the other half-million people living in Fulton’s other cities also have stories to tell.
READ | Georgia's small towns continue to shrink, new census estimates show
Sandy Springs, the most populated Fulton city north of the Perimeter, grew by 2,253 people — or 2.1 percent — from 2017 to 2018. That makes it the fastest-growing city of more than 20,000 residents in Fulton during that time.
From 2010, when the census was taken, until 2018, the city gained 14,526 residents — which amounts to a 15.4% growth rate.
“People would like to roll the sidewalks up ... and have no new people in,” said Mayor Rusty Paul. “There’s all sort of federal and state laws that prevent that.”
He said the city has tried to locate new residential development closer to where the action is: the Perimeter area.
“Most of the growth has occurred (there) and the demographic is among millennials — young professionals looking for a high quality of life but also getting to work without a car,” he said.
Paul said he knows even adding trails for people to bike to work and more transit options only does so much. “There’s no silver bullet that will solve congestion.”
OTHER LOCAL NEWS
» Sandy Springs, first in cityhood, changes how it does business
» Fewer false alarms the goal of Sandy Springs' home alarm ordinance
Fulton’s largest city south of the Perimeter is South Fulton, which incorporated on May 1, 2017.
From 2017 to 2018, the city’s population grew from 96,019 to 97,277. That 1,258 addition amounts to a 1.3% growth.
But Mayor Bill Edwards thinks that the Census Bureau “terribly undercounted” his population, and he feels they have more like 120,000 residents.
He said the city makes planning decisions using that 120,000 number, which Edwards said was in use when he became mayor.
For the upcoming 2020 Census that will count everyone living in the U.S., Edwards said, the city has formed a outreach committee to give people one good reason to respond: money.
“I was a little bit astonished that people did not relate the census to federal dollars,” Edwards said.
Indeed, the census population count every 10 years become the new baseline for federal authorities deciding how much to dole out.
“Those dictate infrastructure,” Edwards said of the count.
He said he met Tuesday with a local Delta Sigma Theta sorority chapter that wants to help get the word out for people to participate.
READ | Hapeville on the rise: City works to shield homeowners with homestead
READ | South Fulton cities agree to pay repave vital industrial road
Here’s a look at growth in all 15 cities in Fulton County, listed from highest to lowest population percentage change from 2010 to 2018:
• Chattahoochee Hills (estimated 2018 population of 3,207 residents): 21.1%
• Fairburn (15,882 residents): 20.7%
• Milton (39,217 residents): 18.7%
• Atlanta (498,044 residents): 16%
• Sandy Springs (108,797 residents): 15.4%
• Alpharetta (66,255 residents): 14.8%
• South Fulton (97,277 residents): 12.9%
• Union City (21,873 residents): 12.6%
• Johns Creek (84,310 residents): 9.3%
• Roswell (94,650 residents): 6.5%
• Palmetto (4,715 residents): 4.8%
• Mountain Park (568 residents): 3.8%
• East Point (34,849 residents): 3.6%
• College Park (15,212 residents): 3.5%
• Hapeville (6,537 residents): 2.1%
-- Newsroom Data Specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this report.
Like North Fulton County News Now on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
About the Author
