James March-April 2024 online - Flipbook - Page 37
eorgia has unmistakably become one of the
nation’s largest and most important states.
That certainly was not the case when I
was born in Atlanta on a cold and slightly
snowy day in late 1959. (Yikes, I’m so old!)
Back then Atlanta was in a footrace with Birmingham, Alabama to become the new emerging leader of
the “New South.” Atlanta dealt with desegregation/
integration in a smart and positive way. Birmingham, not
so much. Atlanta built not one but, just decades later, another modern and sprawling airport. And in 1996 Atlanta
hosted the Olympic Games.
Atlanta became the center of the South. And then
it happened. After the Olympics the state’s population
grew by over 25 percent. Each decade thereafter the
growth has been over 10 percent.
So, with so much growth and progress, how does the
rest of America view Georgia? In a nutshell, the following:
Perhaps it is better to characterize these as impressions rather than opinions. U.S. News, which has somehow
become the “ranker of all things” in its “Best States to
Live,” has Georgia at the low end of its top 20 states. As a
pollster and someone who has watched the state grow—
literally from “rags-to-riches”— that ranking is far too low.
So consider these tangible, realistic ways that Georgia
can claim the top 10 position it deserves:
Millions of Americans drive through
the state every year. Get rid of those cheap metal signs
that welcome tourists on Georgia’s highways with the
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A GREAT PLACE to do business.
A TERRIBLE PLACE to travel through by car. Especially in
Atlanta traffic, starting with the “McDonough triangle” to
the south of Atlanta and I-75/I-285 “Spaghetti Junction.”
A GREAT PLACE to visit. The mountains of North Georgia
and beaches of Saint Simons and Jekyll Island.
A NOT-SO-GREAT PLACE to visit cities. Due to perceived
high crime rates in Atlanta/Buckhead, etc.
A GREAT PLACE for the movie and entertainment industry.
A NOT-SO-GREAT PLACE to educate a child in some areas,
but a great place to educate a college student.
A GREAT PLACE for a growing African-American middle
and upper-class.
A NOT-ALWAYS-SO-GREAT PLACE for those who live
below the gnat line (with many, many exceptions).
A STATE that is thought to be politically red (Republican)
but one that is hurtling, based on demographics, back to
blue (Democrat)— likely in the next five years.
MA RC H/A P R I L 2 0 2 4
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