Culture

So, the Falcons get a new stadium. What’s in it for us?

Charles Bethea — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:00:00 GMT

A new stadium! Georgia Dome 3.0: the thinnest, lightest, fastest arena ever! With a retractable roof! At a cost of a mere billion, $300 million of which would come from hotel/motel taxes, the rest from Falcons owner Arthur Blank and the NFL. Last summer, though, two-thirds of respondents in an AJC poll opposed using the hotel/motel tax to help fund a new stadium. (Never mind that that’s precisely how the existing Dome has been paid for—almost entirely, in fact—and that those hit with such a tax are tourists primarily from out of state.)

But let’s put aside the question of whether we need a new stadium (see editor’s note, page 14). As of early January, the Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority—operator of the twenty-year-old Dome, which, together with the Falcons, wrapped up a $55 million renovation in 2010—were reviewing bids by would-be stadium architects. And state lawmakers still had to okay the hotel tax portion. While officials have been careful not to promise specific economic benefits of a new stadium, Frank Poe, executive director of GWCCA, has said that non- Falcons events last year alone had an economic impact of $157 million, generating $6.5 million in sales tax. Would a new stadium mean even more?

Not likely, according to Benjamin Flowers, a Georgia Tech prof who studies urban structures: “There’s a significant question of whether”—in Atlanta—“300 million tax dollars invested in infrastructure or education might produce a far greater impact.” Of course, the complexities of the hotel/motel tax are such that those revenues can’t magically be diverted to something else. Thus, proponents say, Blank’s plan would mean we’d get a new stadium without forking over anymore than we already do.

Still, don’t think Blank doesn’t stand to benefit. According to the book Public Dollars, Private Stadiums, new venues often double the value of NFL franchises. For instance, outdoor games will likely mean more demand for luxury suites.

And ticket prices will probably go up, as they have—an average of 26 percent in the first year—at three new NFL stadiums built in the last five years. Blank plans to pass on some of the stadium costs in the form of personal seat licenses (PSLs). PSLs allow you the right to buy season tickets for a prescribed period. But they can be pricey; teams have charged between $1,000 and $150,000 for PSLs. And they could be a gamble here, where the fanbase isn’t as rabid as in other cities. Will fans care enough to fork over several thousand bucks for the privilege of keeping seats they’ve held on to faithfully—and relatively cheaply—for years?

What about people who live near a new stadium? University of Michigan professor Mark Rosentraub, who studies public financing of sports venues, writes, “Building a facility and then hoping that development occurs never works.” You get parking wastelands. (See: Summerhill and Turner Field.) In Vine City and English Avenue, two of Atlanta’s poorest neighborhoods, more vacant lots are the last thing anyone needs. Blank has said community revitalization will go hand in hand with a new stadium, and that the “true measure” of the project’s success will be measured by its impact on its neighbors. But, says Greg Hawthorne, executive director of Vine City Health and Housing Ministry, “If we count on the mere existence of a new stadium to spur private development here, we will fail.”

Here Comes Herman Cain

Tony Rehagen — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

You’re welcome, America.

Herman Cain was our contribution to the coast-to-coast reality show that was Survivor: GOP Primary. For a few weeks in late 2011, the plain-talking pizza baron—whose proposed solutions for the country’s ills included an alligator-stocked border moat and an economic platform summed up by the mantra “9-9-9”—took center stage in the crowded field, polling for a while even ahead of the president. Alas, Cain, even more entertaining than our other hometown would-be candidate, Newt Gingrich, ended his campaign after past allegations of sexual harassment surfaced.

Cynics said that Cain’s campaign was less for residency in the White House than an anchor chair at Fox News. The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza has snagged a worthy consolation prize: taking over Neal Boortz’s mic to beam more Hermanator homespun conservatism to the angry masses. And with Barack Obama in the White House for four more years, Cain will have plenty to vent about.

“Content-wise, it’ll be very similar [to Boortz],” says sixty-seven-year-old Cain, who regularly filled in for Boortz and hosted his own show on WSB from 2008 to 2011. He reiterated the need for “we the people” to hold the president accountable. “But the style and delivery will be uniquely Herman Cain.” Aside from more third-person references, that means more of the frank, off-the-cuff Cain-isms that endeared him to so many voters. In fact the former Republican front-runner says that without the constraints of the campaign, listeners can expect additional bluntness. “On the campaign you had to worry about every little thing getting fly-specked by the mainstream media,” he says.

Not familiar with the term fly-specked?

“That’s because I made it up,” explains Cain.

Starting January 22, Cain will take  over Boortz’s syndicated show, with 6 million listeners who tune in to more than 200 stations nationwide. (Locally it airs from 8:30 a.m. to noon.) Cain—who is even more conservative than Boortz, who still calls himself a Libertarian—confidently predicts he will increase the show’s listener base; his goal is to reach more than 400 radio stations and expand to TV. And as for the prospect of using his newfound exposure as a catapult back into politics: “I’ve done it twice and learned a lot,” he says. “I think I made a difference. But right now I’m staying with media because that can effect change as well.”

This article originally appeared in our January 2013 issue.

Bye-Bye, Neal Boortz

Doug Monroe — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

When Neal Boortz retires from WSB radio this month after forty-three years of hosting a raucous, rancorous, and utterly compelling right-wing talk show speckled with flakes of libertarianism, he will have outlasted two Atlanta radio stations and one Georgia political party. Boortz agreed to a Q&A with Atlanta magazine contributor Doug Monroe, an occupant of the other end of the political spectrum.

Are you going into retirement cold turkey or will you continue to blog, write books, and make speeches? The main reason I’m retiring is so that I’ll have the freedom to travel. I’m in great health and still love what I do, but it’s just too restrictive. In forty-[three] years of talk radio I think I’ve had exactly four two-week vacations, and never one longer than that. But yes, I’m keeping my hand in. I’ll continue with the blog on boortz.com, I’m currently finishing Maybe I Should Just SHUT UP and GO AWAY!, my sixth book, and have two in the hopper to write. I’m listed with Premiere Speakers Bureau and they still give me the ones Hannity turns down. And last but not least, I’ll be doing daily commentaries every morning on WSB and will be the substitute fill-in host for Herman Cain, and anyone else who will have me. And yes—the Boortz Bus is equipped for broadcast.

When you first went on the air on Atlanta’s WRNG-AM—fifteen years before Rush Limbaugh started his show—did you have any idea how successful and dominating conservative talk radio would become? Absolutely not. Back then talk radio was a radio afterthought struggling to get some ratings here in Atlanta. I never expected it to turn into what it is today. Let me tell you, this has been a helluva ride. Sometimes, though, I suspect I’m getting out at just the right time.

Not many conservative talkers were on the air when you started. Who inspired you back then? Joe Pyne? Bob Grant? I went to high school in Southern California and absolutely loved Joe Pyne on his TV show. Never listened to him or to any other radio talk show until I came to Atlanta in 1967. Herb Elfman on WRNG was my first. When he died suddenly I moved into his job in under twelve hours. After all, it’s not like he gave WRNG two-weeks notice that he was going to shoot himself. Rest in peace, Herb.

If you were a young man starting out today, would you still try to go into talk radio with so many conservative voices on the radio and so many questions about the future of radio itself? Or would you do something different, and if so, what? There’s always something iffy about making your living in a medium that is licensed by the federal government—especially this federal government. Knowing what I know now? Sure! I would give the talk radio thing a try. But it’s more likely I would pursue a career in engineering or science. I wouldn’t fear competing against other conservative hosts, however. It’s not how conservative you are. It’s how you toe the issues line with the listeners. It’s how you entertain. This is something most of today’s talk show hosts don’t understand.

How have your political views evolved from 1969, when you went on WRNG, to today? I was much more of a doctrinaire conservative then. Now I’m more of a libertarian. I’ve completely changed my stance on some issues, such as abortion, prayer in the schools, gay rights, and other social issues.

Did you experience some sort of epiphany that turned you so bitterly against liberals? I don’t think I’m that bitter. I just like to laugh at liberals derisively. Their entire philosophy is based on anti-individualism and burdened down with a complete lack of logic. No liberal has ever been able to explain to me why it is okay for someone to use the government to do for them what would be a crime if they did it for themselves—such as seize someone else’s property because you think you need it more than they do.

Longtime listeners know you’ve had enduring friendships with black people, including Herman Cain, Hosea Williams, and Royal Marshall. At one point, you were Evander Holyfield’s lawyer. But your liberal critics have branded you as “racist” and a “hate radio” host. How do you respond to that criticism? I laugh at them. Ever heard of semantic saturation? That’s when a word or phrase is used to such excess that it ceases to have any meaning in real conversation. Racist is just such a word. The original meaning of the word was “a belief in the genetic superiority of one race over another.” The current meaning is: “You just said something negative about a black person. You are, therefore, racist.” If you want a good example of the “deer in the headlights” look, ask someone throwing around the racist word to do you a favor and explain to you the difference between racism and bigotry. Then stand back. [His] head could explode. The word simply has no meaning, effect, or impact any more.

As for “hate radio?” This, too, is ridiculously transparent. Liberals have simply branded any opinion or position with which they disagree as “hate.” This is a handy little rhetorical mechanism designed to help them avoid actually engaging on the topic. Example: I ask, “Did you know that in a classical economic sense, Barack Obama’s economic policies are actually more accurately defined as fascism rather than socialism?” They respond: “That’s hate talk. You do a hate radio show.” End of discussion.

One of the comments that brought an outpouring of outrage was when you said Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s new hairdo made her look like a “ghetto slut.” Do you regret comments like that? Isn’t it nice that people want to focus on moments like that rather than something like, say, my defense of gay marriage? I’m not going to accept that my forty-[three]-year career is to be defined by a comment about Cynthia McKinney’s hair. Let’s not talk about that black woman who called from Jacksonville in tears because her life was in disarray, and how we changed her life by sending her to Orlando to attend a seminar on building positive emotional responses to negative influences. Let’s not talk about the young man I sent to a debate internship at Michigan. Let’s talk about Cynthia’s hair. By the way, on that particular day it looked like an explosion in a mattress factory. But then, look at my hair.

Some of your listeners get really upset about your shows, particularly when they agree with you. Do you ever worry about the emotional impact your show might have on them? No. Simply put. No. Did I offend someone? Well isn’t that just a pity. Nobody can offend you without your permission. I’m sure that my show has no more of a negative emotional impact on some people than does listening to hip-hop heroes rap about bitches and hos all day long.

Was the in-studio, on-the-air shouting match you had with then Mayor Bill Campbell the wildest show you ever had? If not, what was? Now that was a memorable day. I supported Campbell in his bid for mayor. After he won, he wasted no time showing Atlanta what a disaster he was going to be. I mean, the man actually turned Atlanta into a third-world flea market for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Do you want to tell the readers what I said to Campbell? He was in the studio ranting and raving about his personal issues with me. Finally I said: “Sit down and shut up, you goddamned son-of-a-bitch.” He sat down and shut up. Yes. I was angry and I vastly overreacted. I apologized to my listeners for that unprofessional outburst later. Campbell didn’t deserve an apology, so he didn’t get one.

By the way—interesting anecdote about that day. Seconds after my intemperate outburst, station manager Marc Morgan and program director Greg Moceri appeared outside the window to the studio with their eyes bugging out like stomped-on bullfrogs. I later asked them what they were thinking at that moment. Morgan told me: “Well, first, we were wondering if we should come in there and stop you. Then we tried to figure out if we were going to try to stop you, which one of us was going to dare to walk into that studio.”

Again, that was unprofessional and uncalled for. And again, I apologize. Not saying I’m sorry it happened . . . just that I apologize. I did, after all, turn out to be right.

Who are the best and worst politicians you’ve dealt with over the years?
The best? Well, one of my favorites was Newt Gingrich. When I started talk radio in 1970 he was my substitute host when I went on vacation. Smartest politician I’ve ever known. The worst? We’ll go back to Bill Campbell on that one. I mean: Did he really call that press conference to tell Atlanta that he had just signed a contract with the Atlanta government employee unions saying that while mayor he would never support an initiative or legislation that would cost one single union job? Why yes! I believe he did!

What role do you think you played in the demise of the Democratic Party in Georgia? None. They did that to themselves. My job wasn’t to destroy a politician or a political party. My role was to entertain. I hope I did that well.

In the past, you’ve mentioned the possibility of running for president as a Libertarian. How about 2016?
Oh, thanks for reminding me. Can’t rule it out—but the only way I could do that would be with the complete support of The Queen, my wife Donna, and that’s about as likely as me growing a full head of hair overnight.

What do you think is the funniest thing you’ve ever done or suggested on your show? I’d nominate calling the Confederate flag backers “flaggots.” I consistently said that there were only sixteen people in all of Georgia who wanted to stick with the old design of the Georgia state flag. This drove the flaggots nuts because they could never come up with more than sixteen to refute me.

You met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when you were selling jewelry at Rich’s. Did you sell him anything? Did you converse with him? Was this the old Downtown store? I can’t remember the conversation. Just that we talked. I was a wide-eyed kid just out of college. To this day I feel so honored to have met and talked with the man. He was a Republican, by the way.

Did your longtime associate Royal Marshall’s untimely death play a part in your decision to retire? Yes. Absolutely. The impact from Royal’s death was shattering. Actually, I wanted to hand in my notice a week later after the funeral. A stark reminder that life is so transitory really causes you to change your way of thinking. I miss Royal to this day and dream of him often. One of a kind.

To put it bluntly, why would anyone leave a syndicated show with 6 million listeners? Well . . . Obama did tell us that at some time we just have to admit that we’ve made enough money, right? I’m there! And again, it’s the travel thing. In the coming two years we’re traveling all over North America in the Boortz Bus, taking a ten-day Mediterranean cruse with former listeners, traveling to Antarctica, cruising the rivers of Europe in one of those long, fancy riverboats, and a Disney cruise with our granddaughter in the Caribbean. Try doing that with a daily talk show.

Oh, and one more thing. I’ve paid enough in taxes to the federal government, thank you very much, and I now dedicate myself to making sure that Obama doesn’t get any more from me than is absolutely necessary to stay out of federal prison.

Why have you chosen to live in Naples, Florida, instead of Atlanta? Will you keep a home here? Naples is the Carmel of Florida. We moved there full time in 2009. The reasons are many, and include the fact that there is no state income tax in Florida. In Georgia it would cost me over $1,000 a year for the license sticker for my car. In Naples it costs me about $230 for two years. In Atlanta I was paying $7,000 a year property taxes on my airplane. In Naples I pay nothing. In Naples I went into a restaurant on the main drag and left my iPhone sitting on the front seat of my convertible. When I got back ninety minutes later it was still there. Care to try that in Atlanta? I have a concealed weapons permit. I never carry in Naples. Do you think that’s the case in Atlanta? And then there’s the traffic.

Now don’t get me wrong—I love Atlanta. I could have moved and lived anywhere doing what I do. I turned down radio jobs in New York and California several times. For retirement, it’s Naples. And yes, we’ll keep a home in Atlanta.

What are your plans for your last show on January 21 with your successor, Herman Cain? I just don’t know. That is going to be very emotional. My second-to-last show, by the way, is going to come from the station where I began my radio career, WTAW in College Station, Texas. That will be before a large audience. I guess I’ll do the last show from the WSB studios rather than from Naples so I can be with Belinda and Cristina. But it’s going to be tough. I think I need to be on the road the very next day. I’m going to miss my audience and especially those two ladies.

How will you spend your time—and take care of yourself—during retirement? You play golf, fly planes, ride motorcycles, and travel with your wife, Donna. Is there anything else you plan to do? Race walking? Let’s see. Bring my handicap down. Learn to kite-surf. Would love to learn how to sail. I’m starting to dabble in watercolors; my daughter says I’m strangely good. And staying in top physical condition will, of course, be important. I’m thankful that I’m not heading into retirement with any health problems. Ugly isn’t a health problem. Having said all of that, my primary goal will be to spend as much time as I can being a good husband—Donna has put up with a lot over the years—and a great grandpa.

After forty-three years on the air—at WRNG-AM, WGST-AM, and WSB-AM—what is the legacy that you leave Atlanta? Legacy. Hmmmmm. Well, I only got fired once. That’s pretty good. And I left on my own terms. That’s rather rare in radio. Kicking Hannity’s tail in the ratings didn’t suck (we’re good friends to this day, by the way) and never putting a station’s license in jeopardy.

Actually . . . I’m angling for a brass plaque on International Drive right where the old Greyhound bus station used to be. “On July 2, 1967, Neal Boortz stepped off a Greyhound bus at this location to begin what was ultimately to become the second occupation of Atlanta.” Let me know when the dedication ceremony is and I’ll fly here from wherever I might be for the unveiling.

The Boortz "Happy Ending"
A retirement bash for Boortz will be thrown January 12 at the Fox Theatre. The radio host will be roasted/feted by Jeff Foxworthy, Sean Hannity, Herman Cain, and others. Ticket information at foxatltix/com.

*EXTENDED VERSION OF THE ARTICLE THAT RAN IN OUR JANUARY 2013 ISSUE

What's Next for HOPE?

Doug Monroe — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

The HOPE scholarship—launched in 1993 and funded by the Georgia Lottery—marks its twentieth anniversary with growing pains and uncertainty. The program is credited with boosting enrollment and academic rigor at Georgia schools. (Disclosure: My daughter graduated from the University of Georgia in 2004 after attending four years on HOPE.) But that explosive growth, combined with a troubled economy, has led to dramatic belt-tightening. Unfortunately the belt was pulled too tight for many of the students who need the scholarship the most.

Back in 2011, when it looked like HOPE was headed for bankruptcy, lawmakers changed the program. Governor Nathan Deal put together a two-tiered system: Zell Miller Scholars—who graduate high school with 3.7 GPAs, score 1200 on the two-part SAT, and maintain 3.3 GPAs in college—get full-ride tuition coverage; recipients of “classic HOPE,” who meet the old standards—3.0 GPAs in high school and college—get reduced tuition coverage, about 90 percent. Coverage of books and fees is eliminated for all HOPE recipients. At the same time, tuition is increasing—2.5 percent on average and as high as 6 percent at Georgia Tech.

The tiered system was applied retroactively, forcing thousands of Georgians already in college in 2011 to scratch around for money to make up for the lost HOPE funds. By 2012 some simply dropped their plans to get degrees.

The scholarship funds flow disproportionately into the affluent Atlanta suburbs, where many high-achieving students come from families that appreciate the bump but don’t desperately need it. A 2012 report by the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute found that counties with the highest median household incomes snag the most HOPE dollars while contributing less to the lottery that fuels it.

“The state has essentially abandoned South Georgia and rural Georgia,” says state senator Jason Carter (D-DeKalb), who, along with other Democrats, pushed for ways to keep HOPE accessible to lower-income and rural families. “We’re spending more and more money on people who need it the least.”

Along with tiered HOPE awards for university system enrollees came tougher requirements at technical schools, contributing to a plunge of 12,000 students in the Technical College System of Georgia in the fall of 2011 and a drop of another 5,000 this past fall, bringing enrollment to 98,000. “HOPE definitely had an impact,” says Mike Light, spokesman for the technical colleges, who attributes about a third of the decline in technical school enrollment to the new HOPE requirements and the rest to the recession. About 4,000 technical students lost HOPE grants because they couldn’t keep the newly required 3.0 GPA while in college.

So should parents and students anticipate another round of changes as the General Assembly kicks off its 2013 session this month? Democrats have discussed reinstating an income cap or considering need in addition to merit. A spokesman for Deal said in November that the governor’s office was still in the budget process and it was too early to have a conversation about HOPE.

However, Carter says there is enough concern—on all sides— in the General Assembly to reassess the impact of the most recent changes to HOPE. “The best-case scenario is if we roll up our sleeves, in a bipartisan way, and maximize the number of students who go to college,” he says.

This article originally appeared in our January 2013 issue.

Zep! Boom! Pow!

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Back in 1937, atlantan Mandle Zaban borrowed $6,000 against his life insurance policy and, with his brother, Sam, started janitorial supply firm Zep Manufacturing. Nearly eight decades and various acquisitions later, the Westside company now called Zep Inc. sells thousands of products that eradicate almost anything: graffiti (Zep Write Away), trash odors (Zep Dumpster Fair), bugs in your barn (Country Vet Farm and Dairy Fly Spray), dust on your Boeing D6 (Zep Aircraft Cleaner II), or funk permeating your Porsche (Armor All Professional New Car Fragrance). For dirty hands, there’s Zep Cherry Bomb, which removes tar, ash, carbon, asphalt, and resin; $100 for a four-gallon jug. Zep, whose 200,000 clients include hospitals, car washes, and, yes, the government, has a sizable earth-friendly line. Apparently keeping clean is recession-proof: 2011 net sales were $646 million.

Photograph by Andrea Fremiotti. This article originally appeared in our January 2013 issue.

How UPS Ships Christmas

Amanda Dixon — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:23:00 GMT

The economy may still be in the doldrums, but Atlanta-based UPS will be spreading a little holiday cheer. Last year the shipping giant added 55,982 seasonal employees—1,247 in Atlanta alone—to help with the year-end rush, and similar hiring is forecast for Christmas 2012.

4
The number of major UPS hubs in the metro area, including Forest Park, Roswell, Atlanta, and Pleasantdale

400
The number of extra flights per day UPS added during its busiest week of the year

December 23
The last day to ship a package and have it delivered by Christmas Eve

120 million
The number of packages UPS expects to deliver during the week before Christmas

December 20
The busiest shipping day of the year; UPS anticipates delivering 28 million packages at a rate of 300 packages per second

3 million
The approximate number of express shipments UPS handled daily during the busiest week of the year at the company’s Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky

15.8 million
The average number of packages delivered each day by UPS around the world

$48.92
The cost of standard shipping for a five-pound package sent from Atlanta to North Pole, Alaska

Photograph by zyphbear/Flickr

Atlanta Charities Worth Your Money

Amanda Dixon — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:00:00 GMT

As you ready your year-end tax deductions charitable contributions, think about how effectively your cash will be used. For consideration: seven Atlanta-based nonprofits that earn top four-star ratings from Charity Navigator, which evaluates nonprofits nationwide on accountability, transparency, and fiscal health.

American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation
Not as well known as other medical nonprofits, but vital for both pediatrics and our aging population.

Canine Assistants
Get literally warm and fuzzy supporting this group; it trains and provides service dogs for the disabled.

The Carter Center
Beyond politics, the ex-president’s global organization increases access to quality healthcare and ranks second on Charity Navigator’s “Ten of the Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of” list.

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
This environmental watchdog helps conserve the ’Hooch and its surrounding waterways through legal and educational initiatives.

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
The celebrated foundation dedicated to preserving African gorillas is based in the ATL. Who knew?

Good Samaritan Health Center
Since 1999 Good Samaritan has quietly provided medical attention to people without health insurance—the majority of whom are working poor.

MUST Ministries
For four decades, MUST has offered social services to Cobb and Cherokee counties. With the rate of suburban homelessness on the rise, demand for its services is increasing too.

What about organizations not ranked so well by Charity Navigator? We were surprised to see a number of well-known nonprofits—including the Atlanta Botanical Garden, PATH Foundation, Trees Atlanta, and Public Broadcasting Atlanta—rated at just two stars.

A lower rating could be due to excess spending on fundraising or inefficient use of resources—red flags for any donor. It also could be the result of not having documentation used in Charity Navigator’s matrix. When asked about PBA’s poor showing, Tina Arbes, chief financial officer, said, “We have a very strong financial base of net assets and net reserves that we’ve built up over time, and we intend to work with Charity Navigator to better understand their rating system.” Arbes said new data provided by PBA to Charity Navigator should be reflected in updated ratings later this year.

Ranked at just a single star is Children’s Wish Foundation International—not to be confused with Make-A-Wish Foundation. Linda Dozoretz, founder and executive director, said, “We have done better in the last three years, and our programs have increased and our fundraising has decreased. But it’s a slow process.”

Illustration by Wesley Bedrosian. This article originally appeared in our December 2012 issue.

Is Our Housing Market Finally Bouncing Back?

Andisheh Nouraee — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:00:00 GMT

As economists define it, the American economy was in recession only from December 2007 to June 2009. Unfortunately for Atlanta, the finale of the national recession wasn’t even the end of the first half of the worst local housing depression since, well, the Great Depression.

The Atlanta housing market’s collapse started more slowly than it did in bubblicious real estate markets like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and South Florida—places where it seemed the entire economy was based on “if you build it, they will buy” speculative housing construction. But slow and steady wins the race—even races to the bottom. When cities like Phoenix and Miami seemed to hit a floor a couple of years ago, Atlanta kept falling. By 2011 home values in Atlanta were dropping faster than they were in any other large metro area in the nation, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

The reasons for Atlanta’s housing misery are as obvious as they are impossible for any single homeowner to resolve. Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate used to be lower than the national average. Since the recession, unemployment has been sharply higher than the national average. The number of people moving to Atlanta has slowed. The area has an abundance of foreclosed, abandoned, and otherwise empty dwellings.

Then there’s the water—not the kind Sonny Perdue used to pray for, but the metaphorical water under which roughly half of metro Atlanta mortgage holders find themselves. Even if underwater homeowners want to move, many cannot. This all adds up to a situation in which there’s too much supply and not enough demand.

Like someone being treated for a complicated life-threatening injury, local homeowners—and local media—now treat the absence of terrible news as great news. In 2012 the doctor walked up to our hospital bed and said, “Great news. It looks like we’ve stopped the bleeding.”

Actually, we did better than stop the bleeding. Prices have started inching up this year, albeit at a slower pace than in most other cities. The area’s foreclosure rate dropped by half since 2011. And the average number of days it takes to sell a house dropped by 40 percent, according to Prudential Georgia Realty Advisor.

It’s a buyer’s market now. “We’ve hit the floor on single-family housing values,” says David Gutting, managing director of multi-family investment sales at Jones Lang LaSalle. He says the recession hasn’t slowed the rush of young people into Atlanta’s urban core; it’s just pushed them into rental units. The dearth of new construction at the same time intown occupancy is surging means rents are soaring. According to Trulia, it’s now up to 57 percent more expensive to rent in Atlanta than it is to buy a comparable home. When rental rates soar, sale prices usually follow. They won’t in every Atlanta neighborhood, but overall our collective line graph is pointing up for a change.

Gutting believes the major negatives dragging the market down have done all the damage they can do. Short of an unexpected spike in interest rates, he thinks Atlanta is finally on the mend.

“It’s my opinion housing values can only improve from here,” says Gutting.

This article originally appeared in our December 2012 issue.

If You're a Native Atlantan, Here's a Club for You

Charles Bethea — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Appling, a sixth-generation DeKalb County native (“on both sides”), joined the club in 2002, twelve years after its formation. A former Realtor and insurance saleswoman, now a Mary Kay Cosmetics beauty consultant, Appling, fifty-eight, lives in Tucker and heads the club, which has about 180 active members. She talked with sixth-generation Atlantan Charles Bethea.

Why have this club? What’s the purpose? To keep Atlanta’s brand of Southern hospitality alive and well and build the community.

Any initiation rituals? You just need a birth certificate saying you were born in Atlanta. We also accept DeKalb Medical Center. Then fill out the application and pay dues: $49 a year or $295 for a lifetime.

Have nonnatives tried to sneak in? We’ve had a couple of spouses born elsewhere who wanted to be Natives; we allowed them to join as “associate” members. Like my sister’s husband: His parents lived here, but his dad was in the Air Force Reserve and got called to Valdosta for six months, and he was born there. We don’t encourage that.

What goes on at meetings? We’ve toured the Fox Theatre and Oakland Cemetery. We’ve dedicated trees. Recently we’ve simply had lunch somewhere followed by a speaker. So many members have hearing issues (the average age is seventy-five to eighty) that we have to have a private room and a microphone.

Do Atlantans care about their geographic identities? I think so. But they all just have so many other things going on.

Photograph by Zac Henderson. This article originally appeared in our December 2012 issue.

Big Pink

Stephanie Minor — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:44:00 GMT

Mike Phillips and Karen Barton are raising awareness for breast cancer in a big way. Big as in forty tons of hulking metal, slathered in Pepto-pink paint and emblazoned with “Proud Sponsor of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.” Ever since Phillips’s and Barton’s father, Richard Phillips, founded Phoenix Crane Rental in 1983 with the assistance of Ernie Baer and Bill Dickerson, the Mableton-based company has clung to its family-oriented roots. So when the Phillips clan sought to expand Phoenix’s annual charitable contributions to encompass a more concrete cause, the equally family-focused NBCF seemed like a natural collaboration.

Phoenix donates a percentage of the $160/hour rental rate of its pink Terex crane to NBCF, which provides early-detection screening and mammograms to low-income women. The pink crane (it was the senior Phillips’s idea to paint the behemoth) is lighter and more agile than other models, enabling the company to easily integrate the machine into the fleet that serves hourly customers. And those customers have called up specifically to request the crane since its maiden voyage back in May.

The response has been so enthusiastic, Jessica Ives, operator of the colorful colossus, often has her picture snapped by curious bystanders while she waits at stoplights. Although October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the pink crane operates year-round, attracting plenty of attention.

“You just don’t see many pink cranes riding around town,” says Jeff Moon, an account manager at United Maintenance, which has used Phoenix’s cranes for more than twenty years. “If we can use a crane for our jobs and part of the proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Foundation, then it’s a win-win.”

Photograph by David Cannon