Tyrone English

SCOM 1000
Checkpoint One

Topic: Gentrification in the city of Atlanta

A recent report by Governing magazine ranked Atlanta the fifth most rapidly gentrifying city in
the United States, and HotPads (a nationwide home and apartment rental site) show Atlanta’s
rent prices increasing over three times faster than the national average. ​Lesley Williams Reid
and Robert M. Adelman of GSU wrote in 2003 that ​this wave of new residents mirrors white
flights in the 60s and 70 when white families sold in inner city homes at below market prices to
avoid the influx of Black residents, now these same Black residents are being forced out. Despite
the city has passed legislation to decrease yearly increases in property taxes for residents,
gentrification steadily increases. In my speech I plan to touch on the history of gentrification in
Atlanta and explain how it is currently affecting the racial, political, and economic landscape of
the city.

References
Lartey, Jamiles. “Nowhere for People to Go: Who Will Survive the Gentrification of Atlanta?”
The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, October 23, 2018.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/oct/23/nowhere-for-people-to-go-who-will-survive-the
-gentrification-of-atlanta​.
Reid, Lesley W, and Robert M Adelman. “The Double-Edged Sword of Gentrification in
Atlanta.” The Double-edged Sword of Gentrification in Atlanta, April 2003.
https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/footnotes/apr03/indexthree.html​.
Suggs, Ernie. “ONLY ON AJC: Atlanta's Gentrification Wave Washes over Historic Old Fourth
Ward.” ajc. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 12, 2019.
https://www.ajc.com/business/economy/atlanta-gentrification-wave-washes-over-historic-old-fou
rth-ward/667fp9edFYZOpE89QOwrTP/​.
Green, Josh. “Vision Unveiled for West End Mall's Rebirth as Mixed-Use 'Opportunity Zone'.”
Curbed Atlanta. Curbed Atlanta, January 21, 2020.
https://atlanta.curbed.com/2020/1/21/21074841/west-end-mall-atlanta-gravel-beltline-developme
nt-close.