Atlanta Housing Justice League Executive Director Alison Johnson expressed anger and regret on Monday after bills backed by her organization failed to advance before the legislature’s Thursday Crossover Day deadline. Failure to pass related bills in the state House or the state Senate by the end of Crossover Day means it’s unlikely Georgia’s legislature will pass […]
affordable housing
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy, State Politics
The Rent Is Too Damn High. Will Georgia Lawmakers Do Anything About It?
Black Atlantans and housing justice advocates have spent the past few years begging state lawmakers to do more to address housing-related issues like affordable housing shortages, rising rents, and low levels of homeownership among Black families. In response, Georgia Democrats — who had difficulty turning out Black voters in November — made addressing housing issues […]
Posted inCity Politics, Politics & Policy
Dickens Champions ‘Cop City,’ Crime Drop, and Housing Gains
The anticipated spring opening of the facility commonly referred to as “Cop City” was one of the highlights of Mayor Andre Dickens’ Tuesday night State of the City Address during a speech that felt like both a victory lap and a kickoff for his reelection campaign. The Atlanta Police Department’s Facebook page announced the Public […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Why Affordable Housing Advocates Worry Atlanta’s Unhoused Population Is Growing
It’s been about three years since Janice Ruff reported her former landlord to the Atlanta Police Department’s housing code enforcement division for refusing to make repairs to her old apartment. That landlord received an estimated $3,500 fine, according to Ruff, who said he evicted her a short time later for having a “smart mouth.” She’s […]
Posted inHousing
Home for the Holidays: Former Residents of ‘Slum’ Housing Glow Up in New Apartments
The aroma of Fabuloso and other cleaning products brought smiles to the faces of Crystal Brown and her two young daughters on Saturday while they showed off their new two-bedroom home inside the Overlook Ridge Apartments complex in West Atlanta’s Harland Terrace neighborhood. The gated, luxury property features a sizable community pool, a fitness center, […]
Posted inCity Politics, Elections, Local Politics, Voting
Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large Race Headed to Runoff
The race to fill Atlanta City Council’s post-3 at-large vacancy is headed to a runoff election between civil rights attorney Eshé Collins and business owner Nicole Evans Jones. Community activist Duvwon Robinson, Black Futurists Group founder Devin Barrington-Ward, and business owner Amber Higgins-Connor were also vying to fill the remainder of former council member Keisha […]
Posted inHousing
City Judge to Visit Fairburn & Gordon Apartments to Assess ‘Structural Integrity’
The Atlanta judge who has spent the last five months hearing how poor the living conditions are at the Fairburn & Gordon I and II Apartments complex in southwest Atlanta has decided to see the place for himself. “This [property] is a handful of decades old,” Municipal Judge Christopher T. Portis said Thursday morning during […]
Posted inHealth, Housing
Emotional Fairburn & Gordon Town Hall Spurs Look Into Owners’ Other Properties
“We’re human! The way y’all treat us?! [It’s] like we’re dirt!” Deborah Love shouted at one of the accused slumlord owners of her rundown apartment complex late Wednesday afternoon during an arranged town hall meeting in southwest Atlanta. “We have rights!” Love continued, shaking as tears streamed down her face. Other meeting participants and organizers […]
Posted inEconomic Development, Education
APS Board Greenlights Redevelopment of Former Lakewood Heights Elementary Site
Renovations will soon be underway at the former site of Lakewood Heights Elementary after the Atlanta Board of Education voted in favor of addressing deteriorated conditions of former APS learning sites. Board members voted last Tuesday to enter an intergovernmental agreement with the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation to determine recommendations for the former school grounds’ […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics & Policy
Presidential Debate: Black Atlantans Want to Hear These Issues Addressed
With Kamala Harris and Donald Trump set to engage in their first highly anticipated presidential debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Atlanta residents like Jacquavious Williams say they want to hear both candidates address the strain of inflation. The 26-year-old Williams, an up-and-coming rapper whose stage name is 1LifeQuay, said he’s doing fine financially, but other […]