Residents on Atlanta’s west side will decide today which Democratic primary contender they want to take on incumbent Mesha Mainor in a November general election matchup that could serve as a benchmark for GOP attempts to gain support among Black voters. Mainor is the Black former Democratic lawmaker from Georgia’s 56th Congressional District who made […]
affordable housing
Posted inHousing
City Judge Slaps $25,000 Fine on Owners of Troubled Fairburn & Gordon Apartments
A judge has ordered the owners of West Atlanta’s Fairburn & Gordon I and II Apartments to pay a $25,000 fine as a penalty for the more than 300 housing code and nuisance violations city inspectors have found at the residential complex. Municipal Judge Christopher T. Portis levied the fine Thursday morning after attorneys for […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Will Kemp Sign Tenant Rights and Homeless Trust Fund Bills Into Law?
Housing advocates want to know whether Gov. Brian Kemp will sign two bills to address long-running housing issues across Georgia: tenants’ rights and the state’s growing homeless population. The first bill, HB 404, or the Safe at Home Act, would bar landlords from requiring more than two months’ rent for a security deposit and establish […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Homelessness, Housing, and Inequality Dominate Dickens’ Speech
Mayor Andre Dickens highlighted his administration’s efforts to address Atlanta’s affordable housing and homelessness crises in his annual State of the City address Monday morning. Dickens told attendees inside Midtown’s Woodruff Arts Center that his administration is well on its way toward creating 20,000 affordable housing units by the year 2030. That includes more than […]
Posted inHousing
Fairburn & Gordon Tenants Say They Look Forward to Moving Out of Unsafe Housing
Some residents of a troubled Atlanta housing complex say they welcome the news that they may soon be relocated. “I’m so happy,” said Linda Ford, a resident of the Fairburn & Gordon Apartments, when she learned U.S. housing officials plan to terminate their contracts with Fairburn & Gordon Apartments after the owners failed to bring […]
Posted inState Politics
Legislation Addressing Sky-High Rent Prices Stalls — Again
Black people across Georgia are desperate for rent relief, but state lawmakers don’t appear poised to pass legislation to directly address the problem. Only one bill specifically addressing residential rent prices or homelessness secured passage in at least one legislative chamber by Thursday night as the Gold Dome’s fabled Crossover Day came and went. Crossover […]
Posted inHousing
Local Community Land Trust Plans to Turn Apartment Complex Into Affordable Units
Back in December, when the People’s Community Land Trust told the residents living at 379 Elm Street, a dilapidated, nine-unit multifamily apartment complex in Atlanta’s English Avenue neighborhood, that it would be lowering their rent, the immediate reaction was skepticism. “Everyone was like, ‘What’s the catch?’” Nikishka Iyengar, founder and ecosystem director for The Guild, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Atlanta Wants Rent Control. Will State Lawmakers Help Them Get It?
Advocates pushing for Georgia lawmakers to lift a decades-old, statewide ban on rent control face an uphill battle in the current 40-day legislative session, which started last Monday. “I don’t see that happening,” state Sen. Gloria Butler, a Democrat representing Stone Mountain, told Capital B Atlanta in December. “I’m being realistic because these are real […]
Posted inHousing
Inside Atlanta’s ‘Highly Hazardous,’ HUD-Supported Fairburn & Gordon Complex
Trinae Ward dreams of moving her family out of their rundown West Atlanta apartment one day. But for now, she’s grateful her 11-year-old twin daughters no longer fear someone reaching up through the floor and grabbing them while they shower. Maintenance crews recently patched up several large holes in the walls and floor inside Ward’s […]
Posted inCity Politics
Black Folks Share Their Concerns Ahead of Dickens’ State of the City Address
When Mayor Andre Dickens steps to the podium to deliver his State of the City address, residents like Vanessa Turner hope he’ll talk about his administration’s progress on addressing crime and public safety. The 69-year-old retail sales clerk lives in the Wheat Street Towers retirement community, located in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. She keeps […]