Atlanta: No. 1 in Inequality

When I was in the Air Force, a friend of mine that was raised in Savannah told me a story of his youth.  He mentioned how some Savannahians in the 1980s walked around wearing t-shirts that said, “We're Number One,” for being number 1 in crime over cities like NYC.  Now thanks to the Census Bureau, there is another city in Georgia that is number 1 for something even worse: inequality. 

Reuters mentions the “Gap between rich, poor is widest in Atlanta,” where Atlanta had the highest income inequality over New Orleans, D.C.  and “10 big cities (like) Miami, Fort Lauderdale & Gainesville, in Florida; Athens, Georgia; New York; Dallas, Texas; & Baton Rouge, Louisiana.” Some major cities with the greatest income gaps were all in the west — West Jordan, Utah with a population of 102,000 for example. 

With the 2012 election, the shrinking middle class will be the main topic for both Obama and the GOP. 

This is no surprise with the middle class as NPR’s story by Pam Fessler shows how the Census found another problem where “many people doubled up with friends and relatives for housing," Fessler wrote. "There were about 22 million of these households last year, 10-percent more than before the recession.  And six million young adults, age 25 to 34, were living with their parents...half of them would have been poor if their parents weren't supporting them.”  

Beyond more Americans living together to save money and large cities facing economic gaps, the Brookings Institution did a study by Elizabeth Kneebone and Emily Garr that found poverty trends from 2000 to 2008 increased in suburban areas. 

In 2008, there were 91.6 million people or 30-percent of the nation's population that was 200-percent below the federal poverty level.  Now with the housing market collapse, poverty has increased in the suburbs of Florida, California, and Arizona.  This explains why Atlanta is number one: high foreclosures and the working poor moving to suburbs to save money.

I believe Atlanta is number 1 in inequality for many factors.

One is that many people who live in Atlanta moved from northern or western states because of higher living costs. Georgia has a lower cost of living, when it comes to rent, home prices and food costs. 

Another factor is because Georgia is a right-to-work state, where some companies move here to avoid labor unions and the higher cost of wages. 

Lastly, I believe another factor why many moved to Atlanta is because this was where the jobs were. 

Since 2000, I have ran into many living here in Atlanta that moved here for job opportunities.  Now we have the Great Recession, and then we are surprised that Atlanta goes from a prosperous city for jobs to the highest gap of income because of the migration of Americans for a cheaper living. 

People are having to work two to three jobs to keep up with the rising cost of living instead of working one high paying job.

Why are we surprised that Atlanta is number one in inequality? 

So, Atlantians should be proud that we are number one at something, if not for the high foreclosure rates or the highest bank bankruptcies.  Maybe we will become number one one day for solving these problems and be a model for America, but until, then we will have to settle for being number one at inequality on a t-shirt.