DUNWOODY, Ga. — Atlanta Regional Commission COO Michael Alexander calls some of the housing issues facing Metro Atlanta a “gut punch.”
Equipped with loads of data, Alexander explained a number of trends facing Metro Atlanta at an event hosted by the Perimeter and Sandy Springs Perimeter chambers Nov. 30. More than 50 people attended, including Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch and other elected officials.
Housing affordability was the key issue dominating the conversation that morning. The so-called “gut punch” is that 63 percent of Metro Atlanta residents can’t afford to move to another house or apartment in a neighborhood where they currently live.
They’re stuck, but the racial disparities in accumulating wealth doesn’t help — an alarming figure that caught a few gasps around the room is that Black families have one egg in their baskets for every 10 that White families have.
Racial disparity
But, people generally don’t think the conditions are that harsh.
According to Alexander’s data on wealth equity, if a typical White family has “100 units of overall wealth,” Black people believe Black families have 36 units.
And, White people? They believe Black families have nearly double that amount.
“I use this to say we don’t really understand how the system performs,” Alexander said.
Level of wealth is a cumulative impact, he said, and that from cradle to career, White people have the advantage.
He offered a personal anecdote. Alexander said his grandparents were given land by his great-grandparents — they got to build a house, never owned a mortgage, and his grandfather cut the wood himself after World War II.
“They didn’t make any money, but they didn’t spend any money. They saved enough [so] that in critical moments, they gave me money to help me get through college.”
Alexander said this was a “critical…
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