The Atlanta Press Club hosted its first Newsmaker Leadership Series Event of 2024 with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens on Feb. 7, where press and media leaders in the city gathered for remarks from the mayor and a discussion between him and Atlanta Press Club Chair Keith Pepper. He also answered questions from attending journalists.

Dickens talked about the city government’s priorities moving into 2024, particularly ahead of the 

city’s designation as a host city for eight matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Now entering his third year as mayor, Dickens split his term into three parts: 2022 was about “getting started,” 2023 was about “delivering on promises” and 2024 will be about “accelerating and continuing” the work of the past two years. 

As an Atlanta native, Dickens said he has watched the city grow significantly in the past 50 years. 

“We went from being just Atlanta to now this Olympic city of Atlanta and now with this World Cup city of Atlanta,” Dickens said. 

With that growth, though, the mayor said the city has “become a victim of its own success.” Inflation and high rent have made it difficult for working-class people to live in Atlanta. He pointed to servers, nurses, teachers, and police as the types of jobs that he wants to be able to live in the city instead of commuting.

To combat expensive housing costs Mayor Dickens set the goal of building 20,000 units of affordable housing across Atlanta by 2030. He announced on Feb. 7 that the city had already built 3,500 units and had about 8,000 more in some form of development. 

“The goal is to make sure that people can live, work and play in Atlanta,” Dickens said. 

Dickens also touted crime and safety statistics, like a 21 percent decrease in homicides and a 50 percent decrease in rape in Atlanta. He said the goal is for people to feel safe walking in the streets or parks of the city.

“Safety is important; safety is justice,”…