Everyone who’s been in Atlanta for a minute has probably heard the phrase “we full.” But Atlanta’s unofficial slogan might not be true at all. As it turns out, we’re not full–there’s still plenty of room for more residents. 2 million more residents, to be exact, and in just a little over 25 years.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published a report forecasting that metro Atlanta (which means the full 21-county area, not just the City of Atlanta proper) will grow to nearly a population of 8 million people.
The stats
The population will increase both by migration to the metro area and by birth rates. Right now the trends point towards an older, more diverse population for Atlanta, with Latinos and hispanic people being the highest-growing ethnic population. In fact, by 2050, the Hispanic population of metro Atlanta is set to nearly double.
The AJC reports that “metro Atlanta will add 856,000 jobs by 2050, creating career opportunities that keep young Georgians near home and attract workers to migrate from across the country and world.”
With a booming film industry as well, Atlanta draws people from all over the country and world to live here.
Which county is getting more densely populated?
The AJC reports, “Fulton County is forecast to remain the state’s most populous with more than 1.3 million residents. But a second — Gwinnett — will soon join the seven-figure club and is expected to have 1.2 million by 2050. The fastest-growing counties are all on the edges of the metro, led by Forsyth, which is expected to increase its population by 79%.”
Can Atlanta handle 2 million more people?
In short, yes. We aren’t actually full. But there will be some changes made to make sure Atlanta can handle the influx of residents. For example, housing infrastructure and transportation infrastructure have long been an issue of Atlanta, and with these new predictions, the situation is more pressing than ever.
The AJC reports that in a recent estimation by the Atlanta Regional Commission, “$168 billion of infrastructure projects are needed across metro Atlanta to facilitate the expected growth.”
This is why knowing the predicted growth patterns is so important. Since building projects take so long to fund and complete, if we want to be ready for the influx of people, we need to start now.
To read more about the population boom, check out the full report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.