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Atlanta City Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms wants the city to take a look at what she’s calling “displacement-free zones” or “eviction-free zones,” a kind of protection for longtime property owners, renters, and businesses in communities that are getting pricier.“While redevelopment is important for many of our underserved communities, it is equally important that we as a city establish inclusive means by which we are able to preserve the historic fabric of these neighborhoods, beginning with our residents and small business owners,” Bottoms said in a statement.The city would study where and how such zones might be set up and what they might cost, under a resolution Bottoms filed earlier this month. That study should include a look at a cap on property taxes in exchange for a cap on rental rates, according to Bottoms’ resolution.Bottoms points to a
Governing analysis that suggests Atlanta is number five among big U.S. cities for gentrification. It considered an area of a city as “gentrified” if it started the 2000s populated by people who made relatively little money and lived in fairly inexpensive housing but is now populated by residents who make more money and are more likely to have bachelor’s degrees.Bottoms’ resolution is only the latest entry in a long, detailed conversation about gentrification in Atlanta. Mayor Kasim Reed and other leaders routinely tout affordability measures. A new city ordinance this year requires builders who tap public money to price a certain number of units cheaply enough to be affordable for people who make less than the area’s median income.Atlanta Beltline officials are setting aside more money to help keep Atlantans living on low incomes in their homes or to help new working-class people to be able to move in. Councilman Andre Dickens wants all new developments along the popular project to include affordable units.And the talk in Bottoms’ ordinance about possibly trading a property tax cap for a cap in rents touches on something Atlanta’s Housing Justice League recently proposed in a wide-ranging report. Its suggests, among other things, that the city might try some kind of property tax incentive for affordable housing.Georgia State University Professor Deirdre Oakley is among many who put Atlanta on the list of cities that’s only paying lip service to ensuring that housing is affordable for working people. Atlanta “does not really look good for people on low incomes,” she says. Despite developments underway along the Beltline and planned at Turner Field and the new Falcons stadium, Atlanta’s efforts amount to drops in a bucket, Oakley says.
Bottoms, who did not respond to CL’s request for comment about how or where she would like to see DPZs set up in Atlanta, is among about 10 other candidates for mayor. Expect more talk about gentrification and affordability as the race heats up. If Council approves the legislation, the city’s planning department would have 120 days to prepare a report for city council.