We envision an Atlanta that is inclusive, compassionate, and sustainable. We envision a region that is as welcoming to new neighbors as it is respectful of legacy residents. We imagine a city where everyone, no matter their background or income, can find a place to proudly call home.
We believe in ensuring that all Atlantans have full and complete access to a high quality of life: good jobs, high-quality public education, healthcare, and healthy food. Today, these resources are not equitably distributed in neighborhoods throughout the city and region. We envision an Atlanta in which neighborhoods currently with high opportunity are available and accessible to all who desire to live there, regardless of income, and in which all neighborhoods can receive new resources that serve new and legacy residents without displacement.
We believe that compassion should drive our relationships with neighbors, new and legacy. We know that Atlantans celebrate openness and are welcoming to others. We also know that segregation has fueled and been fueled by the inequitable distribution of opportunities and resources. Compassion motivates us to rectify these past injustices and to create change that benefits us all, rather than just a few.
We believe in inclusion and ensuring that our neighborhoods are structured so that people from all socioeconomic backgrounds can live in and enjoy neighborhoods throughout the region. When we create opportunities for people to live together, we become better connected and experience shared, communal benefits as a society. Our neighborhoods are better when we are closer to one another, both literally - to each other, our schools, businesses, grocery stores - and figuratively.
We believe that environmental and economic sustainability is crucial to the future of our communities, region, and planet. Our cities and communities have the opportunity to make choices that allow our planet to continue to flourish. It is our responsibility as Atlantans to protect our planet for ourselves and future generations, and creating walkable communities helps us ensure that future.
We know that the City of Atlanta shares many of these values; in fact, they have iterations of these in writing! And we know that the power to make real, impactful changes for our neighborhoods sits with our local governments. Now is the time for our cities and counties to be accountable to their values and live them out: they must walk the walk, not just talk the talk. It is up to all of us as residents to hold them accountable when they don't. In fact, that is our democratic duty.
