Building a New Vision for South Atlanta: Starting with Resident Concerns

The neighborhoods south of Atlanta began to decline in terms of health and vitality in the 1960s. Large interstate freeways isolate these parts of the city and divide historic neighborhoods. As a result, the area has been left with a plethora of vacant lots, dilapidated and vacant homes, and abandoned commercial buildings. Compared to the rest of Atlanta, this section has a greater proportion of African-American residents, higher rates of unemployment, crime, lower rates of homeownership and high school graduation, as well as a greater percent of households under the poverty threshold. Data also indicate an 86% decline in commerce between 1962 and 2006 and a current building vacancy rate of 42%. This paper presents how the Mobilizing Action through Planned Partnership (MAPP) framework was used to guide a sustainable environmental health collaborative that involves residents, community-based organizations, municipal and state agencies, local universities, and businesses. Based upon results of a secondary environmental data review, brownfields, air quality, and solid waste pose major public health concerns for residents. However, results from 145 resident surveys using a comparative risk analysis structure demonstrate that public safety is their greatest concern, followed by vacant properties. The results of this project are important because they reveal a disconnect between environmental data and resident perspectives, the latter of which represents a population that has been marginalized for decades. Residents' concerns were reconciled with the data review to provide directions for future projects. Project findings are important for advancing collaborative endeavors.