Atlanta and the Recession (Dallas, Jackson: foreclosed, mover, condo)

[noah]

Very true. Oil is the reason you hear everyone say Texas hasn't suffered as much.

Originally Posted by LAnative10

However the economies in Texas are more aimed at natural resources (ie Oil, energy, natural gas).

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Personally, I think some big headquarters in Atlanta will find some other places to live. Atlanta can't boom forever. It's some other city's turn now to grow like crazy besides the current ones. I think it take a while for Atlanta to get back on track. Because of the current economy, people will be way more cautious post-recession about housing and other things, still causing a little slow down with some huge corporations, like Home Depot. It's good that Atlanta's economy is so diversified and huge, but it's too diversified to the point where more than half of the corporations that makes the economy may suffer. Atlanta, although already is presently, should have an economy that includes corporations that will be needed everday and will never but sligtly fail, like the medical industry. After the economy, I don't think that Atlanta will be the "PLACE" to live. Places like Dallas and Houston have economies that are secure by having industries like oil and technology. We are going to always need these. Ao, I think these places are going to be KNOWN like Atlanta is and was.

This post in nothing more than wishful thinking that Atlanta experiences some sort of downfall.

Don't hold your breath.

[grindin]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg
Personally, I think some big headquarters in Atlanta will find some other places to live. Atlanta can't boom forever. It's some other city's turn now to grow like crazy besides the current ones. I think it take a while for Atlanta to get back on track. Because of the current economy, people will be way more cautious post-recession about housing and other things, still causing a little slow down with some huge corporations, like Home Depot. It's good that Atlanta's economy is so diversified and huge, but it's too diversified to the point where more than half of the corporations that makes the economy may suffer. Atlanta, although already is presently, should have an economy that includes corporations that will be needed everday and will never but sligtly fail, like the medical industry. After the economy, I don't think that Atlanta will be the "PLACE" to live. Places like Dallas and Houston have economies that are secure by having industries like oil and technology. We are going to always need these. Ao, I think these places are going to be KNOWN like Atlanta is and was.

Originally Posted by johnatl

This post in nothing more than wishful thinking that Atlanta experiences some sort of downfall.

Don't hold your breath.

+1. This poster is notorious for his hatred of Atlanta. He had another post complaining about people moving here instead of somewhere else.

[Dytdude]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

After the economy, I don't think that Atlanta will be the "PLACE" to live. Places like Dallas and Houston have economies that are secure by having industries like oil and technology. We are going to always need these. Ao, I think these places are going to be KNOWN like Atlanta is and was.

I don't either..Atlanta's boom time is over. Not a bad thing per se, but like you said it will pass the baton of growth to another metropolitan area. Like another poster said Atlanta is overdeveloped and I feel has absorbed too many people already.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by Dytdude

I don't either..Atlanta's boom time is over. Not a bad thing per se, but like you said it will pass the baton of growth to another metropolitan area. Like another poster said Atlanta is overdeveloped and I feel has absorbed too many people already.

Then you would be wrong. The same things that have caused the growth thus far have not changed or somehow left the area.

We have reached a certain critical mass. Metro's of this size and diversification don't just wither and die.

[atlantaATL]

These people Just dont wanna see Atlanta grow But it has stopped growning and didnt we just gain another fortune 500 company recently ?????

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by atlantaATL

These people Just dont wanna see Atlanta grow But it has stopped growning and didnt we just gain another fortune 500 company recently ?????

NCR has another two or three years left on the Fortune 500 max. They were on the inaugural list in '55 at 116, hit #79 in '91 before AT&T bought and destroyed them. Since 2006, it's fallen from 357 to 446 in 2009 for an average loss of 22 places a year. I just met up w/ a whole bunch of my old NCR coworkers last night and it's a bit of a low point of such a storied company.

I'm all for ATL's continued growth but I truly wish it wasn't at the expense of other cities and our own fiscal crunch. In order for NCR to move their HQ to Duluth, Purdue handed them $100M in tax breaks, Columbus gave them a free facility, and they shut down multiple facilities around the country and around the world. B/c NCR is losing money right now, I was highly suspect of income tax breaks since it would mean nothing to them. It turns out that NCR gets to keep payroll taxes collected from its employees to help their bottom line. So basically the area gets to handle 1,000+ people's families in services w/o any increased income tax base to work with for the next few years. Who's to say NCR won't abandon town once the tax break is up since they're just leasing everything here.

NCR hasn't technically created a net new job in years since for every job in GA, they removed one or more from Dayton and elsewhere. I know they shutdown Waterloo, Canada and Dundee, Scotland to move a few ATM jobs here which pay maybe 30k/yr. When I was in Duluth just 3 years ago, the facility was more than half empty from countless rounds of painful layoffs. The company had over 30,000 employees then compared to maybe 22,000 now w/ a huge chunk of that in overseas captive engineering centers.

Getting NCR isn't something to brag about. We decimated a city w/ a 120+ yr history w/ the company by handing them incredible "tax breaks" which works out to a huge cash handout plus free buildings and the ability to lower their headcount yet again. The jobs aren't even that high paying w/ an avg of 60k (I made more than that w/ them within months of graduating). We're opening up a game of poaching companies from each other w/ the hopes they'll stay but everything about the NCR deal says they'll just move on once the tax breaks are gone. They still own an entire country club in Dayton as well as plenty of real estate and the CEO hasn't left Manhattan.

[WanderingMover]

I think it's very interesting, this NCR move. Two US cities and the effects of Industry on both.FWIW, the history for Atlanta on these types of deals has been to give lots of breaks and then shortly the company is bought by out of staters and the HQ moved. I think you shouldn't underestimate Atlanta's ability to compete for it's population. This is the city that was in no way suspected of getting, let alone holding an Olympics.

Atlanta is a city that is good under 'fire'. Would not surprise me to see more of this, I hear ATL is actively targeting Bio-Tech. With CDC/Emory here, I can sure see some of that energy going down there.

[waronxmas]

I LOL at this thread. Just because there is a high unemployment rate and new jobs are far and few between, doesn't mean that Atlanta is failing. The economy in Atlanta is highly diversified and able to weather economic storms better than most metros. Just look at the top employers in the city:

1. UPS. They directly employee 450,000 people and indirectly employee another 1 million world wide. UPS moves more packages and freight than any other company on Earth. If you have to be told how important this company is to the world economy, then you don't know much about economics.

2. Coca-Cola. They directly employ 90,000, but like UPS they also employ close to 1 million people world wide indirectly. You may think that it's just a soda pop company but you'd be wrong. All bottling, distribution and sales are handled in each country/region.

3. The federal government. I read once that the only city that has more federal workers than Atlanta is D.C., however I'm looking for a reference for this one right now.

4. Hartsfield-Jackson. I suppose the largest and most frequented used inland port on the planet (and employer of 70,000) is just nothing. LOL

I'm sure I missed a lot, but just those four entities alone would make any city in this country a major player and pretty stable despite any other economic problems. Most of all, those companies aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

[diva05]

[quote=waronxmas;10627534]3. The federal government. I read once that the only city that has more federal workers than Atlanta is D.C., however I'm looking for a reference for this one right now.

4. Hartsfield-Jackson. I suppose the largest and most frequented used inland port on the planet (and employer of 70,000) is just nothing. LOL

QUOTE]

That makes sense. Atlanta has one of the federal reserve buildings. I am not sure how many are in the US, but I think less than a dozen.