As teardowns of old homes continue in East Cobb and the rest of the county, residents are taking notice.
In a recent survey conducted by the Atlanta Regional Commission, 62 percent of Cobb residents responded that they’ve seen older homes in their areas being leveled by new, bigger and much more expensive homes.
Furthermore, another 44 percent said they could not afford to stay in their communities if they had to move.
The ARC’s 2019 Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey, which was unveiled earlier this month, included the launch of the organization’s Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy, which is meant to help local governments understand their housing challenges.
The study was conducted by the A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University, and included the responses of more than 5,000 people in 13 counties about quality-of-life issues.
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the residents surveyed said they’ve seen home “flipping” in which residential properties are remodeled and sold or rented at higher prices.
East Cobb is included in what the ARC describes as a “submarket” of “moderate-to-higher-priced suburban neighborhoods consisting almost entirely of single family homes.” That submarket (see map below), which includes other communities mostly in the north metro area, has a median home age of 26 years and a median home sales price of $298,000.
For that submarket, the ARC suggests, among other things, expanding the housing supply by reducing development costs. That would include increasing residential density “by reducing setbacks and minimum square footage requirements that support smaller lot sizes, duplex-fourplex designs, accessory units, multi-family development and micro-units.”
Although there’s no public transit in East Cobb (except for a CobbLinc bus route along Powers Ferry Road), 48 percent of Cobb residents in the survey said expanded transit is the best option for the Atlanta region’s traffic issues.
Another 30 percent of Cobb residents said transportation is the biggest problem facing the region, followed by 11 percent who cited concerns over crime.
The ARC survey also asked respondents about jobs and careers and the local economy. In 2013, the economy was cited by 24 percent as the biggest problem in metro Atlanta; that figure has fallen to 7 percent.
What wasn’t included in the ARC survey was housing as one of those categories. They included education, health care, taxes, race relations and others.
Here are the questions that were asked on the survey.
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