Civic Life in Atlanta: Grading on a Curve

Earlier this month The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta released a report on the state of civic life in Atlanta.  This report was based on an analysis the 2011 Current Population Survey for the Atlanta metropolitan region (there is a separate report that looks at the state of Georgia as a whole).

In the Atlanta area, 28% of respondants reported that they do formal volunteer work and 10% said that they work with neighbors to fix community problems.  Both of these proportions are higher than in most cities in the U.S., with Atlanta ranking 6th for formal volunteerism among the country's 51 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and 12th for working with neighbor to fix a community problem.  If 10% working with neighbors gets you 12th ranking overall, it must be really bad in a lot of places -- 10% seems quite low to me.  The volunteering that we do is most commonly done for (or perhaps through) religious and educational organizations.

41% of us participate in some kind of an organization.  Our participation is high, relative to other metropolitan areas, for participation in school groups (5th overall) and sports and recreation programs (11th).  This sounds right to me, given what I remember about when our kids were younger, with an expectation for a high degree of parental involvement in both school and extracurricular sports activities.  We may participate, but it's not necessarily because we want to.  According to the report, "there is less willingness among individuals to assume leadership responsibilities by holding an office or serving on a committee," with the Atlanta region ranking 35th in this category.

In the Atlanta area, we rank a dismal 34th for seeing or hearing regularly from family and 36th for eating regularly with others in the household.  The authors speculate that "this may reflect the region's long-standing status as an in-migration hub for job-seekers, especially young adults."  Maybe.  It also may reflect that so many people spend so much time driving (or at soccer practice).

In terms of electoral participation, 65% of us are registered to vote but only 47% of us voted in the previous mid-term election (27th and 22nd, respectively, compared to other metropolitan areas).  For local election voting, we are 34th, with only 31% of us voting.  But we are high for online political expression (9th), contacting public officials (13%), and making purchasing decisions for certain products (either to buy or not buy them) based on our personal values (12%).  I interpret this that we like to complain about things but we aren't very good at actually showing up at the ballot box.

What do they recommend we do about this?  The report ends with recommendations for increasing civic engagement, with lists of things individuals, nonprofits, funders, public officials, the media, and the private sector can do.  Most of this is totally in the non-rocket-science category.  "Invite your neighbors to dinner; introduce your neighbors to one another.  Begin a neighborhood project like a community garden or neighborhood watch...Begin a neighborhood listserv."  Show up.  Pay attention.  Say hello.  Put your neighbor's newspaper on their porch when they're out of town.

And don't just complain, but figure out which candidate you think is best for the job and vote.

The Cost of Sprawl

The work that was done in the neighborhood, funded by the Federal Safe Routes to School program, is now done or almost done.  Yesterday I saw the new high tech pedestrian crossing lights at Sussex and East Rock Springs, installed in time for the start of school next month.  The sod that was put down where intersection work was done looks great, thanks to all the rain; when they put it down a few months ago I figured it was doomed, since no one was going to water it, and it would fade to brown once the weather got hot -- I'm glad I was wrong.  But on the neighborhood email lists there's still grousing about loss of the right turn lane at Morningside and North Highland and new bike lanes on 10th Street are generating complaints, too.

The traffic is bad in Atlanta and we can't build our way out of it by building more roads -- even if there was the money to do it (which there isn't), extra lanes just generate more traffic and we end up with the same or greater level of congestion.  We have to drive less, and that's hard to do in a city with such limited transit options.  

Atlanta's sprawl and lack of transit options are especially bad for less well-off people.  Combine sprawl with lower-cost housing located far from where the jobs are, and if you doesn't have a reliable car to get to work, well, it's really hard to work.  It's not rocket science, but that was one of the findings in a new study that was highlighted in yesterday's New York Times.  Atlanta's geography is one of the factors that keeps poor people poor in Atlanta.

Our reliance on cars means state and local governments have to support a sprawling road network that does not generate enough tax revenue in many areas to be self-supporting.  It means employers have to plan for parking for their employees, which often means higher costs for them.  And if you don't have a car and you don't happen to live in a neighborhood where MARTA can get you where you need to go, you're just out of luck.

But here in Atlanta we just keep driving, and complaining about the traffic.

One Week in the Neighborhood

Last Wednesday night Tom and the girls were out of town, so Iain and I took in Food Truck Wednesday on North Highland.  This was our first time to try it and it was fun.  We got sandwiches from MIX’d UP and split an order of classic fries.  My lamb burger with tzatziki sauce was excellent, but with the large bun there seemed to be too much bread, so I just didn't eat all of it.  Iain got a spicy chicken sandwich that he said was quite good.  We hadn't brought folding chairs (note to self for next time) so we sat on the curb at the back of the parking lot.  Afterwards we got popsicles from King of Pops and ate them on the way home.

On Saturday Iain and I made our Saturday morning trip to Alon’s and the Morningside Farmer’s Market.  Lettuce and arugula and heritage zucchini and cherry tomatoes from Crystal Organic Farm, blueberries and green onions and tomatoes and giant banana peppers (or peppers that looked like giant banana peppers) from D & A Farm, and Italian sausage from Riverview Farms.

Later that morning I went looking for the other Little Free Library in the neighborhood; after I wrote about the one we found at Cumberland and Reeder, I heard from a neighbor that there was also one on North Pelham, and a few day earlier the girls told me they had spotted it and told me where to look for it.  So I found it, between Pine Ridge and the traffic circle, adjacent to the sidewalk and facing the street.

That afternoon the girls and I went to the Goat Farm Arts Center to hear part of the Chamber Cartel's performance of Erik Satie's Vexations.  No one really knows what Erik Satie envisioned when he wrote the three lines that constitute this piece and its accompanying instructions ("In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities"), but since the 1960s when John Cage and Lewis Lloyd organized a relay team of pianists for the work's first public performance, this has been interpreted to mean that Satie intended for the theme and its two variations to be played 840 times. According to the Chamber Cartel's program notes, "the piece was once attempted by a soloist who, having experienced intense hallucinations as a result, stopped after only 15 hours."

When we got there, Cecilia Trode and Chamber Cartel's Caleb Herron were playing.  At precisely 6 p.m., the musical baton (figuratively speaking) was passed to the Resile Quartet, a saxophone quartet.  The venue -- Goodson Yard at the Goat Farm Arts Center -- was gorgeous and the audience small but appreciative.

I decided I really wanted to be there for the end of the performance, so I went back late Sunday morning and heard Bora Moon, Johnny Brown, and Robert Marshall on clarinet, flute, and cello (not necessarily in that order); they were wonderful.  

Caleb Herron was back for the last hour (he actually played for 5 hours of the 24 hour performance) and was amazing, especially given he had not slept in over 24 hours.  He played the vibraphone (I think it's a vibraphone) with different mallets, then with bows like a string player would use, and finally with his hands, ending at precisely noon.  There was moment of silence between when the music stopped and we started to clap (no one wanted to be that awkward concertgoer who claps at the wrong time) but it was the right time and Mr. Herron looked happy but exhausted.  He said he was going to go home and get some sleep.

That night we made soup from the peppers that might or might not be banana peppers and a salad from our Farmers' Market lettuce, arugula, and tomatoes.  It was pretty good.  Afterwards Iain and I walked back to the Little Free Library at Cumberland and Reeder and I found a book I wanted to read.

Yesterday morning I walked to work, and there was a duck in the creek at Durand's Mill.  

So, it was a good week, except for my car getting totalled on Thursday.  But that's another post.