Sandy Springs Together

Everyone Deserves a Voice

SST Blog Posts

Thank you for your CAC donations

Dear Neighbors, 

We have been blown away by the support you have shown our community by participating in Sandy Springs Together’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for the Community Assistance Center. 

Your generosity is humbling and, once again, you have shown that we are a unique city, which comes together to make sure we all can benefit from each other. 

 This city is full of acts of kindness all around us, with food being taken to drop off locations, masks being sewn, young people running errands for older folks and so much more.

If you hear about an act of kindness, please do let us know. We’d love to learn more about it.  

SO many of our neighbors are scared and struggling, not knowing if they will be able to make ends meet with all of the business closings and reduced hours. The Community Assistance Center’s call volume has risen 400% with more than 100 requests for rent assistance in process and more coming in hourly.

Their budget for COVID relief is $250,000 per month for the next 3 months. The impact of this pandemic and the economic fall-out is staggering.  

But you have made a difference and we thank you. 

If you haven’t made your contribution yet, and you want to see your donation matched by the Couchman Noble Foundation, head on over to the COVID-19 CAC donation link to have your donation matched by the Couchman Noble Foundation.

The match will end on April 4th. But, the link we will remain active beyond that date for all future donations.

Where Have All The Young People Gone?

Where have all the young people gone?

That’s a question you might be asking yourself if you attended the North End Community Input meeting on March 5th; a room filled with mostly middle-aged and older members of our community.

So, where have they gone?

Young People are Missing the Message

Our young people are not absent because they don’t care, they are absent because they are being left out of the conversation.  

Our residents aged 20 to 44 make up 41% of the total population of Sandy Springs — that’s a 7% increase over the past decade.

Such a large portion of our residents should not be left out of this conversation! It is their future that the city is planning.  We need their voices. 

Inclusivity is key,  so why are they not in these meetings?

City Meeting Advertising

If young people are unaware of these meetings, why is that happening? How does the city advertise these meetings?

Well, for one, the city advertises community input meetings in the two local newspapers, the “Sandy Springs Neighbor” and the “Sandy Springs Reporter”.

But, according to both paper’s circulation departments, only single family residences receive these publications. Yes, that’s right. Residents of our many apartment complexes don’t even get the papers.

In addition, the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods posts announcements about community input meetings on their social media platforms, but only homeowners and condo owners are allowed to be members of this non-profit. 

And finally, there’s the Home Owners Associations, which also publish information about community input meetings — but here again, only homeowners receive the information.

It’s common knowledge that most young people can’t afford to own property in Sandy Springs and, therefore, are not able to be homeowners. This means they are living in apartments, condos and townhomes — rental properties.

The Simple Solution to this Disconnect

We would like to see more efforts made by the city and these organizations to include ALL residents in news dissemination and city decision-making meetings, but there are a few ways you can help inform yourself. 

If you are an apartment resident looking to get informed, you have a few options:

  1. Head over to a restaurant who has extra copies of the” Sandy Springs Reporter” in their doorways.
  2. Sign Up Online for the Electronic Version of the “Reporter” 
  3. Sign Up Online for the Electronic Version of the “Neighbor” 
  4. Grab your electronic device and check out the city’s website, and hope that the city has posted the next meeting on the city’s calendar.
  5. Register for the City’s Newsletter

As of March 26, the meetings on May 2nd and May 9 have not been posted. 

Why is This Such a Big Issue?

You might be saying to yourself — there are several available options to get informed about meetings, so what’s the issue?

Unlike single family residences and homeowners, all of these methods require the resident taking action first.

As the resident, YOU have to know that these communication vehicles are available before you can take action. And, you need to know that there are activities going on that could impact you as a renter. 

If the city truly wants input from young residents, who are mostly apartment residents, they need to make an intentional effort to reach them.

How The City Can Reach Them

There are many ways for the city to do this.

  • The city could utilize multiple social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram.
  • The city could implement a targeted direct mail program that puts invitations and/or brochures of information in apartment residents mailboxes. 
  • A volunteer phone bank, or automated phone calls to all residents. 
  • Old fashioned poster on a bulletin board.

These are just a few obvious options, that we hope are not being purposely overlooked. 

Does the city care enough to implement them and make an effort to include all of our residents in this important discussion?

Let’s Push for a Change!

We know our young people are not absent because they don’t care, so let’s help them join the conversation.  

You can help us get more young people at the NEXT Community Conversation.

Reach out to your young friends and neighbors who missed the last meeting and tell them about the upcoming meeting on May 2 and May 9, or post about the upcoming meetings on your social media. 

And, make sure to stay connected to Sandy Springs Together as we inform the whole community about local news and upcoming events.

Sandy Springs needs Community Block Grants to address real housing problems for working families

What’s Happening

Did you know that Sandy Springs applies for federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) that are primarily designed to assure “fair housing” for all, and are intended to benefit low and moderate-income families?

Well, now you do.

And every five years, the city of Sandy Springs must submit an “Analysis of Impediments”, which evaluates how we are doing in regards to housing affordability, and outlines what the impediments are to providing fair and affordable housing in Sandy Springs.

So, What’s the Problem?

Our city first applied for CDBG funding back in 2008. To qualify for the funds, our City Council declared Sandy Springs a “slum city”, using the demographics of our low-income working families. 

These funds have been mainly used to build sidewalks. This was, in fact, a good thing due to the fact that the people that most often use the sidewalks are those that do not have automobiles.

But, there may be a better use for these funds that more directly benefit our city’s low to moderate-income residents in the long run.

Why Does It Matter Right Now?

Well, the city is about to go through the 2020 application process again. And, after putting together their assessment last November, it was open to “public comment” for 60 days, which closed on February 20.

As you might imagine, after reviewing their assessment, we were surprised by a few items.  You can download our complete commentary on their report, below:

Click Download to Read Our CommentsDownload

We are told that our comments about their assessment will be included in their report to city council on March 17. 

What The City’s Plan Gets Wrong

  • Ignores the impact that gentrification is having on the city’s socio-economic and racial diversity, displacement of over 2,500 residents (87% non white residents);
  • Claims to be monitoring the situation to “ensure that redevelopment does not deplete the city’s affordable housing stock and that the existing affordable stock is preserved and protected” but does not acknowledge losing almost 1,000 affordable apartments;
  • States that the city’s “Next Ten Plan” is for the benefit of the lower & moderate-income families while the “Next Ten” really encourages the redevelopment of thousands of apartments resulting in massive displacement to the people that currently live there.

What Should Happen Next

For starters, the city of Sandy Springs should revise their report to take into consideration the contradictions and discrepancies that we outlined in our suggestions to them.

Second, after several years of being primarily used for sidewalks, it’s time that the city re-evaluate how these CDBG funds are being used to see if there are other ways to more directly benefit low-and-moderate-income families.

What might that look like? How about taking into consideration the rising rents and increased traffic congestion and conducting an in-depth housing affordability study and making plans to keep our housing affordable?

Within the past year, the city has put out two RFP’s to revitalize the under-used shopping centers, a plan for parks, and a contract to build the beginning of a walking/trail system.

But, it is just “talking” about a housing study. Talking?

We need more than talk. A comprehensive study would be a worthwhile investment, and more directly benefit families that are in need of the CDBG funds.  

COVID-19 resources available in Sandy Springs

In light of the crisis currently facing our nation and world, we want to take just a minute to talk about what matters most in Sandy Springs right now. 

While we are an organization that has primarily focused our efforts on affordable housing policies, we know that there are more urgent needs facing our city today.

Sandy Springs Together knows that there are many in our community that would be glad to help, if only they knew where to put their effort. 

READ MORE

Believe it or not, gentrification is happening right now in Sandy Springs

What’s Happening

Gentrification is happening right now in the city of Sandy Springs.

The ever-rising cost of housing is impacting our city in many ways, including forcing families to move out, all the while existing apartments are replaced with newer, higher market-rate properties.

In addition, owners of existing apartments are choosing to increase rent for their tenants, in response to reduced supply and increased market demand. 

READ MORE