At a time when emergency support is critically important, the Sandy Springs city council approved a $25,000 emergency payment to the Community Assistance Center. Councilman Bauman brought the motion to the council.
READ MOREDear 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.
The Roswell Road Small Area Plan is an addendum to The Next Tex: Comprehensive Plan for Sandy Springs, GA. This Small Area Plan provides a vision and an implementation path for a re-imagined Roswell Road. This addendum builds background and explains the community engagement process. It delves into the demographics of the area as well as outlining existing land use and the character of the community.
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.
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HEADS UP!
The city of Sandy Springs is hosting a community input meeting on Thursday, March 5th at 6:00pm and will be held at City Hall, located at 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs, Ga. 30328.
Will you be there? We NEED your voice.
What We Know
What We Don’t Know
There’s a few questions that we need answers to that we hope will come out of this meeting:
We Need You There
Your voice is needed at this meeting.
Is this the type of city we want?
Or do we want to have development with preservation of housing affordability?
We can, and should, do both. But we need YOU to stand with us by making your voice heard, loud and clear. Share your stories, your insight, your feedback. Lift your voices.
See you on March 5th at 6pm at City Hall!
Since the inception of Sandy Springs Together, we’ve harped on the importance of the city addressing the growing affordable housing crisis before it’s too late.
We’ve also highlighted the fact that this problem isn’t exclusive to Sandy Springs — it’s impacting the entire city of Atlanta and similar metropolitan areas around the country.
11Alive Speaks Up
Recently, the news crew over at 11Alive produced a great segment articulating the key issues and consequences that the ever-rising cost of housing is creating in the Atlanta area.
As 11Alive says in their report, “it has become common in Atlanta — homes coming down, expensive buildings and developments going up.”
Why This is a Problem
This is a huge problem because people who have lived in these areas for decades are being forced out of their neighborhood, and the average person cannot afford to live in, or even near, the city.
As it stands now, according to an Atlanta Business Chronicle report, roughly 340,000 Atlanta households pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs, including rent and mortgage.
The 11Alive segment points out that the fact that these high housing costs impact people’s ability to spend money on other things, such as healthcare, daycare and even basic necessities, like groceries.
Perhaps an even more compelling argument comes from the National Association of Realtors, who argue that as housing prices increase, workers have to live farther out, which means businesses are less likely to come to Atlanta due to workers’ longer commutes.
Solid Evidence
Housing prices are up nearly 50% over the last 5 years; that is a short time to see such a price hike.
Housing prices are more than double the growth rate of the median family income.
It’s evident that the impact of a lack of housing affordability is seeping its way into all aspects of our lives.
The Solution
Well, the city of Atlanta has a $1 billion — yes, BILLION — plan to tackle some of the core issues that drive the affordable housing crisis.
We can be part of the solution as well.
Sandy Springs Together started as a group of concerned citizens. We’ve been echoing these same sentiments every single day since our founding.
If you’re finding yourself feeling like a concerned citizen as well, we would love for you to join us as we search for the best policies.
Action is needed and it’s needed now.
Let’s make it happen together.
