Atlanta Posts Highest Growth in 35 Years

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Last year, the city of Atlanta had its highest rate of population growth in 35 years. That's according to the figures released today by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Between 1970 and 2000, the city of Atlanta was losing residents. An estimated 80,000 people fled the city. But between April 1 of 2006, and April 1, 2007, the city's population grew by 2.8%.

ALEXANDER: 2.8 doesn't sound big, but that's a big growth. I mean, adding 12,600 people to a city that's stable, doesn't have a lot of vacant land, isn't a suburban county that's a lot of growth

Mike Alexander is with the Atlanta Regional Commission. He says there could be a number of reasons for the growth.

ALEXANDER: I think proximity to jobs, quality of life, a resurgence of just this overall feel of a city with new restaurants, new shopping, people wanting that type of walkable environment

Today's report also says that in the last year, the population of the 10-county metro region passed 4 million.