WSJ on Atlanta’s white flight back to the city

Attention all wonks! Atlanta is once again featured in a story about the changing faces of cities. The Wall Street Journal reports cities nationwide are seeing whites moving back into cities in large numbers as African-Americans move out. Big shock, I know, but they’ve got great numbers to prove it.

From the article:

Today, cities are refashioning themselves as trendy centers devoid of suburban ills like strip malls and long commutes. In Atlanta, which has among the longest commute times of any U.S. city, the white population rose by 26,000 between 2000 and 2006, while the black population decreased by 8,900. Overall the white proportion has increased to 35% in 2006 from 31% in 2000.

The WSJ focuses heavily on Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, but we get a little play in there, even a mention of how the next mayor’s race may feature the first competitive white candidate since the 1980s.

For an Atlanta-focused — and well-written — take on the the city’s gentrification, check out this article by Governing Magazine’s Rob Gurwitt.

(Many thanks to the mysterious “Christa” at PecanneLog for the find.)