Fresh Loaf

Jim Walls at Atlanta Unfiltered dug into Atlanta’s crime statistics for this year and found that, yep, crime is  down citywide. But there are pockets where it’s risen sharply.

Aggravated assaults climbed by more than 50 percent in downtown Atlanta this year, and residential burglaries were up sharply in Buckhead and southwest Atlanta, police statistics show.

…

Aggravated assault, for instance, climbed 52 percent in Zone 5 (downtown Atlanta), even as it declined by 8 percent in the rest of the city. Auto theft was up 23 percent and bicycle theft up 120 percent in Zone 5 during the same period.

Residential burglaries climbed 54 percent in Zone 3 (Southwest Atlanta) over 2008, the statistics show. In Zone 2 (Buckhead), residential burglaries rose 33 percent. Elsewhere in the city, the number of burgaries was stable or down slightly; in Zone 1 (northwest Atlanta), they were down 28 percent.

More info at Atlanta Unfiltered.

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The Atlanta Regional Commission says metro Atlanta will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than it enjoyed during the 1990s. Nonetheless, expect to call approximately three million more people neighbors by 2040.

In its latest monthly forecast, which is basically like Christmas for a fact-loving pagan wonk like myself, the commission’s researchers say:

slower growth in population and employment is likely to be the norm across the country, as well as in the Atlanta region. Many of the factors affecting metro Atlanta are nationwide phenomena. For example, the average family continues to shrink, including those of second and third-generation immigrants. Combine fewer births with the decrease in the number of baby boomers over the next 30 years, and it’s clear that natural attrition will play a large part in moderating the Atlanta Region’s growth.

By that time, its residents will also be a lot older and younger, too — which will mean fewer people to fill available jobs.

(more…)

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2008 crime statistics, released on Monday, add weight to the argument that, contrary to what some folks in City Hall might’ve said in the past, Atlanta’s crime concerns aren’t about perception but about people actually entering your car or home and taking your possessions.

Although the bureau’s stats show violent crimes in Atlanta decreased 8.3 percent compared to 2007 (that’s good!), property crimes such as burglaries, thefts and larceny jumped 7.6 percent (that’s bad!). That’s quite a leap in just a year and a stark contrast to the 1.6 percent decrease in property crimes enjoyed by the rest of the country.

Real Clear Politics crunched the bureau’s statistics and concluded Atlanta had a 16 percent per capita crime rate, thus earning it the distinction of being the second least safe city in the United States. Memphis, Tenn., earned top honors. San Antonio, Texas, Detroit and Milwaukee rounded out the bottom five.

Celebrate our dubious honor by locking up your flat screens, supporting your local patrolman, and keeping valuables in your car out of sight.

(H/T to Sara for noting the RCP article)

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Percent of Americans who live in counties with unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution: 40

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round ozone: 12

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution: 6

Rank of Plant Bowen, a Georgia Power coal electricity plant in Cartersville, among national producers of smog-causing sulfur dioxide: 1

Days in 2007 when Atlanta’s air quality was rated “Good” based on Environmental Protection Agency standards: 113

Days in 2000 when Atlanta’s air quality was rated “Good” based on EPA standards: 76

People in Atlanta’s five core counties with asthma or chronic bronchitis: 384,547

Population of metro Atlanta in 2007: 4,029,400

Projected population of metro Atlanta area in 2030: 5,261,534

Sources: American Lung Association, Atlanta Regional Commission, Environmental Integrity Project, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division.

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What you’re looking at above is not a map showing which states had the hottest summers, most incidences of horrendous animal-cruelty cases, or even political leanings. This map, dear reader, is a state-by-state illustration of foreclosure increases in the nation. The redder you are, the more you had. Note Georgia.

According to RealtyTrac.com — where this map came from — Georgia is ranked fourth in the nation for foreclosure filings in August 2007, up 133.47 percent since the previous year. One out of every 271 households filed for foreclosure.

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