Is Someone Trying to Knock Atlanta Off the Amazon Contender List?

Politicians, chamber of commerces and job seekers are all excited about Atlanta being on the short list of 20 contender cities for the coveted Amazon new location. But is there something amidst with negative press about Georgia?

First there was the news of Atlanta ranking first place for 2018 Top 100 Truck Bottleneck List in the country as reported by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). Located in Arlington, VA, ATRI has collected and reported freight performance measures through truck GPS data since 2002. To add insult to injury, Atlanta is listed six more times on the list including:

#1 – I-285 at I-85 (Spaghetti Junction)
#4 – I-75 at I-285 NB (Cobb Cloverleaf)
#17 – I-20 at I-285 WB
#46 – I-20 at I-285 EB
#79 – I-20 at I-75/85
#90 – I-75 at I-85 (Downtown Connector, Brookwood)
#95 – I-75 at I-675

Atlanta has been prominent on this Top 100 Truck Bottleneck List for three years, and these facts do not paint a pretty driving picture for Amazon executives.

Next came the news that WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked Georgia #9 as the ‘worst place’ to live in the United States. According to TheRed&Black publication, eight experts conducted the study and the methodology data set “ranges from median family salary to housing affordability to unemployment rate.” Georgia’s rankings in the WalletHub report are as follows:

• Family Fun – 20 out of 50
• Affordability – 32 out of 50
• Education and Childcare – 45 out of 50
• Socio-Economics – 44 out of 50
• Health and Safety – 48 out of 50

Is someone trying to knock Atlanta off the Amazon contender list or is it a simple case of ‘the numbers don’t lie’? Either way, Georgia politicians, business owners and other stakeholders must develop a strategy to improve the numbers to bring more people and businesses to the peach state!