We moved
to Dunwoody GA in the heart of Atlanta Metro in 1983. Manufacturing had moved
to the Atlanta Metro suburbs and we had over 100 manufacturing plants in office
parks in the 4 major counties that included DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett
Counties.
Most of these manufacturing plants were electronics related. This was
the PC and Telecom boom that resulted from technical advances in electronics.
Integrated circuits pioneered by Texas Instruments were being developed to
increase functionality. CAD computer aided design was developing to allow for
CIM computer integrated manufacturing, programmed robotics was ensuring
consistent tight tolerance quality. The PCs capable of internet connectivity
and cell phones were being developed. Everything was digitized to allow
paperless records and transactions. Bar codes were used to track materials and
shipments. We implemented lean strategies to deliver continuous process
management to assure product quality and increase throughput. After 2000, I
watched all of these electronics companies move manufacturing off-shore to
China, Mexico and other countries and watched rural manufacturing companies in
Georgia disappear. I hope Tariffs will return manufacturing to rural Georgia.
GDP is
$425.7 billion and Atlanta Metro ranks 10th in US Metro Areas behind
Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago,
Los Angeles and New York. The GDP for the State of Georgia is $602 billion.
Population
is 5.9 billion and Atlanta Metro ranks 9th in US Metro Areas behind
Philadelphia, Miami, Washington DC, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and
New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistical_areas.
The population for the State of Georgia is 10.6 million.
Traffic is gridlocked and Atlanta Metro
ranks 11th on the list of Metros with the most gridlock. Hours lost in congestion per capita: 108. Cost of congestion per driver: $1,505. Total
cost of congestion for city: $3.5 billion.
We are competing with:
10th Portland
OR,
9th
Philadelphia PA
8th San
Francisco CA
7th Pittsburgh
PA
6th Seattle WA
5th Los Angeles
CA
4th New York
City NY
3rd Chicago IL
2nd Washington
DC
1st Boston MA
Both I-85 and I-75 run
through downtown Atlanta north and south.
The I-285 Bypass is too close to the city center. There is no effective
outer bypass for interstate traffic. There
is no effective highway grid to allow easier east to west commuting.
Atlanta Metro is decades
behind and did not expand its road and highway systems enough during the 1960s
to 1980s to 2020. It is playing catch-up now that the cost of this
infrastructure has tripled.
Atlanta
Crime - Dunwoody crime is impacted by high crime in neighboring cities and
counties.
Many gangs started appearing in Georgia in the
mid1980s, as a result of the crack
cocaine epidemic. In
2003, there were an estimated 78 gangs in the Atlanta area alone. In 2015,
Atlanta police announced that they were tracking an estimated 192
gangs. In more recent times,
Mexican drug cartels have established Atlanta
as a major distribution hub for methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Drug dealing is the main source of
money for gang members, which has led some of the gangs to form untraditional
alliances with one another. Armed
robbery, commonly drug
robberies, are another way in which gangs capitalize in Atlanta's open air drug
market.
The well-known gangs are mainly concentrated in
the West, Southwest, Southeast, and East Atlanta with many gangs with turf on
the outskirts of the city and have hybrid sets that are found in smaller cities
all over Georgia. Some of the gangs are nationwide, such as the Trill Gang Sureños,
Tiny
Rascal Gang, and MS-13 who have sent high ranking shot
callers to establish local neighborhood cliques as loyal sets under the same
flag.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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