The Price of Success is Leadership

Metro Atlanta has been adding the equivalent of a city the size of Savannah to its population each year for the past six years. While that is good for our economic vitality and creates jobs and workforce resources, it also presents challenges for most of us daily. In my corner of the world, we are dealing with these challenges by working every day to deliver better transportation systems and alternatives through partnerships. The Perimeter market is strong and its investors are committed to finding ways to keep Perimeter the place to be.

Sometimes we get so bogged down in the immediate that we don't take time to reflect on our long range goals. What do we want Atlanta and the region to look like 10-15 or even 30 years from now? What does success look like in our mind's eye? We love trees, open space and clean air. We want to offer a quality of life in Atlanta that is attractive to long-time residents as well as our new comers. How do we do that?

The legislature is taking important steps right now to figure out how our taxes should be distributed and how to create legislative opportunities that will drive transportation solutions well into the future. The pie has to be bigger so that we can all compete for projects and funding that will allow our areas to sustain their growth. The Governor's Fast Forward Georgia initiative is thriving at Perimeter. The determination of the Georgia Department of Transportation to fulfill that plan is evident in our working relationship with its leadership. We have to keep pace with our transportation plan, but even more importantly, we have to see a way to move ahead of it. Two million more people are on their way here over the next 25 years.

The Governor hit it head on his first term and hopefully, there will be a second phase to his Fast Forward Georgia that will provide us with even more opportunity to bring private/public partnership opportunities to the table. We have been able to accelerate improvements inside the business districts that are meaningful to our customers, businesses, visitors and residents. But, we have to keep moving forward to reduce congestion, poor air quality and high transportation costs if metro Atlanta and all of Georgia are going to remain an attractive business location.

Perimeter will stay focused, remain results driven and be accountable for cost benefits to our investors on their self-imposed property taxes. We are experiencing a great return on investment with our government partners, but like many other communities, our need is great.