This morning’s AJC asks its readers – and many Atlanta experts – “Are metro Atlanta’s growth days gone?”, and then goes on to document metro Atlanta’s financial struggle in a post-Lehman Brothers world.

I humbly suggest that such a question skirts the real issue at hand in favor of easy observation, and is a lot like unharnessing your horse, moving him to the rear of your cart, and commanding “Push!”.

What exactly is wrong with asking “Has Atlanta’s era of unbridled growth finally ended?”.

Well, to me that’s a lot like looking at your house-flipping uncle, who lost his shirt when the housing bubble burst, and worrying about whether ol’ Uncle Teddy can keep risking the farm and coming out ahead.  It completely misses the real challenge of a suffering metro area or family member, which is “Can Atlanta/Uncle Ted alter its/his behaviors in an era of new realities?”  Can you make the necessary changes or not?

Dang, let’s hope so.  Because gone are the days when Atlanta could make no mistakes – or at least not suffer the consequences of mistakes.  Growth covered up all wrongs. Develop poorly – build the subdivisions far and wide, jam the highways, underfund your transit.  Structure your city budgets under the assumption that growth lasts forever. Because it does, right?

Growth periods are great.  But just like too many Snickers bars or too much folic acid in your diet; too much sustained growth will get anyone into trouble.

And now the day of reckoning is upon us, as it is for many cities.  It’s time for Atlanta’s leaders and residents to man up and show they can run a 21st century city with more limited resources and an uncertain future.  We need to make more thoughtful decisions about growth patterns, cut the fat out of the budget and fund the projects that can prove results.

Thank goodness the era of growth has ended.  I’m not sure we could have handled any more good fortune.