MM: Avondale Approved Annexation Plan, More Ponce City Market Tenants Announced, and Great State Parks

18 thoughts on “MM: Avondale Approved Annexation Plan, More Ponce City Market Tenants Announced, and Great State Parks”

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2. Per yesterday’s MM, The Atlantic asked “What’s Wrong With Georgia” and theorized that the state’s business-friendly approach is inferior to the blue-state model of more regulation and higher public spending.

   In today’s MM, we learn that Mercedes is likely to relocate approximately 1,000 high-skill jobs from deep-blue New Jersey to Atlanta.

   1. Yes, from a state where there are strong unions and higher hourly wages (even in non-union companies) to a “right-to-work” (meaning, actually just the opposite) state where there are no unions and low hourly wages. There’s nothing contradictory in this scenario from the gist of that article.

      1. Exactly. The Atlantic piece does not dispute that Georgia’s business-friendly is great for businesses. It is AWESOME for corporations. It just sucks for the workers. Lower wages, less job security, soaring profits!

         1. All the “best for business” rankings in the world won’t make up for the fact that Georgia (and even more so the other Southern states where some business like to operate) consistently ranks near the bottom of nearly every quality-of-life measure. Such measures may matter less if you have money (can afford private school for the kids, for example), but for others…

            1. But man those rankings (at least that I’ve seen) are so incredibly subjective, both in terms of what they do take into account and what they omit. Many of the lists I’ve read rank very cold weather states the highest. Well, IMO, Minnesota or Maine may have great virtues, but I’d never agree to live there. Our current cold spell notwithstanding, I place a very high value on little to no snow and an early spring.

               1. I would tend to agree about the weather. But recently a colleague who moved here from PA a couple of years ago (and hates it here) made an interesting point. When she was complaining about the miserable summers here, I mentioned the awful winters there. Her reply was that you are supposed to be able to spend time outside in the summer instead of holed up inside with the A.C. Fair enough, I guess.

                  1. …and mosquitos. For much of the summer, it’s unpleasant, maybe even unwise, to sit outside anywhere but behind a screen on a porch or tent, especially in the evening. And don’t get me started on chiggers…

         2. bah! There’s also, lower cost of living, lower personal taxes, better weather etc. There is a flood of people leaving the rust belt for states like GA, FL and TX.
            Don’t worry about Georgia or Georgians. We’re going to be just fine. You want to worry, call NJ. Call Michigan.

      2. The gist of the article was that our unemployment rate remains stubbornly high despite our business friendly approach, and that hands-off governance is inferior to public-sector spending that allegedly yields a more educated workforce, better public transit, and related benefits that stimulate hiring. That Mercedes is not only coming here, but likely to locate on the Perimeter, obviously contradicts that thesis. See also Porsche’s expanded HQ near the airport just a few years ago.

         1. If memory serves, the article does acknowledge that the closer in part of metro Atlanta is doing better than the rest of the state.

            1. It does, but it remains a statewide article. It would be unfair (at best) to indict state policies as failures while excluding Atlanta from the evaluation.

               1. The converse of your statement would be more accurate: It would be a distortion (at best) to pronounce state policies as successes while focusing upon the Atlanta metro area and excluding most of Georgia from the evaluation.

   2. Per the economic wonks I heard talking about this on the radio, there’s more to having a strong economy than being business-friendly. Georgia has put all its eggs in the business-friendly basket and that might not be wise.

4. Re Mercedes relocating to Atlanta from NJ, I guess it’s a good thing Gov. Christie isn’t a Falcons fan.

   washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/01/06/chris-christies-trip-to-dallas-on-jerry-jones-dime-raises-ethics-concerns/

   1. How funny was that? I’m watching the game and all of sudden, they flash to the owners’ box and there’s Chris Christie! I immediately thought, “I guess he doesn’t really want to be president.”

      1. He can’t be. He’s not a Bush or Clinton.

6. Or, at the least, it’s safe to say he doesn’t plan on winning his home state or Michigan.

8. That Tucker-Northlake piece is some great in-depth reporting by the AJC. Was there possibly more information behind the pay wall?

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