chairman, board of trans
portation
Websites
www.atlantaga,gov; www.ebonypages.com
When visitors come to town, Marsha and Willie Middleton II do the rudimentary run by the World of Coca-Cola, Lenox Square mall, and the MLK Historic Site. The thirtysomething couple also loves showing off high-end neighborhood houses. “When friends come, we try to convince them to move here,” says Marsha, a London native and a graduate of Florida A&M University.
With a household income around $120,000, the couple was able to buy a home—three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a full basement, and a backyard for their small dog, Chico—in the ‘burbs for $144,000 three years ago. “Friends are normally amazed,” says Marsha, a public relations manager at the Four Seasons Hotel. “People think Atlanta’s cost of living is comparable to New York or Washington, D.C., but when you move to the outskirts, you get more value for your dollar.”
The Middletons plan to move to Fayette County, part of the 16-county metro Atlanta area, in the next few years to be closer to Willie’s parents. The parents of a newborn son want to take advantage of the public school system there.
Willie also looks forward to building their next home from scratch—typical for Atlantans. “With me building, I’ll save 30% to 40%,” says the University of Georgia graduate and former city field engineer. Currently self-employed, Willie, along with other investors, buys and renovates homes.
Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn, who has spent the past three years in the city, has quickly connected with the city’s movers and shakers. His foundation initiated a program to help single women with children become first-time homeowners. “This was my way of putting my personal stamp on the city.”
Accessibility makes Atlanta a well of opportunity for black entrepreneurship. “Corporations, community organizations, and government entities all believe in inclusiveness,” says Cynthia R. Jones, president of Jones Worley Communications, an environmental graphic design consultancy that she launched in the city 15 years ago. “Minorities have the option to be heard and, even though they may not get a contract, they can still get in doors.” —Nadirah Sabir
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
How We Ranked The Cities
Over a five-week period, between Feb. 5 and March 12, 2004, participants were asked to evaluate their cities based on their level of satisfaction with 21 quality-of-life factors. Responses ranged from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied), with 3 being neutral. The total for each quality-of-life factor was divided by the number of respondents who rated that issue, resulting in a mean rating ranging from 1 to 5—with a total of 105 considered a perfect score.
Although more than 300 cities were nominated, with cumulative scores averaging 59.15, only those cities with more than 30 responses and an overall “satisfied” rating greater than 60.00 were given top consideration. So, major metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles had more than 50 residents respond to the survey, but their final tallies were only 55.50 and 53.43, respectively. This methodolgy gave us our survey ranking of 12 top cities.
From there we looked at actual