Melanie Couchman on Affordable Housing in Sandy Springs
What happens to a city when the workers who keep it running can no longer afford to live there? Sandy Springs is showing us what happens.
In this episode of North Fulton Voices, Jack Murphy and Nancy Diamond of the North Fulton Improvement Network (NFIN) sit down with Melanie Couchman, co-founder and executive director of Sandy Springs Together, for a frank look at what a decade of housing advocacy in one of metro Atlanta’s most complex cities has actually taught her.
Sandy Springs was largely built out before it incorporated in 2005, inheriting 93 multifamily apartment communities, three MARTA stations, major medical centers, and Fortune 500 employers, all shaped by Fulton County before a local government existed to make its own decisions. Everything that gets built now requires demolition of something else first, and that changes the economics of every project.
The losses are concrete: 15,000 affordable apartment units gone in five years as tax credit agreements expired and rents moved to market rate. One elementary school closed. Enrollment has fallen 11 to 12 percent across Sandy Springs schools over seven years. Employers are reporting real problems recruiting and retaining workers who will not commute an hour each way when they have any other choice.
Melanie walks through where the opportunities are and what is actually blocking progress. Her message to North Fulton cities that still have time to act is direct: the families who leave do not come back.
North Fulton Voices is presented by the North Fulton Improvement Network. The show series is proudly sponsored by John Ray Co. and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC.
Key Takeaways from This Episode
Sandy Springs was built before it had a government to shape it. The city inherited its infrastructure from Fulton County, and everything built next requires demolition first.
Housing instability shows up in school data first. A 30 percent rate of student mobility and a matching 30 percent rate of teacher mobility were the data points that launched Sandy Springs Together.
15,000 affordable units can disappear without a single building coming down. When LIHTC agreements expire and rents move to market rate, the loss is invisible until families are already gone.
Sandy Springs is the second-largest employment center in metro Atlanta, and its employers are struggling to recruit and retain workers who cannot afford to live nearby.
The tools for solutions exist. What Melanie argues is missing is intentional leadership at the state and local levels and financial frameworks that make the economics work for developers.
Delays compound the problem. Sandy Springs first addressed housing in its 2017 comprehensive plan and did not act with enough urgency. The cost of that delay is now measured in closed schools and families who are not coming back.