There's been a stream of grim news about Georgia's pace of economic recovery and the state's position against the rest of the country in terms of competing for the building blocks of success in the future. The real estate and construction-driven economy we've known for decades was driven by relentless population and economic growth in Georgia (and the Sunbelt in general). Those days are over, and unfortunately it looks like the state lagged in planning for and promoting the next big things- research and development- that will drive economic growth and attract young talent to the city. The difficulty some constituencies in the state have in putting all of the pieces together, i.e. understanding that addressing regional issues like transportation (and moreover, encouraging the right kind of development around it) are a big part of the problem. It falls on the state's leaders to start educating its populace on the change in stance Georgia urgently requires to stop the backward slide.
· After decades of growth, Georgia now facing a whole new economic reality [Saporta Report]