DeKalb County | Global County

People familiar with Buford Highway know that it’s like experiencing a dozen countries right next to each other. There’s a Mexican restaurant that proclaims it’s “siempre abierto” (always open). A nearby shopping center has a Latino supermercado, a Japanese buffet and a Vietnamese restaurant. There’s a car lot with signs in Spanish. A few blocks later, a Latino truck dealership.

A halal meat market sits near a Vietnamese establishment. One business flies a Korean flag.

“The community along Buford Highway is something special,” Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman says. “Something that we don’t want to lose.”

Buford Highway starts in Brookhaven on the south end, and as you head north it runs through Doraville, which has a population of about 12,000. About 43% of those residents are immigrants, mostly from Latin America and Asia, according to the Data USA website.

Mayor Geierman grew up in Southern California but moved to Doraville in 2001.

“When I came to Doraville, I lived essentially a block or two from Buford Highway. It really did feel like a mix of all kinds of people living together,” he says. “Different businesses, different neighbors from all kinds of different backgrounds, and it felt very comfortable to me.”

That comfort is being challenged by the current political climate, with many immigrants feeling like they are being targeted.

“That’s a community that’s under pressure right now,” Geierman says. “There [are] a lot of people who are scared to go out and spend money. To just do basic things. I think that is an economic challenge.”

Doraville is helping, however it can, to make day-to-day life easier, he says. “The city has tried to make its services more accessible, providing different language options on the website, trying to make things open for people regardless of their language abilities.”

One big draw to residents and visitors alike is the Buford Highway Farmers Market, which is open daily and free to the public. For more than three decades, it has provided more ethnic food varieties under one roof than any other single-location grocery store in Atlanta. The market not only features unique and exotic produce, it also has organic fruits and vegetables, a diverse meat and seafood department and specializes in authentic ingredients, traditional ethnic cuisine, and hard-to-find items.

Open and Accepting

In Decatur, there’s a similar scene at Your DeKalb Farmers Market, which offers food from throughout the world.

“On a weekend, it’s like stepping into the United Nations,” says author Ralph Ellis, who has lived in Metro Atlanta since 1990 and Decatur since 2007. “You see people from everywhere in the world there. They have employees from everywhere in the world. That’s one of the cool things about living around here.”

Perhaps no city is more closely identified with DeKalb County than Decatur. It is the county seat and physically tied to Atlanta through MARTA and DeKalb Avenue. Agnes Scott College is in the city, and Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are nearby.

Decatur is politically progressive and is home to a large LGBTQ community.

“It’s more tolerant,” says Ellis. “I like that kind of open, accepting atmosphere.”

Patti Garrett is serving her 10th year as Decatur mayor and her 16th as a city leader.

“I feel like part of that is just the sort of community vibe that we have and the feeling that people have that they can go out, see other people,” she says.

It wasn’t always like that.

“It’s changed a lot,” Garrett says. “The Olympics was pretty transformative for downtown Decatur in particular, sort of focusing on what we could offer not just to our small community, but to the broader community.”

Decatur is remodeling its downtown square, hoping to continue to attract visitors and diners to its varied restaurant offerings.

“One of the great things about Decatur is that it’s walkable,” says Ellis, a former Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter. “There are wide sidewalks and crosswalks and a courthouse square. This is an easy place to gather. The restaurant scene is good. So we don’t have to get in our car to go to sushi, Peruvian chicken or a high-class Mexican restaurant.” The area boasts four Michelin-recommended restaurants.

That’s not to say that Decatur doesn’t have its challenges. Housing affordability is often cited, due in part, Mayor Garrett says, to the city’s average income being higher than in some nearby areas. It’s a modest step, Garrett concedes, but the city is trying to ease that problem by building the Village at Legacy, an apartment complex for low-income families. The complex houses affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom units, including duplexes and garden-style dwellings.

Phase 1, with 66 units, was completed this summer. A 66-unit Phase 2 is slated for completion in late summer of 2026.

“It’s not the same as the subsidized housing with the Housing Authority,” Garrett says, “but it’s targeting people who otherwise would not be able to live in the city of Decatur.”

Multicultural Region

In Chamblee, where more than 30% of its 32,000 residents were born in other countries, mostly in Latin America and Asia, according to Data USA, international residents are worried.

“There is a sense of fear in the immigrant community,” says Jimmy Furst, Chamblee’s mayor pro tem, who adds that the national economy also is playing a role in local concerns.

“I’ve been hearing from the landowners that, yes, it is getting harder for people to make rents because business has slowed down … our tax digest is trending lower. … The economy as a whole is just cooling off,” he says.

The city of Dunwoody also has a significant international population, with about 11,400 immigrants, the U.S. Census reports. That’s about 22% of the city’s 52,000 residents.

Diversity can also be found beyond the Buford Highway corridor. The city of Clarkston, which is located about 8 miles east of Buford Highway, packs a lot of diversity in a small area.

Around 40% of the city’s approximately 15,000 residents are foreign born and more than 100 languages are spoken inside the city, which is less than 2 square miles in size, according to the U.S. Census. It’s a phenomenon that started in the 1980s when resettlement organizations started bringing refugees to the area, due in large part to affordable housing and good transportation.

As a result, Clarkston is widely referred to as “the most diverse square mile in America.”

The 2020 U.S. Census says nearly three-fourths of Clarkston’s residents are Black. Many ethnicities are represented including Ethiopian, Burmese, Congolese, Nepali, Latino and Afghan.

Beverly H. Burks, Clarkston’s first Black woman mayor, has been proclaimed by the Georgia House of Representatives as an “International Mayor.”

“These are people who want a chance – who’ve been through many atrocities in their native homes, who actually were refugees in another continent,” she says. “Before they even got here, they had to deal with wars and climate issues. You have kids who were born in refugee camps. So, when they come, they are coming from a level of empowerment, opportunity, hope, chances to make a new life.” One business giving them a new chance is Refuge Coffee Co., which runs a one-year full-time training program for refugees. The jobs also come with English classes, a business mentorship program and entrepreneur training.

Their new home in America offers opportunity, but providing services to such a diverse population presents challenges – including language and cultural differences and financial limitations. Meanwhile, DeKalb faces broader challenges seen in most urban areas: housing affordability, homelessness, infrastructure, economic development, public health, crime – addressing those needs is a work in progress. County leaders have rallied around the mission of building a “better DeKalb.”

Forward Motion

Perhaps no one feels the pressure more than Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, the county’s chief executive officer, who took over the post in early January. Within 15 days of taking office, she had to produce a balanced budget of $1.8 billion. Now she’s looking forward.

“A large part of what I’ve done is set expectations and to move us toward what I believe is a more responsive culture here in DeKalb,” she says.

That progress relies on many factors.

“It’s easy to talk about economic development,” Cochran-Johnson says, “but until you address issues like public safety and infrastructure, you will continue to have many of the traditional issues. So, [we’re] ensuring that we have officers on the street, because in some parts of DeKalb County we have such high incidence of crime that our businesses struggle to obtain liability insurance.”

Cochran-Johnson says she has instituted new starting pay for police, boosting the base salary for recruits with a college degree to $64,000 a year and the base salary for senior officers with a college degree to $73,500. The county also instituted a 7.1% pay increase for master police officers, helicopter pilots, sergeants, lieutenants, captains and majors in the police department. And 327 vacant police positions are funded and slated to be filled during fiscal year 2025.

The county is also opening a $2 million real-time crime technology center at the DeKalb police headquarters. Cochran-Johnson calls it a “state-of-the-art surveillance data hub” that will include the use of drones.

“We are strategically determining where to place the drones because it’s easy to do a heat map and determine where your hot spots are,” she says. “We want to ensure that, if there is a call, that we have eyes in the sky, and no later than two minutes from any call.”

Cochran-Johnson also is concerned about funding from the state and federal level, especially with the current political climate that portends budget cuts.

DeKalb reports it receives about $346 million in federal funds each fiscal year. That funding includes support for programs for seniors and the unhoused, as well as workforce development and food assistance.

“I want to reduce our reliance on state and federal funds as much as possible,” she says. “Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m going to take everything they send, because we can use the money. But independent of those funds, I’m trying to create a DeKalb that is sustainable, that has the ability to keep providing if there is a reduction in the money we have access to.”

Cochran-Johnson notes that the county’s Community Development and the Human Services departments receive almost 90% of their budgets from state and federal funds.

“Those departments provide critical services,” she says.

The Human Services Department delivers 500 home delivered meals each week, she says, and the Community Development Department helps the homeless.

“So, these are programs that, whether or not they are funded or the money is here, you can’t turn your back on these segments of the community,” she says.

In July, the DeKalb County Commission approved an $8 million allocation to secure 60 furnished one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in the Park 500 complex near Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain. That transitional housing will be available to people who are homeless and residents living in extended-stay motels, where tenants typically pay by the day or the week.

“The cost for an apartment would be far cheaper, but because of encumbrances, because of circumstances, often you find that they are unable to break the cycle,” Cochran-Johnson says. “This is not just about housing – it’s about changing lives.”

In addition to housing, the county will help residents with healthcare access, childcare coordination and job support. The first residents could move in by next month. Finding money for these types of programs can be tough.

“Often times, you have to sharpen the pencil,” Cochran-Johnson says.

That pencil sharpening has already started. Cochran-Johnson issued an executive order in early April placing a temporary freeze on new spending and hiring. The order does not affect roles or programs already included in the fiscal 2025 budget, nor will any current positions be eliminated, the county said in a news release.

Economic Growth

Even as uncertainty looms surrounding spending and hiring, DeKalb is moving forward on a number of projects throughout the county. DeBarr, at the Decide DeKalb Development Authority, says he wants to create a sense of place in South DeKalb, the most challenged part of the county. To do that, he says, he’s looking to the creative industries.

DeKalb is already home to prominent film industry companies such as Shadowbox Studios, Assembly Studios and Electric Owl Studios. But the COVID-19 pandemic, competition from abroad for generous subsidies and the changing nature of the film industry have lessened studio roles. DeBarr says he wants to move beyond films to the creative arts in general.

“You have artists. You have musicians. You have painters. You have all of these [creative people],” he says. “So, what happens when we really lean in on the creative class and give them a place to call home? That’s what we’re looking at now.”

Decide DeKalb Development Authority is pursuing more traditional projects too. The organization approved two major projects in mid-September totaling more than $6 million in tax allocation district investments.

The board awarded $3.8 million to Candler Crossing for a grocery-anchored development that will bring better food access to southwest DeKalb, which is seen as somewhat of a food desert. It also approved a $2.3 million Urban Renewal Fund award for Cottages at Midway, an 18-unit mixed-income cottage community in Decatur. Construction on both projects is expected to begin next year.

Meanwhile in North Decatur, Edens is developing the Lulah Hills mixed-use project that is replacing the former North DeKalb Mall. Edens Managing Director Herbert Ames announced earlier this year that Publix will be the anchor grocery store. Other tenants will include mall holdovers Marshall’s and AMC theaters, which will undergo a major renovation. The rest of the 70-acre site will be developed to include at least 1,300 homes, a significant food, beverage and entertainment presence, and connections to Emory University and Lullwater Park via a multiuse trail.

The High Street mixed-use development west of Perimeter Mall also has landed a major tenant, with a California human resources consulting firm announcing in March it would open an office in the Dunwoody project. The High Street project developer says the TriNet firm will occupy about 150,000 square feet at the new office complex and will hire 750 employees during the next five years. TriNet’s investment is expected to total more than $15 million, the consulting firm says.

Preliminary plans also are in the works for Northlake Mall in Tucker, with the owners wanting to transform it into a mixed-used development with 495 residential units. The owners have not yet made a formal application as they say they want to hear what city leaders think about the plans. A news report in late June said Tucker City Council members have voiced “cautious interest” and some residents have expressed “mixed feelings.” Emory Healthcare recently established offices at the mall, which opened in 1971 and sits on more than 80 acres.

Chamblee’s economic development is picking up, according to Mayor Pro Tem Furst.

“We are the fastest-growing city in DeKalb County,” he says. “It’s exploding because of our location, because of everything that we’ve done. We’ve seen an influx of innovative businesses that have come into Chamblee.”

He points in particular to a downtown resurgence, with the emergence of restaurants, nightclubs, shops and other attractions.

“When you come down to our downtown on a Friday night, it’s happening,” Furst says. “A bunch of younger people spending their money.”

He also highlights the role played by a stretch of Buford Highway, which the city annexed in December 2013.

“It’s a beautiful economic engine,” he says. “There’s high diversity, and tourists like to come to Chamblee and experience the international corridor.”

He says a new generation of Buford Highway business owners are helping to drive that growth.

“What’s been really cool, is that some of the original business owners, their children have grown up in Chamblee. They want to stay in Chamblee, and we have a significant [number] of restaurants that have second-generation owners,” he says. “The kids say, ‘You know what? We can take this, and we can make it more chic. We can make it more popular. We can make it work for everybody.’”

Furst summarizes it as “great food, great people and a strong connection with that community.” But he says that vibe isn’t confined to the Buford Highway corridor.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of international flair in our downtown as well. It’s also being driven by that generational diversity that we’ve come to cherish and love,” he says.

It’s not all brick-and-mortar building construction in DeKalb, though. City officials announced in mid-August that the Avondale Estates Complete Street project is expected to be completed by early next year. The 18-month, $8.5 million project stretches more than 1 mile through the city’s downtown along East College Avenue and North Avondale Road. It is reducing five travel lanes to three, as well as adding traffic lights, streetlights, a center median, a 10-foot path on the northern side of the road and a 5-foot sidewalk on the southern side.

Improvement Projects

Some projects in DeKalb are being accomplished through the Chamblee Doraville Community Improvement District. A community improvement district, or CID, is a specifically defined area in which commercial property owners pay into a central fund for projects or services that benefit their businesses.

A CID helps a local government decide what needs to be done, determines how it should be done, draws up project plans and then turns it over to government officials so they can finish it. The CID obtains funding for each stage of the project, either through government grants, special taxes or fees levied on the businesses that will benefit.

“It’s the nature of the beast for a CID to do the technical aspects of developing projects, but also the political aspects of assembling the dollars,” says Malaika Rivers, founder and president of Pontem Resources, and the executive director of the Chamblee Doraville CID.

The CID has developed a 10-year, $45 million work program that has seen $9.8 million funded by local, state and federal sources and $2.2 million from the CID. The CID continues to work on the balance remaining with city, county, state and federal partners while projects continue to advance through the development pipeline and funding sources are identified.

Projects include pedestrian enhancements to Peachtree Boulevard that will add 3,000 feet of sidewalks, crossings and signals. That $5 million project will be done in conjunction with the CID ($934,000), city of Chamblee ($432,000), DeKalb County ($40,000) and the Georgia Department of Transportation ($540,000). The CID is now working on design of a second phase that will add an additional 6,700 linear feet of sidewalk.

Another project is an intersection realignment for Peachtree Boulevard and Peachtree and North Shallowford Roads. That project is slated to cost about $8.7 million, with about half of that expected to come from the Atlanta Regional Commission and the federal government.

A $5.4 million Shallowford Road enhancement done in conjunction with the city of Doraville also is planned. Those improvements would include a multiuse path, sidewalks, safer pedestrian crossings and lighting and an intersection realignment. So far, the CID has less than $1 million committed to the project, with a balance ($4.4 million) needed for this city-led project.

Funding, which is always a challenge, may be getting tougher.

“Some of the funding grant programs that the previous administration put out the current administration has pulled back on, [and] that means we’re going to have to go back to more traditional sources and/or be creative as it relates to building out those funding stacks,” Rivers says.

Doraville used a similar method for an improvement project.

“The majority of gasoline that goes to gas stations throughout Metro Atlanta comes from depots based in Doraville that have been there since the 1940s, which is great, but it had a rough impact on our roads in those areas, “Mayor Geierman says. “We created a Special Service District in the past year to basically pay for repaving the streets in those locations, and they’ve all been repaved.”

Drawing Visitors

With eight World Cup games slated to be played in Atlanta next year, DeKalb is reaching out globally to attract visitors.

That job is falling in large part on James Tsismanakis, executive director and CEO of the Discover DeKalb Convention and Visitors Bureau. He says he’s got a $3 million budget to get the word out.

“We’re doing an awareness campaign about DeKalb County,” Tsismanakis says.

He will be advertising on 125 train boards in London this fall, in addition to a social media campaign and Google ads. Discover DeKalb also will advertise in Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese on Instagram and Facebook, among others.

“We direct you to a Spanish or Portuguese WhatsApp and AI bot to answer your questions and/or direct you to a special Spanish or Portuguese landing page for our website,” he says.

DeKalb’s international flavor will play prominently in the campaign. He plans to show a 10- or 12-minute short film at festivals in Germany and Canada and other international locations.

“It’s a drama,” he says. “A drama based on heritage – the true heritage of refugees, soccer and DeKalb. It’s going to be promoting the refugee culture of DeKalb.”

He will also be promoting the international artery that runs through the heart of DeKalb and gives the county its soul.

“We’re doing a documentary on Buford Highway, how it [evolved] and why it’s now [resurging],” Tsismanakis says. “[It will] be the hook to get you if you’re coming to the game: Come to DeKalb and experience our culture and our great dining and cuisine on Buford Highway.”

Great culture, great dining and great progress. Each of these are being highlighted throughout the county, as leaders try to make life better for all, whether they’re artists or journalists, scientists or students, public servants or in private business. It includes people who can trace their Georgia roots to the 1700s and those who moved from another country just last year. And it is what makes DeKalb County the best kind of melting pot you can imagine.