Looking Back, Planning Ahead

Originally modeled after Florida Trend, the magazine soon became – under a succession of canny Georgia owners – something uniquely Georgian: a monthly celebration of the state’s success as well as a safe harbor for discussion of wide-ranging, statewide issues.

Georgia leaders have earned their reputation for casting aside ideological differences for the greater good. We have more counties than any other state east of the Mississippi, No. 2 only to Texas, which is geographically ranked 2nd largest while Georgia
is 24th.

There are a disproportionate number of cities as well (537). Cities make up just 9% of the state’s land area but 45% of the population.

First Georgia Trend Magazine cover in 1985.

All things considered, it is amazing leaders here get along as well as they do and what they are able to accomplish. The amiability of our leadership across so many lines of territory could be considered something of a miracle, though it is not without friction at times. The infusion of national politics into this well-established operation is a considerable irritant but does not appear at this point likely to derail the Georgia machine.

For our anniversary section, I decided the best way to tell Georgia Trend’s 40-year story was through the voices of leaders who were there. This reflects our legacy and history of sharing statewide news through the voices of those out on the ground getting the work done.

Georgia Trend could not exist without the fabric that has established these connections through the decades, and the trust built in the process.

Not everyone was able to respond to my request, and I wasn’t able to include everyone I wanted to; still, the responses were fantastic. Some were funny, some were personal, some laudatory and some philosophical.

The range of responses mirrors the fabric of leadership that establishes Georgia as a world force. Leaders here are not afraid to get real and direct with personal experience or reflect more broadly on our role in today’s world. Everyone has different visions that all coalesce when working together.

There is a regionalism growing in the thinking of many Georgia leaders, toward new issues that will require less siloing of operations, practices and infrastructure separating communities that need to be united.

There is a similar growing awareness that creating and protecting quality of life is important to the survival of our Georgia communities. It will take a big tent and many voices to rise to the challenges ahead.

As President and CEO of Zoo Atlanta Raymond King notes, Georgia’s population has nearly doubled since the ’80s. So has the world population. But in the next 40 years that growth is not expected to continue.

Global population will be just over 1 billion more, 9.7 billion in 2050, according to the United Nations, and is expected to peak at 11 billion by the end of the century. It will then start to decline.

Some question the veracity of these predictions, largely based on birth rates, but countries like Spain and Japan that are already losing population are struggling with this reversal, as are many Georgia communities trying to maintain services for the remaining residents as they lose funding to do so through population loss.

Maintaining our history as a state that comes together around a big vision will be essential to keeping our great state going.

For Georgia as a state, however, the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia predicted in 2020 there will be continued growth, at roughly 10% a decade, through at least 2040.

In next month’s issue of Georgia Trend, our City Roundtable looks at some of these trends and how cities are already dealing with some of these issues like aging services and transit. The prevailing theme was that it will take more regional cooperation, not further balkanization, to handle our state’s popularity and growth, from the cities to the unincorporated areas.

We have a lot to build on in terms of energy supply and water services, but the gears will grind if a lot of population, for instance, comes to a community without the industry and commercial base to pay for it.

Maintaining our history as a state that comes together around a big vision will be essential to keeping our great state going, and Georgia Trend will continue to ring that bell. Our legacy of collaboration and amiability will get us through the darkest times, if necessary, to the brightest times we as leaders can dream of today. 

Ben Young is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Georgia Trend. |  byoung@georgiatrend.com