Brookhaven Reporter - October 2025

Photo by Chris Gunn.

SATURDAY,

THIRD WORLD WITHSPECIAL GUEST KUMARFY

SUNDAY, OCT. 19

JOIN BUCKHEAD’S ELECTED & COMMUNITY LEADERS IN SUPPORTING COUNCILMEMBER

MARCI COLLIER OVERSTREET FOR CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

“Only one candidate for City Council President stood up for a safer Atlanta when it mattered, worked effectively on economic development for the city and region, and has a proven track record we can trust: Marci C. Overstreet. Join us in voting for and supporting Councilmember Overstreet as our next Atlanta City Council President.” - COUNCILMEMBER MARY NORWOOD

EDITOR'S NOTE

Flipping the script

EDITOR'S NOTE

CATHY COBBS

Welcome to Reporter Newspapers’ October issue, which spotlights the 34th Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA. Our special section provides you everything you need to know about the star-studded lineup for this year’s festival, which begins with a bang on Wednesday, Oct. 22 with best-selling author John Grisham.

I had the opportunity to interview Grisham (page 20) about his new foray into the mystery novel genre with “The Widow,” a tale that leans on his fascination with the wrongly accused – but takes it a step further with his hero, Simon Latch, a small-time attorney who is on the other side of the law after being accused of a murder he didn’t commit.

While we spent most of the interview discussing “The Widow,” we branched off into his philanthropic work as a board member with the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two organizations dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted.

Grisham reminisced about a day in 1990 when he had the “privilege of being able to walk” Clarence Lee Brandley out of prison. Brandley had been wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of Cheryl Dee Fergeson in 1981 and sentenced to death. A stay was granted six days before his scheduled execution.

“Someone finally told the truth,” Grisham said. “That, and a lot of news

features that put the case in the national spotlight.”

But for every victory, he said, there are many defeats. Grisham is in the middle of writing a non-fiction book about what he describes as another wrongful conviction case in Texas. Robert Roberson is scheduled for execution on Oct. 16, after being convicted in 2003 for the death of his chronically ill two-year-old daughter, Nikki.

“He didn’t do it. I know he didn’t,” Grisham said. “He’s been in prison for 22 years for a crime that never occured.”

Grisham’s novels are often inspired by these real-life cases, and while he may touch on his philanthropic work during his talk at the book festival, he will also discuss the process involved in producing his novels.

On Oct. 22 at the MJCCA, he will be on the stage in conversation with best-selling author Karin Slaughter, whose books have been published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe.

“The fun part is having another writer on the stage talking about the process,” he said. “We try to put a fair amount of humor in there too.”

I think it will be a fascinating discussion.

We hope you enjoy this issue, which along with everything you need to know about the Book Festival of the MJCCA, includes news about what’s happening in Brookhaven, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Tucker, and beyond.

As usual, we thank you for reading, advertising, and supporting local journalism, both in print and digital form.

Pack your running shoes and join us for the

SCAN HERE to register and plan an Awesome Girls’ getaway weekend at awesomealpharetta.com!

Robert Roberson is scheduled for execution on Oct. 16 (Photo courtesy of The Innocence Project)

BROOKHAVEN

Brookhaven seeks public input to measure progress on services

By Cathy Cobbs

The City of Brookhaven is conducting a resident satisfaction survey to gather feedback on city services, following up on a similar 2023 questionnaire.

According to a release from the city, the survey, which will compile resident feedback on a wide variety of city services and programs, is being mailed in September to a representative statistical sampling of Brookhaven’s population. Selected households will have the opportunity to complete the survey by mail or online.

“The purpose of the survey is to gather feedback on city programs and services.

Wednesday, October 1 Planning Commission

7 p m

(5:30 p m work session)

Wednesday, October 8 Arts & Culture Commission

5:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 9 City Council

6:30 p m (4:30 p m work session)

Wednesday, October 15 Board of Appeals

7 p m (5:30 p m work session)

Tuesday, October 21 City Council

6:30 p m (4:30 p m work session) Updates & more info at BrookhavenGA.gov/Calendar

Using the first survey in 2023 as a baseline, we will be able to measure our progress on delivery of local government services,” said Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman in the release. “Actively engaging residents helps us identify areas where we can improve.”

The survey will ask residents about their level of satisfaction and priorities for community services, including public safety, parks and recreation, code enforcement, public works, communication and customer service.

According to the release, it will take participants approximately 10-15 minutes to complete a survey, and all personal information and individual survey

responses will remain confidential. The goal is to achieve a minimum of 400 completed surveys.

The survey results will be presented to the Brookhaven City Council once the threshold for accuracy is reached, and then will be made available to the public.

Brookhaven’s resident satisfaction survey, which was conducted in December 2022 and published in the spring of 2023, found that questions about the quality of life in Brookhaven had the highest levels of satisfaction, according to the city’s website.

The study found that the survey’s combined percentage of “excellent” and “good” responses among residents who had an opinion, included:

■ as a place to live/raise a family: 93 percent

■ overall quality of life: 88 percent

■ as a place to work: 86 percent

■ overall image of the city: 83 percent

■ overall appearance of the city: 80 percent

The major categories of city services that had the highest levels of satisfaction in the 2023 survey, based upon the combined percentage of “very satisfied” and “satisfied” responses among residents who had an opinion, included 84 percent for quality of police services, 76 percent for parks and recreation programs and facilities; 70 percent for maintenance of city building and facilities and 65 percent for quality of customer service from city employees.

The study found the areas of concern that residents rated the highest, based upon the combined sum of “greatest concern” and “concern” among respondents who had an opinion (1 to 4 on a 10-point scale), included break-ins (68 percent), gun violence (58 percent), violent crime (55 percent), and drugrelated crime (49 percent).

ETC Institute conducted the 2023 survey and will oversee the latest one, according to the release.

Brookhaven hears report on city pool season

By Cathy Cobbs

Brookhaven Aquatic Supervisor Julie Dobbs gave an end-of-season update about the city’s public pools and its new and ongoing initiatives to make them safer.

The distribution of swim diapers contributed to a decrease in fecal incidents at the pools, from 11 in 2024 to five in 2025.

At the city council’s work session on Monday, Sept. 29, Dobbs said Brookhaven’s three pools – Lynwood, Briarcliff, and Murphey Candler – saw 42,000 visitors in 2024 and 61,000 in a slightly shortened 2025 season.

Several new initiatives were implemented during the 2025 season, including hiring bilingual life guards, issuing free swim diapers to children under three years old, and instituting $1 admission during holidays.

The city also installed Perry Weather Systems at the pools, which “eliminated human decisions” in the cases of threatening weather, Dobbs said. The city hosted a back-to-pool party on May 17 with 250 swim-related items given away, and a dive-in movie night on June 18. The popular Doggy Dip Day had 200 dog participants. The city also partnered with the YMCA and Swem School to provide swim lessons at a reduced cost.

Murphey Candler Pool has just received starter swim blocks, which will be put into play next year, Dobbs said.

(City of Brookhaven)

International Festival moves back to Corporate Park

By Logan C. Ritchie and Cathy Cobbs

The City of Brookhaven announced on Sept. 10 that the 2025 Brookhaven International Festival will take now place at its former location, 1801 Corporate Blvd., at the Peachtree Creek Greenway.

Brookhaven earlier announced that its third international festival on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19, would take place at Lenox Park, but moved back to Corporate Park as the redevelopment of the site has not begun.

The family-friendly festival features live cultural and music performances, public art installations, international cuisine, and a global marketplace. Last year the festival drew 5,000 people.

The property was purchased by Third & Urban to convert the massive office park to residential, retail, restaurant, and recreation spaces.

“I invite everyone to come out for our third year and celebrate the many cultures that call Brookhaven home,” said Brookhaven City Council Member John Funny.

International Festival headliners are Proyecto Uno and Third World, with special guest Kumar Fyah.

Proyecto Uno is a DominicanAmerican award-winning group that blends merengue with dance, house, hiphop, R&B, and tropical music.

Celebrating 51 years, “Reggae Ambassadors” Third World is the longest running reggae band and one of Jamaica’s most consistently popular crossover acts among international audiences.

Part of the festival, a 5K walk/run that will benefit We Love Buford Highway, will take place Sunday, Oct. 19 at the Peachtree Creek Greenway. We Love Buford

Highway is a 501(C)3 non-profit whose mission is preserving the multicultural identity of the Buford Highway corridor.

“By naming us the beneficiary of this 5K, the city is not only celebrating the unique spirit of Buford Highway but also investing directly in our youth orchestra program, which nurtures the next generation through music and opportunity,” Lily Pabian, executive director of We Love Buford Highway, said. “Preserving this place takes vision, coalitions, and celebrations; this weekend is a shining example of what’s possible when a city leads with heart.”

In 2023, the inaugural festival was Brookhaven’s first major event along the Buford Highway Cultural Corridor.

City council shoots down senior housing rezoning

By Cathy Cobbs

The Dunwoody City Council at its Sept. 8 meeting voted unanimously to deny a rezoning application that would allow the construction of a low-income senior housing complex on Ashford Dunwoody Road, despite the fact that the developers at the last minute reduced the height and density of the complex.

Dominium, a property management and development company, had requested to rezone a three-acre property from O-I (Office Industrial) to PD (Planned Development) to allow the site to be redeveloped into an age-restricted, income-restricted housing community with 215 rental units, with an approximate 240-space underground parking garage,

and eight surface visitor parking spaces.

The proposal has been met with overwhelming opposition from people who objected to the density, height and location of the project.

Before the matter was discussed, two representatives from Dominium spoke during public comment saying that the plan has been significantly altered in order to adhere more closely to zoning that is being proposed in the city’s 2045 Comprehensive Plan for that character area, referred to as Ashford.

A memo in the city council presentation packet submitted by Dominium and discussed by the representatives attorney Julie Somers and company vice president Shaun Rhinehardt during public comment, said that the

site plan was revised to reduce the overall height of the building.

“Approximately two stories, or 50 residential units, were removed from the site plan, which resulted in a reduction of the building’s height from 95 feet to under 70 feet,” the memo said. “The revised ODP [Official Development Plan] proposes a maximum building height of 70 feet, which aligns with the PC-3 maximum height requirement for buildings 100 feet or greater to a lot line adjacent to a single-family zoning district.”

The maximum impervious cover in the ODP was also reduced from 85 percent to 70 percent to align with PC-3 zoning regulations, the memo said.

“The building height on the Ashford Center Parkway now appears as mostly four stories when it was previously close to seven stories,” the memo said. “The reduction in building height is also now consistent with the allowable height for senior living facilities (up to four stories) in [proposed zoning for] the Ashford character area.”

After Dunwoody Senior Planner Madalyn Smith described the Dominium changes, with little discussion, council member Tom Lambert made a motion to

deny the application, which was seconded by Rob Price, and passed 7-0.

The vote was met with a sustained round of applause from the 101 or so attendees, who have been a constant presence during the rezoning process –from the application to the Dunwoody Homeowners Association to the planning commission to the city council.

Susan Mitchell, who was part of a group opposing the plan, said she was “gratified that the city council unanimously agreed with the citizens.”

“It’s a tribute to the remarkable foresight of our city founders who recognized the need to balance growth with respect for the character of our neighborhoods,” Mitchell said.

John Heneghan, who has served on the council since its inception, said he voted against the proposal because of the “level of impact on the community.”

Council Member Rob Price said even with the changes that Dominium made at the Sept. 8 meeting, the proposal “still didn’t meet the hurdle.”

“It was too much for the part of the city where it is located,” Price said. “I think senior housing is appropriate for the city, but not where it was to be located.”

Farm-to-Table

Donaldson-Bannister

Sustainability Committee

Zoning

Master Gardener Talk:

By Rough Draft Staff

The Dunwoody Homeowners Association and Rough Draft Staff will host an open-to-the-public candidate forum at Stage Door Theatre on Wed. Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in advance of the Nov. 4 city council election where three seats will be decided.

All of the candidates running for city council have committed to attend, including District 1’s Catherine Lautenbacher, who is running unopposed. In District 2, incumbent Rob Price will face challenger David Ziskind, and District 3 incumbent Tom Lambert is running against Wendi Taylor.

Former DHA President Bob Fiscella and Rough Draft’s Managing Editor Cathy Cobbs will moderate the one-hour forum. The public is encouraged to attend, as well as send questions in advance of the event.

Interested parties are invited to send an email to forum organizers. Include your name, district (if applicable), and your inquiry. Anonymous questions will not be considered for inclusion.

Anyone who is unsure as to the district in which they reside can check the city’s voter information website.

The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 4. If a runoff election is necessary, it would be held on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Early voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Dominium’s revised plan for senior housing (City of Dunwoody)

Independent bookstore coming to Dunwoody

By Cathy Cobbs

A new independent bookstore is coming to Dunwoody with the goal of becoming a regular meeting place that fosters a love for reading and community.

Owner Abbi Diego told Rough Draft that Prelude Bookstore will be located in the Shops of Dunwoody next to Valor Coffee in a 1,900-square-foot space that formerly housed Yoga 6. It’s slated to open in late October.

Diego, a mother of four and the daughter of a librarian, said the fact that the Dunwoody area was without an independently run bookstore made it an easy decision.

“I feel so comfortable around books, and I just love the idea of making Prelude much more than a book store,” she said. “I’m hoping that people will pop in with their coffees and tell us about the books that they are reading.”

nights, and other offerings, depending on public input.

The store will carry about 7,000 books, with adult books comprising 60 percent and children’s books about 40 percent. Gifts and other merchandise will take up about 20 percent of the store.

After opening, Prelude will host a regular slate of events, from author talks, children’s story time, puzzle and craft

“We are so excited to launch this passion project,” she said. “The people we’ve talked to are overwhelmingly excited about it.”

The store’s operating hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and closed on Sunday and Monday. Diego said she eventually wants to offer Sunday hours in the near future.

Superior Surgical Care for Non-Cancerous Lung & Chest Conditions

Abbi Diego (Prelude Bookstore)

Upcoming Events

SANDY SPRINGS

NYO

nears completion of $28.7 million capital campaign

By Bob Pepalis

As the Northside Youth Organization reaches 90 percent of its $28.7 million fundraising goal, it is shifting gears and now asking families and individual supporters of the nonprofit’s athletic programs to help it reach the finish line.

Josh Burr, the executive director of the Northside Youth Organization (NYO), told Rough Draft that the capital campaign will fund the addition of a second gym, meeting space, training space, a larger weight room, and renovations to an existing gym. The additional gym space will enable an expansion of girls’ basketball and help facilitate the addition of recreational volleyball to NYO’s programs.

The capital campaign began with a large contribution from former Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning and his wife, Sarah, NYO’s first big donors. It funded a new turf field, the largest at Chastain Park. Fanning Field is now a year-round site for baseball and football.

Galloway School and NYO partnership runs deep

The Galloway School has supported NYO for years, and the school and the nonprofit share athletic facilities. Fanning Field now serves as Galloway’s home field for its boys’ and girls’ soccer matches. Several Galloway teams also use it as a practice space. Galloway basketball and volleyball teams have used the existing gym at Chastain Park.

Fanning has coached football, baseball, and basketball at the park. After graduating from high school, he planned to attend West Point to play football. But a broken ankle suffered during practice ended those plans. That’s when he got a call from NYO to help coach, and 43 years later, he’s still volunteering.

Fanning and his family have been involved in sports for many years. His brother, wife, and in-laws were athletes, and his daughter and sons played in several NYO programs. Over the years, he’s seen

kids he coached come back as adults with their own children enrolling in the programs.

The City of Atlanta budgeted $4.5 million toward the capital campaign’s new gym and renovations. Burr said that the initial donation encouraged others to participate.

The city has budgeted for and plans to build a 300-space parking garage next door to the gym. Though not part of the NYO capital campaign or using its donations, the garage will provide needed parking for the added demand.

High demand for NYO programs

NYO, founded in 1949, offers baseball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, softball, cheerleading, flag and tackle football for kids ages 4 to 18. Burr said the organization has more than 7,000 registrations annually.

The 2008 Chastain Master Plan determined the park needed more gym space. NYO figures showing annual waiting lists of 150 to 200 kids for basketball support the plan’s conclusions that more access is needed. Burr said that the waiting list continues to grow even though NYO rents another eight to 10 gyms from schools and churches across the city.

“Success breeds success, but the demand for participation in NYO programs has outstripped the resources,” NYO volunteer and coach Doug Hertz told Rough Draft.

Burr said NYO constantly seeks offsite gym space. The obstacle is that those schools and churches often have their own basketball leagues, limiting the time the facilities are available.

NYO lost one of its main hubs this year at Sandy Springs United Methodist Church’s gym, which they leased seven days a week. That property was sold in June and the buildings were being torn down for Hillcrest, a mixed-use development by High Street Residential and Third & Urban.

Burr said NYO is powered by hundreds of volunteers who donate their time, talent, and treasure. The capital campaign has seen strong engagement and participation from

NYO’s new gym (Northside Youth Organization)

NYO families and alumni as a once-in-ageneration opportunity to leave their legacy at NYO.

Hertz is one of those volunteers who keeps putting his hand up. He started working with NYO after college, coaching baseball and basketball. His children were participants, and now he’s coaching and watching his grandchildren in NYO programs.

“I think the whole opportunity to participate in team sports, to be exposed to other young people that may come from different backgrounds, different schools, different backgrounds than what some of us have experienced, frankly, I think that’s invaluable,” Hertz said.

Fanning, a member of the Georgia Tech athletic board, said students participating at the college level and in NYO programs gain an education that they aren’t taught in school. Sports participation includes lessons on failing and succeeding, the need to be disciplined and work hard, and the importance of making a commitment to the team.

“One of the things that we’ve got to come back in touch with is a competitive, positive spirit of unity. We’re so divisive as a society right now, we need things to rally around that are positive and good, and I think sports is one way to help inculcate that into our American culture,” Fanning said.

Hertz, the chairman and CEO of United Distributors, a beverage distribution business, also devotes his time to help other nonprofit organizations that are youthfocused, such as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Camp Twin Lakes.

Other NYO initiatives: mental health, summer camp assistance

Burr said the last few years NYO has focused on its scholarship fund to assure that kids who participate are a better reflection of the population of the city of Atlanta. The scholarship fund will be the third stage in its capital campaign.

NYO started summer camps using some grant money from the city of Sandy Springs. Burr said that those camps have grown, but to provide more opportunities for children in the Chastain Park neighborhood and farther out in areas like Sandy Springs and Brookhaven will require more funding.

NYO has done a lot of work over the past year focusing on mental health. Burr said it has been working with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on programming, providing guidance and expertise on youth health and safety. The NYO gym will have space for physical therapy, health clinics, and volunteer training, as well as an opportunity to have an on-site athletic trainer during events.

NYO also partners with Hillside, a residency center for kids who struggle with mental health, which helps participants to improve their mental health and well-being to increase self-esteem, creativity, and cognitive performance.

Trails boost economic development: PCID director

By Bob Pepalis

Perimeter Community Improvement District Executive Director Ann Hanlon said during the Sandy Springs Conservancy Thought Leaders Dinner on Sept. 17 that taxes that commercial property owners pay fund trails that boost economic development and increase their property values.

The Perimeter CID has initiated public-private partnerships since its founding in 1999. Hanlon said it initially funded big infrastructure projects such as roads. Since COVID, the Perimeter CID board members have become interested in trail projects, investing millions of dollars in them.

“Trails are a marketable, tangible amenity that makes their property values higher. And that’s what CIDs are for. At the end of the day, the CID exists because we want our members to experience an increase in their property values over time,” Hanlon said.

The existence of trails helps when the city of Sandy Springs tries to recruit companies to relocate to the city or remain in place. Hanlon said having a trail project within walking distance of a property could be the difference between a company choosing Sandy Springs or going somewhere else.

Trails have gotten expensive and complicated, requiring more resources than a city can provide. Hanlon

said groups like the Sandy Springs Conservancy, CIDs, chambers of commerce, and other civic organizations need to participate. Developers, business districts, and individual commercial property owners increasingly seek ways to partner with cities on new trail systems.

Public-private partnerships can set the community apart from others by bringing together resources to create a trail system.

Hanlon described to attendees current trail projects from the pavilion at Morgan Falls Overlook Park. One of the projects is a trail along Mount Vernon Road.

“We are a funding partner with the city, and it will create a new big trail that’s going to run all the way from City Springs over on Roswell Road along Mount Vernon, pretty much all the way to the Sandy Springs MARTA station,” Hanlon said.

The Perimeter CID contributed $3.5 million to the project.

Using federal dollars from the Federal Transit Administration, Sandy Springs has a project to connect the hospital area on Peachtree Dunwoody Road with the MARTA Medical Station. The Perimeter CID added $960,000 to that project.

Hanlon said another project is a trail along Peachtree Dunwoody Road from Hammond Drive to Abernathy Road. She said the Perimeter CID sees it as important enough to split its costs evenly with Sandy Springs. The city and the Perimeter CID have each invested approximately $3 million.

Hanlon said trail access increasingly shapes the future of cities, communities, and commercial real estate investment. The paths connect neighborhoods, parks, business districts, and transit hubs. For people who doubt this, she pointed to activity along the Beltline in Atlanta.

A recent study from the Urban Land Institute showed that walkability and access to open space are now among the top considerations for commercial site selection, Hanlon said. That’s particularly true as employers consider how to attract Gen Z millennials and even Gen Alpha workers.

“The trail network is not just a perk; it is a recruitment and retention tool. Trails bring people and people bring spending,” Hanlon said.

Jack Misiura and Ann Hanlon (Photo by Bob Pepalis)

State of the Beltline address highlights accomplishments

By Katie Burkholder

Nearly 350 community members, business leaders, and elected officials met at The Eastern on Sept. 24 for the State of the Beltline, hosted by the Council for Quality Growth.

The event celebrated the Beltline’s 20year history and accomplishments while highlighting the work to be done ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2030 Beltline completion goal.

The information shared at the event, which covered updates on current projects and partnerships, included an announcement from the President and CEO of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., Clyde Higgs, for a $2 million

program focused on commercial affordability for businesses along the Beltline.

Local developers, property owners, and small businesses will be able to apply for this program to receive $150,000 to $500,000 in grant funding, Higgs said during a conversation with Anna Roach, the executive director and CEO of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

“We all love the Beltline, but we’re [seeing] the highest [commercial] rents on the Beltline right now – not Buckhead, not Perimeter, but right there on the Beltline,” Higgs said. “So, we need to make sure that we are preserving the culture, the legacy of Atlanta, and making sure that everyone is winning because of this investment.”

Applications for the program are open now through Oct. 24.

Higgs said the new grant program aligns with the Beltline’s priority of fostering affordability. The Beltline has reached 76 percent of its 2030 goal of reaching 5,600 units of affordable housing, and Higgs said he expects the project to exceed the goal by about 1,500 additional units.

Ruben Brooks, the Chief Operating Officer of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., shared other progress updates. The Beltline is currently 12.8 miles long, but Brooks said nearly 18 miles of continuous corridor will be open and functioning by July 2026, in time for the FIFA World Cup.

Over the last two decades, the Beltline has attracted 2.5 million visits per year, more than 26,000 permanent jobs have been created, the Beltline’s land holdings have grown to more than 90 acres, the project has helped catalyze more than $9 billion worth of private investment, and the Atlanta Beltline marketplace has grown 14 businesses across four different locations.

“[The creation of the Beltline] was really about bravery, having the gumption to take on what we describe as one of the nation’s largest and most ambitious redevelopment projects in the country,” Higgs said. “…[The Beltline] feels like a trail to most folks, but we’re more than that.”

Recognized by The Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s top five most

Jan Hart

By Rough Draft Staff

Livable Buckhead, along with city officials and community members, celebrated the completion of the final major segment of PATH400 in Buckhead with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community festival on Sept. 26.

The new 0.75-mile stretch, which runs between Wieuca Road and Loridans Drive, features an 80-foot-high bridge and creates nearly three contiguous miles of greenway, enhancing pedestrian and bike connectivity in the area.

The opening marks the culmination of a three-year construction project on the Wieuca-Loridans segment, according to a press release from Livable Buckhead.

The celebration featured remarks from project partners, a lively bike parade, and the whimsical “Pups and Pigtails” parade with neighborhood pets and llamas crossing the new bridge at Mountain Way Common.

Officials participating in the event

included Denise Starling, Executive Director of Livable Buckhead; Pete Pelligrini of the PATH Foundation; Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook; Justin Cutler, Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation; and Solomon Caviness, Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Transportation.

“This is one of those moments where you stop, look around and say, ‘Wow! We actually pulled it off,’” Starling said in a statement. “This stretch of PATH400 isn’t just concrete and steel, it’s an 80-foot-high bridge in the treetops, a safe walk to school for Sarah Smith kids, and a front door to Mountain Way Common that’s going to keep getting better every year.

“PATH400 has always been about connecting people – to their schools, their parks, their neighborhoods and to each other – and today we quite literally connected the dots,” the statement continued. “That’s a promise we made, and it feels pretty amazing to deliver on it.”

Atlanta Beltline CEO Clyde Higgs (right) announced a $2 million grant funding program. (Photo by Katie Burkholder)

The 34 th Edition of the

Book Festival MJCCA of the

Barbara & Ed Mendel

Presented by

HILLTOP BOTTLE SHOP HILLTOP BOTTLE SHOP

Local literati

Laura Dickerman, “Hot Desk” Younger meets Writers & Lovers in this rollicking, sparkling, and funny novel that spans decades and generations of a family in the publishing industry. Laura Dickerman lives in Atlanta with her husband.

Sanjay Gupta, MD, “It Doesn’t Have to Hurt” Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the multiple Emmy®-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN podcast Chasing Life. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University. In It Doesn’t Have to Hurt, he makes the empowering argument that there are effective options for relief that you can start practicing today to greatly reduce your chances of suffering pain tomorrow.

Don’t miss one of the most highly regarded cultural events in the Southeast. Hear from, meet, and interact with the year’s most renowned authors, entertainers, thought leaders, and pop culture icons. With countless awardwinning and bestselling authors, our Book Festival is truly unlike any other!

Scan the QR Code with your phone’s camera to learn more about our authors and to buy tickets.

Saturday, October 11 • 8:00 pm

PROLOGUE EVENT

Eli Sharabi Hostage

Wednesday, October 22 • 7:30 pm

John Grisham

The Widow: A Novel

Opening Night

Tuesday, October 28 • 7:30 pm

Yaakov Katz

While Israel Slept: How Hamas

Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East

Saturday, November 1 • 8:00 pm

Governor John Kasich

Heaven Help Us: How Faith

Communities Inspire Hope, Strengthen Neighborhoods, and Build the Future

Sunday, November 2 • 1:00 pm

TWO AUTHORS, ONE EVENT

Christine Kuehn

Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor

Alexander Bruner

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz

Sunday, November 2 • 7:30 pm

Senator Chuck Schumer

Antisemitism in America: A Warning

Monday, November 3 • 12:00 pm

TWO AUTHORS, ONE EVENT

Tova Mirvis

We Would Never: A Novel

Cynthia Weiner

A Gorgeous Excitement: A Novel

Monday, November 3 • 7:30 pm

DR. CHARLES & BUNNY ROSENBERG JEWISH SPEAKER SERIES

Christine Brennan

On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports

Tuesday, November 4 • 12:00 pm

THREE AUTHORS, ONE EVENT

Laura Dickerman

Hot Desk: A Novel

Catherine Mathis

Inês: Queens of Portugal: A Novel

Brian Schaefer

Town & Country: A Novel

Tuesday, November 4 • 7:30 pm

Daniel Kehlmann

The Director: A Novel

Wednesday, November 5 • 12:00 pm

Shari Rabin

The Jewish South: An American History

Wednesday, November 5 • 7:30 pm

Sarah Hurwitz

As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us

Thursday, November 6 • 7:30 pm

Molly Jong-Fast

How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir

Friday, November 7 • 1:00 pm

Dorie Greenspan

Dorie’s Anytime Cakes

Sunday, November 9 • 1:00 pm

Sophie Menin A Year in the Vineyard

Sunday, November 9 • 7:30 pm

THE ESTHER G. LEVINE READ

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging

Tuesday, November 11 • 12:00 pm

TWO AUTHORS, ONE EVENT

Jen Glantz

Finally the Bride: Finding Love After Walking Down Everyone Else’s Aisle

Jean Meltzer

The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah: A Novel

Tuesday, November 11 • 7:30 pm

Alyssa Gross

Play Mahjong! An All-Levels Guide to American Mahjong

Wednesday, November 12 • 12:00 pm

TWO AUTHORS, ONE EVENT

Georgia Hunter

One Good Thing: A Novel

Mary Morris

The Red House: A Novel

Wednesday, November 12 • 7:30 pm

THE EVA & GEORGE STERN LECTURE

Jake Cohen

Dinner Party Animal: Recipes to Make Every Day a Celebration

Monday, November 10 • 7:30 pm

Alton Brown

Food for Thought: Essays & Ruminations

Thursday, November 13 • 7:30 pm

Elyce Arons

We Just Might Make it After All: My Best Friendship with Kate Spade

Friday, November 14 • 11:30 am

Niki Russ Federman & Josh Russ Tupper

Russ & Daughters, 100 Years of Appetizing

Saturday, November 15 • 8:00 pm

Douglas Murray

On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization

Sunday, November 16 • 7:00 pm

Sanjay Gupta, MD

Patron Night Closing Night

It Doesn’t Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life

Grisham’s ‘The Widow’ dips into the mystery genre

By Cathy Cobbs

John Grisham, author of 50 consecutive best sellers, mostly in the genre of legal thrillers, has changed the game with his soon-to-be-released novel “The Widow.”

Grisham, who will be the opening speaker at the Book Festival of the MJCCA on Oct. 22, said while his novel “The Widow” is the first effort in the mystery novel genre, all of his books “have an element of mystery.”

“The Widow” is inspired by the 1987 book “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow, coincidentally the novel that inspired Grisham to finish his first novel “A Time to Kill,” which was published in 1989.

“This is the first time I’ve worked on an old-fashioned ‘whodunit’ with a lawyer on trial with the question, ‘Did he do it?’” Grisham told Rough Draft Staff.

Writing the book, however, didn’t actually go to plan, like Grisham’s other novels normally do.

‘One of my rules is to never write the first scene without knowing the end,” he said.

“When I finished ‘The Widow,’ both my wife and my editor hated the ending.”

After the pushback, Grisham wrote 25,000 more words “to get there” with an alternative ending.

Did his wife like it? “She came around in the end because she hated the first [version] so much,” he said.

‘One of my rules is to never write the first scene without knowing the end. When I finished ‘The Widow,’ both my wife and my editor hated the ending.”

John Grisham

The main character in the “The Widow,” Simon Latch, is a rural Virginia lawyer, making just enough money to eek by while his marriage slowly falls apart. Enter Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Her husband secretly left her a small fortune, and Latch works quietly to keep her wealth a secret.

However, the secret starts to come out after Barnett is hospitalized after a car accident, and suddenly Latch finds himself on trial for murder – a crime he didn’t

do and experience provides all sorts of great inspiration.”

That tracks when looking at Grisham’s long-time involvement with the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted.

The Innocence Project, since its inception, has helped free or exonerate more than 200 individuals, “most of whom are from communities of color that tend to be more heavily policed, face persistent discrimination, experience poverty at higher rates, and are confronted with many more challenges in the criminal legal system,” according to its website. “Altogether, these people have spent more than 3,600 years behind bars.”

Centurion Ministries is another organization dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted. Since 1983, according to its website, it has helped secure releases for 70 men and women who were serving life or death sentences for crimes they did not commit.

“The ideas are endless when it comes to wrongful convictions,” Grisham said. “It’s fertile ground, but it’s also what keeps me up at night.”

While his work as a board member means he’s not in the trenches with lawyers trying to reverse wrongful convictions, he said there’s “nothing so exciting as walking someone out” after the person is released from prison.

“But it’s also bittersweet to think about the waste of a young life,” Grisham said. “These are people who have survived and persevered.”

Event information:

John Grisham, author of “The Widow” will be in conversation with New York Times best-selling author Karin Slaughter on Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Slaughter is the author of more than 20 New York Times best-selling novels, including the Edgar-nominated “Cop Town” and stand-alone novels “The Good Daughter” and “Pretty Girls.”

commit. His only recourse to prove his innocence is to find the real killer.

Grisham said while he might continue in the “whodunit” genre, even possibly bringing Simon Latch back for another book, he won’t stray too far from the law.

“I’m still fascinated by the law – that’s where I hang out,” he said. “Most of the things I read and watch have to do with the law, and the crazy things that lawyers

An internationally bestselling author, Atlanta-based Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. “Pieces of Her” is now a #1 Netflix original series, “Will Trent” is now on ABC and streaming on Hulu, and “The Good Daughter” will soon be a limited series starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy. Grisham’s “The Widow” will be on sale at the event and are pre-signed. There will not be a live book-signing session. Tickets can be purchased from the MJCCA website.

(Photo by Chris Gunn)

Cooking corner

Dorie Greenspan, “Dorie’s Anytime Cakes”

From beloved James Beard Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author Dorie Greenspan—a vibrantly illustrated collection of recipes for simple yet most-memorable cakes.

Jake Cohen, “Dinner Party Animal”

From the New York Times bestselling author of Jew-Ish and I Could Nosh, and star of A&E’s ‘Jake Makes It Easy’ comes a fun, unfussy, and inventive collection of recipes to entertain with ease and enjoy any day of the week.

Alton Brown, “Food for Thought”

This instant New York Times bestseller by Alton Brown, the acclaimed cookbook author, beloved culinary personality, and food science expert, is a must-read debut collection of food essays, cooking tips, kitchen stories, and behind-the-scenes insights, all infused with his signature wit and flair.

Niki Russ Federman & Josh Russ Tupper, “Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing”

From the legendary New York destination for Jewish appetizing comes a beautiful and inspiring cookbook that encompasses history, tradition, and absolutely delicious food.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

The Beth and IJ Rosenberg Family

Presenting Sponsors

Barbara and Ed Mendel

Platinum Sponsors

Lisa and Ron Brill Charitable Trust

The Eva and George Stern Family

The Zaban Foundation

Silver Sponsors

Sheryl S. Blechner

Bronze Sponsors

In-Kind/Media Sponsors

Proud Member of the Jewish Book Council

This project is supported by Georgia Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities and by appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly. Official Bookseller of the Book Festival of the MJCCA

— Special Thanks to Naomi Firestone-Teeter, Suzanne Swift, and Arielle Landau —

Tucker police department feasibility study attracts crowd

By Cathy Cobbs

The authors of a study about forming a dedicated Tucker police department held a public forum about the study on Sept. 9, attended by a crowd that seemed receptive to the concept.

The forum, sponsored by the Tucker Civic Association, featured presentations by Northlake-Tucker CID Executive Director Matthew Lee, and Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police executives Dwayne Orrick and Ed Densmore.

The $45,000 study, commissioned by the Tucker-Northlake CID in January with funding from groups that included the Tucker Summit CID, Tucker Civic Association, Tucker Business Association, and Tucker Main Street Alliance, “analyzed two years of 911 dispatch data, interviewed business and civic leaders and compared Tucker’s current policing structure with those of neighboring cities,” according to a release from the Tucker-Northlake CID.

At the Sept. 9 meeting , Lee said that of the 67 cities in an 11-county region, 79 percent of them have local police departments, and that the study looked at recently established departments, especially Dunwoody and Brookhaven, when comparing response times to 911 calls.

According to Lee, the time to dispatch after a 911 call in Brookhaven was a little more than a minute. In Dunwoody, it was about one minute and 30 seconds, and for DeKalb, seven minutes and 37 seconds.

Densmore, a former police chief in Alpharetta and Johns Creek, said he felt that the 12-hour shift model would work best for Tucker, as opposed to DeKalb’s 10-hour overlapping shift “to maximize man power and zone integrity.”

The study estimates that a city-run department could be launched for about $10.7 million, which includes salaries,

vehicles, technology, and equipment. That number did not include several common elements of other city-run departments like K-9 units, drone equipment, or a real-time crime center.

Tucker property owners in 2024 paid DeKalb County $15.9 million in taxes for police services, compared to Brookhaven’s $15 million and Dunwoody’s $14.3 million. Both cities have larger populations than Tucker.

The study recommends hiring 53 sworn officers and 10 civilian staff in the first year.

Another problem that would be addressed by a dedicated department would be coverage area, the study said. The DeKalb’s Police Tucker Precinct currently serves 40 square miles, which includes areas outside city limits. A Tucker force would exclusively cover the city’s 20 square miles.

Lee said although he believed that DeKalb County Police is doing its best with its available resources, the understaffed department makes it difficult to service many areas of the city in a timely fashion.

“And remember, no man can serve two masters,” Lee said. “Officers are indebted to DeKalb County, not Tucker.”

Most of the questions asked after the presentation were mostly of a procedural nature, including ones about how training, courts, traffic enforcement, and partnership agreements with other jurisdictions would work.

In order for the plan to move forward, the Tucker City Council would have to authorize a referendum for voters to decide whether or not they want a dedicated police department. Then the city would enter into various Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) with DeKalb County and other jurisdictions. The study estimated that establishing the force would take 12 to 18 months.

Tucker Police Forum (Photo by Cathy Cobbs)

Tucker staff slams door on TRC pickleball bid

By Cathy Cobbs

In yet another surprise twist, the Tucker City Council at its Sept. 22 meeting voted 6-1 to kill the bid process for a 12-court pickleball complex at Tucker Recreation Center – but not for the reasons that have bitterly divided the community.

Mayor Frank Auman made the motion after the panel listened to a twohour presentation made by representatives from Pickleball Sound Mitigation Consulting, who had been hired to do a study about the effects of pickleball noise at Henderson and Rosenfeld Parks, as well as the Tucker Recreation Center.

GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION TUCKER TOWN GREEN

The study, among other recommendations, said the installation of 12- or 14-foot barriers around the TRC courts would effectively reduce sound levels emanating from courts to 52 decibels.

A surprise recommendation

After the presentation from PSMC’s Dale Van Scoyk and Braxton Boren, Tucker Parks and Recreation Director Rip Robertson told the council that “staff is recommending not moving forward with this project.”

“The PSM recommendation would eliminate any sidelines, creating a safety liability issue for the city,” Robertson said.

Auman clarified Robertson’s remarks, saying “even if sound mitigation was sufficient, the parks department doesn’t want it, at whatever price, for safety and liability issues,” which Robertson affirmed.

The measure passed 6-1, with Council Member Vinh Nguyen the lone dissenting vote.

Nguyen, who spoke after the presentation and before the vote, said he believed that the “safety situation is a little overblown.”

He also said while he respected the viewpoint of the Morgan Road neighbors, who have claimed the noise from the courts would disrupt their lives and wellbeing, he didn’t think that “it would have affected them.”

He also angered attendees after he asked the room to be silent for a minute, and then rapped his knuckles on a desk, and said “that is 50 decibels, [and the sound] once every couple of minutes –that’s what we are dealing with.”

Rebecca Gross, representing residents who opposed the complex, said the “6-1 vote to pull the directive, from the June 9 meeting to city manager, to put the May 2025 design out to bid was a critical and important step in healing the division caused by this controversial proposal.

“For that we are grateful. Tucker is grateful,” Gross said. “We look forward to Tucker meeting the growing demand for pickleball courts in a fiscally responsible

manner that poses ZERO threat to the quality of life of any resident or our neighborhoods.”

Study: 12- to 14-foot sound barriers needed at TRC

In its 68-page report regarding the 12-court plan at the TRC, PSMC said if no barriers were put in place, “the raw pickleball sound emitted by the courts is predicted to exceed 60 dBA [decibels] at the northern residences, and to reach higher noise levels to the south.”

“The 10’ northern barriers in the May 2025 plans would mitigate noise from some court positions but leave direct sound paths from other positions on the courts, particularly to the residential and commercial properties to the east, where noise levels are predicted to remain well above the target limit,” the report said.

Even erecting a 12-foot barrier, which would cut off sound to the east and west of the courts, sounds would still exceed the target limit of 52 decibels by 1-2 decibels.

The report recommended fully enclosing the east court with 12-foot barriers on all sides, increasing the height of the center court’s northern barrier to 14 feet, reducing the number of courts on the northern dual-use tennis court and rotating their orientation by 90 degrees. However, while the changes will reduce levels to the north and south, the report predicted it would increase levels to the east by six decibels.

Henderson Park may be an option

Regarding Henderson Park, where the city is evaluating the conversion of four existing tennis courts into dual-use courts for both pickleball and tennis, the proposed area is located at least 300 feet from existing homes with no direct line of sight from the courts to the homes.

“A buffer of mature trees and vegetation separates the residences from the racquet/paddle court area, which is situated 30’ to 75’ higher in elevation than the surrounding homes,” the study said.

The footprint area of four tennis courts would comfortably support play on up to 12 pickleball courts, while still keeping the tennis nets in place, it said.

“When adjusted for elevations, directionality factors, and other parameters, the modeling software predicts that maximum sound levels will be at or below the conservative target limit of 50 dBA without the addition of sound mitigation barriers or other attenuation measures for any or all of the planned courts,” the PSMC study said.

Consultants say Rosenfeld Park ‘not the best place’ for courts

In regard to Rosenfeld Park, where renovations to four existing tennis courts

are planned, there has been discussions about converting “the four tennis courts into three tennis courts and parking, plus consideration is being given to adding pickleball as a dual-use feature on these courts,” the report said.

The company’s sound assessment and resulting recommendations considered the non-summer months when a nearby pool would not be in use, which when busy, masks sounds coming from the courts.

Nearby homes to the proposed courts vary in distance from less than 100 feet to within 300 feet, with current pickleball play clearly audible in many backyards, the report said.

The site plan PSMC used for evaluation calls for one pickleball court on each side of the three tennis courts with six pickleball courts, aligned northsouth.

Modeling results indicate that achieving compliance with the target sound level at the second story of homes would necessitate a barrier height of approximately 22 feet, the report said. Increasing barrier height to 16 feet “likewise proved ineffective due to reflective sound paths propagating over the barriers.”

Van Scoyk said Rosenfeld Park, “to put it bluntly, is not the best place for pickleball.”

City held public meeting Sept. 29

After the vote, Amy Trocchi thanked PSMC for providing “tone and perspective to an issue that has fractured our very good community.”

The possibility of a future pickleball complex, however, is still on the table, possibly at another venue. Officials were scheduled to hold a public information meeting at city hall Sept. 29 from 6-8 p.m. where representatives from PSMC will be on hand to answer questions from attendees.

Auman said the city will continue to seek solutions to address “a great demand for pickleball” at a city-owned park or another venue.

Gross said the anti-pickleball group and other Tucker residents have questioned “why it has taken all of this division and controversy to convince you that installing 12 pickleball courts so close – in some cases less than 100 feet – from our homes might not be such a good idea? Especially considering the fact that the recommended extensive sound mitigation measures would significantly drive up the initial cost?”

4, 2025 - JAN 11, 2026

Photos © Salvo Emma - Soprintendenza del Mare; ©Archivio Fotografico Soprintendenza del Mare

(Photo courtesy of City of Tucker)

Atlanta Opera to release 18 filmed operas

By Sammie Purcell

The Atlanta Opera plans to release 18 new filmed operas on its streaming platform, The Atlanta Opera Film Studio.

Founded by Tomer Zvulun and Felipe Barral, the Atlanta Opera Film Studio was originally launched during the pandemic to help support the opera.

The platform continued to help bring opera directly into people’s homes. According to a press release, the 18 opera films include “Madama Butterfly,” “Don Giovanni,” “The Barber of Seville,” “Bluebeard’s Castle,” “La bohème,” and the first three operas of Richard Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” –“Das Rheingold,” “Die Walküre,” and “Siegfried.”

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“With this major release of feature films of opera, we demonstrate our commitment to innovation, to breaking boundaries, and underscoring the power of this vibrant art form,” Zvulun, who is also the company’s Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. general and artistic director, said in the release. “Opera’s stories and emotions are universal, whether experienced in the theater or on the screen.”

In addition to the classics, the films will also include modern works such as “As One,” “Forsyth County is Flooding,” and “Steele Roots.” The films will start to

become available to Atlanta Opera Film Studio subscribers beginning on Sept. 25, with new films releasing monthly through December.

Starting in November, the Atlanta Opera also plans to livestream four upcoming operas for free on its streaming platform. “La traviata” will stream on Nov. 14. Next year, “The Marriage of Figaro” will stream on March 20, “Turandot” will stream on May 1, and “Twilight of the Dogs (Götterdämmerung)” will stream on June 5.

‘Legends and Lores’ returns to Rhodes Hall

By Rough Draft Staff

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is bringing back its yearly “Legends and Lore Tour” this October at Rhodes Hall, the organization’s headquarters and “one of the last remaining mansions” on Peachtree Street.

Featured on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters and WSB’s Georgia’s Haunted Hidden Gems, Rhodes Hall (also referred to as the “Castle on Peachtree”) has earned a reputation as one of Atlanta’s most haunted landmarks.

Tours are offered on Oct. 24, 29 and 30, giving Atlantans the opportunity to explore the 121-year-old mansion and hear eerie stories of ghostly encounters reported by visitors and staff.

New this year is the Candlelight Hidden Spaces Tour, a nightly excursion in which participants will step into

normally-restricted areas of the house (including the fourth-floor children’s playroom and the dark basement) where paranormal activity is said to be most active.

All tours include a pre-experience drink on the mansion’s front porch, with beer, wine, soda and water included in the ticket price.

Admission is $45 for the standard tour and $55 for the candlelight tour. Tickets are currently available at georgiatrust.org/legends.

(Photos courtesy of Atlanta Opera)

(Photo courtesy of The Georgia Trust for Historical Preservation)

Eight restaurants to explore this fall

By Beth McKibben

As we enter the final quarter of 2025, restaurant openings are only ramping up. It’s already been a busy year that saw new spots from two James Beard award winners, a soju distillery debut its restaurant incubator, chefs kicking counter-service menus into high gear, and the return of fine dining to the Woodruff Arts Center.

The Rough Draft dining team has been tracking a growing list of upcoming restaurants, but the following eight restaurants are the ones we’re most looking forward to opening.

From a trifecta of Lao, Thai, and Khmer food in Chamblee and Greek dishes and cocktails in Midtown to a dessert bar in Poncey-Highland and Neapolitan pizza in Dunwoody, put these restaurants on your opening radar this fall.

Naga Bistro

Lao, Thai, and Khmer (Cambodian) 2201 Savoy Dr., Chamblee Anticipated September 2025

The owners of Lao restaurant Snackboxe Bistro in Duluth will open Naga Bistro later this month in Chamblee. Taking over the Wild Ginger Thai Cuisine space on Savoy Drive, Naga Bistro will include a full bar and serve a combination of traditional and fusion Lao, Thai, and Khmer (Cambodian) dishes. While all three cuisines will be served here, Khmer fare takes pride of place at Naga Bistro. (Think prahok ktis, a savory minced pork dip, and kathiew, a Cambodian beef noodle soup with a pork bone broth.)

Buddy Buddy

Greek comfort food and cocktails 931 Monroe Dr., Midtown

Anticipated end of September 2025

Veteran Atlanta bartender Nick Chaivarlis will open Buddy Buddy by the end of September in the former Tapa Tapa space at Midtown Promenade. Expect martinis served three ways, along with other classic and original cocktails incorporating wash techniques, infused base spirits, and house-made syrups and cordials. Food will merge Greek street food with the homestyle dishes Chaivarlis grew up eating, including avgolemono (lemon chicken soup), yemista (stuffed peppers), and a roast lamb entree spiced with garlic, aleppo, and oregano chermoula served with Greek lemon potatoes, fried couscous pearls, and a feta beet salad.

Spring 2nd Branch

Korean cuisine and hot pot

113 Church Street, Marietta

Anticipated mid-October 2025

The long-awaited second restaurant from Chef Brian So should open in midOctober, just around the corner from his Michelin-star restaurant Spring in Marietta. Located on Church Street in a newly redeveloped retail strip, also home to Contrast Artisan Ales, Spring 2nd Branch (or Bōm, meaning “springtime”) will serve simmering Korean hot pot, dolsot bibimbap, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), mandu (dumplings), and other Korean dishes So grew up eating with his family.

Bar Ana

Desserts and cocktails

939 Ponce de Leon Ave., Poncey-Highland

Anticipated October 2025

Award-winning pastry chef Claudia Martinez and El Ponce owner Rosa Thurnher will open Bar Ana in October, a dessert and cocktail bar taking over the former El Bar space beneath El Ponce. By day, Bar Ana will act as a coffee shop run by Ivan Solis of Recuerdos Cafe. At night, the space transforms into a cocktail bar serving sophisticated desserts. Look for a dessert tasting menu, too, consisting of a rotating collection of signature desserts and pastries from Martinez.

Having grown up in Naples, owner Luca Varuni knows the right ingredients matter for proper Neapolitan pizza. Every year, he travels back to Naples for San Marzano tomato harvesting season, spending time there sourcing ingredients that meet his exacting standards to keep his two in-town pizzerias supplied for months.

A third location of Varuni Napoli will open by the end of 2025 at the High Street development in Dunwoody, becoming the first location of the popular pizzeria outside the Perimeter.

Sugar Loaf

Ethiopian-Albanian, breakfast and lunch, pastries, coffee 780 Memorial Dr., Reynoldstown Anticipated by the end of 2025

Varuni Napoli

Neapolitan pizza

High Street, Dunwoody

Anticipated by the end of 2025

There’s a glut of great pizza joints in Metro Atlanta serving a variety of styles, including Neapolitan. But few pizzerias centered on Neapolitan-style pies measure up to those served at Varuni Napoli.

Nebi and Lindsay Berhane describe Sugar Loaf as “Southern-inspired” and “globally influenced,” with food and flavors tapping into their Ethiopian and Albanian heritages. Later this year, the couple will transform their farmers market stall into a permanent restaurant in Reynoldstown, serving breakfast and lunch, including Sugar Loaf’s sought-after biscuits, like the tasso ham and cheese on an Ethiopianspiced dabo biscuit. An expanded menu will also feature caramel-topped “sticky buna” infused with Ethiopian coffee, Liege waffles, Ethiopian lentil salads, Oklahomastyle fried onion smashburgers, and a zesty Albanian chicken sandwich.

Some Luck

Thai street food, cocktails 644 North Highland Ave., Poncey-Highland Anticipated by the end of 2025

Chefs Parnass Savang and Rod Lassiter, owners of Summerhill Thai restaurant Talat Market, will open Thai bar Some Luck this fall in Poncey-Highland. Taking over the Highland Ballroom Lounge, next door to Steven Satterfield’s Madeira Park, Some Luck will serve a decidedly Thaifocused menu featuring bar snacks, noodle

soups, wings, and late-night food inspired by dishes found at street stalls throughout Thailand. Expect quick-fired, stirred cocktails mixed with Thai ingredients and base spirits like rum, along with pitchers of ice-cold Singha beer and local beers on draft.

Bottle Rocket

Sushi, burgers, and cocktails, neighborhood bar

231 Mitchell St., South Downtown Anticipated by end of 2025

Castleberry Hill neighborhood staple and game day favorite Bottle Rocket will pull up stakes for nearby South Downtown this fall. Located between Tyde Tate Thai Kitchen and Spiller Park Coffee, Bottle Rocket will reside on the ground floor of a renovated early 20th-century storefront on Historic Hotel Row. Known for its eclectic menu of sushi, burgers, and cocktails, the move to South Downtown will increase seating capacity at Bottle Rocket, allow for a better bar layout, and see the menu expand to include lunch and weekend brunch.

Yuzu cheesecake (Provided by Bar Ana/Claudia Martinez)

Chefs Parnass Savang (left) and Rod Lassiter (right) (Provided by Some Luck)

The best dishes we ate in September

By Beth McKibben and Sarra Sedghi

Beth’s dishes

Chilaquiles at La Mixteca Tamale House

Buckhead, Underwood Hills, Suwanee

Whenever I see chilaquiles on a morning menu, it’s an automatic order, especially if I get to customize my breakfast nachos with sauces, toppings, and protein options.

Serving as the base layer for chilaquiles, thick strips of fried tortilla are quickly simmered in salsa, to which refried beans, eggs, cilantro, and lots of crumbly queso fresco are added, along with other ingredients like pico de gallo, avocado, and jalapeños. Then you pile on your favorite extras, including shredded chicken, chorizo, steak, and even tofu.

The chips for the chilaquiles at La Mixteca Tamale House come with substantial heft, enough to hold together during the salsa simmer without disintegrating or turning to mush, or later collapsing under the weight of multiple toppings.

I appreciate that La Mixteca keeps its chilaquiles add-on options tight. The basic dish comes with eggs of any style, avocado, queso fresco, onions, cilantro, and jalapeños. I added spicy green salsa, shredded chicken, and opted for a sunny egg, mixing in the yolk to give the chilaquiles a creamier texture. At $15, this chilaquiles brunch was a bargain. Za’atar bagel and Reuben at Yaba’s Bagels

4780 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody

Located at Ashford Place, in the former 101 Bagel Cafe space, Yaba’s isn’t your standard New York-style bagel shop. Bagels are infused with spices like za’atar,

or come with spread options like labneh drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with za’atar, or tahini and date syrup topped with dates and toasted walnuts. The “water bagels” at Yaba’s take me right back to the deli in my hometown, reminding me that the precisely timed boiling process matters in bringing about the signature textures of a New York-style bagel (crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside).

My love affair with Yaba’s za’atar bagels began in August when I ordered the Levantine ($11), which comes with the aforementioned labneh spread. It continued with my recent bagel sandwich order: the Reuben ($14) and a turkey and Swiss ($12) on a za’atar bagel. The former was stuffed full of savory, hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. Croissants from Viennoiseries

After Dark

Cottage bakery with evening delivery service around Metro Atlanta

“Butter + love = Paris.” That’s the motto for Viennoiseries and the founding principle behind Chloë Chadet’s cottage bakery operation on Atlanta’s west side. “I launched Viennoiseries After Dark because of our love for viennoiseries any time of the day. Late night to early morning cravings,” Chadet told me. This includes her craving for croissants in the

evening, which she bakes to flaky, buttery perfection, accompanied by petite jars of jam, and begins delivering just after sunset with her mother, Christelle.

While croissants are synonymous with France, especially Paris, part of the buttery puff pastry’s origins lie in Vienna.

Viennoiserie is a category of baked goods that bridge the gap between pastry and bread in France, made in the Viennese style. The origins of the croissant can be traced to medieval Austria and the crescent-shaped kipferl with a dough similar to brioche. It’s said the croissant we know today was invented by Austrian native and baker August Zang in 1838. He owned a Viennese-style boulangerie in Paris and transformed the crescent-shaped Viennese bread roll into a flaky, layered, laminated dough pastry. It became an instant sensation in Paris.

Chadet also bakes bacon gruyere quiches (yes, please) and occasionally batches of Madeleines. A quiche, which easily serves six people, and four croissants set me back about $41, including a $5 delivery charge.

Sopa de pollo roja and house salad at Communidad Taqueria

655 Highland Ave., Old Fourth Ward

Listed as sopa de pollo (chicken soup) at Communidad in the Old Fourth Ward, don’t expect noodle-laden, clear broth with chunks of chicken and vegetables to hit the table. This soup leans heartier, with a zesty red broth infused with chiles and tomatoes, similar to that of pozole (Mexican stew with chiles, pork or chicken, and hominy).

Chicken asada, corn, fried tortilla strips, and white beans pack the savory broth, even before you pile on crispy shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, and a garnish of fresh cilantro. Crunch. Layers of texture. A savory, aromatic broth with a hint of heat. Communidad’s sopa de pollo roja has entered the chat, Atlanta. Reply by ordering it.

asada simply introduced more protein to the mix, soaking up the flavors of the pickled onions and black beans as it steeped in the juices of the salad’s other ingredients.

While not paired together as a combo on the menu, Communidad’s sopa de pollo roja and house salad should be, because it’s the soup-and-salad combo we deserve.

Sarra’s dishes

Baby arugula salad at KR SteakBar

349 Peachtree Hills Ave., Peachtree Hills, Buckhead

Since moving back to Atlanta last year, I don’t think any dish has impressed me more than the city’s contemporary wave of salads. KR SteakBar’s arugula salad is the latest to capture me. I can’t recall the last time I’ve eaten such tender arugula — the leaves felt young and plush and carried a subtle peppery flavor rather than abrasive bitterness. The arugula made a great vehicle for smoked mozzarella, salami chunks, and olive brine vinaigrette (such an underrated ingredient) and created a light take on antipasti — a good opener for the heavier meat and pastas that followed.

Pizza ranch dressing and Pepp City pizza at Glide Pizza

254 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur

I paired a cup of the sopa de pollo roja ($6) with a small Communidad salad ($7), to which I added chicken asada for an additional charge ($5). With a base of Romaine and arugula, the salad on its own comes with marinated black beans, hibiscuspickled red onions, tortilla strips, and crumbles of queso fresco tossed in a roasted jalapeno green goddess dressing. The chicken

Visiting Glide Pizza’s first dinein location this month taught me a few things: first, Glide’s patrons have a serious love for the pizzeria’s ranch dressing, and second, I should never interview anyone while pizza is cooking, because I am powerless around that smell. I ended up leaving with a few slices and a cup of house ranch, which my husband and I obliterated (the secret is fresh basil and dill, I’ve been told). It paired well with the spicier pizza, but I also want to try it on everything else. Matcha tonic at White Windmill Cafe & Bakery

Buckhead, Doraville, Duluth

My ideal beverage combines caffeine and carbonation — any kind of espresso tonic or coffee spritz creates a jolt that’s both invigorating and productive. So, when I encountered the matcha tonic at the new White Windmill location in Buckhead, I ordered it without hesitation. It’s not the drink for everyone, especially if you don’t enjoy matcha without milk or syrup, but I love how the fizzy carbonated water aerates the earthy matcha. I suppose you could add boba, because they make it in a bobacompatible cup, but I didn’t.

(Courtesy of La Mixteca Tamale House/Instagram)

Bagel Za’atar bagel and reuben (Photo by Beth McKibben)

More hearings for APS school closures as parents push back

By Collin Kelley

Atlanta Public Schools will host another round of virtual and in-person public meetings as parents push back against proposed school closures, consolidations, repurposing, and redistricting.

APS virtual meetings was held on Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.; Sept. 25 at noon; and Oct. 20 at noon. An inperson meeting is also set for Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at APS headquarters in Downtown.

(File photo)

The school district is considering the changes as part of its Comprehensive Long-Range Facilities Plan (CLRFP), also known as APS Forward 2040.

APS said there are 70,000 available seats, but only 50,000 students are currently enrolled. The CLRFP is designed to address overcrowded schools, underutilized campuses, aging facilities, and the need for equitable access to specialized academic programs.

APS plans to finalize its recommendation by November and adopt the final plan by December.

Some parents have organized against

the plan over what they call APS’s lack of transparency, including those with students at Buckhead’s Morris Brandon Elementary School.

The APS plan would see Morris Brandon split into two separate K-5 schools, which is just one of the major changes proposed for the North Atlanta cluster. One scenario, eliminating all dualcampus models, would mean significant redistricting.

The Save Brandon group said on its website that “our community is asking for greater transparency, more detailed information, and a meaningful opportunity to engage in the process before any final decisions are made.”

Fulton County Schools post gains in grad rates

By Rough Draft Staff

North Springs and Riverwood International Charter high schools in Sandy Springs had impressive graduation rates last year in Georgia as Fulton County Schools reached its highest level in the district’s history.

North Springs four-year graduation rate was 94.9 percent and Riverwood attained a 97.1 percent graduation rate for the 2024-2025 school year, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s Inspire website.

The school district attained a 91.9 percent overall rate, according to a news release. It was the fifth year in a row that Fulton County Schools (FCS) broke graduation records.

The rate had dipped in 2020 for the first time since 2012. The release said that in the last five years FCS had a 6.4 percent increase.

“We have come a long way since the

pandemic and believe our continued progress is the result of our persistence in utilizing dedicated funds for recovery, effective data analysis, recruiting top talent, and investing in innovation that has transformed what was a period of crisis into one of restoration and thriving,” Superintendent Mike Looney said, according to the release.

FCS attributed its investment in multiple strategies throughout the pandemic, such as targeted academic supports, expanded access to advanced coursework, investment in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) pathways, and new data monitoring tools for the graduation rate increase. According to the release, a measure of that success was that students who completed two or more CTAE courses posted a 99 percent graduate rate.

Seventeen of the school district’s 21 high schools surpassed the 90 percent graduation rate threshold.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONSArtisan Market

Saturday, November 1st

10AM-4PM

Marist School

3790 Ashford Dunwoody RD NE

Thank you to this year’s Gold Level sponsors

Is a community garden becoming the must-have amenity?

By Sarra Sedghi

Drive or walk past a newer housing community and you’ll notice a new category of green-minded amenities. These days, more people want sustainability, and housing communities are accommodating this must-have by including energy-efficient appliances, organic landscaping, using recycled and salvaged building materials, and incorporating walkability and access to public transit.

As more eco-conscious communities gain momentum around the country, amenities such as pools and fitness centers just don’t seem to cut it anymore. Some Metro Atlanta apartment complexes and housing communities are going beyond the traditional amenities, building shared garden spaces and even farms into the residential package.

While community gardens aren’t exactly new, the privatization of such an amenity brings fresh context to agrarianism. Rooftop gardens and on-site farms are two types of modern and urban community garden spaces you might find within newer apartment and housing complexes.

Although idealistic in theory, establishing a community garden requires navigating a share of government hang-ups. Even if the plots or bounty are intended for semi-public use, community gardens can only legally exist on private land.

Doraville demos buildings for new city center AROUND ATLANTA

By Cathy Cobbs

The City of Doraville had a demolition ceremony of its city hall and municipal building on Saturday, Sept. 27, marking a significant step in redeveloping Doraville City Center into a walkable gathering place for the community.

“This site has been the center of Doraville’s civic life for 150 years. As we take down these buildings, we are making way for a reinvigorated downtown that will remain the heart of our city for decades to come.” said Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman in a release from the city.

The city hosted a celebration at the demolition site, featuring food, music, family-friendly activities and “a chance to

witness history in the making with friends and neighbors,” the release said.

The new city center will include “The People’s Building,” a 30,000-square-foot community hub that will house city hall, a public library, creator studios, two rooftop spaces for private events and ground-floor restaurants that open to a large green space.

Kaufman Capital Partners is the master development partner for the new city center, overseeing planning, design and development.

“The start of demolition is a major step forward in transforming this site into an activated and connected destination that reflects Doraville’s history, spirit and character,” said Garry Sobel, senior vice president for KCP. “We are working in lockstep with the City of Doraville to deliver a vibrant downtown that enriches the lives of those who live and visit here.”

The redevelopment spans 13 acres between New Peachtree Road and Buford Highway, adjacent to the Doraville MARTA Station. Plans for the new city center include pedestrian-friendly streets, a central green space activated with events, multifamily housing, and restaurant options.

To further enhance connectivity,

Houses of worship and schools sometimes offer private land as a workaround.

Take the Leila Valley Community Farm in Southeast Atlanta, for example, which was planted on former housing land that’s currently the property of Valley View Church of God in Christ across the street. Spelman College’s Victory Garden also serves the community and acts as an outdoor classroom for its food studies program, as do community gardens at Emory University and Georgia Tech.

Community-run farms didn’t really exist in metro Atlanta 30 years ago. That changed in 1998, with the launch of East Lake Commons, a conservation community clustered around historic farmland

straddling East Atlanta and Decatur. Each of the 67 properties within the community owns a portion of the fully functioning, organic, five-acre Gaia Gardens farm, which includes a greenhouse, two high tunnels, a pond, a complete irrigation system, tractors, a blueberry orchard, and a community garden plot for East Lake Commons residents.

Five years later, the community took over supervising and running Gaia Gardens. But the community doesn’t manage the day-to-day farm operations. The East Lake Commons Property Owners Association (POA) leases the land to a farmer or pair of farmers for $1 a year. The POA is currently on its sixth contract, in exchange for a community supported agriculture (CSA) program.

The CSA model ensures farmer compensation no matter how the growing season turns out. Without this structure, a farmer could go under in a handful of years. Any surplus produce can be sold at farmers markets or via a tent on the property itself, providing added income to the farmer(s). In addition to financial security, Gaia Gardens’ farmers reap

the site will also link to the Peachtree Creek Greenway and Atlanta Beltline.

The team will include architect McMillan Pazdan Smith, Choate Construction as general contractor and Dunwoodybased DASH Hospitality Group to curate the dining and entertainment experience.

With demolition now underway, KCP expects to deliver the finished project as well as the green space in 2027.

Doraville’s City Hall complex has served as the city’s civic heart for decades, hosting public meetings, supporting local government operations and bearing witness to major milestones that shaped the community, the release said.

Pendergrast Farm Community Garden

(Provided by Pendergrast Farm)

(Photo by Cathy Cobbs)

(Photo courtesy of City of Doraville)

irreplaceable industry knowledge that sustains their subsequent projects.

Notable Gaia Gardens alumni include Daniel Parson, farmer and educator at Emory’s Oxford College Organic Farm, and Joe Reynolds and Judith Winfrey, founders of Love is Love Cooperative Farm in Mansfield.

“It’s been a great training ground for people to either learn farming or upgrade their farming skills and have a minimal capital investment,” said Karen Minvielle, East Lake Commons resident and 25-year garden committee member. “We’re only a three-minute drive from downtown Atlanta. A lot of places don’t know we exist.”

A generation later, Gaia Gardens’ impact on Atlanta is undeniable. Farmers markets flourish throughout the metro area, and organic produce has proliferated, increasing physical and financial access to healthy food. More Atlantans prioritize local agriculture and sustainability, and private living communities and apartment complexes have taken notice, incorporating those values into key community amenities.

Georgia tops list as best state for business

By Ty Tagami Capitol Beat

For a dozen years in a row now, Georgia has ranked at the top of an economic development magazine’s listing of the best states for doing business.

In a new report, Area Development Magazine cites affordable housing, reliable child care and transportation as key determinants for the state’s consecutive run atop its charts.

“Executives are asking not just where they can find talent, but where that talent can live and thrive,” said the trade journal, explaining what helped buoy the state’s ranking. The measure is seen as a marker of a state’s attractiveness to growing companies that can bring new jobs.

The new rankings came out a week after an August jobs report from the state Department of Labor. The Sept. 18 state release showed nearly five million employed, with unemployment basically unchanged from July.

Area Development Magazine’s rankings are based on a survey of consultants who help companies choose where to locate. They considered numerous factors, including permitting ease, workforce training, climate risks, taxes, business incentives, reliable

(File photo)

energy infrastructure, support for technology innovation, and business-friendly policies.

Southern states led the list, with Georgia ahead of South Carolina, Texas and North Carolina. Ohio ranked fifth, followed by four more states in the South, with Michigan rounding out the top 10.

Gov. Brian Kemp credited Georgia’s ranking to a “team approach” to economic development with the legislature and local leaders.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce credited teamwork between elected officials and the business community, with President

ATLANTA IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR ATLANTA IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR

and CEO Chris Clark calling Georgia the “economic envy of the nation.”

The magazine said that the criteria are changing. Tax credits and cheap land are no longer the sole selling point as access to energy, water and housing becoming crucial.

Long-term environmental resilience will be key, too, the publication said, as insurers evaluate risk of flooding, fire, extreme heat or drought. “Expect more companies to weigh climate risk and water access with growing seriousness,” the publication said, adding that Georgia is a leader in that category.

Widening Divide: Rural Georgia’s population decline vs. Atlanta’s growth

By Charles Hayslett The Daily Yonder

A deepening demographic crisis now haunts rural Georgia and offers one of the starkest pictures of the widening divide between the greater Atlanta area and the rest of the state.

In less than 20 years, based on data maintained by the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH), the number of Georgia counties reporting more deaths than births exploded from less than 20 to nearly 100 of the state’s 159 counties.

In fact, the number of counties reporting more deaths than births peaked at 124 in 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 spike, and the combined 130 counties outside the 29-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) posted nearly 10,000 more deaths than births during the three-year Covid period from 2020 through 2022.

The Georgia situation is, of course, part of a larger national trend that started around 2010 and at least coincided with the Great Recession. A February 2022 paper by Kenneth Johnson at the University of New Hampshire reported that, for the first time ever, rural America lost population between 2010 and 2020.

“The loss was minimal,” he wrote, “just 289,000 (-0.6 percent) out of 46 million, but it is the first decade-long rural population loss in history.”

The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found the same pattern in a June 2025 paper by Justin B. Winikoff.

“Natural decrease is now widespread across nonmetro counties, with 1,492 nonmetro counties (76 percent) seeing a natural decrease between July 2023 and June 2024,” Winikoff wrote. “Natural decrease should be expected to continue because of population aging.”

While the Georgia situation is part of a bigger picture, it almost certainly offers one of the starkest examples of the widening divide between urban and rural America. The high-level numbers are jarring enough. In 1994 – the earliest year for which the state’s public health agency has data – the difference in the number of births in the 29-county Atlanta MSA and the other 130 counties was relatively modest – just over 3,500.

But that difference grew steadily through the 1990s and early 2000s, peaking at 22,169 in 2006. In other words, the difference in the number of births between the Atlanta MSA and the

rest of the state grew more than six-fold in just over a decade.

Deaths were also mounting, of course, in the Atlanta region thanks to sheer population growth and in the rest of the state (and rural areas in particular) because of aging populations. Outside Atlanta, the number of births and deaths had been converging rapidly since the onset of the Great Recession, and the two lines crossed when Covid hit. From 2020 through 2022, the 130 counties outside Atlanta reported nearly 10,000 more deaths than births.

Since then, non-Atlanta has gotten back into positive territory – but just barely. And the overall picture is hardly encouraging. In 2024, as this table shows, Georgia recorded just under 30,000 more births than deaths, but nearly all those excess births were in the Atlanta MSA.

Tracking the data at a state level is startling enough, but mapping countyby-county behavior over time suggests nothing so much as the relentless spread of a terrifying socioeconomic cancer.

In 1994, the earliest year for which DPH has data, only 12 Georgia counties recorded more deaths than births. And, as this map shows, the only real regional patterns were in three “mountain

counties” – Fannin, Towns, and Union – on the North Carolina line and two adjoining counties – Quitman and Clay – hard on the Alabama line in southwest Georgia.

The picture didn’t change much over the next 15 years. The number of Georgia counties reporting more deaths than births remained below 20 for this entire period. At the onset of the Great Recession in 2007, the number of counties in this unhappy category was down to twelve; the previous year – 2006 – the number of counties reporting more deaths than births was eight, an all-time low for the period.

But by 2015, it had spiked to 60 counties (with two more that broke even, with the same number of births and deaths), and several clear regional patterns were taking shape.

The group of mountain counties in northern Georgia’s border area had doubled, and this demographic malady was beginning to spread down Georgia’s eastern border with South Carolina and into east-central Georgia. In deep southwest Georgia, the number of upsidedown counties had quadrupled since 1994, and a long chain of counties where burials outnumbered new babies was taking shape across the belly of the state. Many of these counties had been home to textile and manufacturing plants that were hammered by NAFTA starting in the 1990s.

Largely unaffected by this trend were the Metro Atlanta area as the sprawling, wide-open expanse in the northern part of the state – and deep southeast Georgia. But southeast Georgia’s days were numbered. Over the next few years, the number of counties reporting more deaths continued to rise and hit 78 in 2019, the last pre-Covid year.

Two years later – the worst year of the Covid period – the number of counties with more burials than babies topped out at 124. Of the 35 remaining counties still reporting net births, only 14 were outside the Atlanta MSA; combined, those nonAtlanta counties produced only 4,008 net births. The 21 Atlanta MSA counties in this category produced 21,136 more births than deaths in 2021.

It’s worth noting that the damage was not confined to purely rural counties in 2021. The important regional hub counties anchored by Macon, Albany, Brunswick, and Rome all fell into negative territory that year.

Post-Covid (or at least the worst of Covid so far), the number of counties in negative territory dropped back to 92 in 2023 and ticked up to 94 in ’24, but that should hardly be viewed as good news. That drop merely puts this trend back on its pre-Covid trajectory, and it’s not at all clear that this trend will stall out anytime soon, let alone begin to reverse itself.

This story was originally published in the Daily Yonder.

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Photo Credit: Jenna Shea Mobley