Conner: Development Moving to 'Walkable' Communities

Editor's Note: , , , and Community Development Director Pam Conner each spoke at the Powder Springs Business Association's monthly luncheon on Tuesday. Click on each person's name for highlights from their speeches.

Director Pam Conner said at Tuesday’s business luncheon that when the market bounces back, development probably won’t look the same.

“What we’re likely to see posed from the development community is more walkable family communities, daily needs, commercial developments within walking distance,” she said, specifically mentioning the example of a neighborhood grocery store.

Conner noted that the trend is rooted in the vast majority of millennials—the 78 billion people born from 1977 to ’96—wanting to live in an urban setting where they don’t have to drive.

“They prefer vibrant streets and social settings. … They want walkable and mix-use communities,” she said.

Meanwhile, Conner said that when the 82 million baby boomers move from their current locations, 80 percent of them will likely leave their single-family homes for independent living and active communities.

Another topic touched on was the roughly 500 vacant properties in the city. Conner said one Community Development employee’s job is to track down the owner of those properties to make sure they’re being kept up.

“Sometimes we’re successful, but we do run into issues, as you can imagine, in the foreclosure process,” she said.

Some other statistics of note from Conner and other Community Development staff members included:

• 24 million—square footage of vacant office space in the area
• 22,000—acres of land ready for commercial use
• 79—drop in percentage in commercial land value
• 900—approximate number of businesses inside the Powder Springs city limits
• 100—Powder Springs businesses that opened in the past three years that are still open
• 35—approximate number of businesses opening each year since 2004
• $1.1 million—money spent by major businesses like Publix and McDonald’s on renovations in Powder Springs since 2009

• 96—homes affected by the 2009 floods
• 16—homes severely damaged and receiving FEMA hazard mitigation that allows the homes to be purchased from the homeowner, demolished, and established as permanent green space
• 9—homes already acquired and demolished (other seven are being worked on)
• $1.9 million—approximate cost to acquire all 16
• Less than $70,000—cost from city to acquire those after FEMA and state money and other sources of funding