Survey: Metro Atlanta, Cobb residents see crime as biggest issue

Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·2 min read

Nov. 17—A new survey found that residents of metro Atlanta, including Cobb County, see crime as the biggest issue facing the metro area.

Asked which issue is the biggest problem facing residents in the metro Atlanta area today, 27% of Cobb respondents said crime. Nearly a third of all survey respondents across metro Atlanta, 32%, said crime was the biggest issue.

The survey was conducted by the Atlanta Regional Commission, a metro-wide, intergovernmental planning organization. Residents from Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties were included in the survey.

The other top challenges facing metro Atlanta, according to Cobb respondents, are the economy (18%), human services for people in need (11%), public health (10%) and transportation (10%).

Respondents across the metro region placed crime first, followed by public health (13%), the economy (12%), transportation (9.5%) and human services (9.5%).

Other issues that survey respondents could choose were race relations, public education and taxes. Some respondents chose another issue that wasn't listed, or said they weren't sure.

The survey, conducted by Kennesaw State University, had 4,800 respondents, 400 of them Cobb residents. The survey has a margin of error of 1.5% for the metro region and between 3.8% and 5% for individual counties.

The survey asked questions about quality-of-life issues, including racial equity, policing, income inequality, COVID-19 vaccines, how safe they feel in the pandemic, the minimum wage, whether living conditions will improve, how they would handle a $400 emergency, whether they receive food assistance, whether they work from home and whether they worry about their next rent/mortgage payment.

"This year's Metro Atlanta Speaks survey shines a light on the difficult period we are all living through," said Mike Alexander, senior director of ARC's Center for Livable Communities. "Trends that we spotted in last year's survey continue this year. More of us than ever are working from home, and unfortunately, many of us continue to struggle to make ends meet as the pandemic wears on."

For more information about the survey, including county level results, visit atlantaregional.org/metroatlantaspeaks.