Transportation Costs Undermine Atlanta's 'Affordable' Label

Metro Atlanta families earning between $20,000 and $50,000 a year "spend an average of 29 percent of their income on housing and 32 percent of their income on transportation for a total of 61 percent. The analysis was done by the Center for Housing Policy, which compared housing and transportation costs in 28 of the major cities in the United States."

"The only city more expensive than metro Atlanta is San Francisco, where 35 percent of a working family's income goes toward housing and 27 percent goes toward transportation, 63 percent total."

"Metro Atlanta also has another unenviable distinction. Sixty percent of the households in the 10-county metro area have two cars. The national average is 58 percent. As one of the least dense major cities in the country, long commutes are a way of life."

"Once again, the inability for metro Atlanta to deal with its transportation issues is having a direct impact on the affordability of our region."

"Up to now, affordability has focused on housing costs, which means that metro Atlanta has been able to hide its dirty secret of its increasing transportation costs...If metro Atlanta loses its cachet of being one of the nation's more affordable cities, we will be less attractive to people and companies interesting in relocating here."