Georgia Facts: A Look at the "Five Georgias"

GEORGIA FACTS: A LOOK AT GEORGIA FACTS: A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS WITHIN YOUR THE NUMBERS WITHIN YOUR STATESTATE

By: Andrew Carswell, Ph.D., and Douglas Bachtel, Ph.D.

Society of Georgia Archivists MeetingSavannah, GA

November 6, 2009

WHAT WE ARE GOING TO COVER WHAT WE ARE GOING TO COVER TODAYTODAY

The Five Georgias

Ten Pertinent Things That Make The State Unique

Recent Research That Covers Under-Documented Populations

THE FIVE GEORGIASTHE FIVE GEORGIAS

URBAN URBAN COUNTIESCOUNTIES

Contains a city with 50,000 or more inhabitants

Some Georgia urban counties are part of metro areas outside the state

Large numbers of African-Americans

Growing number of Hispanics

High crime rates

URBANIZING COUNTIESURBANIZING COUNTIES

Sometimes referred to as “micropolitan”

Viable job opportunities and infrastructure improvements

Diversified economyGrowing minority groupMay eventually evolve into

metropolitan area

SUBURBASUBURBANN

Also metropolitan¼ of population

commutes in to core/central city to work

Predominantly white, affluent, and highly educated

These areas grow at the expense of the urban counties

RURAL GROWTHRURAL GROWTHExperienced growth during

the 1980sCharacterized by scenic

beautyAttractive to tourists and

retireesSome located near military

baseUsually tax issues involved

in these countiesConflicts between new and

old residents

RURAL DECLINERURAL DECLINEThe counties in

greatest perilLong-term population

lossLack of employment

opportunitiesLow infrastructure

and business development

Bi-modal age distribution

SIZE OF THE POPULATIONSIZE OF THE POPULATION

9th largest population in the U.S.

Only 24th in areaLarge rural populationFarm population shrinking

(currently 63,480)

GROWTHGROWTH

4TH fastest growing state in the nation (2000-2007)

60% of growth was from new people moving into the state

Majority of new movers came from other SE states

DIVERSITYDIVERSITY

4TH highest % of African-Americans among U.S. states

Hispanics represent 7.5% of population

Asians account for 2.8% of the population

GA’s minority population heavily concentrated in a few areas

AGEAGEGA is a young stateLess % retirees than rest of

U.S., but growingLarge portion of GA’s

population growth is from new residents in their child-bearing years

EDUCATIONEDUCATION

GA traditionally has low educational attainment

Dropout rate is growing and is above the U.S. rate

Disparities in HS educational attainment rates within the races

ECONOMICSECONOMICSGA has low income levelsRanked 36th among all states119 counties are below that

of MSDisparities in income

between Asians/whites and Hispanics/A-A

53.7% of all firms in GA have <4 employees

187 companies have more than 1,000 employees

HOUSINGHOUSINGLarge number of mobile

and manufactured homesIn the top ten states for

foreclosuresRecently hit by large wave

of mortgage fraudRental and single-family

sectors both hurting Generally house prices

have been more stable than in other areas

Tax assessment and property tax issues

HEALTHHEALTHBirths to unwed mothers a

real problem within GA50% of students in GA

public school system live in single-parent households

Infant mortality rate much higher than rate for U.S.

Four epidemics prevalent within the state

VOTINGVOTINGA majority of eligible voters

do not cast their votes during a Presidential election

Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama elections

WATERWATER

State’s water supply directly tied to population growth

State currently has a border issue going on with FL, AL

Still currently a cheap resource, which hurts conservation efforts

WE THANK YOU FOR THE WE THANK YOU FOR THE TIME TO SPEAK WITH YOU!TIME TO SPEAK WITH YOU!

carswell@fcs.uga.edu(706) 542-4867

dbachtel@fcs.uga.edu(706) 542-4894

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