Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is pushing a new legislative package that aims to change how the city thinks about growth, public investment and the people who have remained in neighborhoods through years of disinvestment.
The proposal, called “Opportunity for All: The Neighborhood Reinvestment Act,” was announced as what the administration describes as the most comprehensive neighborhood investment and anti-displacement package in Atlanta’s history.
Its central idea is simple but significant: success should not be measured only by new buildings, but by whether public investment actually improves the lives of residents.
“This is about whether the people who stayed through decades of disinvestment get to stay long enough to benefit from the prosperity that is finally arriving,” said Mayor Andre Dickens.
“The first generation of TADs helped transform Atlanta physically, but this legislation recognizes that growth alone is not enough. We are building a new model where every public dollar must connect to measurable outcomes: safer neighborhoods, stable housing, stronger schools, expanded opportunity and pathways to wealth creation for the families who call these communities home.”
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The legislation brings together six major pieces. It creates a new NRI Impact Framework, extends six Tax Allocation Districts, establishes a City Council-controlled NRI Trust Fund, reauthorizes the Invest Atlanta intergovernmental agreement, reforms TAD Advisory Committees and includes an Anti-Displacement Playbook with more than 20 ordinances and resolutions.
The package is aimed especially at long-standing disparities in South and West Atlanta, where residents continue to face gaps tied to housing stability, education, economic mobility, food access, public safety and health outcomes.
A legislative overview, legislation and impact framework can be found here.
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The NRI Impact Framework would organize investments around three core goals: preventing displacement, stabilizing neighborhoods and creating wealth. Under the proposal, every TAD investment, Trust Fund award and publicly supported redevelopment project in NRI neighborhoods would need to show measurable alignment with those goals.
“Talking isn’t enough if we don’t have policies, practices and infrastructure, and so what I think the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative does is literally put our money where our mouths have been. NRI becomes that first step to putting something in place that reflects intentionality and manifest the beloved community, it’s an invitation to imagine a better city and to build that city,” said Dr. Bernice A. King.
The legislation also responds to the City Auditor’s forthcoming review of Atlanta’s Tax Allocation Districts by adding stronger redevelopment planning rules, third-party performance reviews, public dashboards and clearer links between spending and community results.
If approved, the Campbellton, Metropolitan, Stadium, Hollowell/MLK, Westside and Eastside TADs would be extended for 30 years, creating long-term bonding capacity for affordable housing, infrastructure, transit, economic development and neighborhood stabilization.
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The package is scheduled to be introduced before the Atlanta City Council on May 18, followed by committee hearings, public engagement and final consideration.
