Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
For the 2000 census, the Atlanta metropolitan area was divided into 660 census
tracts, enabling the comparison of the very prosperous northern suburbs to the
impoverished neighborhoods of South Atlanta (see Figure 8.2). The center city,
which represents 10% of the population and of metropolitan income, is deeply
divided between rich districts in the north (Buckhead) and poor neighborhoods in
the south. The contrasts are less pronounced for the rest of the MSA, although the
suburbs are all relatively wealthy while center city neighborhoods are all relatively
poor. Despite the presence of rich neighborhoods to the north, the poorest
metropolitan neighborhoods are concentrated in the center city (see Figure 8.3).
These social inequalities are closely related to racial segregation.
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
USA
MSA
Central City
Suburbs
Figure 8.3.
Atlanta MSA, population living below the poverty threshold, 2000
The southern United States continues to be characterized by a high percentage of
African-Americans among the general population. In 1970, blacks accounted for
21% of the population of the Atlanta MSA, which then had a population of
1.7 million people (see Figure 8.4). While the overall population increased annually
by 2.9%, black population, fueled by selective immigration, increased by 3.9% per
year. The African-American community in Atlanta thus rose from less than 400,000
people in 1970 to about 1.2 million inhabitants in 2000. This population represents
approximately 29% of the 2000 census metropolitan population.
The population distribution map for the metropolitan black population in 1970
enables us to distinguish two phenomena: data aggregations for the surrounding
countryside mask the disparities observed when census tracts cover smaller
geographical areas; and segregation is clearly visible in metropolitan Atlanta at the
level of census tracts. A compact group of neighborhoods south of the Central
Business District has an almost exclusively black population, while blacks are
virtually absent from other neighborhoods, particularly in the northern suburbs.
