Can new boundaries create better neighbors? Secession picks up steam.
Since Bill White moved to Atlanta’s northern district of Buckhead in 2018, he and many of his neighbors have watched the city grow more violent and more tense.
The police shooting of Rayshard Brooks, soon after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, incited unrest and temporary riots. Homicides jumped 60% during the pandemic, from 99 in 2019 to nearly 160 in 2020 and 2021. Buckhead residents – whiter and wealthier than the median Atlantan – feel afraid, says Mr. White. Some of his neighbors leave the house armed.
As for Mr. White, he wants to leave Atlanta altogether. He just doesn’t want to move. Instead, Mr. White has spent the past year arguing that Buckhead should be its own city – the first in Georgia born of secession. Founding and chairing the Buckhead City Committee, Mr. White has built a team of allies in
