About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2025)
» Your hometown newspaper since 1861 The Eatonton Alessenger THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2025 | A5 Housing shortage hinders Georgia’s growth Georgia is adding people faster than it’s adding places for them to live. A recent study by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, titled Short Supply: How Many More Homes Does Georgia Need? found that 94 of the state’s 159 counties face measurable housing shortages, with the average undersupplied county missing 3,879 units and the median county shortfall standing at 1,014 homes. The most acute deficit appears in Fulton County, where demand now outpaces supply by an estimated 75,152 units. Over the past four decades, Georgia’s popu lation growth has been nothing short of remark- able. Since 1980, each decade has seen a million new residents arrive, drawn by job opportuni ties, quality of life, and the promise of a growing economy. Yet, the state’s housing production tells a very different story. Permit ting data show that while Georgia issued 829,119 residential building permits in the 2000s, that number collapsed by 52% in the 2010s, to just 397,752 permits. This dramatic decline unfolded even as the state added more than one million people between 2010 and 2020 — an imbalance that now accounts for the shortage of hundreds of thousands of homes. The collapse in permit ting has a broader histor ical context. The Great Recession dealt a punch to Georgia’s homebuilding capacity. Between 2008 and 2013,87 Georgia banks failed, with too many heavily exposed to construction and devel opment lending. This choked off financing just as construction employ ment plunged 30% from its 2005 peak, recovering to only88% of its pre-re- cession workforce by 2019. At the same time, resi dential building permits collapsed by52%, falling from 829,119 in the 2000s to397,752in the 2010s. That drop contributed to a statewide decline in housing units per 100 residents — from 42.21 on average in 2010 down to41.18in 2020 — with many counties experi encing far more drastic swings. These capital, labor, and permitting shocks, occurring even as Georgia added over a million resi dents each decade, left the state with a persistent, uneven shortfall in new homes. This plunge in housing is particularly clear among single-family homes, which Ameri cans tend to prefer. From 1980 to 2020, the state approved nearly 1.86 million single-family home permits, with Gwin nett, Fulton, and Cobb counties alone accounting for more than 500,000 of those approvals. But after the Great Recession, single-family construction plunged. In five years, Cobb went from over 5,400 permits to just 409, Fulton from nearly 9,600 to 775, and Gwinnett from almost 9,900 to 617. While the largest abso lute shortages are concen trated in Metro Atlanta, the challenge extends far beyond the urban core. Coastal Chatham County is short by 13,424 units, Glynn by 9,945, and Clarke by 6,211 homes. Locally, the study said Putnam County presently faces a shortfall of 4,111 housing units, Greene County needs 2,767 new units, and Baldwin County is short 2,813 units. Altogether, the 94 undersupplied counties account for a cumulative deficit exceeding 365,000 homes. Even in counties with smaller populations, the gap between house holds and available units has widened. Regulatory and land-use policies are a recurring problem cited in the report. It details how zoning ordinances, density caps, infrastruc ture requirements and architectural mandates collectively slow develop ment and raise barriers to entry. Zoning policy in many counties effectively precludes affordable “missing middle” housing options such as duplexes, triplexes, bungalow courts and townhomes. The report highlights persistent barriers such as onerous zoning rules, costly permitting processes, and infra structure mandates. These combine to inflate construction costs, even as strong job markets, population growth and ongoing in-migration keep demand high. With the forces behind Georgia’s housing crunch expected to persist, directing attention and resources to the hard est-hit areas will be essen tial if the state is to close the gap between families and the homes they need. See the study online at georgiapolicy.org/ publications/short-supply- how-many-more-houses- does-georgia-need. — Contributed Putnam Past COLLEGE CONTINUED FROM » A4 would never have made it. As I discovered when my parents drove away that afternoon, I was on my own. So are today’s college newbies. No parents to wake them up. No one to see they get enough sleep. No checking of homework. No one looking over their shoulder. With freedom comes responsibility. I found out quickly that when I tossed my shirt on the floor, Momma wasn’t there to pick it up, wash and iron it, and hang it up in the closet. It just lay there, requiring some action on my part. Welcome to college. College is where young people develop their work habits — practices they will carry with them when they leave school and move out into the real world. If they don’t apply themselves in class, that’s not likely to change when they get into the work environment. But it’s not all about academics. It’s also about expanding your knowl edge outside the class- room, about becoming a well-rounded person. Meeting new people. Joining organizations. Getting involved in the community. Back when I was interviewing college grads looking to come and work in my company, I was as interested in their outside activities as I was in their grades. In closing, if you have young people heading off to college, tell them to work hard but remind them to cherish every minute of the experi ence. There will never be another four years to match it. Take it from a guy who thought he was making a gigantic mistake when he first walked on campus so many yester days ago. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick- yarbrough.comor at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Ga. 31139. LAST YEAR, AUG. 22, 2024 With 829 tickets sold and 802 picked up at The Plaza Saturday morning, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's Eatonton Expedition set a new all-time attendance record for the 51-year-old organization. Visitors arrived in Eatonton from seven states, with one couple making the trip from Texas. FIVE YEARS AGO, AUG. 20, 2020 Miss Georgia Smith, beloved Eatonton native, celebrated her 80th birthday Saturday and was surprised with a "Drive-Through Birthday Parade" that came through the Uncle Remus Museum's parking lot on the morning of Aug. 15. 10 YEARS AGO, AUG. 20, 2015 Representing Georgia, a Putnam County team finished third in the 2015 Dixie Youth Baseball "0" Zone World Series. The Aug. 8-12 tournament in Lexington, S.C., featured 12 teams that had advanced to the series from the multi-state, 2,000-team, 50,000-player total field that makes up Dixie Youth Baseball. 25 YEARS AGO, AUG. 24, 2000 The Gatewood Gators begin their 2000 football season tonight against Thomas Jefferson. Coach Roy Bryan, who returned to Gatewood this year after a year at Thomas Jefferson, is looking forward to giving his old school some payback. 50 YEARS AGO, AUG. 21, 1975 Through the efforts of the local historical society, downtown Eatonton and certain residential areas of the city have officially been entered on the National Register of Historic Places. Mayor James. P. Marshall was notified of the registration by Gary Everhardt, director of the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior and also by the National Register program coordinator, C.S. Griffith of the Georgia Department of National Resources. 75 YEARS AGO, AUG. 24, 1950 Complying with state orders, the Putnam County Selective Service Board this week ordered 15 Putnam County men to report to Atlanta Sept. 5 for pre induction physicals. In the last draft of five men, not a single one who reported passed the pre-induction pysicals, Mrs. Renza Paschal, clerk, reported. 100 YEARS AGO, AUG. 21, 1925 Last Saturday Mr. Nelson carried a small group of farmers on a tour to Athens. The first stop was made near Godfrey, on the farm of Mrs. Walker and Floyd Newton. Here the Newtons showed their alfalfa fields and told of their success in growing alfalfa, saying, "Alfalfa and silos are absolutely essential to progressive and profitable all-year-round dairying." KENTUCKY CONTINUED FROM » A4 Kentucky’s late basketball coach, Joe B. Hall, and he would take me to Wheel er’s Pharmacy for one of its classic cheeseburgers. Those were the best of times. A long-time friend who spent many years working with Claude Felton of the UGA sports information staff is living in Lexington these days, owing to the residency of grandchil dren. Tim Hix and his wife, Robin, moved here after retirement and enjoy keeping stats for the sports teams of Kentucky and Transylvania College. Tim is an excellent editor and a very knowl edgeable and well-read sports enthusiast. If I were starting a publishing house, the first person I would hire would be Tim Hix. After a tour of Godol phin Farms with Dan Pride — his story is quite compelling, from walk-on linebacker at UGA to preeminence as a manager of the biggest thoroughbred operation in Lexington — you can appreciate how addictive the horse business can be. It is akin, he says, to the passion that encompasses Georgia football. Taking a break in late summer at Bluegrass Country, highlighted by interaction with old friends and embracing a few new ones, was the best tonic to escape the heat and insulate myself from the depressing headlines of the world. Didn’t turn on the TV and didn’t read a newspaper throughout a short but uplifting stay in one of the prettiest places on Earth. Schedule 1 ADVANCED BREAST Coming soon... The Charles Person FREEDOM READERS... BY RANDALL HARMAN To Greene County High School GoltoLetDCkNOW.org 11 seniors will join me and Charles Person, posthumously, and vet Charles’ book for other students to enjoy. If we agree... -1-01 BUSES ARE Letdeknow @LetDCknow • Nonprofit organization www.facebook.com/letDCknowl www.letdcknow.org Mawwoqtan IMAGING RIGHT HERE AT HOME WHAT DO WE OFFER? Putnam General Hospital offers 3D Mammography screenings and Diagnostic Imaging. In most cases, diagnostic results can be reviewed the same day, depending on radiologist availability. If an Ultrasound is needed, it can be performed the same day without extra appointments or travel. We also offer ultrasound-guided breast biopsies for comprehensive care in one location. Early detection matters, and so does convenience. Schedule your appointment today! 706.923.2055 Most insurance plans accepted. 101 Lake Oconee Parkway • Eatonton www.PutnamGeneral.com
