residents of metropolitan Atlanta are shifting toward living closer to work

New statistics on commuting suggest that residents of metropolitan Atlanta are shifting toward living closer to work and increasingly toward finding homes in Atlanta itself. From 1998 to 2003 the average distance each person drives per day plummeted 19 percent, to 38.3 miles from 47.2 miles, according to a study from the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. “I think consumers have concluded they don’t want to spend 45 minutes to an hour each way between home and work,” said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The Atlanta Regional Commission, in a recent survey of proposed developments, found that “for the first time in a long time, the city of Atlanta had the most, by far, of any jurisdiction in the region,” said Tom Weyandt, the Commission’s director of comprehensive planning. The Commission says the city’s residential population rose by 18,000 from 2000 to 2004.