The freedom to live in climate-resilient communities is essential for the economic prosperity and well-being of communities in the City of Atlanta (herein “Atlanta”). However, extreme heat waves, 1 flooding,2  prolonged periods of drought, and other environmental disasters are some of the pressing challenges Atlanta residents and business owners face, amid increases in the cost of living and the threat of displacement3. 

Climate change is “long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns”4 and can show up as extreme weather events like storms, hurricanes, extreme heat, flooding, tornadoes, and other weather events. In addition to physical damage to homes and property, extreme weather can also increase the energy required for households to maintain safe temperatures5, straining the United States’ energy infrastructure and supply.6 Yet, rising energy costs from high temperatures do not impact all communities in the same way. 

Neighborhoods with “heat islands”, or fewer trees and green spaces to absorb excess heat, are more climate burdened, especially those with older homes which tend to have less insulation and inefficient energy systems. This includes Southwest Atlanta, whose majority Black residents contend with rising temperatures and a legacy of redlining and disinvestment7 that has left southern and western Atlanta neighborhoods with  inadequate green space and tree coverage.8 Historically Black neighborhoods like English Avenue, Pittsburgh, Cascade, Vine City, Castleberry Hill, West End, and Washington Park have all been reported to be highly vulnerable to extreme heat and risk of flooding.9  

Further, data suggests Black households need to spend 43% more of their income on energy bills than White households to cool their homes.10 Black renters living in Southern states disproportionately experience energy insecurity, or the threat of utility disconnection,11 and racial inequities in homeownership mean Black households are more likely to rent12 and have limited ability to invest in energy-efficient systems. These barriers fuel continued extraction of wealth from Black families, and the ramifications include a broadening of the racial wealth divide, wherein the median wealth of Black households continues to trail all other ethnic groups.13  

The financial implications of place collide with racial inequities in economic prosperity to limit opportunites for wealth building in Black households. Data from Zillow14 suggests that Black and Hispanic or Latin homeowners face a double jeopardy when it comes to home ownership in comparison to their White peers. Not only are Black and Latin people being priced out of homeownership, when they are able to purchase homes, those homes are more likely to be in neighborhoods at high-risk of exposure to climate-related events (e.g., extreme heat, wildfire, winds). High cost of home ownership paired with exposure to weather-related disasters, hinders wealth building since excess resources will need to be used to pay for higher energy costs and repairs or upgrades to homes. Although homeowners tend to be the primary focus when discussing the implications of weather-related events, effective climate resilience strategy requires prioritizing interventions at all levels of society (e.g., household, neighborhood, local, state, and federal) that address challenges both homeowners and renters face. 

Better and more accessible weatherization tools can be a part of the solution to the climate crisis for households.15 Weatherization can protect homes and properties from climate threats while increasing energy efficiency, reducing energy costs,16  and improving health and safety.17 In Atlanta, local weatherization programs  have included those which provide energy-efficient home upgrades in high energy-burdened neighborhoods for income-eligible residents,18 and programs that assist homeowners with repairs to central systems.19 Although weatherization support programs are in the right direction, it is imperative that policy changes also acknowledge and redress how historical systems (e.g., redlining) and limited public investment have created and entrenched racial and socioeconomic wealth divides through disparities in home ownership, thereby limiting access to safe and affordable housing in areas with economic opportunity.  

In April 2025, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience20 introduced a Climate Resilience Action Plan in an effort to achieve clean energy for all Atlantans by 2035, reach net zero emissions, reduce energy burdens, provide multimodal transportation, and improve access to fresh and affordable foods. The plan’s guiding principles — centering people and emphasis on data-driven, equitable, and just approaches — are foundational to its mission. In keeping with this, we must incorporate community-driven and evidence-based policy strategies to address the climate crisis and provide equitable climate resilience solutions, with a special focus on historically disinvested neighborhoods in Southwest Atlanta, that shoulder the largest climate burdens. 

Kindred Futures focuses on community wealth-building strategies that not only prevent the loss of wealth in historically Black neighborhoods, but also provide wealth-building opportunities for the nearly two million Black households in the American South with zero or negative net worth. We believe safeguarding assets, like homes, businesses, and community gathering spaces, and protecting access to safe and affordable places to live is essential to achieving economic prosperity and closing the wealth divide in historically disinvested communities.21 In this report, we gathered community perspectives to measure awareness and knowledge of climate impacts among City of Atlanta residents, to identify weatherization strategies and aid programs that are most helpful and accessible for residents to protect their homes and property from climate threats, and to evaluate the ability of Atlanta households to build wealth in the face of climate impacts. These insights can help other cities as they plan for climate-resilient and equitable communities.

What did we do? 

Kindred Futures used a mixed-methods approach to collect community perspectives from City of Atlanta residents during the summer of 2025. Our approach included administering a questionnaire in partnership with Atlanta POV, an initiative of Neighborhood Nexus and Atlanta Civic Circle, which was completed by 385 Atlanta residents. Residents from Southwest Atlanta were prioritized in survey recruitment because of the disproportionate climate and environmental burden they experience. In addition, interviews were conducted with community residents and business owners from Southwest Atlanta. To gain additional contextual and environmental insights, we coupled community perspectives with spatial maps of key economic and environmental data indicators. See the methodology and technical notes for more details on our methods and the demographics of residents included in the survey. 

What did we find? 

Neighborhood structures matter: When high living costs and environment collide Atlanta residents identify three primary groups as making up the social and economic structure of neighborhoods: community members, who live or work in the area; larger companies and corporations that may or may not be located within the physical boundaries of neighborhoods, but provide services to residents; and civic leaders and public institutions, who make decisions in their community’s and residents’ best interests. While the structure of groups in Atlanta neighborhoods appear relatively similar, Atlanta is financially, racially, and culturally diverse. Historically, boundaries were created and maintained, separating the life opportunities and experiences of North and Southwest Atlanta residents. This legacy persists with North Atlanta residents more likely to be homeowners than Southwest residents. This means, Southwest Atlanta’s predominantly Black communities are more likely than their North Atlanta counterparts to live in rental dwellings and to earn less than the city’s median income per household (Maps 1-4). In fact, in Atlanta, as the percent of Black residents in a census tract rises, the median income of households in a census tract decreases (Figure 1), mirroring a history of economic exclusion. Because financial stability is tied to place and ownership (Map 3-4), and financial instability can lead to challenges in withstanding the impacts of climate change or human and man-made disasters (Map 5), as climate impacts increase, we believe families in Southwest Atlanta will find it especially challenging to build generational wealth.