Atlanta being “a city in a forest” comes with a hidden cost—one that is extra steep for southwest Atlanta residents.
Canopy Atlanta trains and pays community members, our Fellows, to learn reporting skills to better serve their community. Naya Clark, a reporter on this story, is a Canopy Atlanta Fellow.
Living in Atlanta’s famous tree canopy isn’t the same for everyone.
In southwest Atlanta, where the canopy is denser, residents like West End Fellow Naya Clark are far more likely to experience a tree-related power outage. The cost of preventing such outages can cost upwards of $2,000—over a month’s pay for many southwest Atlanta households, compared to a week’s pay for the average Buckhead resident.
That disparity is why Clark started researching the concept of tree equity, or how all residents, no matter their race or income, can equally reap the health and climate benefits of living among trees. The end result of that reporting is this short film, where she teams with director Lev Omelchenko to explore what tree equity can look like, in the place known as “a city in a forest.”
Watch below, and share with a neighbor.
Editors: Christina Lee and Mariann Martin
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