Alpharetta Compares Well With Sandy Springs, Not Against

Sandy Springs City Manager John McDonough this week that Alpharetta is its main competition for attracting corporations to the city. Alpharetta-Milton Patch took the opportunity to see how Alpharetta views the competition, and how it compares to Sandy Springs on the other topics McDonough. discussed, including quality of life, public transportation, public safety and strengths.

Alpharetta Assistant City Manager James Drinkard mostly agreed with McDonough's views on competition, but expanded it to include Cobb and Gwinnett counties. He also described Sandy Springs as more of a high-reside corporate community and Alpharetta as having a mid-rise campus environment. He did say that Sandy Springs has more public transportation opportunities, so companies seeking those options will pick that city over Alpharetta.

The following Q&A with Drinkard, who previously served as the city's economic development coordinator, answers those questions:

What is Alpharetta's main competition?

Generally speaking, Alpharetta competes for large corporate location projects at the global and national levels. We work closely with our state and regional partners to attract such investments to the area and are competing against areas such as Dallas, Charlotte, Tampa, and Chicago. Once a company focuses on Metro Atlanta, however, the attention commonly turns to Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, and Cobb and Gwinnett counties.

What does Alpharetta offer that Sandy Springs doesn't or can't?

The simple fact of the matter is that Alpharetta and Sandy Springs are both great communities that are very attractive to business. Where Sandy Springs is more of a corporate high-rise kind of location with a somewhat urban feel, Alpharetta is more appealing to companies seeking a mid-rise campus environment with more tree cover. In terms of how we work with businesses in comparison to Sandy Springs, there are not big differences; especially in terms of incentives. Because we are a somewhat smaller organization, Alpharetta likely has a bit more ability to adapt to a specific business need quickly. On the other hand, Sandy Springs can leverage their private contracts to bring more resources to bear on an issue.

What are the city's strengths?

Speaking of the City of Alpharetta as an organization, by far our biggest strength is our people. Our team is very focused on doing the job efficiently and thoroughly and generally exceeding the expectations of our customers. They have a lot of experience in dealing with the issues that are important to businesses locating or expanding here and can anticipate for those customers where the likely challenges will be and how we can help avoid them.

How does Alpharetta's public safety compare to Sandy Springs?

Statistically, Alpharetta is a very safe community, but at the end of the day public safety is as much about perception as it is about fact. At night, how safe do residents and visitors feel walking down a sidewalk or spending time in a park? When we ask our residents if they believe that Alpharetta is a safe community, the overwhelming response is that they feel very safe here. The statistics fully support that perception. I cannot speak to how we compare to Sandy Springs in terms of how safe their residents feel, but statistically North Fulton is a very safe place to be.

How about its quality of life?

Alpharetta is known across the country as an exceptional place to live and work. Our schools consistently rank among the best in the country, we have premiere parks, a growing arts and entertainment scene, inviting neighborhoods...I am not saying that we don’t have things to improve upon, but they are not easy to spot. It is hard to compare Alpharetta with Sandy Springs in terms of quality of life; not because Sandy Springs is not a great place in its own right but because the two communities are very different.

What about public transportation?

Sandy Springs does offer better public transportation access, and that has influenced some companies to locate there instead of Alpharetta. Many of the workers who drive the companies located in North Fulton do not live in Alpharetta or Sandy Springs; the executives do but many of the workers live in outlying communities and/or in-town. Providing options for those employees to commute between home and work is very important to some companies, and those firms will choose Sandy Springs or other locations over Alpharetta.

And what about Alpharetta's revenue? Is it dropping?

The City’s tax digest (excluding motor vehicle taxes) has fallen from $4.28 billion in FY 2009 to $3.75 billion projected for FY 2012. This is partially due to a decline in property values but it is also because Alpharetta has provided additional tax relief to our residents through expansion of our Homestead Property Tax Exemption. There are not many communities out there that can honestly say that they have reduced residents taxes while maintaining services in this economy.