Trump is right. The major corporations that are still downtown have underground parking and serious security. Many have moved north to the suburbs. State government has 2 police departments of its own (Capitol Police and state troopers) because Atlanta police are completely overworked and also in many cases incompetent.
Both Georgia State and Georgia Tech (the "prestigious universities" mentioned) regularly have students robbed, carjacked, shot & killed (there's a news story at least once every couple of weeks, and the Atlanta paper doesn't bother unless somebody gets killed). You take your life in your hands if you move around campus at night at Tech. Georgia State is a commuter school and is deserted at night.
The Braves moved to Cobb County at least in part because Turner Field was in a still worse part of town - south of the government complex - and people were routinely mugged in the stadium parking lot (the local thugs knew they were unarmed because the stadium banned guns). City promised a redevelopment program to improve the area but it never happened.
The "rapidly growing economy" is the "Metropolitan Statistical Area" - the 28 counties surrounding Atlanta - thus disguising the fact that the city proper is losing population and business. The airport is a self-contained unit, surrounded by acres of deserted land, high fences, and vehicle patrols. So yeah, Trump's description was pretty accurate. And Lewis has done nothing about it in the decades he's been in office.
Fantastic detailed answer. Thanks.
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