Smyrna, Georgia

Smyrna is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is located northwest of Atlanta, and is in the inner ring of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs–Alpharetta MSA, which is included in the Atlanta–Athens-Clarke–Sandy Springs CSA.

Smyrna, Georgia
City
Smyrna City Hall
Motto(s): 
"The jonquil city with beautiful parks, thriving businesses, great locations, and bright plans for the future"
Location in Cobb County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates: 33°52′19″N 84°31′6″W
CountryUnited States
StateGeorgia
CountyCobb
Government
 • MayorDerek Norton
Area
 • Total15.59 sq mi (40.38 km2)
 • Land15.55 sq mi (40.28 km2)
 • Water0.04 sq mi (0.10 km2)
Elevation
1,060 ft (323 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total51,265
 • Estimate 
(2019)[2]
56,666
 • Density3,643.88/sq mi (1,406.87/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
30080, 30081, 30082, 30126[3]
Area code(s)770/678/470
FIPS code13-71492[4]
GNIS feature ID0356541[5]
Websitewww.smyrnacity.com

As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 51,271.[6] The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population in 2019 to be 56,666.[7] From 2000-2012, Smyrna grew by 28%; historically it is one of the fastest growing cities in the State of Georgia, and one of the most densely populated cities in the metro area.[8]

Smyrna was ranked #44 in Money's 2018 survey of "The Best Places to Live in America" for balancing economic growth, affordability, and quality of life.[9]

History

Pioneers began settling the area in 1832. By the late 1830s, a religious encampment called Smyrna Camp Ground had become a popular travel destination and was well known throughout Georgia. It is a Greek name for the Biblical city of Smyrna, modern day Izmir in Turkey, the home of the Christian martyr Polycarp. After the completion of the Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1842, the area began to grow. It was known by several names until 1872—Varner's Station, Ruff's Siding, Neal Dow, and Ruff's Station. The city was incorporated with the name Smyrna in 1872.

Two Civil War battles occurred in the area, the Battle of Smyrna Camp Ground and the Battle of Ruff's Mill, both on July 4, 1864.[10] The area's businesses, homes, and 1849 covered bridge (since rebuilt and still in use today) were burned by Sherman's troops.

The nearby Bell Bomber plant that produced B-29 bombers during World War II was reopened by Lockheed in 1951, and became a catalyst for growth. The city's population grew during the next two decades, from 2,005 in 1950 to almost 20,000 by 1970.

Geography

Smyrna is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, located about 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the Atlanta city limits, and with Smyrna's downtown approximately 16 miles (25.7 km) from downtown Atlanta. Smyrna is located just west of the northern intersection of I-285 and I-75, which is the site of the edge city Cumberland and the Cobb Galleria.

Smyrna is bordered by Vinings to the east, Marietta to the north and west, and Mableton to the south and southwest. The city of Sandy Springs and the affluent Atlanta neighborhoods of Paces and Buckhead are approximately within 10 miles of Smyrna's center.

The center of Smyrna is located at 33°52′19″N 84°31′06″W.[11]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 square miles (39.9 km2), of which 15.4 square miles (39.8 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.23%, is water.[6] The general terrain of the area is characteristic of the Piedmont region of Georgia, characterized by hills with broad ridges, sloping uplands, and relatively narrow valleys.

Flora

The city's official symbol is the jonquil (a flower). Known as the "Jonquil City", it derives this name from the thousands of jonquils that flourish in gardens and along the streets in early spring.

Climate
Climate data for Smyrna, GA
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 79
(26)		 80
(27)		 89
(32)		 93
(34)		 97
(36)		 102
(39)		 105
(41)		 104
(40)		 102
(39)		 95
(35)		 84
(29)		 79
(26)		 105
(41)
Average high °F (°C) 52
(11)		 57
(14)		 65
(18)		 73
(23)		 80
(27)		 86
(30)		 89
(32)		 88
(31)		 82
(28)		 73
(23)		 64
(18)		 54
(12)		 72
(22)
Average low °F (°C) 34
(1)		 38
(3)		 44
(7)		 52
(11)		 60
(16)		 68
(20)		 71
(22)		 71
(22)		 65
(18)		 54
(12)		 45
(7)		 37
(3)		 53
(12)
Record low °F (°C) −8
(−22)		 −9
(−23)		 10
(−12)		 25
(−4)		 37
(3)		 39
(4)		 53
(12)		 55
(13)		 36
(2)		 28
(−2)		 3
(−16)		 0
(−18)		 −9
(−23)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 4.20
(107)		 4.83
(123)		 4.81
(122)		 3.36
(85)		 3.67
(93)		 3.95
(100)		 5.27
(134)		 3.90
(99)		 4.47
(114)		 3.41
(87)		 4.10
(104)		 3.90
(99)		 49.87
(1,267)
Source: [12]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
1880259—
189041660.6%
1900238−42.8%
1910599151.7%
192079132.1%
19301,17848.9%
19401,44022.2%
19502,00539.2%
196010,157406.6%
197019,15788.6%
198020,3126.0%
199030,98152.5%
200040,99932.3%
201051,26525.0%
2019 (est.)56,666[2]10.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[13]

As of the 2018 census, there were 56,271 people, with 35% growth since 2000. There were 23,002 households. The population density was 3,300 people per square mile (1,300/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 29.3% African American, 46% White, 0.4% Native American, 7.71% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, and 3.1% from two or more races. 14.9% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The population was distributed by age as follows: 22.6% under the age of 18, 18.8% from 18 to 29, 20% from 30 to 39, 14.9% from 40 to 49, 14.2% from 50–64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males.

As of 2018, 52.6% of Smyrna residents live in families with an average of 2.2 people per household.

As of 2012, 52.2% of Smyrna residents have a college degree and 91.3% of residents have a high school diploma. This is one of the highest rates in the state of Georgia.[14]

Government

Municipal

The city is governed by a seven-member council, elected by wards, and a mayor elected at-large. Max Bacon served as the mayor of Smyrna starting in 1985; in July 2019 he announced his retirement from city politics. The current mayor is Derek Norton.

The city operates the Smyrna Public Library.

Economy

Personal income

The median income for a household in the city for 2018 was $73,788. The per capita income for the city was $44,823, a 24.7% increase from 2000.

In 2018, the place with the highest Median Household Income in Smyrna, GA was Census Tract 312.09 with a value of $143,443, followed by Census Tract 311.12 and Census Tract 311.17, with respective values of $108,229 and $89,769.

Industry

The Atlanta Bread Company has its headquarters in Smyrna.[15]

Companies with an office include Eaton Corporation and IBM. Smyrna was the site of the corporate offices of the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling.

Smyrna is also seen as a hotbed of small business.

Top employers

According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:[16]

# Employer Employees
1 UCB 575
2 IBM 566
3 United Distributors 550
4 Emory–Adventist Hospital at Smyrna 499
5 Ridgeview Institute 440
6 S.P. Richards 423
7 City of Smyrna 384
8 Bake One 350
9 Publix 210
10 Glock 209

On October 31, 2014, Emory Healthcare closed the Emory Adventist Hospital at Smyrna. They have since announced plans to renovate and reopen the hospital.[17]

Private projects
Market Village

In 1991, the city began a community redevelopment project known as "Market Village," in order to create a well-defined downtown. Included were a community center and 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) public library. A mixed retail and residential district was modeled after an early 1900s city village, including a square with a fountain. This, and other expansions have revitalized the downtown area. Further redevelopment has occurred throughout the city—including thousands of new homes – mostly cluster homes, townhouse and condo communities replacing older neighborhoods.[18][19] The population has risen as a result of redevelopment, a few annexations, and Smyrna's location as a residential suburb in the Northwest center of metro Atlanta.[20][21]

There are additional mixed retail/residential/office redevelopments around the Market Village. Ground was broken in Jonquil Village, a redevelopment of Jonquil Plaza at the corner of Spring and Atlanta Road across from Market Village. However, this development stalled due to banks withdrawing funding during the nationwide real estate crash of 2007.

Less than a .5 miles (0.80 km) down, the city intends to redevelop the Belmont Hills plaza, at the corner of Windy Hill and Atlanta Road in 2011. Both these villages, like Market Village in Smyrna, and Market Square in Vinings, are designed to resemble a city village of yesteryear with fountains and antique street lamps. In 2011, Halpern Enterprises, the developer, sold some land to the city of Smyrna for an elementary school called the New Smyrna Elementary, which has completed construction.[22] In 2012, Halpern rezoned the property but did not change its intended use. It moved residential from a multi-story building in one section of the development to apartment residential by itself in a larger and previously empty section of the development (pod F) due to market constraints in the only slowly warming housing market, leaving the earlier section available for any use in the future.[23][24][25]

A Kroger plaza (Known as "The Crossings") has been built at the corner of Concord Road and South Cobb Drive with some planned two-story outparcels. This is actually a re-development of an older blighted strip-mall. The Kroger located there is one of the largest in the country, at 93,000 square feet (8,600 m2).[26][27][28]

Additional re-development is going on throughout the city, particularly along South Cobb Drive. The Sprouts Farmers Market organic grocery store on the East-West Connector / Cumberland Parkway was one of the first to be built east of the Mississippi River. Two outparcels have already been developed.[29]

Public projects

Additional work being done in Smyrna includes streetscape beautification projects, such as a linear park on Concord Road along with new signage, lights, and a median on Atlanta Road.[30][31] Additional parkland projects are the 12-acre (4.9 ha) Taylor-Brawner Park, Riverview Road trail and Silver Comet Trail extensions in that area.

In September 2019, the James M. Cox Foundation gave $6 Million to the PATH Foundation, which will connect the Silver Comet Trail terminus in Smyrna to the Atlanta Beltline. It is expected to be completed by 2022. The combined length of the Silver Comet and the Beltline will make it the longest paved trail surface in the U.S., totaling approximately 300 miles (480 kilometers); one could travel from Atlanta to Anniston, Alabama via the trail alone.[32]

Media outlets

Smyrna is home to The Bright Side, Smyrna and Vinings' community newspaper. The paper is dedicated to publishing positive events that occur in Cobb County.[33]

Education

Smyrna also has multiple private schools including Covenant Christian School, Whitefield Academy, and a satellite campus of Buckhead Preparatory Academy. The Lovett School is also nearby.

Arts and culture

Market Village in the city center often has open-air concerts and festivals. There are also various small parks such as Cobb Park, public pools such as Aline Wolfe Center for the elderly and Tolleson park pool for all ages, tennis courts and playgrounds and a linear park with walking trail along Spring Road.

Transportation

Several major roadways, such as I-285, Cobb Parkway (U.S. Route 41), Atlanta Road (Old State Route 3), and South Cobb Drive (State Route 280), pass through the municipality.

Smyrna is served by Cobb Community Transit and MARTA public buses.

Notable people

Notables from the area include U.S. Representative Bob Barr;[34] actress Julia Roberts;[35] baseball stars who both played infield for the Atlanta Braves Gerald Perry & Ron Gant;[36] Passion City Church Senior Pastor/Passion Conferences and sixstepsrecords founder Louie Giglio; and football player Tay Glover-Wright. Voice-over actor and animator C. Martin Croker was born in Smyrna. He is best known for his work on the cult classic show Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Recording artist and actress Kelly Nelon Clark was a long time resident and calls Smyrna her hometown. Recording artist and composer Benn Jordan owns a home and recording studio in Smyrna.[37] Recording artist and composer Pat Terry is a lifelong resident of Smyrna.[38] Eschel Rhoodie, the South African Minister of Information from 1972 to 1977, resided in Smyrna after emigrating to the United States.[39]

The restaurant scene in the film Joyful Noise was shot at Howard's Restaurant in Smyrna in 2011.[40]

References
  1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  2. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  3. "Smyrna Zipcodes". Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  5. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  6. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Smyrna city, Georgia". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  7. "City and Town Population Totals: 2010-2019". Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  8. "City of Smyrna : Community Development". City of Smyrna. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  9. "These Are the Best Places to Live in the U.S. Right Now". Money. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  10. "Georgia Historical Society: Battle of Smyrna". Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  11. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  12. "Monthly Averages for Smyrna, GA (30080)". Weather.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  13. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  14. "City of Smyrna : Community Profile". Smyrnacity.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 18, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "City of Smyrna CAFR". smyrnacity.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  17. https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2016/02/29/emory-healthcare-will-renovate-and-reopen-shuttered-emory-adventist-hospital
  18. "Smyrna Market Village". SmyrnaVinings.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  19. "Smyrna Real Estate & Smyrna Homes For Sale". Trulia.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  20. "Top 100 Neighborhoods in Metro Atlanta". newcomeratlanta.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  21. "Population in the U.S. – Google Public Data Explorer". Google.ca. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  22. "New Smyrna Elementary School Progress Continues". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  23. "Halpern Enterprises Talks About Plans for Belmont Hills". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  24. "Halpern Submits Rezoning Request for Belmont Hills Site". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  25. "P& Approves Belmont Hills Zoning Amendments Despite Design Concerns". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  26. "Smyrna Kroger Opens For Business". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  27. "New Kroger to open in Smyrna, brings 100 new jobs". Cbsatlanta.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  28. "Smyrna set to get giant Kroger". Ajc.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  29. "Properties". Columbiapropertiesinc.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  30. "Smyrna City Council Awards Contract for Concord Road Improvements". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  31. "Atlanta Road Median Project - Smyrna-Vinings, GA Patch". May 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012.
  32. Lutz, Meris; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "Cox gives $6 million to connect Silver Comet to Atlanta". ajc. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  33. "The Bright Side Community Newspaper – Smyrna, GA". Brightsidecobb.com. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  34. "Bob Barr Biography". Biography.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  35. "Julia Robert". IMDb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  36. "The Comebacks Kid : Ron Gant Has Already Won the Award Once, but a Year After Motorcycle Accident, Reds' All-Star Is Almost a Lock". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  37. "Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) – Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  38. "Interview". Patterryonline.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  39. Saxon, Wolfgang (July 21, 1993). "Eschel Rhoodie, a South African At Center of Scandal, Dies at 60". The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  40. "Hollywood Food Fight Makes A "Joyful Noise At Howard's". Smyrna-vinings, Georgia Patch. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
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