Downtown Atlanta is seeing more visitors, phone data shows

Data: University of Toronto; Note: Downtown defined as the central location with the highest concentration of employment in each metro area; Chart: Alice Feng/Axios

Downtown Atlanta appears to be slowly gaining more foot traffic as stakeholders continue to invest into the heart of the city.

Why it matters: The area is primed for more than $6 billion in public and private investment after the coronavirus pandemic hindered downtown activity nationwide.

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Driving the news: Visitor activity in Downtown Atlanta grew by 7.4% between March 2023 and February 2024, according to new University of Toronto data.

State of play: Atlanta wants to breathe new life into Downtown amid an era of remote and hybrid work.

• Millions are expected to visit Atlanta while it's hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup .
• Corporate leaders want to build and open a $100 million science museum by 2028.
• Tech entrepreneurs are building coworking spaces and housing in South Downtown .
• Atlanta's government is trying to convert the 2 Peachtree Street office tower into the city's tallest residential building.
• MARTA wants to spend more than $200 million on an overdue overhaul of Downtown's Five Points station to create open space and new opportunities for more retail and activities.

By the numbers: Last year , 71.3 million visitors ventured to Downtown Atlanta, according to Placer.ai, which tracks and analyzes foot traffic.

• By comparison, Placer.ai data shows Downtown Atlanta had 52 million visitors in 2022 .

What we're hearing: Research from Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District shows 1,500 affordable homes could be built by converting vacant offices downtown.

• That could bring more people into the neighborhood. But it would require a $48 million public subsidy.

How it works: Researchers at the University of Toronto's School of Cities are using anonymized mobile device location data to estimate visitor activity in the downtown areas of dozens of North American cities .

• They define "downtown" as the location in each metro area with the highest job concentration.

The bottom line: Everyone wants to see Downtown Atlanta's transformation because, as usual, Atlanta influences everything.